Whitney: The Greatest Hits is the first compilation album by American singerWhitney Houston. It was released on May 15, 2000, byArista Records. Anticipation over agreatest hits album from Houston arose as far as 1995, whenBillboard first announced the album's release. However, it was continuously postponed as Houston focused on film projects, before deciding to record several new tracks for the belated collection in 1998. The effort was quickly expanded into her fourth studio albumMy Love Is Your Love, released in November 1998 to widespread success, which effectively postponedWhitney: The Greatest Hits again.
A two-disc collection,Whitney: The Greatest Hits comprises Houston'sballads on its first disc, titledCool Down, while replacing most of the original versions of her up-tempo hits with correspondingdance remixes on the second disc, titledThrow Down. Therefore, numerous publications rejected the compilation's classification as a greatest hits album, despite its title and marketing.Whitney: The Greatest Hits also includes four previously unreleased tracks—"Same Script, Different Cast", a duet withDeborah Cox; "Could I Have This Kiss Forever", a duet withEnrique Iglesias; "If I Told You That", a duet withGeorge Michael; and "Fine"—all of which were released as singles to varying levels of success.
Whitney: The Greatest Hits was met with mixed responses frommusic critics, who praised Houston for her expansive catalog and career longevity, but criticized the album's inclusion of remixes rather than original versions for a majority of Houston's hits; the new tracks elicited polarity among reviewers. A commercial success,Whitney: The Greatest Hits debuted at number five on the USBillboard 200, with first-week sales of 158,000 units, and reached the top 10 in 20 additional countries. By February 2012, it had sold over 10 million copies worldwide. That June,Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) certified the compilationquintuple platinum for double-disc shipments of 2.5 million units in the US.
Although Houston did not promoteWhitney: The Greatest Hits as extensively as her previous albums, she embarked on a four-dateconcert residency from June to November 2000. Furthermore, the compilation was accompanied by the simultaneously released video collection of the same title. In January 2011,Legacy Recordings reissued the album as a part of theirEssential album series, retitling itThe Essential Whitney Houston. Following Houston's death on February 11, 2012,Whitney: The Greatest Hits registered a significant resurgence of sales, attaining a new peak of number two on theBillboard 200, and new top-10 peaks—either in its original format, or asThe Essential Whitney Houston—in numerous countries worldwide.
In November 1995, Houston's song "Exhale (Shoop Shoop)"—the lead single fromthe soundtrack for the 1995 filmWaiting to Exhale, starring Houston in a leading role—became the third song in history to debut atop the USBillboard Hot 100.[1] It became Houston's 11th and final number-one single on the chart;[2] with 11 singles, Houston is sixth among artists with mostBillboard Hot 100 number-ones of all time, as of 2023.[3] Furthermore, "Exhale (Shoop Shoop)" contributed to Houston becoming the best-selling physical singles female artist in the history of theRecording Industry Association of America (RIAA).[4] That August,Billboard had disclosed Houston's first greatest hits album would be released on October 10, which ultimately did not come to fruition.[5] The publication referred to the "long-promised" album again in July 1996, announcing it for that fall.[6] After the release was postponed again, speculation on its timing continued into 1997, with Houston commenting: "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."[7]
Intent on releasing the highly anticipated collection, Houston began recording new material, originally intended for a greatest hits album which would include several new tracks, in August 1998. However, she and Clive Davis soon decided to reconstruct the project into Houston's fourth studio album, titledMy Love Is Your Love, her first such effort in eight years.[8][9] Houston finished recordingMy Love Is Your Love within six weeks; it was released on November 17.[8] Although it debuted only at number 13 on the USBillboard 200 due to strong competition from a multitude of established artists who released their new albums the same week,My Love Is Your Love went on to be certified quadruple platinum by the RIAA and produced three consecutiveBillboard Hot 100 top-five hits—"Heartbreak Hotel", "It's Not Right but It's Okay" andthe title track.[10] Despite her immense commercial success during the extensive promotional cycle forMy Love Is Your Love, Houston's "erratic" behavior overshadowed her professional endeavors, as she became notorious for numerous live performance cancellations and alleged drug use.[8][11][12][13]
"Same Script, Different Cast" and "Could I Have This Kiss Forever" appear at the end the album's first disc, titledCool Down, which comprisesR&B,pop and, to a lesser extent,gospel ballads.[27][28] "Fine" and "If I Told You That" follow at the start of the second disc, titledThrow Down, which comprises up-tempodance tracks, encompassinghi-NRG andhouse-influenced remixes of Houston's prior hits.[29][27][18]Whitney: The Greatest Hits also includes several tracks which, although released, had never been included on any of Houston's albums. "If You Say My Eyes Are Beautiful", Houston's duet withJermaine Jackson which had previously solely appeared on Jackson's 1986 albumPrecious Moments, appears onCool Down. Houston's1988 Summer Olympics tribute and top-five hit "One Moment in Time" was included on the North American edition ofThrow Down and the international edition ofCool Down. North American edition ofThrow Down also includes Houston's 1991 performance of "The Star-Spangled Banner" atSuper Bowl XXV.[30]
Despite its title and being marketed as such,Whitney: The Greatest Hits is not a greatest hits album.[b]David LaChapelle photographed the album'scover artwork and booklet imagery.[33] The cover depicts Houston standing on a ladder and smiling as she holds adrill in order to hang hercertified records on the wall.[34] On the contrary, criticDavid Quantick interpreted the artwork as Houston using the drill to destroy the records.[35] Following Houston's death in February 2012, LaChapelle revealed that Houston arrived to the photo shoot six hours late and under the influence of cocaine, which caused him difficulties with photographing her during the 15-hour session.[33]
For its 2011 reissue,Whitney: The Greatest Hits was retitledThe Essential Whitney Houston, as it was integrated intoLegacy Recordings'The Essential album series. Chapelle's cover artwork was replaced by amonochrome portrait of Houston, photographed by Randee St. Nicholas in 1992 to promoteThe Bodyguard; however, the liner notes and accompanying imagery remained unchanged.[36][37]
After numerous delays, Davis announced the release ofWhitney: The Greatest Hits via MTV News in February 2000.[38] In the US, the album was released on May 16, 2000, byArista Records. Its release was preceded by the limited-edition four-record vinylbox setWhitney: The Unreleased Mixes on April 25; the set included eight previously unreleased extended dance remixes of Houston's prior singles, some of which appeared on the North American edition second disc ofWhitney: The Greatest Hits.[11] Exclusively atCircuit City,Whitney: The Greatest Hits was released with a bonus disc including two extended club mixes.[39] Internationally, the compilation was released on May 15 in most countries.[40] While its North American edition featured almost exclusively remixes on its second disc,[34] international editions replaced most of them with corresponding original versions.[41]
A video album of the same title was released simultaneously withWhitney: The Greatest Hits worldwide, comprising 23 of Houston'smusic videos, as well as select live performances, interviews with Houston and Davis, andbehind-the-scenes footage. The DVD was noted for its interactive features, which saw Houston introducing its segments and providing commentary; it was one of the first video albums ever to incorporate interactive components.[42][43] In contrast to Houston's previous releases,Whitney: The Greatest Hits was not promoted with televised performances and appearances. However, Houston did perform a 20-minute medley at Arista's 25th anniversary celebration in Los Angeles on April 10, 2000; the concert aired onNBC on May 15.[11] She subsequently embarked on a three-dateconcert residency atCaesars Atlantic City from June 30 to July 3,[44] and performed an additional show at theAladdin Theatre for the Performing Arts inLas Vegas on November 10, with then-husbandBobby Brown as the opening act.[45]
The selection and order of singles fromWhitney: The Greatest Hits substantially differed depending on region. In France, "I Learned from the Best"—the fifth and final single fromMy Love Is Your Love—was released ahead ofWhitney: The Greatest Hits, on April 18, 2000,[46] peaking at number 44.[47] In the US, "Same Script, Different Cast" and "Could I Have This Kiss Forever" were both released aslead singles fromWhitney: The Greatest Hits—the former was serviced tourban contemporary radio on May 2,[48] while the latter was serviced toadult contemporary,rhythmic contemporary andcontemporary hit radios two weeks later.[49] "Same Script, Different Cast" peaked at number 70 on the USBillboard Hot 100, becoming Houston's lowest-peaking lead single at the time,[2] but became her fourthAdult R&B Songs number-one single.[50] While "Could I Have This Kiss Forever" peaked only at number 52 on the USBillboard Hot 100,[2] it peaked atop theEuropean Hot 100 Singles and charts in Croatia, the Netherlands, Poland, and Switzerland, after being released as the second European single fromWhitney: The Greatest Hits on July 25.[51][52][53][54][55] Furthermore, the song attained top 10 positions in 13 additional countries, including Canada, New Zealand, and the UK.[55][56][57] The song's accompanyingmusic video was directed byFrancis Lawrence.[58]
In Europe, "If I Told You That" was released as the lead single fromWhitney: The Greatest Hits on May 29, 2000;[59] in the US, it was released as an airplay-only fourth and final single on January 30, 2001.[60] It reached the summit in Croatia, Iceland, and Poland,[61][62][63] and the top 10 in the Czech Republic, Italy, and the UK.[64][65][57] The music video for "If I Told You That" was directed byKevin Bray.[58] "Fine" was released as the third US single fromWhitney: The Greatest Hits on September 19, 2000,[66] peaking at number 51 on the USHot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs.[67] In Sweden, it was released as the third and final single on December 11,[68] peaking at number 50.[69] The music video for "Fine" was Houston's second consecutive to be directed by Bray.[70] In select European countries, "Heartbreak Hotel"—originally the second single fromMy Love Is Your Love—was released as the third and final single fromWhitney: The Greatest Hits on December 18, 2000,[71] peaking at number 25 in the UK.[57]
Upon its release,Whitney: The Greatest Hits was met with mixed to positive reviews frommusic critics. Steve Huey fromAllMusic expressed dissatisfaction with the inclusion of remixes instead of the original versions onThrow Down, writing thatWhitney: The Greatest Hits "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".[32] Sonia Murray fromThe Atlanta Journal-Constitution praised the album, elaborating: "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."[27]Billboard editor Michael Paoletta calledWhitney: The Greatest Hits "[q]uite the stellar collection",[77] while Jane Stevenson fromCanoe.com labeled it "a greatest hits package that makes good listening sense".[78] Writing forEbony,Lynn Norment stated that the album "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 road ahead", and highlighted its previously unreleased duets.[79] Christine Galera ofOrlando Sentinel commended Houston's vocal performances onWhitney: The Greatest Hits and praised "Same Script, Different Cast", but criticized the album's length and the inclusion of "mellow" singles fromWaiting to Exhale.[14]
In a positive review forThe Guardian, Caroline Sullivan favoredThrow Down over its counterpartCool Down,[28] as didEntertainment Weekly'sKen Tucker, who nonetheless criticized the inclusion of remixes onWhitney: The Greatest Hits due to its title and, by extension, the album's track listing as a whole.[72] Jim Farber of theNew YorkDaily News describedWhitney: The Greatest Hits as a "bipolar affair set between two CDs, one of which recycles Houston's boring old ballads", whileThrow Down "isn't just an ecstatic piece of party music – it utterly redefines Houston as an artist."[18] Writing less favorably forThe Baltimore Sun,J. D. Considine dismissed the title ofWhitney: The Greatest Hits as "false advertising", and criticized the new tracks—excluding "Fine", which he singled out as a highlight.[21]NME lambasted the timing of the album's release, in reference to Houston's personal and professional struggles at the time, elaborating: "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. Instead, appearing among rumours of drug abuse, wobbly appearances at awards ceremonies and the recent application of round-the-clock minders to Whitney – it seems more eulogy than testimonial."[74] Ernest Hardy ofLA Weekly dismissedWhitney: The Greatest Hits as "damn near unlistenable"—he summarizedCool Down as "Whitney's voice – so strong, so assured, so boring – anchoring saccharine production and even sappier songwriting", andThrow Down as "filled with astonishingly bad dance remixes of old hits".[80] Reviewing the video edition ofWhitney: The Greatest Hits, Heather Phares praised the selection of music videos and live performances.[81] In his review ofThe Essential Whitney Houston,Stephen Thomas Erlewine wrote that the reissue "plays much likeThe 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."[76]
In the US,Whitney: The Greatest Hits sold 158,000 units within its first week, debuting at number five on theBillboard 200,[82] and at number three on theTop R&B/Hip-Hop Albums, both dated June 3, 2000.[83] It registered Houston's highest solo effort debut since her second studio albumWhitney (1987).[84]Whitney: The Greatest Hits descended to number nine on theBillboard 200, and number six on the Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums, in its second week.[85][86] On June 20, the album was certifieddouble platinum by theRecording Industry Association of America (RIAA), denoting double-disc shipments of one million units in the US.[87] Meanwhile, its accompanying video album had debuted atop theMusic Video Sales chart,[88] and went on to become one of the best-selling video albums of the year.[89] Regardless, the album's domestic commercial performance was deemed underwhelming by Arista executives. Several factors were credited with contributing to the "uncharacteristically meager sales", including release timing, single selection, and replacement of Davis withL.A. Reid as thechief executive officer (CEO) and president of Arista.[90] In Canada,Whitney: The Greatest Hits debuted at number four on theCanadian Albums Chart dated June 3, 2000,[91] and was subsequently certified platinum byMusic Canada for shipments of 100,000 units in the country.[92]
In the UK,Whitney: The Greatest Hits debuted atop theUK Albums Chart andUK R&B Albums Chart,[57] and peaked atop theScottish Albums Chart in its second week.[93] After spending 17 weeks within the top 10 on the UK Albums Chart, the album placed ninth on the chart's year-end issue for 2000.[57]Whitney: The Greatest Hits also reached the summit in Ireland,[94] where its sales earned it the2001 Meteor Music Award for Best International Female Album.[95] Across Europe, the compilation peaked within the top 10 in 13 additional countries, and at number two on theEuropean Top 100 Albums.[96][97][98][99] By the end of 2000, theInternational Federation of the Phonographic Industry (IFPI) had certified the album triple platinum for selling three million units in Europe.[100] In Japan,Whitney: The Greatest Hits peaked at number four on theOricon Albums Chart,[101] and was certified triple platinum by theRecording Industry Association of Japan (RIAJ) for shipments of 600,000 units;[102] it was also among the winners of the 2001Japan Gold Disc Award for International Pop Album of the Year.[103] The compilation was also a commercial success across Oceania, debuting at numbers eight and nine in Australia and New Zealand, respectively.[104] By February 2012,Whitney: The Greatest Hits had sold over ten million copies worldwide.[105]
Following Houston's death on February 11, 2012,Whitney: The Greatest Hits registered a global resurgence of sales. In the US, it re-entered theBillboard 200 at number six after selling 64,000 copies in a single day, registering a 10,419% increase in comparison to the prior week.[106][107] After a full tracking week,Whitney: The Greatest Hits ascended to its new peak at number two with 175,000 units.[108] The album remained at the position the following week, with steady sales of 174,000 copies; that week, Houston became the first female artist ever to have three albums simultaneously withinBillboard 200's top 10.[109] On June 21,Whitney: The Greatest Hits was certified quintuple platinum by the RIAA, signifying double-disc shipments of 2.5 million units in the country.[87] Internationally, the compilation attained new peaks within the top 10 in Argentina, Australia, and France,[110][104][111] while its reissueThe Essential Whitney Houston reached the summit in Poland and South Korea,[112][113] and the top 10 in Australia, Canada, Ireland, South Africa, and the UK.[114][115][116][117][118]
^used for Australian, Asian, European and South African pressings; Canadian and Mexican editions cover features the title at the top and in a different typeface
^While announcing the release of Houston's posthumous greatest hits albumI Will Always Love You: The Best of Whitney Houston in August 2012, Keith Caulfield fromBillboard declared it Houston's "first authoritative greatest hits album" and referred toWhitney: The Greatest Hits as acompilation album due to its remix-infused track listing.[31] Numerous other journalists had also classifiedWhitney: The Greatest Hits as a compilation rather than a greatest hits album.[32][21][18]
^In his review ofWhitney: The Greatest Hits forDaily News, Jim Farber gaveCool Down two stars, andThrow Down three, thus the album's overall grade averaged two and a half stars.[18]
^Also used for Australian and Canadian editions ofThe Essential Whitney Houston[36]
^Also used for international editions ofThe Essential Whitney Houston[37]
^"Fine" (in Swedish). Sweden:Arista Records. December 11, 2000. Archived fromthe original on January 13, 2003. RetrievedFebruary 27, 2024 – via Click2Music.
^"2000.6월 – POP 음반 판매량" (in Korean). Recording Industry Association of Korea. Archived fromthe original on February 15, 2009. RetrievedDecember 15, 2021.
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![International reissue cover[a]](/mt/?noimg=&dark=on&url=https%3a%2f%2fen.wikipedia.org%2fwiki%2fFile%3aThe_Essential_Whitney_Houston.png)
