Greatest Hits [IMPORT]

Robbie Williams

Product Details

• Audio CD (November 1, 2004)
• Original Release Date: December 7, 2004
• Number of Discs: 1
• Format: Import
• Label: EMI Europe Generic
• ASIN: B00061I0VO
• Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars See all reviews (16 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #11,070 in Music (See Bestsellers in Music)

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Editorial Reviews

Product Description
The First Collection of the Former Take that Singer's Solo Output Collects the Key Singles that were Released in Conjunction with his Solo Albums "Life Thru a Lens", "i've Been Expecting You", "Sing When You're Winning" and "Escapology". The Album also Includes the Number One Single "Eternity", Along with Two New Tracks "Radio" and "Misunderstood" which is Featured on the Motion Picture Soundtrack of "Bridget Jones Diary 2" as Well as Three Tracks Not on the UK Version: "Better Man" and Exclusive Spanish Language Versions of "Angels ("Angeles") and "Better Man" ("Ser Mejor").

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

25 of 28 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Superb Greatest Hits - Sexy Cover, Too!, November 21, 2004

By	Busy Body (London, England) - See all my reviews (TOP 500 REVIEWER)

Robbie Williams is unquestionably the biggest male British popstar of the past ten years. Since his debut single released in 1996, he has consistently made top chart hits with six (including this) UK No.1 albums and six UK No.1 singles. His studio albums are guaranteed multi-million sellers whilst his live shows sell out in a matter of minutes. He is an entertainer in the traditional sense of the word, and America, boys and girls, is missing out big time! Mr. Williams has tried more than once to crack the States and failed, but luckily for us Brits he's returned again to reclaim his UK King of Pop crown. Basically, the man is a national treasure and after millions of column inches of tabloid-fodder, the music has always shone through.

Robbie's debut album "Life Thru A Lens" did nothing for months and months in the charts, and then it stormed up the charts in 1998 when one song was released: Angels. Robbie Williams owes his entire career to that song. It is a modern day classic and now highly regarded as one of the best songs ever composed, recently topping a poll of the best songs never to make No.1. When I first heard that Robbie was releasing a Greatest Hits album, it wasn't a question of if I would buy it, but more of a question of when! There are two versions of the Greatest Hits, with two different covers - one of Robbie's face and the other of him with his shirt open revealing that gorgeous hairy chest! Guess which one I bought!

The Greatest Hits is arranged in chronological order, with all Robbie's biggest hits arranged in terms of release. Up first we have the four major singles from Robbie's aforementioned debut album. The first is "Old Before I Die," which peaked at No.2 in April 1997, followed by "Lazy Days," which was No.8 in July 1997. Then comes that classic "Angels," which peaked at a criminal No.4 in December 1997. The song has actually, however, spent a calculate total of 27 weeks on the UK chart! Then comes another pop rock classic, "Let Me Entertain You." The video to this song is just so sexy and the song was a No.3 hit in March 1998.

By this point in his career Robbie was a revived star. After quitting Take That, the UK's biggest-ever boyband, less that three years earlier, he was having bigger success as a solo star - something unheard of. He released his second solo album, "I've Been Expecting You," in September 1998, and it features 4 massive hits that are on this Greatest Hits album. The first is "Millennium," which was also Robbie's first UK No.1 single in September 1998. This Bond-inspired classic showed Robbie as the ultimate male entertainer, which he continued with "No Regrets," which peaked at No.4 in December 1998. This beautiful ballad speaks of a disastrous relationship, contrasted perfectly with the next song, "Strong," which was also a No.4 hit in March 1999. Robbie speaks here of how he's not an invincible human being, despite what his fans think. "She's The One" is up next and became Robbie's second UK No.1 in November 1999. This is a really beautiful ballad, trademark Robbie and rounded out his second album in style. Check the video too!

Robbie's third album, "Sing When You're Winning," was released in August 2000 and was yet another No.1 multi-million seller. The first single was called "Rock DJ," and is yet another classic pop song! The song was a massive, huge hit with such a controversial video. Apart from looking utterly gorgeous stripping in it, it was controversial when he takes his skin off in a room with women skating around him! As predicted, it was a No.1 hit, and his third in total. "Kids" was the next single, and peaked at No.2 in October 2000. This duet with Kylie Minogue (whose career had recently been revived also) was a pop-duo made in heaven! "Supreme" peaked at No.4 in December 2000, whilst the upbeat "Let Love Be Your Energy" was a No.10 hit in March 2001. "Eternity" was a Double A-Side with "The Road To Mandalay," both of which feature on this Greatest Hits. The songs went to No.1 in July 2001, becoming Robbie's fourth UK No.1 single. The former is a gorgeous and understated ballad, whilst the former is light pop fluff for a summer's day.

Robbie's fourth studio album, "Escapology" was released in November 2002, and was yet another UK No.1 album, and also the biggest selling album of 2002. To achieve that, with only around five weeks before the end of the year was amazing. It also helped that EMI had just paid him £80 million to stay with them! The album's first single, "Feel," was rather different to what Robbie had done previously, but equally as good, peaking at No.4 in December 2002. "Come Undone" was another big hit for Robbie with a controversial video, peaking at No.5 in April 2003 whilst the vicious "Sexed Up" charted at No.10 in November 2003.

OVERALL GRADE: 10/10

The Greatest Hits album also has two new songs, the funky "Radio," which became Robbie's sixth UK No.1 and the new single "Misunderstood," which will likely follow into similar success. This Greatest Hits album has left quite a few songs off, too, most notably "Freedom" and "South Of The Border" from Robbie's debut album, and his massive Christmas 2001 UK No.1, "Somethin' Stupid," which was a duet with the icon Nicole Kidman, taken from Robbie's Big Band album "Swing When You're Winning," which, yes, you guessed it, as another massive No.1 album! This version features Spanish versions of a couple of the songs and is a worthwhile addition to any fan's collection!

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great!, March 19, 2008

By	M. Page (Grand Island, NE) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

There's little more I can say in favor of this collection of Robbie Williams' hits that hasn't been already said on the other reviews, except that I like "Angels" so much, that was the first song my husband and I danced to in our wedding... =)! And my second favorite is Supreme... It's true that the detail on Amazon's web page isn't faithful to the CD's content and some people may feel deceived, but I still think this is a great CD! So good that I had to buy it a second time, since my husband lost our first copy... ;) ENJOY IT!

6 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars I made a mistake buying this..., May 18, 2005

By	Slushmier - See all my reviews

See, the mistake was that I like this album too much, and now all my friends make fun of me when I ask them to listen to Robbie Williams. And when you tell them there's a duet with Kylie Minogue, well you're just screwed.

But then again, this isn't about image is it, because if Americans would sit back and remove the image stigma that has haunted Robbie Williams here in the United States, they'd probably just discover some good cheezy pop music. For example, take the song "This Love" by Maroon 5. Do I like it? Sure, I do. Is it good? Hell no. In fact, it's awful, and Robbie Williams makes a lot of songs like that, but he has a better voice, and is more talented than the Maroon 5 boys. Yet Maroon 5 has sold millions in the States and most people call Robbie Williams "that British singer."

Yes, he made some stupid moves in the eyes of us Americans, such as ripping off all his flesh until he was a skeleton in the "Rock DJ" video. In fact, that did it for me at the time. I was then done with Robbie Williams. Then I went to Spain and couldn't escape "Radio" no matter how I tried. So when I also heard "Rock DJ" without the silly video, I was hooked.

So there's about 6 classics on this album. "Angels" which is just a gorgeous song, and Robbie's biggest hit in the States. "Millenium" which I remember vaguely when the video aired on occassion on MTV. "No Regrets" is a nice little ode to moving on after a broken relationship. "Rock DJ" is just awesome and makes me want to go to Studio 54 in space. "Feel" is a song that's so pretty I want to cry at times. And "Radio" which is great, and I initially thought it was a Franz Ferdinand song, which I think demonstrates Williams having a bit of versitility.

The remaining 13 are also great, they just don't stick out as well. I'm not too keen on "Kids," probably because of the Kylie Minogue factor and one of the new songs "Misunderstood" is a little bland for me. However, there aren't many discs out there today with 17 good songs, and if one can disregard how lame his music may appear, they'll see that there's some true pop talent in Williams' brain.