Next month - the all-important Christmas shopping season - sees two compilations from two immensely popular singers from the RCA roster with unmistakable voices.
The label will release new compilations in the same week for departed R&B legend Whitney Houston and American Idol winner Kelly Clarkson - the latter of whom definitely owes more than a little of her style to the former.
I Will Always Love You: The Best of Whitney Houston marks a few firsts in Whitney's catalogue: it's her first single-disc, career-spanning compilation in the United States, and it's the first catalogue title to be released after her sudden passing earlier this year.
While 2000's Whitney: The Greatest Hits mixed familiar versions of hits with new dance remixes and the odd rarity or two, I Will Always Love You is heavy on the hits fans know and love, newly remastered and appended by two bonus tracks. One, a new version of the title track to 2009's I Look to You, features duet vocals from R&B icon R. Kelly, who penned the tune for Houston and sang it at her memorial. The other track, "Never Give Up," is a previously-unreleased tune - no doubt one of many audiences will likely have the chance to hear in the future. That disc is out November 13.
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After the jump, Kelly Clarkson's first-ever compilation is heavy on the hits, plus a little bit extra!
It was the show nobody realized they wanted until it actually premiered: in the summer of 2002, audiences were transfixed by American Idol, a live music contest where fans could vote for a new pop superstar from a myriad of unknown hopefuls. (The concept was, of course, cured to perfection in the U.K. by producer and judge Simon Cowell, whose no-nonsense demeanor made him one of television's most lovable villains.)
That first year, the winner was almost obvious: a 20-year-old waitress from Burleson, Texas, named Kelly Clarkson. Clarkson's simple good looks and powerhouse voice, which recalled vintage Whitney Houston and Celine Dion, earned her a record contract, but it was her choice of songs - empowered, upbeat and assertive - that made her a superstar. Sophomore record Breakaway, released in 2004, sold 6 million copies and yielded four Top 10 hits, including the anthemic "Since U Been Gone." Clarkson continued to follow her muse, releasing the darker, less-commercial My December in 2007 before returning to pop craft with All I Ever Wanted (2009) and Stronger (2011), the title track of which became her third No. 1 hit.
Greatest Hits: Chapter One contains a dozen Top 20 solo hits, the excellent "Don't You Wanna Stay" - a duet with country singer Jason Aldean - and four brand-new tracks, including lead single "Catch My Breath"; "Don't Rush," another country duet with Vince Gill and - fitting of its November 16 release date - a take on "I'll Be Home for Christmas."
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Order your copies of each compilation and check out the full track lists below.
Whitney Houston,I Will Always Love You: The Best of Whitney Houston (RCA 88725 47223-2, 2012)
- You Give Good Love
- Saving All My Love for You
- How Will I Know
- Greatest Love of All
- I Wanna Dance with Somebody (Who Loves Me)
- Didn't We Almost Have It All
- So Emotional
- Where Do Broken Hearts Go
- I'm Your Baby Tonight
- All the Man I Need
- I Will Always Love You
- I'm Every Woman
- I Have Nothing
- Exhale (Shoop Shoop)
- I Believe in You and Me (Film Version)
- My Love is Your Love
- I Look to You (with R. Kelly)
- Never Give Up
Tracks 1-4 from Whitney Houston (Arista, 1985)
Tracks 5-8 from Whitney (Arista, 1987)
Tracks 9-10 from I'm Your Baby Tonight (Arista, 1990)
Tracks 11-13 from The Bodyguard: Original Soundtrack Album (Arista, 1992)
Track 14 from Waiting to Exhale: Original Soundtrack Album (Arista, 1995)
Track 15 from The Preacher's Wife: Original Soundtrack Album (Arista, 1996)
Track 16 from My Love is Your Love (Arista, 1998)
Original version of Track 17 from I Look to You (Arista, 2009)
Track 18 previously unreleased
Kelly Clarkson, Greatest Hits: Chapter One (RCA 88725 49080-2, 2012)
- Since U Been Gone
- My Life Would Suck Without You
- Miss Independent
- Stronger (What Doesn't Kill You)
- Behind These Hazel Eyes
- Because of You
- Never Again
- Already Gone
- Mr. Know It All
- Breakaway
- Don't You Wanna Stay - Jason Aldean and Kelly Clarkson
- Walk Away
- Catch My Breath
- People Like Us
- Don't Rush (with Vince Gill)
- A Moment Like This
- I'll Be Home for Christmas
Tracks 1, 5-6, 10 and 12 from Breakaway (19/S/RCA, 2004)
Tracks 2 and 8 from All I Ever Wanted (19/S/RCA, 2009)
Tracks 3 and 16 from Thankful (19/S/RCA, 2003)
Tracks 4 and 9 from Stronger (19/S/RCA, 2011)
Track 7 from My December (19/S/RCA, 2007)
Track 11 from My Kinda Party (Broken Bow, 2010)
Tracks 13-15 and 17 are new tracks
mijgrebso says
How can they leave "Low" off of Kelly CLarkson's Greatest Hits? If that was on the album that would be all the Kelly Clarkson I would ever need to own.
Popservations (@Popservations) says
"I'll Be Home For Christmas" was released as a single last December and also included on her iTunes Session EP.
Would have been nice to have included the acoustic version of "Already Gone," which strips away all of those "Halo" soundalike memories. And something else from 'My December,' like "Sober."
John Zen says
Wow, this shouldn't be theseconddisc-worthy news.
pinkfloyd says
re: WHITNEY
Why is "One Moment In Time" missing?!
DanaDotCom says
"One Moment In Time" is missing because Sony/BMG knows exactly what they're doing. There's a shrewd marketing plan behind Houston's catalog over the next several years, I'm sure, very strategically leaving key tracks off seeming obvious releases. Realistically, all Houston's legacy needs is her limited catalog reissued in deluxe editions. This greatest hits is simply out to cash in on the gift-giving season that's upon us. Every other reason given by the record company is moot. Unlike other performers who've left us too soon, I think it's safe to say that her reckless lifestyle prevented her from leaving a wealth of vaulted material behind.