With the 5th pick overall, in the Greatest Hits / Compilations category, I pick
Nuggets: Original Artyfacts From The First Psychedelic Era.
The original Nuggets album is a greatest hits collection for the original wave of garage rock 1-hit wonders: all those fuzzed-out 60s, shaggy acts who's lives changed when they heard 'Louie Louie'. This is the first American response to the British Invasion: the sound of hundreds of dumb teenagers getting very, very high and trying to re-write 'Satisfaction'.
The original record has been reissued a bunch of times, and expanded to a whole box set. The box is great, but it's the original double album that has all the crucial cuts: The Standells, The Electric Prunes, Count 5 (read the
Lester Bangs essay about how he learned to love 'Psychotic Reaction' if you ever get a chance), The Remains, The Nazz, and a whole bunch of other 'The' bands. This is punk rock's ground zero.
Original double album
Side one
The Electric Prunes: "I Had Too Much to Dream (Last Night)"
The Standells: "Dirty Water"
The Strangeloves: "Night Time"
The Knickerbockers: "Lies"
The Vagrants: "Respect"
Mouse: "A Public Execution"
The Blues Project: "No Time Like the Right Time"
Side two
The Shadows of Knight: "Oh Yeah"
The Seeds: "Pushin' Too Hard"
The Barbarians: "Moulty"
The Remains: "Don't Look Back"
The Magicians: "An Invitation to Cry"
The Castaways: "Liar, Liar"
The 13th Floor Elevators: "You're Gonna Miss Me"
Side three
Count Five: "Psychotic Reaction"
The Leaves: "Hey Joe"
Michael and the Messengers: "Romeo & Juliet"
The Cryan' Shames: "Sugar and Spice"
The Amboy Dukes: "Baby Please Don't Go"
Blues Magoos: "Tobacco Road"
Side four
The Chocolate Watchband: "Let's Talk About Girls"
The Mojo Men: "Sit Down, I Think I Love You"
The Third Rail: "Run, Run, Run"
Sagittarius: "My World Fell Down"
Nazz: "Open My Eyes"
The Premiers: "Farmer John"
The Magic Mushrooms: "It's-a-Happening"