The Best of... So Far

The Best of... So Far
The Best of... So Far
Greatest hits album by The Kooks
Released	19 May 2017
Genre	Indie rock, indie pop, chamber pop, alternative
Label	Virgin EMI
The Kooks chronology

The Best of... So Far is a greatest hits album by British rock band The Kooks, released on 19 May 2017 by Virgin and Astralwerks.^[1] The compilation includes singles from the band's four studio albums to date, non-singles "Seaside" and "Matchbox" from debut album Inside In/Inside Out, and two new tracks, "Be Who You Are" and "Broken Vow". The deluxe edition of the album includes a 20-track second disc containing demos and alternate versions.^[2]

Background

On 21 November 2016, The Kooks announced a 'Best Of' UK Tour to take place in April and May 2017 to mark their tenth anniversary as a band, in which they were planning to perform hits, b-sides and brand new music.^[3] To coincide with the tour, on 31 March 2017 the band announced the upcoming release of The Best of... So Far, as well as releasing "Be Who You Are", one of two new songs included on the compilation.^[4]

Lead singer and songwriter Luke Pritchard cited initial hesitation in releasing a greatest hits compilation. He stated, "I wasn't particularly sure about the idea of doing a 'best of' album to begin with, because we're not even old - we haven't even been around for twenty years, but it's been cool to see the nostalgia out there from people who grew up with our music." Regarding the compilation's song selection, Pritchard added, "We chose the songs that we thought defined us the most over the years and put them on there."

The two new songs included in the compilation were recorded during sessions with producer Brandon Friesen for the band's upcoming fifth album, Let's Go Sunshine. According to Pritchard, "Be Who You Are" was an attempt to recreate the band's old sound. He said, "I was like, 'What would I have written then, and what kind of style should it be?' The lyrics are all self-reflective and about me at that time. I thought it would be good to go with all the other songs, so it's a nice reflective moment."

Meanwhile, "Broken Vow" is a tale that was inspired by the "hypocrisy" of the Catholic Church, of which Pritchard had some first-hand experience having gone to an all-boys Catholic school in his youth.^[5]

Pritchard was also keen to emphasize that this compilation did not signal the end of the band. "It's been the greatest pleasure to work, travel, fight, hate and love the best and most talented people I've met in my life. It's the greatest job in the world and we don't intend to stop any time soon."^[1]

Track listing

No.	Title	Writer(s)	Producer(s)	Length
1.	"Naïve"	Luke Pritchard Hugh Harris Max Rafferty Paul Garred	Tony Hoffer	3:25
2.	"Always Where I Need to Be"	Pritchard	Hoffer	2:41
3.	"Junk of the Heart (Happy)"	Pritchard Hoffer	Hoffer	3:07
4.	"Bad Habit"	Pritchard Dean Wynton Josiah Cover Peter Denton	Inflo	3:41
5.	"She Moves in Her Own Way"	Pritchard Harris Rafferty Garred	Hoffer	2:49
6.	"Shine On"	Pritchard	Hoffer	3:15
7.	"Seaside"	Pritchard Harris Rafferty Garred	Hoffer	1:39
8.	"Down"	Pritchard Cover	Inflo	2:43
9.	"Sofa Song"	Pritchard Harris Rafferty Garred	Hoffer	2:14
10.	"Is It Me"	Pritchard	Hoffer	3:29
11.	"You Don't Love Me"	Pritchard Harris Rafferty Garred	Hoffer	2:35
12.	"Forgive & Forget"	Pritchard Cover Alexis Nuñez	Inflo	3:57
13.	"Ooh La"	Pritchard Harris Rafferty Garred	Hoffer	3:32
14.	"Sway"	Pritchard	Hoffer	3:37
15.	"Eddie's Gun"	Pritchard Harris Rafferty Garred	Hoffer	2:14
16.	"Matchbox"	Pritchard Harris Rafferty Garred	Hoffer	3:12
17.	"Be Who You Are" (Alternative Intro)	Pritchard Brandon Friesen Chris Seefried^[6]	Friesen	3:54
18.	"Broken Vow"	Pritchard Friesen Seefried Laura Pergolizzi^[7]	Friesen	4:26

Digital-only bonus track
No.	Title	Writer(s)	Producer(s)	Length
19.	"Naïve" (The Him Remix)	Pritchard Harris Rafferty Garred	Hoffer	3:27

Deluxe edition bonus disc
No.	Title	Writer(s)	Producer(s)	Length
1.	"Eddie's Gun" (demo)		Paul Stacey	2:11
2.	"Sofa Song" (demo)			2:04
3.	"Pull Me In"	Pritchard Harris Rafferty Garred^[8]		3:18
4.	"California"	Mason Jennings	The Kooks	2:10
5.	"Slave to the Game"	Pritchard Harris Rafferty Garred	The Kooks	2:59
6.	"Constantine's Love" (demo)	Pritchard		2:52
7.	"Naïve" (alternate version)		Ian Broudie	3:29
8.	"Suburbs" (demo)	Pritchard		3:11
9.	"Lesson Number 3" (demo)	Pritchard Harris Rafferty Garred		3:30
10.	"The Saboteur" (demo)	Pritchard^[9]		4:04
11.	"Shine On" (demo)			2:26
12.	"Disappear" (demo)	Pritchard^[10]		3:45
13.	"Catch That" (demo)	Pritchard Garred	Pritchard	2:13
14.	"Creatures of Habit"	Pritchard Isom Innis Sam McCarthy^[11]	Innis	4:20
15.	"Lonely Cat" (demo)	Pritchard^[12]		3:17
16.	"Gap" (demo)	Pritchard Harris Rafferty Garred^[13]		3:49
17.	"Always Where I Need to Be" (demo)			2:34
18.	"If Only" (demo)	Pritchard Harris Rafferty Garred^[14]		2:03
19.	"Be Mine" (demo)	Pritchard Harris Rafferty Garred^[15]		2:35
20.	"Bus Song"	Pritchard Harris Rafferty Garred^[16]	The Kooks	2:04

Personnel

Luke Pritchard – vocals, guitar
Hugh Harris – guitar (except tracks 4, 8 and 12), backing vocals
Peter Denton – bass (tracks 3, 4, 8, 10, 17 and 18), guitar (track 4), backing vocals
Alexis Nuñez – drums (tracks 4, 8, 12, 17 and 18), bass (track 12)
Max Rafferty – bass (except tracks 3, 4, 8, 10, 12, 17 and 18), backing vocals
Paul Garred – drums (except tracks 4, 8, 12, 17 and 18)

Charts

Chart (2017)	Peak position
Belgian Albums (Ultratop Flanders)^[17]	47
Belgian Albums (Ultratop Wallonia)^[18]	167
Scottish Albums (OCC)^[19]	15
UK Albums (OCC)^[20]	18

Certifications


Region	Certification	Certified units/sales
United Kingdom (BPI)^[21]	Gold	100,000^‡
^‡ Sales+streaming figures based on certification alone.

References

^ ^a ^b "The Kooks Announce Greatest Hits Album, Share New Song". Archived from the original on 8 April 2017. Retrieved 7 April 2017.
^ "The Best Of... So Far Deluxe - Signed".
^ "The Kooks return for mammoth 'Best Of' UK tour in 2017 - NME". NME. 21 November 2016.
^ "Listen to The Kooks' new single 'Be Who You Are' as they announce Best of album - NME". NME. 31 March 2017.
^ "The Kooks take us inside the studio – exclusive pics and interview - NME". NME. 31 March 2017.
^ "Be Who You Are". BMI. Retrieved 19 May 2017.
^ "Broken Vow". BMI. Retrieved 19 May 2017.
^ "Pull Me In". ASCAP. Retrieved 19 May 2017.
^ "The Saboteur". ASCAP. Retrieved 19 May 2017.
^ "Disappear". ASCAP. Retrieved 19 May 2017.
^ "Creatures of Habit". BMI. Retrieved 19 May 2017.
^ "Lonely Cat". ASCAP. Retrieved 19 May 2017.
^ "Gap". ASCAP. Retrieved 19 May 2017.
^ "If Only". ASCAP. Retrieved 19 May 2017.
^ "Be Mine". BMI. Retrieved 19 May 2017.
^ "Bus Song". BMI. Retrieved 19 May 2017.
^ "Ultratop.be – The Kooks – The Best Of... So Far" (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved 26 May 2017.
^ "Ultratop.be – The Kooks – The Best Of... So Far" (in French). Hung Medien. Retrieved 26 May 2017.
^ "Official Scottish Albums Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 27 May 2017.
^ "Official Albums Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 27 May 2017.
^ "British album certifications – Kooks – The Best Of So Far". British Phonographic Industry. Retrieved 30 August 2020.

[Paste-1] "The Kooks Announce Greatest Hits Album, Share New Song". Archived from the original on 8 April 2017. Retrieved 7 April 2017.

[2] "The Best Of... So Far Deluxe - Signed".

[3] "The Kooks return for mammoth 'Best Of' UK tour in 2017 - NME". NME. 21 November 2016.

[4] "Listen to The Kooks' new single 'Be Who You Are' as they announce Best of album - NME". NME. 31 March 2017.

[5] "The Kooks take us inside the studio – exclusive pics and interview - NME". NME. 31 March 2017.

[6] "Be Who You Are". BMI. Retrieved 19 May 2017.

[7] "Broken Vow". BMI. Retrieved 19 May 2017.

[8] "Pull Me In". ASCAP. Retrieved 19 May 2017.

[9] "The Saboteur". ASCAP. Retrieved 19 May 2017.

[10] "Disappear". ASCAP. Retrieved 19 May 2017.

[11] "Creatures of Habit". BMI. Retrieved 19 May 2017.

[12] "Lonely Cat". ASCAP. Retrieved 19 May 2017.

[13] "Gap". ASCAP. Retrieved 19 May 2017.

[14] "If Only". ASCAP. Retrieved 19 May 2017.

[15] "Be Mine". BMI. Retrieved 19 May 2017.

[16] "Bus Song". BMI. Retrieved 19 May 2017.

[ac_Flanders_The_Kooks-17] "Ultratop.be – The Kooks – The Best Of... So Far" (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved 26 May 2017.

[ac_Wallonia_The_Kooks-18] "Ultratop.be – The Kooks – The Best Of... So Far" (in French). Hung Medien. Retrieved 26 May 2017.

[ac_Scotland_-19] "Official Scottish Albums Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 27 May 2017.

[ac_UK2_-20] "Official Albums Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 27 May 2017.

[United_KingdomKooksThe_Best_Of_So_FaralbumCertRef-21] "British album certifications – Kooks – The Best Of So Far". British Phonographic Industry. Retrieved 30 August 2020.

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v t e The Kooks
Studio albums	Inside In / Inside Out Konk Junk of the Heart Listen Let's Go Sunshine 10 Tracks to Echo in the Dark
Compilation albums	The Best of... So Far
Singles	"Eddie's Gun" "Sofa Song" "You Don't Love Me" "Naïve" "She Moves in Her Own Way" "Ooh La" "Always Where I Need to Be" "Shine On" "Sway" "Down" "Bad Habit"
Related	Discography