Whitney: The Greatest Hits is a compilation album by American singer Whitney Houston, released in May 2000. The set consists of disc one with ballads and disc two with uptempo numbers and remixes, spanning the first 15 years of Houston's music career. Houston's performance of "The Star-Spangled Banner" at Super Bowl XXV, and 1988Olympics tribute "One Moment in Time" are also included in the set. The collection includes four new songs—"Could I Have This Kiss Forever", duet with Enrique Iglesias, "If I Told You That", duet with George Michael, "Same Script, Different Cast", duet with Deborah Cox and "Fine"—all of which were released as singles. It also includes three other songs that had never appeared on a Houston album: "One Moment in Time", "The Star Spangled Banner", and "If You Say My Eyes Are Beautiful", a duet with Jermaine Jackson from his 1986 Precious Moments album. Along with the album, an accompanying VHS and DVD was released featuring the music videos to Houston's greatest hits, as well as several hard-to-find live performances including her 1983 debut on The Merv Griffin Show, and interviews.[1]
Houston's compilation album had been in development for several years prior to its release. As early as 1995, Billboard listed Houston's Greatest Hits album as an upcoming release scheduled for October of that year.[2] Billboard magazine mentioned a "long-promised" Greatest Hits collection again in July 1996, this time due that autumn.[3] Speculation on the timing of the release continued into 1997, with Houston quoted that year as saying: "Oh, Clive is on my case about this greatest hits album. He's like, Whitney, we have to do a greatest hits album, I mean you're far long overdue."[4]
Upon its release, Whitney: The Greatest Hits was a great commercial success and received generally good reviews, although some critics questioned the inclusion of some remixes on Disc Two instead of the original song versions. The album peaked within the top ten in most countries of the Americas, Europe, Asia, Africa, as well as Australia and New Zealand. It received numerous multi-platinum and platinum awards.
After Houston's passing in February 2012, it saw a resurgence in sales and re-entered album charts in many countries around the world. In the United States, it reached a new peak of number two on the US Billboard 200 chart. In July 2012, it was certified five times platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) for sales exceeding 2.5 million in the United States. Because it is a double disc album, it has had its discs counted separately for certification purposes by the RIAA. In Europe, the IFPI certified the album three times platinum in 2000 for sales exceeding 3 million copies.
In the United States, copies sold at Circuit City stores included a third disc containing new club remixes. Whitney: The Unreleased Mixes is a limited-edition four-record vinyl set, containing eight full club versions of selected remixes found on the American release. In June 2006, it was released digitally and re-titled Dance Vault Mixes: Whitney Houston – The Unreleased Mixes (Collector's Edition). In January 2011, the album was re-issued in Europe, Canada, Australia and New Zealand with the international track listing, but the set was re-titled as The Essential Whitney Houston, as part of Sony Legacy's The Essential series.[5] In addition to the title change, the re-release also features different artwork. The cover picture of the original release was taken by David LaChapelle.[6]
Upon its release, Whitney: The Greatest Hits received generally good reviews. CANOE reviewer Jane Stevenson stated that it is "a greatest hits package that makes good listening sense."[12] Steve Huey from AllMusic showed some dissatisfaction with the second disc that included some remixes instead of the original versions, stating "the Greatest Hits disc amply reinforces once again what a fine singles artist Houston has been for the entirety of her career. Still and all, though, it's a frustrating package marred by record company greed."[7] However, Jim Farber of the New York Daily News commenting on the second disc and the entire greatest hits package stated, "In her dance mixes, she exudes an erotic dynamism that no one else has the lung power to match. This album isn't just an ecstatic piece of party music ― it utterly redefines Houston as an artist."[10]Newsweek's Allison Samuels wrote "No one of her generation sings with more character and conviction".[9]
A reviewer from The Guardian commented that "[disc two] is eminently more listenable. The likes of "I Will Always Love You" and "Greatest Love of All" weren't just a waste of one of the potentially great soul voices; they opened the door for Celine Dion. But Houston remembers her gospel and R&B roots often enough to counterbalance the slush with rootsier offerings like "I'm Your Baby Tonight" and "It's Not Right But It's Okay". New duets with George Michael and Enrique Iglesias complete a couple of hours of diva-style fun."[11] Steve Jones form USA Today rated the album four stars out of four, commenting that "Whitney: The Greatest Hits [...] puts its subject in context by smartly arranging the material so it's easy to follow Whitney Houston's 15 year progression from ingenue to mature singer. [...] The set does its job well."[13]Billboard called it "quite [a] stellar collection", adding that "timing couldn't be better for this [...] career retrospective."[14] In contrast, according to NME "[t]he timing couldn't be worse. Issuing a double CD of Whitney Houston's finest moments was intended to shore up her rapidly eroding soul diva supremacy against the rising tide of clued-up, modern successors to her throne – Missy Elliott, Lauryn Hill, Kelis."[15] It rated the collection, however, five stars out of five.[15]
LA Weekly reviewed the collection negatively, stating that "it's damn near unlistenable. The first of the two discs is the Cool Down side, i.e., the ballads. One track slides too smoothly into the next, with Whitney's voice — so strong, so assured, so boring — anchoring saccharine production and even sappier songwriting. [...] The 'Throw Down' disc is filled with astonishingly bad dance remixes of old hits[.]"[18] According to Ebony, "Whitney: The Greatest Hits reminds listeners of the enormous talent this artist demonstrated on "You Give Good Love", how she has grown, and the fact she has a long career".[19] Sonia Murray from the Atlanta Journal and Constitution graded the album a B+, commenting that "What makes Whitney Houston's first collection of hits great is her. [...] On the first CD there's her masterfully manipulated big pop confections ("I Will Always Love You"), the occasional, really soulful R&B tunes ("Saving All My Love for You") and new radio-ready duets with Whitney-in-training Deborah Cox and Latin smolderer Enrique Iglesias. The second CD of dance remixes is an appropriate nod to an artist who has held sway over so many genres. But without a gospel single from "The Preacher's Wife" soundtrack --- some of her most emotive work --- this isn't Whitney at her best."[20] AllMusic reviewer Stephen Thomas Erlewine felt that the greatest hits album "The Essential Whitney Houston plays much like the bigger package Whitney: The Greatest Hits; even if it has a handful of songs not on the 2000 collection, it covers the same territory equally well and equally entertainingly."[17]The Orlando Sentinel wrote that the "double album contains almost all of her hit singles from the past 15 years".[21]
Commercial performance[]
Whitney: The Greatest Hits was released on May 16, 2000, to great sales success. Approximately one month later, on June 20, 2000, it was certified 2× platinum in the United States by the RIAA, with an additional million copies sold worldwide.
In February 2012, following Houston's death, the album re-entered the US Billboard 200 Album Chart, reaching number 6.[22] It sold nearly one million copies in 2012, twelve years after it was released. The album had previously sold approximately 4 million units prior to 2012.[23]
In several countries worldwide, the album re-entered the top ten of many charts. In Canada, the album re-entered the charts and reached number 3 in 2012.[24] On February 29, 2012, Houston became the first and only female act to ever place three albums in the Top Ten of the US Billboard 200 Album Chart all at the same time with Whitney: the Greatest Hits at #2, The Bodyguard at #6, and Whitney Houston at #9.[25]
On March 7, 2012, Houston claimed two more additional feats on the US Billboard charts: she became the first and only female act to place nine albums within the top 100[26](with Whitney: The Greatest Hits at #2, The Bodyguard at #5, Whitney Houston at #10, I Look to You at #13, Triple Feature at #21, My Love Is Your Love at #31, I'm Your Baby Tonight at #32, Just Whitney at #50 and The Preacher's Wife at #80).;[27][28] in addition, other Houston albums were also on the US Billboard Top 200 Album Chart at this time.
Houston also became the second female act, after Adele, to place two albums in the top five of the US Billboard Top 200 with Whitney: The Greatest Hits at #2 and The Bodyguard at #5. Whitney: The Greatest Hits was one of the top selling albums of 2000 and is certified over 5× platinum in the US, with another 5 million sold internationally.
Promotional concerts[]
Following the release of her Greatest Hits album, Houston promoted it by performing three sold-out shows at Caesars in Atlantic City from June 30 to July 3, 2000.[29] She performed an additional date during the fall on November 10, at the Aladdin Theatre in Las Vegas, with then-husband Bobby Brown opening the show.[30] Both performers closed the show with their duet hit "Something in Common".
^"Czech Albums – Top 100". ČNS IFPI. Note: On the chart page, select 201213 on the field besides the word "Zobrazit", and then click over the word to retrieve the correct chart data. Retrieved July 22, 2020.
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