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But for every brilliantly repackaged edition of The Joshua Tree or an Elvis Costello back catalog, there are other less important yet still more highly reconstituted albums making their way to the light of day again. And again. And again. These are works that may have warranted a second life, of course, but definitely didn’t warrant the third, fourth, or 19th after that. With that in mind, here's a look at some of the worst offenders.

Kiss

Any discussion of self-marketing and overblown exploitation of fan loyalty begins and ends with this merry band of usually masked men. To their credit, the band has released 22 proper studio albums, although many would argue that none have been any good since 1983's Lick it Up. Still, from all that the guys assembled five boxed sets, countless "best-of" assemblies, collector's editions of those best-of releases, three separate Originals multi-album packs, three editions of the Gold singles collection, and three different inclusions in Mercury's usually tasteful 20th Century Masters collection. What's more, the band has also re-released each of the four members' 1978 solo albums both individually, as a composite boxed set, and in three different versions of a Best of the Solo Albums album for good measure. For those keeping score, that's 33 retrospective albums covering ground laid out by 22 proper studio albums, and a remarkably high-mileage approach to marketing their catalog, although probably not unexpected for a band whose farewell tour has been raging on since 2003.

ABBA

In their glorious nine-year reign over the world of Swede-pop, ABBA released eight albums and more than a few outstanding singles that everyone loves but won't admit. Yet from that seemingly limited catalog, the group have put together twenty-two best-of and singles compilations (two of which are Spanish-notated editions of their global release counterparts), two boxed sets, and a minimum of three different re-releases of each of those eight studio albums. It would stand to reason these were all entirely unwanted and unnecessary (how many copies of "Take a Chance on Me" does anyone really need?) but with an estimated 370 million records sold worldwide, they've got to be doing at least something right. That said, the non-stop saccharine goodness of 1992's ABBA Gold sold six million copies and remains the only ABBA most music fans should need. Or want.

The Rolling Stones

Where classic songs go, few artists rival the stature or clout of the Stones, but what often goes overlooked is that the group hasn't actually released that many albums (22 or 24 depending on whether you count the UK or US pressings of earlier works as the "true" album). From that group, the band had more than their fair share of classic albums, but what's interesting is, depending on how you keep score, that they've either released almost or exactly as many compilations as they have proper albums. In the space of 22 collections, anthologies, retrospectives, and in some cases expanded reissues of greatest hits packages. No one ever sold 66 million records by holding back, but when evaluating sales strictly in terms of studio album sales, the Stones are really only one gold albums' worth of sales ahead of Bon Jovi.

Neil Diamond

It's easy to pick on Neil Diamond, which is a shame because the root of his entirely laughable stage character is in some of the finest pop singles of the past 50 years. Considering how many of Diamond's 29 albums have been almost completely ignorable, it wouldn't be out of the question to distill many of them into highlights collections intended for the casual fan. But even at that, does the world need 22 different singles collections, including a 1969 greatest hits album that came on the heels of only his second album? Granted, any Neil Diamond collection will have more than its share of crowd-pleasers (and really, who doesn't need a copy of "Cherry, Cherry" at their disposal) but can anyone argue with a straight face how The Essential Neil Diamond, Essential Collection, and The Essential Greatest Hits Collection could all be essential simultaneously, especially when Forever More and two separate Forever Neil Diamond collections were all released in the wake of Essential Neilmania? Highly unlikely, and the less-invested observer would be wise to avoid the whole mess altogether by sticking to 1999's Ultimate Collection, better known as "the one everyone has."

Ozzy Osbourne

He's actually been quite restrained in his approach to his back catalog, but in one brutal motion the Ozzman committed the ultimate sin where old material is concerned. While 1981's Diary of a Madman scored high with the hard rock and metal crowd, the Osbourne camp took a number of creative liberties with the 2002 remastered version. Not content to simply leave drummer Lee Kerlsake and bassist Bob Daisley out of the original release's credits, the edition with the bonus track featured drummer Mike Bordin and bassist Rob Trujillo in their place in both the credits and in the recordings themselves; Daisley and Kerslake's tracks were literally removed from the master recordings of every song on Diary. Ozzy and wife Sharon claimed this was due to the legal issues that came about from Daisley and Kerslake's 1986 lawsuit – a statement that would normally make sense were it not for the fact Daisley and Kerslake's work was still intact on the album's first remaster and reissue in 1995. Personal squabbles aside, fans were outraged over the changes and proved that not only does the listener know best, but that it is in fact possible to get something wrong the third time around.

New Order

They may have set the standard for must-have retrospectives with 1987's Substance, but somewhere along the line New Order traded their studio savvy for a seemingly endless chain of best-of, remix, and anthology releases. Between 1993 and 2007, the band released three new studio albums, six best-of sets, one vinyl single reissue and one all-inclusive boxed set. It made sense at the time of its release, but 2005's Waiting for the Siren's Call effectively rendered the Retro box useless as it was no longer the definitive collection of New Order tunes. Likewise, most fans would agree "Regret" from 1993's Republic belongs in the discussion of the group's finest singles, but the album it came from (as well as the two that followed) didn't contribute enough to the group's legend to warrant the additional revisitations of their back catalog. All told, the band sports nine best-of albums, a number made larger by the fact they've only released eight studio albums. Most fans would be wise to stick with either Substance for a comprehensive overview of the group's better dance tracks, or 1994's (The Best of) New Order for a collection of their most essential pop tracks.

The Smiths

In the brief time between formation and self-destruction, the Smiths put together some of the best music to ever come out of England. In their four years together, the group released four full-length studio albums each considered a classic in its own right. Yet somehow, they've since managed to squeeze a mind-boggling eight singles collections and retrospectives out of that tiny catalog. Most of this can be attributed to Sire Records' struggles in the 1980s – including releasing their first singles collection nine months after their debut album – but one has to marvel at how artistic pioneers who so vocally railed against the superficiality of modern life could turn 41 songs into 12 albums. Given the band's limited catalog, savvy used-CD shoppers could probably assemble the entire Smiths library for less than the price of a new copy of 1995's Singles, which also happens to be the one Smiths compilation that actually presents what it advertises.

It's easy to dismiss greatest hits and singles collections as cheap cash-ins when the same old songs are given a new sleeve and called new, but not every act has taken the purely money-grubbing approach to their back catalog. Sure, Iron Maiden may have re-issued every single one of its 14 studio albums at least three times in three different editions, and not one but two ultra-limited boxed sets shaped like venerable band mascot Eddie, but for every Maiden or Aerosmith there's a Nick Drake (four albums, one best-of, one boxed set) or Pearl Jam (seven studio albums, one best-of, one b-sides collection) where the distilled version still stands as an introduction rather than a piece of the puzzle. Then again, in an age of digital downloads and a la carte track selection, the day may soon come where friendly recommendations take the place of record label opinions and no one is stuck with a best of collection that is no longer truly the best.

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