Greatest Hits (Mariah Carey album)

Infobox Album
Name = Greatest Hits
Type = greatest hits
Artist = Mariah Carey


Released = December 4 2001 (U.S.)
Recorded = 1989-1999
Genre = Pop, R&B
Length = 123:05
Label = Columbia Records
CK-85960
Producer = Mariah Carey, Walter Afanasieff, Puff Daddy, Q-Tip, Jermaine Dupri, Manuel Seal, Dave Hall, DJ Clue, Duro, Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis, Stevie J., Mike Mason, David Cole, Robert Clivillés, Babyface, Narada Michael Walden, Rhett Lawrence, Ric Wake
Reviews = *Allmusic Rating|4.5|5 [http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=10:wvfoxqq0ldte link]
Last album = "Glitter"
(2001)
This album = "Greatest Hits"
(2001)
Next album = "Charmbracelet"
(2002)

"Greatest Hits" is the eleventh album by American singer Mariah Carey, released in the United States on December 4 2001 (see 2001 in music) by Columbia Records. It is a greatest hits double compilation album: CD 1 is primarily a collection of Carey's hits from 1990 to 1995, while CD 2 is primarily a collection of hits from 1996 to 2000 (including many duets).

Content

Carey had previously released the compilation album "#1's" (1998), but the release of her "Greatest Hits" album was a contractual agreement beyond her control, since she had left Columbia Records and had moved on to Virgin Records. The album had little creative input from Carey and there are no personal messages within its liner notes, unlike "#1's". All tracks from the previous album, with the exception of "Whenever You Call" with Brian McKnight, and the "#1's" non-US bonus track "Do You Know Where You're Going To" are included on "Greatest Hits". The tracks that were not included on "#1's" are:

*the U.S. top five hits "Can't Let Go" (1991), "Make It Happen" (1992) and "Without You" (1994), and the top twenty hit "Anytime You Need a Friend" (1994);
*the radio airplay-only tracks "Forever" (1996), "Underneath the Stars" (1996), and "Butterfly" (1997);
*"Heartbreaker" (1999) and "Thank God I Found You" (2000), the two singles from Carey's "Rainbow" album that went to number one following the release of "#1's", as well as "Can't Take That Away (Mariah's Theme)" (2000), another track from "Rainbow";
*"Endless Love" (1994), a top five duet with Luther Vandross which had not been previously included on any Carey album;
*the "So So Def" remix of "All I Want for Christmas Is You" (1994) featuring Lil' Bow Wow and Jermaine Dupri, which had previously only been on the Japanese re-release of the single in 2000.

Most non-U.S. versions of "Greatest Hits" retain the track listing as listed below with the addition of "Against All Odds (Take a Look at Me Now)" (2000), a duet with Westlife. The Japanese version contains "Against All Odds", "Open Arms" (1996), the non-single album track "Music Box" from the album "Music Box" (1993), and the "Merry Christmas" album version of "All I Want for Christmas Is You"; it is also the only album to include the "Never Too Far/Hero Medley" (2001) single. Unlike most non-U.S. versions of the "Greatest Hits" album, the "So So Def" remix of "All I Want for Christmas Is You" was not included on the original UK edition but on the album's 2005 re-release.

Release

It received almost no promotion, and as it was released shortly after Carey's commercially unsuccessful film "Glitter" and its accompanying soundtrack album of the same name, its existence is often not known by the general public. It debuted at number fifty-two on the U.S. Billboard 200 chart with 54,483 copies sold in its first week. It has sold 1,015,000 copies, remained on the chart for eleven weeks and has been certified platinum by the RIAA. It has also shipped 5 million units worldwide.

"Greatest Hits" was a failure on the charts compared to Carey's previous albums, and she does not acknowledge its existence publicly, except in an interview after learning of the release, when she hoped fans would like "Greatest Hits" because her favorite songs that did not appear on "#1's" appeared here. However, back catalog sales of the album began to sell at a moderate pace following the success of Carey's fourteenth album, "The Emancipation of Mimi" (2005). It was then re-released in the UK on October 10 2005 (see 2005 in music), this time with the inclusion of the "So So Def" remix of "All I Want for Christmas Is You". It subsequently entered the top ten of the UK Albums Chart for the first time (the re-release debuted at number nine), eventually peaking at number seven in the re-release's second week of sales. In 2008, it entered the Pop Catalogue at number 5 the highest re-entry that week.

Charts, sales and certification

¹ This figure only includes Soundscan sales.

Track listing

*CD 1
# "Vision of Love" – 3:31
# "Love Takes Time" – 3:51
# "Someday" – 4:08
# "I Don't Wanna Cry" – 4:51
# "Emotions" – 4:10
# "Can't Let Go" – 4:29
# "Make It Happen" – 5:09
# "I'll Be There" featuring Trey Lorenz – 4:26
# "Dreamlover" – 3:55
# "Hero" – 4:20
# "Without You" – 3:37
# "Anytime You Need a Friend" – 4:27
# "Endless Love" with Luther Vandross – 4:21
# "Fantasy" – 4:04
#:Japan Only-bonus tracks:
# "Open Arms" - 3:30
# "Music Box" - 4:57
# "All I Want for Christmas Is You" - 4:02

*CD 2
# "One Sweet Day" with Boyz II Men – 4:43
# "Always Be My Baby" – 4:20
# "Forever" – 4:01
# "Underneath the Stars" – 3:35
# "Honey" – 5:02
# "Butterfly" – 4:36
# "My All" – 3:53
# "Sweetheart" with Jermaine Dupri – 4:24
# "When You Believe" with Whitney Houston – 4:36
# "I Still Believe" – 3:57
# "Heartbreaker" featuring Jay-Z – 4:48
# "Thank God I Found You" featuring Joe and 98 Degrees – 4:20
# "Can't Take That Away (Mariah's Theme)" – 4:34
#:Bonus Tracks:
# "Against All Odds (Take a Look at Me Now)" with Westlife - 3:21
# "All I Want for Christmas Is You" (So So Def remix) featuring Lil' Bow Wow and Jermaine Dupri – 3:43
# "Never Too Far/Hero Medley - 4:48

References