Well, the question is really simple... Which Beatles' greatest hits compilation makes his job better? The 4xLP/CD set that consists in the two albums Red & Blue, both from April 1973, or the 1xCD (2xLP) '1', released in 2000.
Please vote considering the selection of material and not the number of songs (because of course Red+Blue contains more material!!).

I vote for '1', to me is the best compilation ever made.
With the Red & Blue albums there are many tracks missed, maybe not in the second, but the Red only contains 26 songs (in a double LP compilation album 63 minutes is not much generous   ), and where is Twist And Shout, Do You Want To Know A Secret? (both #2 hits in the U.S.) ...or classic album tracks such as I Should Have Known Better, Here, There And Everywhere or Tomorrow Never Knows? They are all missed!

So my vote is for '1'. Now is your turn to vote!  

Red/Blue... I think the songs on the LP/CDs are the ones that deserve to be there, singles, #1 hits, and I think it shows the most popular songs from each year, and how they progressed from poppy "Twist And Shout" and "She Loves You" to the deep melodies of Abbey Road.  

I like the Blue album best

DaveRam

1

It "does what it says on the tin", whilst the Red & Blue albums are subjective Best Of's.

For example I think the Revolver LP is very under represented & the Rubber Soul LP is over-represented when likes of "Girl", "Drive My Car", "Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da", "Octopus' Garden" & "Old Brown Shoe" are lucky to have made the grade at the expense of the likes of "I Saw Her Standing There", "Rain", "Tomorrow Never Knows", "Helter Skelter" & "Hey Bulldog".

Quoted from maninthequeue

1

It "does what it says on the tin", whilst the Red & Blue albums are subjective Best Of's.

For example I think the Revolver LP is very under represented & the Rubber Soul LP is over-represented when likes of "Girl", "Drive My Car", "Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da", "Octopus' Garden" & "Old Brown Shoe" are lucky to have made the grade at the expense of the likes of "I Saw Her Standing There", "Rain", "Tomorrow Never Knows", "Helter Skelter" & "Hey Bulldog".

that is true, but i think it gives a better presentation of what the beatles did.
girl, in my life, michelle, nowhere man, norwegian wood, drive my car: there are too many rubber soul songs for a fact.

I voted the Red/Blue compilations as they were & still are the best compilations of
Beatles music i think. It was album the first comps i purchased when i discovered them
1 is a good collection as well but i never bought it as i already had the songs.

'1' bores the piss out of me. Give me the Red & Blue albums anyday.

Red & Blue...mY definitive advance in Beatles after getting into my parents vinyl copy of A hard Days Night,

I grew up with the red album as it was the first Beatles album one of my sisters bought. I couldn't stop listening to it.

The red & blue albums were the first ones I bought, and I just loved both of them.... I like #1s too and the songs included there would make a perfect playlist for my iPod.  

Quoted from maninthequeue

1

It "does what it says on the tin", whilst the Red & Blue albums are subjective Best Of's.

For example I think the Revolver LP is very under represented & the Rubber Soul LP is over-represented when likes of "Girl", "Drive My Car", "Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da", "Octopus' Garden" & "Old Brown Shoe" are lucky to have made the grade at the expense of the likes of "I Saw Her Standing There", "Rain", "Tomorrow Never Knows", "Helter Skelter" & "Hey Bulldog".

Great too see someone who thinks just like me.
And... is really necessary to buy 4 CDs to listen 54 songs when you have the most decisive 27 in only 1 CD? I don't think so...

Ooh, I'm very indecisive, but I went for Red and Blue. It's got a good collection of songs. I'm probably being slightly disloyal, because I actually have "1" (that was the first Beatles CD I bought, albeit as a present for Mum. Little did I know I'll be borrowing it a lot in the future...   ); and I don't actually have the Red and Blue CDs (although I do have the songs that are on them). I like the songs on 1, but I like the ones on Red and Blue more.

Quoted from Octie

I like the songs on 1, but I like the ones on Red and Blue more.

Great minds think alike.   And besides most of the songs on "1" are on the blue and red cd (I think).

Quoted from Kaleidoscope_Eyes

Great minds think alike.   And besides most of the songs on "1" are on the blue and red cd (I think).

That's why I said the songs in the #1s album would make an excelent play list for my iPod.

I voted 1, purely for the superior sound quality. And if you have all the albums and Past Masters, you don't need the Red and Blue albums.

I picked the red & blue compilation Beatles albums because they are the definitive ones from the 70's & much better than 1 any day.  

I think the Red & Blue Albums have a better selection, but I would have to say No1 purely from my own experiences.

No1 was what got me into the Beatles.
My Cousin/Aunty was playing it in the car - her favourites were Let It Be & Get Back ...and the music was just so fresh and alive ... it blew me away. I had heard these songs as a child but never really taken notice.
After that initial listen ..I totally absorbed No1 ... listening to it over and over and over I had no idea who the Beatles were as people ... no images (bar the CD booklet) and no idea of their albums & films etc
Those couple of months of just listening to No1 was some of the best moments I've had listening to music.
Obviously when I started to listen to the albums ..the music got better .. but I can imagine alot of people like myself were awakened to the Beatles through No1.

Ah, that's such a neat story, Indica! Perhaps that's why I love the Anthology so much; that was my introduction to the Beatles. I don't even remember buying the red album, which I own, but I know it was part of my post-Anthology "must get some Beatles in the house" phase. Now my shelf bulges with Beatles books and albums. The boys are addictive! Cheers.

I was introduced to the Beatles music through 1 too. To discover, buy and listen that album was a magical experience. It's like your little treasure, just 1 CD with some of the best music ever written and recorded. That's because I love it so much, because it's like a tiny piece with huge talent, work and creativity into it. And the booklet is soooooo good, I love all those colours, single covers ('Les Beatles', 'Los Beatles', hehe). The design is simply fantastic, using exclusively the Helvetica font (my favourite ever), even the George Martin introduction is beautiful.

I like '62 - '66 and '67 - '70 best, I like the mixing of single and album tracks. I think though that the design of the inner gatefolds could have been better, I would have liked to have seen collages and essays.

Quoted from wingsman

I was introduced to the Beatles music through 1 too. To discover, buy and listen that album was a magical experience. It's like your little treasure, just 1 CD with some of the best music ever written and recorded. That's because I love it so much, because it's like a tiny piece with huge talent, work and creativity into it. And the booklet is soooooo good, I love all those colours, single covers ('Les Beatles', 'Los Beatles', hehe). The design is simply fantastic, using exclusively the Helvetica font (my favourite ever), even the George Martin introduction is beautiful.

I was introduced to the Beatles music through 1 as well.  

I understand the Red+Blue albums contain more material than '1'. But that's obvious. Because Red+Blue are 2 Double Albums released during the LP era, and '1' is just 1 single-CD album, released during the CD era.
I'm sure that if I say that '1' is more accomplished as a 1-CD compilation than 'Red+Blue' as 2 double albums, nodoby would be against of that.  

the Red and Blue albums, along with the ameican Rock n Roll compilations were the first beatles albums i owned!  

The best Beatles' hits album would be one that contained their twenty-six UK A-sides. You can make this easily yourself by dropping 'Yesterday,' 'Eight Days a Week,' and 'The Long And Winding Road' from 1 and adding 'Please Please Me' and 'Strawberry Fields Forever,' and by substituting the Ringo version of 'Love Me Do' for the Andy White version. That's my version of 1, anyway.

Alternatively, Dr Ebbetts' collection of the UK singles, complete with the B-sides, is terrific, too.

Quoted from Geoff

Alternatively, Dr Ebbetts' collection of the UK singles, complete with the B-sides, is terrific, too.

Makes a good set with the Dr. E. EP's. I also have the American singles, though I'm not so fond of the sound.

Quoted from BlueMeanie

Makes a good set with the Dr. E. EP's.

It does indeed; both sets have remained on my hard drive since I downloaded them (thanks, by the way). I haven't downloaded the US singles set yet, but I think I will this weekend and maybe I'll see if I can find  "Meet The Beatles" and "The Beatles' Second Album" somewhere to go along with it. I doubt that even Dr Ebbetts (or God) could do anything with the sound on "Second Album," but it'll be interesting to hear it in its tin can echo chamber/reverb laden glory again anyway. The stereo version of "Thank You Girl" on PC's first "With The Beatles" disc is a prime sample; it's taken from "Second Album" (with I think, some substantial re-EQing, if my memory of the old vinyl disc is reliable), which was- I believe- the only record that ever contained a true stereo of the song.

Quoted from Geoff

The best Beatles' hits album would be one that contained their twenty-six UK A-sides.

Welcome to the forums.
Your idea is not bad, but it's hard to replace "Yesterday" or "The Long And Winding Road", I think.
Great idea, though. It would be called "The British Hits 1962-1970".

Quoted from wingsman

It's hard to replace "Yesterday" or "The Long And Winding Road", I think.
Great idea, though. It would be called "The British Hits 1962-1970".

Great point; ideally there should be separate US and UK compilations. I understand why they made the compromises they did in order to get all the biggest highlights on one disc; but as a hopelessly anal perfectionist I get irritated every time I hear somebody's copy of 1 breeze right past "Please Please Me" or "Strawberry Fields Forever;" and I would have insisted on the Spector-free version of "The Long And Winding Road," too. But this is where bootleggers like Dr Ebbetts and your own CD burner can really help you. Mine's certainly been busy.

I've never owned the Red and Blue albums, and never seen the point. There have been times when I've nearly bought them, just from a completest point of view. I doubt they'll be re-issued with the remasters.

Quoted from BlueMeanie

I've never owned the Red and Blue albums, and never seen the point. There have been times when I've nearly bought them, just from a completest point of view. I doubt they'll be re-issued with the remasters.

Your first two sentences describe my position exactly. But... heh... Apple being what it is, watch the Red and Blue albums turn up in the remastered series instead of anything interesting.

One disc isn't enough to do justice to the Beatles catalogue, four discs are too much for a 'best of' compilation for casual fans. So there really should be a good double CD with all the best known songs.

Quoted from Joost

One disc isn't enough to do justice to the Beatles catalogue, four discs are too much for a 'best of' compilation for casual fans. So there really should be a good double CD with all the best known songs.

That's true. I really think someday will be out a good double-album with all the Beatles hits. That will be one of the next big Beatles releases out there. I'm sure. I wish it would include tracks not found on the Red or Blue albums, as "Twist And Shout", "Here There And Everywhere" or "Got To Get You Into My Life". And of course "Free As A Bird" and "Real Love".

Quoted from wingsman

That's true. I really think someday will be out a good double-album with all the Beatles hits. That will be one of the next big Beatles releases out there. I'm sure. I wish it would include tracks not found on the Red or Blue albums, as "Twist And Shout", "Here There And Everywhere" or "Got To Get You Into My Life". And of course "Free As A Bird" and "Real Love".

Makes you wonder what little gimmick they'll dredge up next. I fully expect the red and blue not to be re-issued, but for Apple to come up with some other concept to persuade us to part with our money.

Quoted from BlueMeanie

Makes you wonder what little gimmick they'll dredge up next. I fully expect the red and blue not to be re-issued, but for Apple to come up with some other concept to persuade us to part with our money.

If I could be bothered I'd love to make a little compilation of Beatle country songs. Opening with "What Goes on" which I really quite like. And a rare congratulations to George for his fine guitar work. It really suited him.
I think too it's something a tribute band could mine. (especially since everything else seems to be taken.)

You know what? The total running time of the four Red Album/Blue Album discs combined is less than 163 minutes... So if you'd delete one or two songs, that whole set could be released as one double CD...

Quoted from Joost

You know what? The total running time of the four Red Album/Blue Album discs combined is less than 163 minutes... So if you'd delete one or two songs, that whole set could be released as one double CD...

That was one of the big complaints about those sets when they were released on CD in 1993. With a running time of about sixty minutes, there was simply no reason to issue the red album as a double set. As you say, both sets could have been included in one two-disc package with a couple of deletions, and that would have made a quite decent album.

Without a doubt the blue album turned me into a Beatles fan, then the red.  It's hard to quibble with the songs that were chosen, they pretty well chose themselves.  Back in the day, when the records came out (1973), a double album was necessary because of the constraints of vinyl.  Sure they overpriced the CD's for years but these two were worth the money.  Rock and Roll Music was another pretty good double album.

Quoted from wingsman

I was introduced to the Beatles music through 1 too. To discover, buy and listen that album was a magical experience. It's like your little treasure, just 1 CD with some of the best music ever written and recorded. That's because I love it so much, because it's like a tiny piece with huge talent, work and creativity into it. And the booklet is soooooo good, I love all those colours, single covers ('Les Beatles', 'Los Beatles', hehe). The design is simply fantastic, using exclusively the Helvetica font (my favourite ever), even the George Martin introduction is beautiful.

I bought the 1 album right when it came out, and never bothered to look at the booklet! &nb