COMING SOON : Greatest Hits

Gosh, but we love this time of year… It’s the time when we start finding out just which pOp acts are this year releasing ‘Greatest Hits’ packages. We’ve just seen the first of many packages go into stores over the weekend with ‘best ofs’ for both Rick Astley (like we’ve not had one of those before) and New Kids On The Block, the latter resplendent with a 2008 megamix no less. But there are more to come in the months leading up to the festive season, so we thought we’d have a look at some of what’s to come right here.
As reported here previously, the divine Miss Lennox is about to unleash her Greatest Hits package upon us in the form of ‘The Annie Lennox Collection’. It will feature two new recordings, plus tracks like ‘Precious’, ‘Why’, ‘Pavement Cracks’, ‘No More I Love Yous’ and her Procul Harem cover ‘A Whiter Shade Of Pale’. OUT SEPTEMBER 15.

The fabulous Sarah Cracknell and her Saint Etienne cohorts are to release their best-of before the end of the year, but as yet, no word on a local distributer. It will feature most of the band’s classic singles including club favourite ‘He’s On The Phone’, ‘Sylvie’, ‘Nothing Can Stop Us’ (covered by Kylie for the b-side of Confide In Me) and the totally luscious ‘Hug My Soul’. Two discs and what looks like a DVD too! OUT IN THE UK SEPTEMBER 29.
Okay, so Hilary Duff has only released three studio albums proper, but that’s never stopped people pulling out a Greatest Hits package in the past – heck, there’s Mel & Kim best-ofs and they only released one album! So Hil’s best-of will feature just 12 tracks including the awesome ‘Come Clean’, along with ‘So Yesterday’ and the catchy as all get-up ‘Wake Up’. No ‘Our Lips Are Sealed’ to be found here, we’re afraid and there are a couple of remixes to boot. OUT OCTOBER 20.

Bette Midler’s already had Greatest Hits albums, so why this one is about to hit the stores is beyond us ’cause it really doesn’t do anything that the others haven’t already done. There’s the classics, ‘The Rose’, ‘Wind Beneath My Wings’, ‘From A Distance’, the hits from Beaches, ‘Baby Mine’, ‘The Glory Of Love’ and bizarrely the title track from her Christmas album ‘Cool Yule’. And while the UK gets just ‘The Best Bette’, we’re apparently following the lead of the US in releasing ‘Jackpot – The Best Bette’. No difference apart from the name – how bizarre. OUT SEPTEMBER 22.

Now we don’t know whether the world is really, truly ready for a Shaggy Greatest Hits package, but brace yourself ’cause it’s release is just one short month away. On it, you’ll rediscover the delights of his first ever hit from 15 years ago, ‘Oh Carolina’, as well as ‘It Wasn’t Me’, and ‘Angel’ (both Aussie No.1 singles), ‘Hey Sexy Lady’ and the track which featured Chaka Khan ‘Get My Party On’. 18 tracks and OUT SEPTEMBER 15.
Not content with their singles collection five years ago, UK based electronic outfit The Chemical Brothers are bringing us ‘Brotherhood’, their Greatest Hits package, on September 1st. It will feature the classics like ‘Star Guitar’, ‘Hey Boy Hey Girl’, ‘Block Rockin Beats’ and the classic ‘Let Forever Be’.
There’s also the ‘best ofs’ to celebrate Michael Jackson’s 50th birthday, ‘The King Of Pop’, which will have different tracklistings and sleeve art in different territories throughout the world. MJ fans are going to be poor for a while, we fear.
Other greatest hits packages supposedly coming at us before Christmas include Shannon Noll (ALREADY!?), Sarah McLachlan, Tina Turner, Melissa Etheridge, Chicane, Craig David, Jennifer Lopez and Boyz II Men.

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