Hi motley. I am not 100% sure what you are asking, but I can give some suggestions which may help. I find compilations frustrating as itunes will often not organise them as I want to. Compilations are the most prone to bugs where an artist appears twice, under themself and in the compilation. Then coverflow ends up looking a mess.
Some things to try are right clicking on tracks and checking or unchecking the box in info 'part of a compilation. Then in sorting I find that if you remove the information in the right hand boxes you are more likely to get what you want as opposed to itunes. Again in info make sure all artists/album artists are listed in the same way in the same box to keep the compilation together.