Beastie Boys' Solid Gold Hits (Capitol) presents nothing that most fans won't already own: It just presents things in a different order, going with flow rather than chronology. A single-disc package might be a good place to start for your little brother; then again, just grabbing Paul's Boutique and Ill Communication might be a fine place to start, too. Solid Gold Hits is also available with a DVD that gathers all the videos—most of which were already available on the exhaustive Criterion DVD…
So most of the world can agree that Alanis Morissette is kinda terrible, right? But damn if that annoying banshee and her cringeworthy lyrics ("Isn't it ironic? / Don't you think?") didn't craft a few Teflon pop hits. "You Oughta Know" and "Ironic" can stay buried forever (oh, don't worry, they are in fact included on Maverick's The Collection), but "Thank You" is sort of unbearably catchy, and "Hands Clean" even borders on, gulp, good. That doesn't mean this single-disc best-of needs 18 tracks (including a new cover of Seal's "Crazy"), but it would've actually made a solid CD-single…
Curtain Call: The Hits (Interscope) is supposedly Eminem's final release, which is probably a good thing, considering the downward trajectory of his recent singles. The new tracks included here are rote at best, and just stupid at worst: "Fack" sounds like Eric Cartman, "Shake That" is boring booty, and Mr. Mathers has already written the family-drama anthem "When I'm Gone" half a dozen times, and better. But even those castoffs can't tarnish Eminem's best singles: "My Name Is" is still sparkling, biting, and funny, "Lose Yourself" captures his essence, and "Guilty Conscience" is hilariously mean and clever. (He hasn't been the latter in far too long.) But where's "Just Don't Give A Fuck"? Well, it's actually available on the seven-track bonus disc Stan's Mixtape, which also adds a handful of worthwhile rarities, including tracks with The Notorious B.I.G. and Jay-Z.
