''The Greatest Hits, So Far'' is a

greatest hits album A greatest hits album or best-of album is a type of compilation album that collects popular and commercially successful songs by a particular artist or band. While greatest hits albums are typically supported by the artist, they can also be creat ...

by English

post-punk Post-punk (originally called new musick) is a broad music genre, genre of Punk Music, punk music that emerged in the late 1970s as musicians departed from punk's traditional elements and raw simplicity, instead adopting a variety of avant-garde s ...

band

Public Image Ltd Public Image Ltd (abbreviated and stylized as PiL) are an English post-punk band (and incorporated limited company) formed by singer John Lydon (previously known as the singer of Sex Pistols), guitarist Keith Levene, bassist Jah Wobble, and d ...

, released in 1990 by record label

Virgin Virginity is the state of a person who has never engaged in sexual intercourse. The term ''virgin'' originally only referred to sexually inexperienced women, but has evolved to encompass a range of definitions, as found in traditional, modern ...

. It compiles all of the band's singles from 1978 to 1990 and features a new track, "Don't Ask Me", which was released as a single, reaching number 22 the UK and number 2 on the US

Modern Rock Modern rock is an umbrella term used to describe rock music that is found on college rock radio stations. Some radio stations use this term to distinguish themselves from classic rock, which is based in 1960s–1980s rock music. Radio format Mod ...

chart. "This Is Not a Love Song" is not represented in its original single form, but as the remake from '' This Is What You Want... This Is What You Get''. The album's artwork is by notable

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...

-born artist and musician

Reg Mombassa Christopher O'Doherty, also known by the pseudonym Reg Mombassa, is a New Zealand-born Australian artist and musician. He is a founding member of the band Mental As Anything and member of Dog Trumpet (alongside his brother Peter O'Doherty). Ea ...

Content

"I wanted 28 tracks", John Lydon told '' Select'', "but you have to be reasonable, I suppose. Virgin only wanted eight – 'Ooh, that's all we can get on one album' – and I thought, 'Hold on, I've been on your label twelve years and you only want eight songs? Fuck off!' I refused to deal with them until they came round to my way of thinking. I relished the chance to see what things like 'Warrior' would sound like next to ' Death Disco' and '

Memories Memory is the faculty of the mind by which data or information is encoded, stored, and retrieved when needed. It is the retention of information over time for the purpose of influencing future action. If past events could not be remembered, ...

', to see if there was any vein running through them. And I was very pleased: there is. They sound like a solid piece of work. They could all have been done at the same time. All musically different, but the attitude is predominant. So I'm pleased with myself."

Release

''The Greatest Hits, So Far'' was released on 24 September 1990 by Virgin in the US''Cocatalog.loc.uk'' United States Copyright Office website and 9 October in the UK. The title suggests there would be more to come —and there was— but PIL released only one more studio album (1992's '' That What Is Not'') before taking a twenty-year hiatus, after which they released two more studio albums (2012's '' This is PiL'' and 2015's ''

What the world needs now "What the World Needs Now Is Love" is a 1965 popular song with lyrics by Hal David and music composed by Burt Bacharach. First recorded and made popular by Jackie DeShannon, it was released on April 15, 1965, on the Imperial label after a relea ...

''). A more comprehensive PIL compilation, the four-disc '' Plastic Box'', was released in 1999.

Reception

"Side one provides a chilling testimony to the boy Lydon's vengeful slaying of his own two-chord punk-monster creation", noted Charlie Dick in '' Q''. "The big commercial hits ..take up side two while the second disc exorcises the older and wiser Antichrist's assault on

stadium rock Arena rock (also known as AOR, melodic rock, stadium rock, anthem rock, pomp rock, corporate rock and dad rock; ; ) is a style of rock music that originated in the mid-1970s. As hard rock bands and those playing a softer yet strident kind of po ...

Track listing

# " Public Image" (from '' Public Image: First Issue'') # " Death Disco" (7" mix of the track from ''

Metal Box ''Metal Box'' is the second studio album by Public Image Ltd, released by Virgin Records on 23 November 1979. The album takes its name from the round metal canister which contained the initial pressings of the record. It was later reissued in ...

'') # "

" (from ''Metal Box'') # "Careering" (from ''Metal Box'') # " Flowers of Romance" (from '' The Flowers of Romance'') # "

This Is Not a Love Song "This Is Not a Love Song" is a single released by English post-punk band Public Image Ltd in 1983. It is the band's biggest commercial hit, peaking at No. 5 on the UK Singles Chart and at No. 3 on the Irish Singles Chart. The 12" remixed versi ...

" (from '' This Is What You Want... This Is What You Get'') # "

Rise Rise or RISE may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Fictional entities * '' Rise: The Vieneo Province'', an internet-based virtual world * Rise FM, a fictional radio station in the video game ''Grand Theft Auto 3'' * Rise Kujikawa, a vide ...

" (new remix of the track from ''

Album An album is a collection of audio recordings issued on compact disc (CD), vinyl, audio tape, or another medium such as digital distribution. Albums of recorded sound were developed in the early 20th century as individual 78 rpm records co ...

'') # " Home" (from ''Album'') # "Seattle" (from '' Happy?'') # "The Body" (extended version of the track from ''Happy?'') # "Rules and Regulations" (from ''Happy?'') # " Disappointed" (extended version of the track from '' 9'') # "Warrior" (remixed version of the track from ''9'') # "Don't Ask Me" (new track, also released as a single)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Greatest Hits, So Far, The Public Image Ltd albums 1990 greatest hits albums Virgin Records compilation albums