Master Series

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New Romantic ensemble Visage's Master Series compilation, showing the 1996 series design.
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New Romantic ensemble Visage's Master Series compilation, showing the 1996 series design.

Master Series is the title of a line of greatest hits albums, released in European countries primarily by PolyGram International, as well as A&M Records, Deram Records, FFRR Records, Mercury Records, and Polydor Records. Four Master Series series of albums were released: from 1987-1990, 1996-1998, 1998-1999, and from 2003 onwards.

The covers of each series are visually unified:

  • 1987 series: Black background, "Master Serie" in a sans-serif font, the artist's name in a script font, a prominent red stripe, and a photo.
  • 1996 series: Black background, the artist's name in a serif font, and a collage of photos.
  • 1998 series: White background, "Master Series" in a script font, the artist's name in a sans-serif font, and a photo.
  • 2003 series: A large photo crossfading into a black background with the artist's name in a serif font, and "Master Serie" set against a red glow.

The 1996 series represented various bands in eclectic genres (such as New Wave) with relatively small followings, and the 1998 series included hard rock/progressive rock musicians and bands. These series are branded with the international title Master Series. The French title Master série is used to brand the more traditional line with a strong focus on European pop singers, which are frequently issued in multiple volumes. Each subsequent series also reissued some albums from the previous series.

In addition, some albums were reissued by Universal Music Group under the Universal Masters Collection and Millennium Edition titles.

Contents

[edit] Releases

This list is incomplete; you can help by expanding it.

[edit] 1987 series

[edit] 1996 series

[edit] 1998 series

Girl group Bananarama's Master Serie compilation, shown in its 1998 reissue.
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Girl group Bananarama's Master Serie compilation, shown in its 1998 reissue.

[edit] Millennium Edition reissues

[edit] 2003 series

Singer Dalida's Master Serie compilation.
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Singer Dalida's Master Serie compilation.
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