Greatest Hits (Mariah Carey album)
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Greatest Hits is the first greatest hits album by American singer and songwriter Mariah Carey, released in the United States on December 4, 2001 by Columbia Records. It is a greatest hits double album: CD 1 is primarily a collection of Carey’s hits from 1990 to 1995, while CD 2 is primarily a collection of hits from 1996 to 2000. In 2011, the album was re-issued outside the US with the same track listing, under the title of The Essential Mariah Carey. In 2012, The Essential Mariah Carey was released in North America with a slightly different track listing, replacing some hits with their extended club mixes, and others being completely removed in favor of tracks that had not been released as singles. Much of the artwork inside the album booklet is very similar to that of the Greatest Hits release.
Carey had previously released the compilation album #1’s (1998), but the release of her Greatest Hits album was a contractual agreement beyond her control, since she had left Columbia Records and had moved on to Virgin Records. The album had little creative input from Carey and there are no personal messages within its liner notes, unlike #1’s. All tracks from the previous album, with the exception of “Whenever You Call” with Brian McKnight, and the #1’s non-U.S. bonus track “Theme from Mahogany (Do You Know Where You’re Going To)” are included on l.p. Greatest Hits. Tracks that weren’t included on #1’s are:
the U.S. top five hits “Can’t Let Go” (1991), “Make It Happen” (1992) and “Without You” (1994), and the top twenty hit “Anytime You Need a Friend” (1994);
the radio airplay-only tracks “Forever” (1996), “Underneath the Stars” (1996), and “Butterfly” (1997);
“Heartbreaker” (1999) and “Thank God I Found You” (2000), the two singles from Carey’s Rainbow album that went to number 1 following the release of #1’s, as well as “Can’t Take That Away (Mariah’s Theme)” (2000), another track from Rainbow;
“Endless Love” (1994), a top five duet with Luther Vandross which had not been previously included on any Carey album;
the So So Def Remix of “All I Want for Christmas Is You” (2000) featuring Bow Wow and Jermaine Dupri, which had previously only been on the Japanese re-release of the single in 2000.
Most non-U.S. versions of Greatest Hits retain the track listing as listed below with the addition of “Against All Odds” (2000), a duet with Westlife. The Japanese version contains “Against All Odds”, “Open Arms” (1996), the non-single album track “Music Box” from the album Music Box (1993), and the Merry Christmas album version of “All I Want for Christmas Is You”; it is also the only album to include the “Never Too Far/Hero Medley” (2001) single. Unlike most non-U.S. versions of the Greatest Hits album, the So So Def Remix of “All I Want for Christmas Is You” was not included on the original UK edition but on the album’s 2005 re-release.
Chart performance
As of March 2013, Greatest Hits has sold 1,167,000 copies in the US
Track listing
Disc one
No. Title Writer(s) Producer(s) Length
1. “Vision of Love” Mariah Carey, Ben Margulies Rhett Lawrence, Narada Michael Walden 3:30
2. “Love Takes Time” Carey, Margulies Walter Afanasieff 3:48
3. “Someday” Carey, Margulies Ric Wake 4:07
4. “I Don’t Wanna Cry” Carey, Walden Walden 4:49
5. “Emotions” Carey, David Cole, Robert Clivillés Carey, Cole, Clivillés 4:09
6. “Can’t Let Go” Carey, Afanasieff Carey, Afanasieff 4:27
7. “Make It Happen” Carey, Cole, Clivillés Carey, Cole, Clivillés 5:08
8. “I’ll Be There” (featuring Trey Lorenz) Berry Gordy, Bob West, Hal Davis, Willie Hutch Carey, Afanasieff 4:24
9. “Dreamlover” Carey, Dave Hall, David Porter Carey, Hall, Afanasieff 3:54
10. “Hero” Carey, Afanasieff Carey, Afanasieff 4:18
11. “Without You” Pete Ham, Tom Evans Carey, Afanasieff 3:34
12. “Anytime You Need a Friend” Carey, Afanasieff Carey, Afanasieff 4:26
13. “Endless Love” (duet with Luther Vandross) Lionel Richie Afanasieff 4:20
14. “Fantasy” Carey, Chris Frantz, Tina Weymouth, Hall, Adrian Belew, Steven Stanley Carey, Hall 4:04
15. “Music Box” (Japanese bonus track) Carey, Afanasieff Carey, Afanasieff 4:57
16. “All I Want for Christmas Is You” (Japanese bonus track) Carey, Afanasieff Carey, Afanasieff 4:02
17. “Open Arms” (Japanese bonus track) Steve Perry, Jonathan Cain Carey, Afanasieff 3:30
Disc two
No. Title Writer(s) Producer(s) Length
1. “One Sweet Day” (duet with Boyz II Men) Carey, Afanasieff, Michael McCary, Nathan Morris, Wanya Morris, Shawn Stockman Carey, Afanasieff 4:41
2. “Always Be My Baby” Carey, Jermaine Dupri, Manuel
Seal Carey, Dupri, Seal 4:18
3. “Forever” Carey, Afanasieff Carey, Afanasieff 4:01
4. “Underneath the Stars” Carey, Afanasieff Carey, Afanasieff 3:33
5. “Honey” Carey, Sean Combs, Kamaal Fareed, Steven Jordan, Stephen Hague, Ronald Larkins, Bobby Robinson, Larry Price, Malcolm McLaren Carey, Combs, Stevie J, The Ummah 4:59
6. “Butterfly” Carey, Afanasieff Carey, Afanasieff 4:34
7. “My All” Carey, Afanasieff Carey, Afanasieff 3:50
8. “Sweetheart” Rainy Davis, Pete Warner Dupri, Carey 4:22
9. “When You Believe” (duet with Whitney Houston) Stephen Schwartz, Babyface Babyface 4:34
10. “I Still Believe” Antonina Armato, Giuseppe Cantarelli Carey, Stevie J, Mike Mason 3:54
11. “Heartbreaker” (featuring Jay-Z) Carey, Shawn Carter, Walden, Shirley Ellison, Lincoln Chase, Jeffrey Cohen Carey, DJ Clue?, Ken “Duro” Ifill 4:46
12. “Thank God I Found You” (featuring Joe and 98 Degrees) Carey, James Harris III, Terry Lewis Carey, Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis 4:17
13. “Can’t Take That Away (Mariah’s Theme)” Carey, Diane Warren Carey, Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis 4:32
14. “Against All Odds” (featuring Westlife) (non-US bonus track) Phil Collins Carey, Steve Mac 3:21
15. “All I Want for Christmas Is You” (So So
Def Remix featuring Jermaine Dupri and Lil’ Bow Wow) Carey, Afanasieff, Arthur Baker, John Robie, Kevin Donovan, Ellis Williams, Robert Darrell Allen, John Miller, John Byas, Ralf Hütter, Florian Schneider Carey, Afanasieff, Dupri 3:43
16. “Never Too Far/Hero Medley” (Japanese bonus track) Carey, Afanasieff, Harris III, Lewis Carey, Harris III, Lewis, Randy Jackson