The Very Best of Prince | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|
Greatest hits album by | ||||
Released | July 31, 2001 | |||
Length | 73:18 | |||
Label | Warner Bros. | |||
Producer | ||||
Prince chronology | ||||
| ||||
Digital cover | ||||
Review scores | |
---|---|
Source | Rating |
AllMusic | [1] |
Encyclopedia of Popular Music | [2] |
Q | [3] |
The Rolling Stone Album Guide | [4] |
The Very Best of Prince is a greatest hits album by American recording artist Prince. It was released on July 31, 2001, by Warner Bros. Records. The album contains most of his commercially successful singles from 1979 to 1991 including the US number 1s "When Doves Cry", "Let's Go Crazy", "Kiss" and "Cream".
The Very Best of Prince does not include the US number 1 hit "Batdance" most likely due to the licensing of the character Batman. Music critic Stephen Thomas Erlewine believed that the Batman album was unofficially being written out of Prince's discography. [1] All the songs included in this compilation were all previously included in the 3-disc box set The Hits/The B-Sides (1993), with the exception of "Money Don't Matter 2 Night".
On the chart dated August 18, 2001, The Very Best of Prince debuted at number 66 on the US Billboard 200. [5] As of September 21, 2004, the album was certified platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) for selling 1 million copies in the United States. [6]
The Very Best of Prince sold 179,000 album-equivalent units (100,000 in pure album sales) in the week following Prince's death, [7] thus allowing the album to re-enter the Billboard 200 at number one; this makes the album Prince's fifth number-one on the chart. [8] The following week the album fell to number two on the Billboard 200 chart, selling 391,000 equivalent copies (216,000 in pure album sales) behind Beyoncé's Lemonade . [9] In 2016, the album has sold 660,000 recognized copies in the United States in addition to the over 2 million copies sold prior to 2016. [10]
All songs are written by and credited to Prince, except where noted.
No. | Title | Writer(s) | Original album | Length |
---|---|---|---|---|
1. | "I Wanna Be Your Lover" (single edit) | Prince (1979) | 2:58 | |
2. | "1999" (single edit; credited to Prince & the Revolution) | 1999 (1982) | 3:37 | |
3. | "Little Red Corvette" (credited to Prince & The Revolution) | 1999 | 4:56 | |
4. | "When Doves Cry" (single edit; credited to Prince & the Revolution) | Purple Rain (1984) | 3:47 | |
5. | "Let's Go Crazy" (credited to Prince & the Revolution) | Purple Rain | 4:40 | |
6. | "Purple Rain" (credited to Prince & the Revolution) | Purple Rain | 8:40 | |
7. | "I Would Die 4 U" (single version; credited to Prince & the Revolution) | Purple Rain | 2:56 | |
8. | "Raspberry Beret" (credited to Prince & the Revolution) | Around the World in a Day (1985) | 3:32 | |
9. | "Kiss" (single edit; credited to Prince & the Revolution) | Prince, arr. by David Z | Parade (1986) | 3:46 |
10. | "Sign o' the Times" (single edit) | Sign o' the Times (1987) | 3:42 | |
11. | "U Got the Look" (featuring Sheena Easton) | Sign o' the Times | 3:47 | |
12. | "Alphabet St." | Lovesexy (1988) | 5:38 | |
13. | "Thieves in the Temple" | Graffiti Bridge (1990) | 3:21 | |
14. | "Gett Off" (credited to Prince and The New Power Generation) | Diamonds and Pearls (1991) | 4:31 | |
15. | "Cream" (credited to Prince and the New Power Generation) | Diamonds and Pearls | 4:13 | |
16. | "Diamonds and Pearls" (single edit; credited to Prince and the New Power Generation) | Diamonds and Pearls | 4:19 | |
17. | "Money Don't Matter 2 Night" (credited to Prince and the New Power Generation) | Prince, Rosie Gaines | Diamonds and Pearls | 4:47 |
The Revolution
The New Power Generation
| Additional musicians
|
Weekly charts
| Monthly charts
Year-end charts
|
Region | Certification | Certified units/sales |
---|---|---|
Australia (ARIA) [49] | 2× Platinum | 140,000^ |
Belgium (BEA) [50] | Platinum | 50,000* |
Canada (Music Canada) [51] | Gold | 50,000^ |
Germany (BVMI) [52] | Gold | 150,000‡ |
Netherlands (NVPI) [53] | Platinum | 80,000^ |
New Zealand (RMNZ) [54] | Platinum | 15,000^ |
United Kingdom (BPI) [55] | 3× Platinum | 900,000‡ |
United States (RIAA) [6] | Platinum | 2,660,000 [10] |
* Sales figures based on certification alone. |
Mutter is the third studio album by German Neue Deutsche Härte band Rammstein. It was released on 2 April 2001 through Motor and Universal Music. The album's cover image is a photograph of a dead fetus, which was taken by Daniel & Geo Fuchs. The album has yielded six singles which, to date, are the most released from any Rammstein album.
Number Ones is a greatest hits album by American singer Michael Jackson. It was released on November 18, 2003, by Epic Records. Number Ones was Jackson's first proper compilation album with Epic Records, after the release of the first disc of HIStory: Past, Present and Future, Book I in 1995. The album included Jackson's singles that reportedly reached number 1 in charts around the world, hence the album's name. Number Ones also features the last original single released during Jackson's lifetime, "One More Chance", released four days after the release of the album.
Musicology is the twenty-eighth studio album by American recording artist Prince. The album was given to concertgoers at his Musicology Tour, from March 27 to September 9, 2004, in North America. A digital release followed two days after his tour started on March 29, 2004. The physical retail version was released on April 19, 2004 (Europe) and April 20, 2004 (US) by NPG Records and distributed by Columbia Records. Musicology was the first album in five years that Prince released through a major label and, being partially recorded in Mississauga, Ontario, Canada, was his first to be recorded outside Minneapolis in many years. Musicology is R&B themed.
MTV Unplugged is the first live album by Canadian singer-songwriter Alanis Morissette, released by Maverick Records in the United States on November 9, 1999. It comprises songs performed by Morissette on the television program MTV Unplugged. Twelve tracks were included on the album, but Morissette also performed "Baba", "Thank U" and "Your House" during the live taping. These were later released as B-sides on the "King of Pain" single release. The first single, "That I Would Be Good", was moderately successful, and two other tracks, "King of Pain" and "You Learn" were released as singles outside North America. As of March 2012, the album has sold 673,000 copies in the U.S.
Greatest Hits is Neil Young's third compilation album after Decade and Lucky Thirteen. Eleven of the first twelve tracks appear on Decade, and the disc spans his solo career from 1969 through 1992. On the rear cover of the album, Young comments that the tracks were selected "based on original record sales, airplay and known download history".
A Funk Odyssey is the fifth studio album by English funk band Jamiroquai. The album was released on 3 September 2001 in the United Kingdom by Sony Soho Square and 11 September 2001 by Epic Records in the United States.
Greatest Hits is the second greatest hits album and second compilation album by the Red Hot Chili Peppers. It was released on November 18, 2003, by Warner Bros. Records. Aside from their cover of "Higher Ground", all songs on the album are from the band's tenure on Warner Bros. Records from 1991 to 2002, in addition to two newly recorded songs.
Under Construction is the fourth studio album by American rapper Missy Elliott, released by The Goldmind Inc. and Elektra Records on November 12, 2002, in the United States. The album was primarily produced by Timbaland, with additional production by Craig Brockman, Nisan Stewart, Errol "Poppi" McCalla and Elliott herself.
Legend is a compilation album by Bob Marley and the Wailers. It was released in May 1984 by Island Records. It is a greatest hits collection of singles in its original vinyl format and is the best-selling reggae album of all-time, with over 12 million sold in the US, over 3.3 million in the UK and an estimated 25 million copies sold globally. In 2003, the album was ranked number 46 in Rolling Stone magazine's list of the "500 Greatest Albums of All Time", maintaining the ranking in a 2012 revised list, but dropping to number 48 in the 2020 revised list.
Ultimate Prince is a greatest hits album by American recording artist Prince. It was released on August 22, 2006, by Warner Bros. Records. The two-disc set contains a disc of some previously released hits, and another of extended remixes of hits and a B-side, most of which had only been previously released as 12-inch singles.
Eminem Presents: The Re-Up or simply, The Re-Up, is a compilation album performed by various artists of American record label, Shady Records. The album features performances by Shady Records artists Eminem, D12, 50 Cent, Obie Trice, Stat Quo, Bobby Creekwater and Cashis, while affiliated artists such as Lloyd Banks, Akon and Nate Dogg, made guest appearances. The album debuted at number two on the US Billboard 200 chart and has since sold over one million copies in the US alone, being certified platinum by the RIAA.
Chronicle, or fully Chronicle: The 20 Greatest Hits, is a greatest hits album by the American rock band Creedence Clearwater Revival. It was released in January 1976 by Fantasy Records. The edited version of "I Heard It Through the Grapevine" featured on the album was simultaneously released as a single.
Siempre is the fourth studio album by the classical crossover vocal group Il Divo. It was released on 21 November 2006 in the United States and globally on 27 November 2006 by Syco Music and Columbia Records.
Mothership is a compilation album by English rock band Led Zeppelin, released by Atlantic Records and Rhino Entertainment on 12 November 2007 in the United Kingdom, and 13 November 2007 in the United States. It was released on the same day that Led Zeppelin's entire catalogue became available in digital stores, including the iTunes Store. The cover was designed by artist Shepard Fairey.
The Very Best of Enya is the second greatest hits album by the Irish singer, songwriter and musician Enya, released on 23 November 2009 by Warner Bros. Records. After promoting her previous studio album And Winter Came... (2008), Warner Music asked Enya to release a new compilation of her favourite songs of her career, and chose a selection with her longtime collaborators, producer and arranger Nicky Ryan and his wife, lyricist Roma Ryan.
Sigh No More is the debut studio album by British folk rock band Mumford & Sons. It was released on 2 October 2009 in the UK, and on 16 February 2010 in the United States and Canada. The album entered the UK Albums Chart at No. 11 and peaked at No. 2 on 20 February 2011, in its 72nd week on the chart and following its Album of the Year win at the Brit Awards. In early 2011, the album peaked at No. 2 on the Billboard 200 in the US.
The Heist is the debut studio album by American hip hop duo Macklemore & Ryan Lewis. It was released on October 9, 2012, by Macklemore LLC, distributed under the Alternative Distribution Alliance. The album was independently self-produced, self-recorded and self-released by the duo, with no mainstream promotion or support. After the album's release, the duo hired Warner Music Group's radio promotion department to help the push with their singles for a small percentage of the sales.
Believe Acoustic is the third remix album by the Canadian singer Justin Bieber. It was released on January 29, 2013, by Island Records as the follow-up to his second remix album, Never Say Never: The Remixes (2011). It is Bieber's second acoustic album, following My Worlds Acoustic (2010). The album has acoustic and live versions of songs from his third studio album Believe (2012), as well as three new recordings. The album went to number one on the US Billboard 200 albums chart, making this Bieber's fifth number-one album and seventh consecutive top 10 album in the United States.
To Be Loved is the eighth studio album by Canadian singer, Michael Bublé. The album was released on April 15, 2013, by 143 Records and Reprise Records. The album was preceded by the release of the lead single, "It's a Beautiful Day", released on February 25, 2013. Featuring four original songs and ten cover versions, it became Bublé's fourth consecutive album to reach number one on the U.S. Billboard 200.
The Best of Nickelback Volume 1 is a compilation album by Canadian rock band Nickelback. It was released on November 4, 2013, through Roadrunner Records (internationally) and Universal Music Canada to coincide with their October–November 2013 "The Hits Tour". Though frontman Chad Kroeger had previously stated in an interview that their upcoming greatest hits album would include new songs as well as previous hits, the final track listing contains only previously released material. The compilation features singles released from all but the first two studio albums from the band; Silver Side Up (2001), The Long Road (2003), All the Right Reasons (2005), Dark Horse (2008), and Here and Now (2011).