Ahhh, yes, it's like battling against the age-old story of "I like your old stuff better than your new stuff". I remember the first time I struck this, was on that Billy Joel Greatest Hits double LP from the mid-1980s. It had so many classic songs on it, that when it finally got to the likes of 'You're Only Human' there was something a bit false and sub-par about it, but that's only at the end of what was otherwise one of the best greatest hits collections ever.
Same thing with the Fleetwood Mac greatest hits that came out in the late 80s - it finished off with 2 'new' songs 'As Long As You Follow' and 'No Questions Asked'. They took a fair bit of listening to semi-appreciate compared to all the classics before it, and to this day they're still not really up there with the best. The Rick Vito and Billy Burnette era of Fleetwood Mac I kinda liken to the Hamish Stuart & Robbie McIntosh era of our Macca - maybe it was down to the thin trebly production values that the late 80s brought to the table?
