Greatest Hits now brings David Gray’s career output to six studio albums and a stunning five retrospectives. Whether it was compiling unreleased songs or early, unheard ones, Gray has never been shy about milking his back catalogue. Releasing a greatest hits album, though, is a dicey proposition. Gray’s “hits” have been few and far between, as his albums are commonly met with mixed reactions, and this collection is a great display of his uneven output.

The strongest material here is from 2000’s White Ladder (“Babylon,” “Please Forgive Me” and “Sail Away”), though another new version of “Babylon,” in addition to the two versions included on Ladder, is unnecessary. They work because of their tortured nature, combined with Gray’s raspy, straining voice. Happier songs like “The One I Love” and the never-before-released “You’re the World to Me” are perfect examples of why Gray’s albums seem so off-balance — joyful love songs and his animal wail are horribly mismatched.