Greatest Hits/compilation albums can be very good, depending on the band.

My Eagles(The Very Best Of)/Queen(Greatest Hits I & II) albums are the ones i go for first when i want to listen to those bands as they have the best (mostly) work of those bands.

Echoes provided me with my first exposure to the Floyd that i liked, a few years ago (i think when i was 12/13, i am now 17) a friend told me they thought id like PF but when i listened to them i thought they were shit (the concepts were too advanced and not enough lyrics for me at that time). So now i have Echoes and eight( Floyd albums (plus RW and DG solo albums) on my music shelves.

In conclusion: Greatest Hits albums work for some bands and not for others, though despite what people say about echoes, i think it also works for the Floyd, it just wasnt long enough, 15 disc wud have been better

VV