Customer Reviews

Greatest Hits

5 star:		(112)
4 star:		(66)
3 star:		(42)
2 star:		(32)
1 star:		(24)

 

 

Whitney Houston has suddenly passed away at the tender age of 48. She has led a tumultuous life, with drug abuse, resulting in the ultimate sacrifice: the loss of her golden voice and her life. According to Tommy Mottola, the boss at Sony, he rightly said that Whitney Houston's voice at the beginning of her career was considered the golden standard, to be imitated by other singers that follow. Now that she is forever gone from us, if you are looking for one set of songs by Whitney Houston that best represented her input, this is the set.

This is a 2 CD set, released in 2000 under her original label Arista, has 18 songs in disc 1 and 18 songs in disc 2. The songs in disc 1 are the original studio versions of her greatest hits, while disc 2 contains many special remix, plus two rare treats: One Moment In Time and The Star Spangled Banner. The audio is well remastered. You can hear clearly all the different octaves in her singing...very fulfilling indeed.

During the late 80s and early 90s, Whitney Houston with angelic voice was simply unstoppable, as demonstrated by the following song listing in this set and their achievements:

You Give Good Love (#3/1985)
Saving All My Love For You (#1/1985)
Greatest Love Of All (#1 (3 weeks)/1986)
Didn't We Almost Have It All (#1 (2 weeks)/1987)
Where Do Broken Hearts Go (#1 (2 weeks)/1988)
All The Man That I Need (#1 (2 weeks)/1990)
Run To You (#31/1993)
I Have Nothing (#4/1993)
I Will Always Love You (#1 (14 weeks)/1992)
Exhale (Shoop Shoop)(#1 (1 week)/1995)
Why Does It Hurt So Bad (#26/1996)
I Believe In You And Me (#4/1996)
Heartbreak Hotel (#2/1998) featuring Faith Evans & Kelly Price
My Love Is Your Love (#4/1999)
Same Script, Different Cast (#70/2000) duet with Deborah Cox
Could I have This Kiss Forever (#52/2000) duet with Enrique Iglesias
One Moment In Time (#5/1988) used in NBC TV for the 1988 Summer Olympics
The Star Spangled Banner (#6/2001) recorded at Super Bowl XXV
I'm Every Woman (remix)(#4/1993)
Step By Step (remix)(#15/1997)
Queen Of The Night (remix)(#36/1993)
Love Will Save The Day (remix)(#9/1988)
I'm Your Baby Tonight (remix)(#1 (1 week)/1990)
So Emotional (remix)(#1 (1 week)/1987)
I Wanna Dance With Somebody (remix)(#1 (2 weeks)/1987)
How Will I Know (remix)(#1 (2 weeks)/1985)

I am sure that her label Arista will release a new package of her greatest hits (hopefully more complete with original studio versions only, including such omissions as Hold Me (with Teddy Pendergrass) and When You Believe (with Mariah Carey). Whitney Houston has a total of 41 charted hits on Billboard Hot 100. To have a complete Whitney Houston Singles Collection with both a and b-sides will require a box set, which will come eventually, when the record company wants to squeeze every last drop of $ from us. Until then, if you do not want to buy individual albums on CDs, this Greatest Hits set is the most complete so far. All these songs will bring us back to the height of her career, when her voice was simply heavenly and unstoppable. Highly recommended.

UPDATE:

One week after Whitney's passing, the above disc has re-entered the Billboard 200 Album Chart at #6, while her previous chart-topper I Will Always Love You re-entered the Billboard Hot 100 at #7! In The Catalog Album Chart, Whitney's Greatest Hits reigned supreme, re-entering at Number 1, while her first album, Whitney, re-entered at Number 5 and The Bodyguard Soundtrack at Number 7. Amazing feat! I hope the above review is helpful to you.

Whitney Houston has been one of my favorites ever since I was 2 years old. I can't believe that I've been a fan of hers for the past 17 years. I remember how I used to play Whitney's ALL AT ONCE, which I had on the 45, constantly and I still have not yet gotten tired of it. This double disc album is beyond incredible and you all should add it to your collections.

DISC 1: COOL DOWN

YOU GIVE GOOD LOVE
From the album WHITNEY HOUSTON (1985). Not a favorite.

SAVING ALL MY LOVE FOR YOU
From the album WHITNEY HOUSTON (1985). I remember that this was the B-side to the ALL AT ONCE single. This song was also released as it's own single. This has been one of my favorites ever since I owned this one as the B-side to ALL AT ONCE.

GREATEST LOVE OF ALL
From the album WHITNEY HOUSTON (1985). Definitely one of the best songs from Whitney and it will never die.

ALL AT ONCE
From the album WHITNEY HOUSTON (1985). As I said earlier, when I was two years old (this being in 1987), I owned this single on the original 45 and I used to play it on my kiddy record player constantly. It has always been a favorite of mine and it will never stop being a favorite of mine. Every time I hear this one, it takes me back to those days when I would play the 45 and mom and I would sing along with. Those memories will stay with me forever.

IF YOU SAY MY EYES ARE BEAUTIFUL (duet with Jermaine Jackson)
Bad.

DIDN'T WE ALMOST HAVE IT ALL
From the album WHITNEY (1987). Beautiful.

WHERE DO BROKEN HEARTS GO
From the album WHITNEY (1987). One of Whit's best.

ALL THE MAN THAT I NEED
From the album I'M YOUR BABY TONIGHT (1990). Okay.

RUN TO YOU
From the original motion picture soundtrack THE BODYGUARD (1992). One of the themes to Whitney's first major film role THE BODYGUARD. Outstandingly beautiful.

I HAVE NOTHING
From the original motion picture soundtrack THE BODYGUARD (1992). This was the another one of THE BODYGUARD themes. Another beautiful song.

I WILL ALWAYS LOVE YOU
From the original motion picture soundtrack THE BODYGUARD (1992). This was the main theme for THE BODYGUARD. DOLLY PARTON originally did this classic ballad, but Whitney's version is the definitive killing machine version. Although some of us are sick of it, we all can't deny that this is a classic that is impossible to kill. The part I love the most is at the end when she hits that high note.

EXHALE (SHOOP, SHOOP)
From the original motion picture soundtrack WAITING TO EXHALE (1995). I started to become less interested when Whitney got into the R&B stage.

WHY DOES IT HURT SO BAD
From the original motion picture soundtrack WAITING TO EXHALE (1995). Okay.

I BELIEVE IN YOU AND ME
From the original motion picture soundtrack THE PREACHER'S WIFE (1996). Great remake of the FOUR SEASONS' hit.

HEARTBREAK HOTEL (featuring Faith Evans & Kelly Price)
From the album MY LOVE IS YOUR LOVE (1998). At first, I never liked this one, but as the years went by, it really grew on me.

MY LOVE IS YOUR LOVE
From the album MY LOVE IS YOUR LOVE (1998). Not great.

SAME SCRIPT, DIFFERENT CAST (featuring Deborah Cox)
Not good, but not bad.

COULD I HAVE THIS KISS FOREVER (METRO MIX) (featuring Enrique Iglesias)
From Enrique Iglesias' album ENRIQUE (2000). Not bad.

DISC 2: THROW DOWN

FINE
New song. Bad.

IF I TOLD YOU THAT (featuring George Michael)
New song. Great song. GEORGE MICHAEL is definitely my second favorite, behind MADONNA. Whitney decided to let George continue with his R&B experiments by joining her for this great song.

IT'S NOT RIGHT, BUT IT'S OKAY (THUNDERPUSS MIX)
Original version from the album MY LOVE IS YOUR LOVE (1998). This version is much better than the album version. Great club remix.

MY LOVE IS YOUR LOVE (JONATHAN PETERS' MIX)
Original version from the album MY LOVE IS YOUR LOVE (1998). Better than the album version.

HEARTBREAK HOTEL (HEX HECTOR MIX) (featuring Faith Evans & Kelly Price)
Original version from the album MY LOVE IS YOUR LOVE (1998). Not bad.

I LEARNED FROM THE BEST (HQ2 MIX)
Okay.

STEP BY STEP (JUNIOR VASQUEZ MIX)
Okay.

I'M EVERY WOMAN (CLIVILLES & COLE MIX)
Original version from the original motion picture soundtrack THE BODYGUARD (1992). This song was originally recorded by the infamous CHAKA KHAN. Whitney brought it back for THE BODYGUARD and here's the remix of Whit's rendition. Not bad.

QUEEN OF THE NIGHT (CJ MacINTOSH MIX)
Original version from the original motion picture soundtrack THE BODYGUARD (1992). Not bad.

I WILL ALWAYS LOVE YOU (HEX HECTOR MIX)
Original version from the original motion picture soundtrack THE BODYGUARD (1992). Do not remix a classic.

LOVE WILL SAVE THE DAY (JELLYBEAN & DAVID MORALES MIX)
Original version from the album WHITNEY (1987). Okay.

I'M YOUR BABY TONIGHT (DRONEZ MIX)
Original version from the album I'M YOUR BABY TONIGHT (1990). Like I said, do not remix a classic.

SO EMOTIONAL (DAVID MORALES MIX)
Original version from the album WHITNEY (1987). Okay.

I WANNA DANCE WITH SOMEBODY (WHO LOVES ME) (JUNIOR VASQUES MIX)
Original version from the album WHITNEY (1987). Okay.

HOW WILL I KNOW (JUNIOR VASQUEZ MIX)
Original version from the album WHITNEY HOUSTON (1985). The original is much better.

GREATEST LOVE OF ALL (JUNIOR VASQUEZ MIX)
Original version from the album WHITNEY HOUSTON (1985). The original is much better.

ONE MOMENT IN TIME
From the 1988 Winter Olympics Games Album (1998). This is a heartbreaking song for me because it's another dedication to my late grandfather, who loved the song like you wouldn't believe. I cry my eyes out whenever I hear this.

THE STAR SPANGLED BANNER
performed live at SUPER BOWL XXV on 1/27/91. Beautiful.

Take my advice: just buy this incredible album and enjoy it.

Merci pour la rapidité dont vous nous avez montré et j'en suis très ravie. Vous êtes un bon vendeur et vous êtes très rapide pour la livraison et le tout était parfait. Merci encore.

True sound of a musical icon who will sorely be missed in the musical world.............so many genres of music, she had a song for everyone from children to adults........great compilation of hits, so a great purchase to make!!

this cd is a proof that there is only one diva on earth. whitney..........beautiful, classy, poweful whitney........
must have.........

I love the old Whitney Houston, but this cd takes her songs and makes them into dance mixes.
It would be fine if you had the original version on the cd as well, but some of those songs are missing.
Extremely disappointed with this purchase!!!

I'm not sure who came up with the track-listing for this collection (it could have been Whitney, Clive or anyone else at Arista) but this is a huge disservice to Whitney's fans in North America. The decision to not even include the original versions of her biggest up-tempo hits, and to instead to put remixes is just ridiculous and nothing more than an attempt to get people to go and buy her studio albums in addition to this collection.

The following hits are NOT in there regular form and instead, are remixed:

-It's Not Right But It's Okay
-I Learned From the Best
-Step by Step
-I'm Every Woman
-Queen of the Night
-Love Will Save the Day
-I'm Your Baby Tonight
-I Wanna Dance With Somebody (Who Loves Me)
-How Will I Know
-So Emotional

How could they call this a greatest hits collection when the hit versions of these songs are not even on here? "It's Not Right but It's Okay" is an exception because the Thunderpuss remix did eclipse the original version. And the mix of "Love Will Save The Day" isn't dramatically different from the album version and it's actually better. It would be great if they had a third disc that was dedicated to the remixes (which don't get me wrong, are for the most part decent) and then still had the second disc keeping the songs in their original form.

I recommend getting the European version of this collection (Greatest Hits). It's a little pricey but it contains all of the original versions of the aforementioned hits (sans "Queen of the night", which is still in remix mode) and also contains 4 of the remixes ("It's Not Right, But It's Okay", "I Will Always Love You?, "Greatest Love Of All" and "I'm Your Baby Tonight"). That is how it should have been in every continent.

I gave this CD 2 stars because besides the MASSIVE omissions, it still showcases Whitney, who in my opinion is the greatest singer in pop history. Her voice is breathtaking and certainly in a league of it's own. She really can sing anything and tailor her amazing voice to basically any genre. She may have endured a lot of personal struggles but we shouldn't forget all of the great work she has done over the years.

The first disc "Cool Down" of this truly magnifcent singer's greatest hits collection is superb, with all her greatest. Then comes "Throw Down". It's started off with "Fine" which is Ok, but it's not classic Whitney. Then she goes off into various remixes, those would have been better off in their original form, EXCEPT "I Will Always Love You". In that song, the best part is by far the 'And I's' where Whitney's best note in the song is transformed into an array of different volumes. It's cool. Bottom line: if you don't have any Whitney cd's and you're looking to get just the classics "Cool Down" will do it for you, "Throw Down" you can 'Throw Out' if you just want unspoiled Whitney classics, but if you're on the lookout for old and new, it's worth every penny.

Whitney Houston has had an amazing career, churning out hit after hit over a 20 year span. She will truly be remembered as one of music's greatest divas. Her incomparable voice is showcased beautifully on the first disc of ballads. I was slightly disappointed with the second disc of dance hits, however. I was looking for her greatest hits, and I did not care for many of the "club" mixes of songs that I grew up listening to. I especially miss the original versions of "I Wanna Dance With Somebody" and "How Will I Know". I wish she had released the second disc with the original versions instead.

From Cover to songs, her company has obtained and released a very good compilation. All the songs are timeless classic of Whitney. There are rare songs and I am glad that she didn't want to repeatedly release the songs again and again. It is a great way to consumers specially her fans, why would you buy a CD/2CD if they are exactly the same songs released in her old albums?
If you buy this CD and then you can truly tell people that you have "all" whitney songs. If you bought this and then tell people you don't like Whitney's songs then you have never liked her. If you bought this CD and then tell people you don't like what whitney does now, then you are a liar because how can you like her and now don't? as most songs are exactly from the previous albums.
The remixes are just a bonus. She doesnt have to give you that and you should appreciate it if you buy it. If you don't appreciate what she is doing, then please go ahead listen to something else. She didn't force you to buy her albums, you know!