Greatest Hits (Robbie Williams album)

Greatest Hits
Greatest hits album by Robbie Williams
Released 18 October 2004
Recorded 1997–2004
Genre
Length 78:43
Label EMI
Producer Guy Chambers
Robbie Williams chronology
Live at Knebworth
(2003)		 Greatest Hits
(2004)		 Intensive Care
(2005)
Singles from Greatest Hits
  1. "Radio"
    Released: 4 October 2004
  2. "Misunderstood"
    Released: 6 December 2004
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[1]

Greatest Hits is a hits compilation released by British singer-songwriter Robbie Williams on 18 October 2004. The album includes two new songs, these being "Radio" and "Misunderstood", which were both released as singles. The album is his seventh overall released in the United Kingdom.

Greatest Hits was one of the fastest selling albums upon release in the UK, where it debuted at the number-one spot with first week sales of over 320,000 copies. Certain versions of the album feature a picture of Williams in a pose exposing his pubic hair on the cover, and in the booklet is the Latin phase "...si quid habet mammas vel rotas, res habebis difficiles aliquando", translating into "if it has tits or wheels, it makes life difficult." A special edition box set, containing all of Williams' singles, was released on the same day.[2]

Singles

Although Williams admitted on his website to being "perplexed at the prospect" of a greatest hits album, saying, "I rarely, if at all, look back over my career", he took the opportunity to also reveal two new songs he had been working on with his new collaborator, Stephen Duffy.[3] Both were released as singles. "Radio", the compilation's first single, was released in October 2004, debuting at number-one of the UK Singles Chart, becoming Williams' sixth number-one hit selling 41,732 copies.[4] The song was also a number-one hit in Denmark and Portugal, and it hit the top ten around the world. The album's second single, the ballad "Misunderstood", was included on the soundtrack of the film Bridget Jones: The Edge of Reason, and hit the top ten around the world in December of that year.

Commercial performance

Debuting at number one, the album sold 320,000 copies in its first week, becoming the fastest selling greatest hits album ever released in the United Kingdom.[3] The album hit the top spot in 18 countries: France, Italy, Portugal, Spain, the aforementioned United Kingdom, Argentina, Colombia, Germany, Australia, New Zealand, and Switzerland among others.[3] The album became the best selling album of the year in the United Kingdom, becoming the 61st best selling album in UK music history, with sales of 2 million copies, being certified 6× Platinum by the BPI.[5]

Greatest Hits also became the best selling album of the year in Europe being certified 5× Platinum for over 5 million copies sold[6] worldwide. The album ended up selling slightly under 8.5 million copies becoming one of Williams' best selling albums ever. In Germany, the album debuted at number one and reached this position in total nine times non-consecutively, Williams' second album to do so, the other one being Swing When You're Winning. With 102 weeks on the German Albums Chart it's his second longest chart one, just behind Sing When You're Winning, with 106 weeks. By selling 900,000 copies and reaching 9× Gold, Greatest Hits is the 20th best-selling album of the decade 2000–2009 in Germany and his 5th album to reach a position in the top twenty of the best-selling album of the decade, the others being Swing When You're Winning (4th best-selling), Escapology (5th best-selling), Intensive Care (8th best-selling) and Live at Knebworth (19th best-selling).[7][8]

Track listing

  1. "Old Before I Die" from Life thru a Lens
  2. "Lazy Days" from Life thru a Lens
  3. "Angels" from Life thru a Lens
  4. "Let Me Entertain You" from Life thru a Lens
  5. "Millennium" from I've Been Expecting You
  6. "No Regrets" from I've Been Expecting You
  7. "Strong" from I've Been Expecting You
  8. "She's the One" from I've Been Expecting You
  9. "Rock DJ" from Sing When You're Winning
  10. "Kids" from Sing When You're Winning
  11. "Supreme" from Sing When You're Winning
  12. "Let Love Be Your Energy" from Sing When You're Winning
  13. "Eternity" Non-album single
  14. "The Road to Mandalay" from Sing When You're Winning
  15. "Feel" from Escapology
  16. "Come Undone" from Escapology
  17. "Sexed Up" from Escapology
  18. "Radio" Previously unreleased
  19. "Misunderstood" Previously unreleased

The Best So Far

The Best So Far
Greatest hits album by Robbie Williams
Released 2 September 2006
Recorded 1997–2004
Genre Pop, adult contemporary
Length 61:46
Label Som Livre
Robbie Williams chronology
Intensive Care
(2005)		 The Best So Far
(2006)		 Rudebox
(2006)

The Best So Far is an updated version of Greatest Hits, released exclusively in Brazil to celebrate Robbie's Close Encounters tour. As Greatest Hits was not released in Brazil, The Best So Far updates the track listing slightly, adding "Sin Sin Sin", "Advertising Space" and "Tripping", but removing earlier hits such as "Old Before I Die", "Lazy Days" and "She's the One".

Track listing
  1. "Sin Sin Sin" – 4:09
  2. "Advertising Space" – 4:37
  3. "Feel" – 4:22
  4. "Angels" – 4:25
  5. "Sexed Up" – 4:20
  6. "Millennium" – 4:08
  7. "Come Undone" – 4:38
  8. "Rock DJ" – 4:18
  9. "Supreme" – 4:19
  10. "Tripping" – 4:07
  11. "No Regrets" – 5:11
  12. "Radio" – 3:51
  13. "Misunderstood" – 4:02
  14. "Let Me Entertain You" – 4:21

Charts

Weekly charts

Chart (2004) Peak
position
Argentina 1
Australia 1 (9 weeks)
Austria 1 (3 weeks)
Belgium 2
Denmark
European Top 100 Albums[9] 1
Finland 3 (2 weeks)
France 1
Germany 1
Hungary 7
Ireland 1
Italy 1 (3 weeks)
Japan[10] 60
Mexico 2
Netherlands
New Zealand 1 (4 weeks)
Polish Albums Chart[11] 9
Portugal 1 (3 weeks)
Spain 1
Sweden 2 (2 weeks)
Switzerland 1 (9 weeks)
United Kingdom 1 (4 weeks)

Year-end charts

Chart (2004) Peak
position
UK Albums Chart 3

Decade-end charts

Chart (2000–09) Peak
position
UK Albums Chart 19

Certifications

Region Certification Certified units/Sales
Argentina 7× Platinum[12] 280,000+
Australia 8× Platinum[13] 560,000+
Austria 4× Platinum[14] 120,000+
Belgium Platinum[15] 40,000+
Denmark 2× Platinum[16] 60,000+
European Top 100 Albums[9] 6× Platinum[17] 6,000,000
Finland Platinum[18] 40,367+
France Platinum[19] 300,000+
Germany 9x Gold[8] 900,000+
Hungary Gold[20] 5,000+
Italy 8× Platinum 610,000+
Mexico 2× Platinum[21] 300,000+
Netherlands Platinum[22] 80,000+
New Zealand 2× Platinum[23] 30,000+
Polish Albums Chart[11] Gold[24] 10,000+
Portugal Platinum[24] 20,000+
Spain 2× Platinum[25] 160,000+
Sweden Gold[26] 30,000+
Switzerland 3× Platinum[27] 120,000+
United Kingdom 7× Platinum[28] 2,315,132[29]

*sales figures based on certification alone
^shipments figures based on certification alone

References

Preceded by
10 Years of Hits by Ronan Keating
How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb by U2		 UK number-one album
30 October 2004 – 12 November 2004
25 December 2004 – 8 January 2005 		Succeeded by
Il Divo by Il Divo
American Idiot by Green Day
Preceded by
Songs About Jane by Maroon 5		 Australian ARIA Albums Chart number-one album
25 October 2004 – 14 November 2004
6 December 2004 – 16 January 2005 		Succeeded by
Mistaken Identity by Delta Goodrem
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