Nature's Best is a New Zealand music compilation series that showcases what are considered the country's most significant popular songs of the modern era. The project originated in the late 1990s and was based on a list compiled by the Australasian Performing Right Association (APRA) of the top 100 New Zealand songs as voted by industry professionals.
Compilation albums
- Nature's Best (1999) – The inaugural album, released by EMI, featured 49 tracks selected from the APRA list. It achieved commercial success and was certified multiple times platinum in New Zealand.
- Nature's Best 2 (2002) – A follow‑up collection that added further tracks from the APRA top‑100 list, expanding the series' coverage of New Zealand music.
- Nature's Best 3 (2003) – The third installment continued the chronological and stylistic breadth of the series, completing the representation of the APRA‑selected songs.
- Nature's Best – The Video (2004) – A DVD release containing music videos and performances associated with the tracks featured on the three audio compilations.
Associated publications
- Nature's Best: The Book (2002) – Edited by music journalist Marc Harrison, this companion book provides commentary, artist biographies, and contextual information for each of the 100 selected songs.
Cultural impact
The Nature's Best series is credited with consolidating a canon of New Zealand popular music, influencing public perception of the nation’s musical heritage, and prompting renewed interest in the featured artists. The compilations have been used in educational settings and have contributed to the preservation of New Zealand’s contemporary cultural history.
Other uses
The phrase “Nature’s Best” has also been employed as a marketing slogan by various unrelated products and services, such as food brands and outdoor equipment retailers. These uses are not connected to the music compilation series and do not constitute a single, widely recognized concept.