I just ran into an interesting situation while trying to submit some cover art to Fanart.tv for the Greatest Hits album by Nazareth. For some reason, there are three separate release groups, all titled Greatest Hits and all marked as Album + Compilation.
One official release with 12 tracks
One official release with 17 tracks
One bootleg release with 21 + 20 tracks
One official release with 15 tracks
One official release with 18 tracks
Is there something that I’m missing that explains the three separate release groups, or should these be merged (even though every release is obviously different from every other release)?
I may be misunderstanding your querie.
To me there appear multiple RGs with the same title.
Multiple?
Yes cause the Style Guidelines say only to group certain releases. (The style guidelines don’t say to group releases that have the same name.)
Style Guidelines for Release Groups: What should be grouped together?
Release groups should be used to group variations of the same release. The following are examples of things which should normally be grouped together in the same release group:
_ The original release_
_ Releases in different countries_
_ Releases on different formats_
_ Special/limited editions_
_ Re-issues_
_ Remasters_
_ Promotional versions_
_ Pirated versions_
_ Pseudo-releases_
_ Different bootleg recordings of the same concert_
This includes those where the tracklist isn’t identical, such as releases which have bonus tracks or even bonus discs.
If I am reading you wrong please let me know where I’ve gone off track
So having three different release groups with the same name is correct. Okay.
I recently entered the 12-track release, and am now wondering if it should be in yet another release group, or a different release group (the one with the 15-track release). The 12-track release matches the first 12 tracks from both the 15-track and 17-track releases. The 18-track release is significantly different, so I don’t think it belongs there.
Edit: After checking, I didn’t add that release, but just added a higher resolution cover image. I do have a copy of that CD though, and all the details match up (label, catalog number, barcode, tracks, etc.)
The 18 track release has a different cover and I’d expect it to be different. The covers of the others mostly fit, but the tracklists don’t, so that’s a curious one - but I guess separate as of now is good. The bootleg should be split IMO - the tracklist doesn’t fit much and the cover is completely different. I’m doing that but I left it open in case there’s a good reason not to.
This kind of compilation name is very often (best of, greatest hits or the names of their most famous singles).
It tracklist list are similar, they can be merged as they are newer editions.
But often their tracklist will be too much different and the release groups are indeed different compilations with the same very predictable name.
One more thing that makes it a bit more confusing for me is that there are eight Greatest Hits groups for Nazareth on Discogs. With artwork and basic info they are:
Of these, three (1, 5 and 6) have the same (12-track) track list, and could be considered part of the same release group, even though some of the artwork differs. Further, the 15-track number 7 has the same first 12 tracks (although in a slightly different order – track 1 is moved to the track 6 position), and could possibly be considered part of the same group (with 3 bonus tracks).
The others have significantly different track lists such that that they could probably justify being different release groups.
After reviewing this, I’ve initiated Edit 47241614 to move the 12-track release into the same release group with the 15-track release.
1, 5, and 6 are definitely together; artwork’s definitely an argument for splitting releases, but it’s much less important for release groups – sure, it can provide good hints, but it’s not always definitive in itself. I think reissues and expanded editions tend to be put in the same group as well, so 7 would probably join them. For even more drastic track order shuffling, take a look at 8-track versions, but those are still in the same group as well. The others all sound like they’d be in separate groups, though.
12 tracks. 102 versions.
18 tracks. 4 versions.
17 tracks. 1 version.
11 + 7 tracks. 1 version.
12 tracks. 1 version (cassette).
12 tracks. 1 version (vinyl).
15 tracks. 1 version (CD reissue).
12 tracks. 1 version (CD).