The Yardbirds Greatest Hits is the first compilation album of songs recorded by the Yardbirds. It was released in the United States in March 1967 by Epic Records and included all six of the Yardbirds' American A-side singles up to that time, plus three B-sides and the live "Smokestack Lightning" from Having a Rave Up and Five Live Yardbirds.[1]

The Yardbirds Greatest Hits
Greatest hits album by the Yardbirds
Released	27 March 1967 (1967-03-27)
Recorded	1964–1966
Genre	Rock
Length	30:26
Label	Epic
Producer	Giorgio Gomelsky, Simon Napier-Bell
The Yardbirds' US album chronology
Over Under Sideways Down (1966) The Yardbirds Greatest Hits (1967) Little Games (1967)

The album was the group's highest charting LP record in the US, peaking at number 28 on the Billboard 200 album chart.[2] Despite the modest peak, it ranked number 73 on the magazine's year-end "Top LP's – 1967" chart because of its longevity.[3]

Critical reception

Professional ratings

Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic	[2]

AllMusic critic Bruce Eder gave the album four and a half out of five stars, who comments "the whole platter summed up, just about as neatly as it was possible to do across just ten songs, what made the Yardbirds a great band."[2] He notes that since the focus is on "hits", most of the selections feature guitarist Jeff Beck, although Eric Clapton and Jimmy Page are represented with one song each.[2] Eder adds:

Given its layout and purpose, as well as complications brought about by the subsequent shifting ownership and licensing of different parts of the group's library, this ended up being the best single-disc LP compilation ever issued on this band ... And it was responsible for introducing many fans to the full range of the group's work.

Track listing

References