''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 genre of music that emerged in late 1977 in the wake of punk rock. Post-punk musicians departed from punk's fundamental elements and raw simplicity, instead adopting a broader, more experiment ...

band

Public Image Ltd Public Image Ltd (abbreviated and stylized as PiL) are an English post-punk band formed by lead vocalist John Lydon (previously, as Johnny Rotten, lead vocalist of the Sex Pistols), guitarist Keith Levene (a founding member of the Clash), bassi ...

, released in 1990 by record label

Virgin Virginity is a social construct that denotes the state of a person who has never engaged in sexual intercourse. As it is not an objective term with an operational definition, social definitions of what constitutes virginity, or the lack thereof ...

. 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 and commercial rock radio stations. Some radio stations use this term to distinguish themselves from classic rock, which is based in 1960s–1980s rock music. ...

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 () is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and List of islands of New Zealand, over 600 smaller islands. It is the List of isla ...

-born artist and musician Reg Mombassa.

Content

"I wanted 28 tracks",

John Lydon John Joseph Lydon ( ; born 31 January 1956), also known by his former stage name Johnny Rotten, is a British-born singer, songwriter, author, and television personality. He was the lead vocalist of the punk rock band the Sex Pistols, which was ...

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 Encoding (memory), encoded, stored, and retrieved when needed. It is the retention of information over time for the purpose of influencing future Action (philosophy), action. I ...

', 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 22 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 three more studio albums (2012's '' This is PiL'', 2015's '' What the world needs now'', and 2023's '' End of World). 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 stadium rock, pomp rock or corporate rock) is a style of rock music that became mainstream in the 1970s. It typically involves radio-friendly rock music that was designed to be played for large audiences. As hard rock ...

Track listing

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

" (from ''Metal Box'') # "Careering" (from ''Metal Box'') # " Flowers of Romance" (from '' The Flowers of Romance'') # " This Is Not a Love Song" (from '' This Is What You Want... This Is What You Get'') # " Rise" (Bob Clearmountain remix of the track from ''

Album An album is a collection of audio recordings (e.g., music) issued on a medium such as compact disc (CD), Phonograph record, vinyl (record), audio tape (like 8-track cartridge, 8-track or Cassette tape, cassette), or digital distribution, dig ...

'') # "

Home A home, or domicile, is a space used as a permanent or semi-permanent residence for one or more human occupants, and sometimes various companion animals. Homes provide sheltered spaces, for instance rooms, where domestic activity can be p ...

" (from ''Album'') # "Seattle" (from '' Happy?'') # "The Body" (UK 12" extended remix of the track from ''Happy?'') # "Rules and Regulations" (from ''Happy?'') # " Disappointed" (12" extended version of the track from '' 9'') # "Warrior" (Dave Dorrell remix of the track from ''9'') # "Don't Ask Me" (new track, also released as a single)

Charts

Certifications

References

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