Intended for the last but one episode of the third season of Lost, see Greatest Hits (Misplaced). A greatest hits album (sometimes referred to as a "best of" album) is a compilation album of successful, before released songs by a exacting melody artist or band. Greatest hits albums are typically produced following an performer has had enough successful songs to fill out an book release. Some artists, such as Queen plus Billy Joel, contain free multiple greatest hits albums through their career. A number of greatest hits albums are free only at the finish of the artist or group's career, as was the Stone Temple Pilots' Thank You.

They are aimed at fans who liked a few of their songs or singles, but not enough to pay money for an artist's whole catalog as well as potential new fans who want to sample the most famous work of an artist or group by means of just one buy. In British pop music, when a band releases a Greatest Hits album, in most cases after three or four studio albums, it is usually taken as a symbol so as to the band are about to tear up. Examples include Greatest Hits albums by Atomic Kitten, Steps, S Club 7, Blue and Take That, although the latter group would reform nine years later. Recent exceptions to this "law" include Westlife, Girls Aloud and Sugababes, who have also released or are committed to releasing new fabric following their greatest hits collections.

Overexcited Street Preachers initially refused to do a greatest hits, but in the end Everlastingly Delayed was released. Greatest hits collections can also boost a lessening melody career. The Good-looking South's first Greatest Hits album, Carry on up the Charts, was at first strongly opposed by the band. Though, upon release it became one of the fastest selling albums in chart history. Occasionally, artists have both a "best of" plus a greatest hits album with the greatest hits album limited to songs that complete the singles chart as a Most excellent of album is additional oriented towards admirer favorites and book tracks.

Alike to a "most excellent of" book is a definitive collection, which attempts to comprise every song by the artist or band so as to fans and melody critics think as worthy examples of their work. An anthology collection is similar to a definitive collection other than more often than not applies to box sets of artist's or bands with a large body of work compiled in excess of a lot of years. Mrs. Miller, Alien Ant Farm plus The Boomtang Boys satirised this by having Most Hits as the title of their respective debut albums.