Search - Faith Hill :: "The Hits"

Faith has no faith in her fans

K. J. Bryant | 10/03/2007

(2 out of 5 stars)

"There used to be a time when a "Greatest Hits" cd really meant something to an artist. It was their opportunity to celebrate the achievements of their career, while offering a collection cd as a gift to their most devoted fans.



In the past, a Greatest Hits collection package will be an exceptional package...the new songs will be different, the artist will include new/old photos of themselves and chart position information about their songs/albums over the years, and the artist will do one or two things:



A.) Write about their experiences recording the various hit songs and allow the songwriter and/or producer to have their input in the creative process (for example, Martina McBride) or



B.) Have a music expert (like a music critic) who champions their work by offering clever commentary about the artist and their work (for example, Madonna).



Sadly, Faith offers none of this and it really shouldn't surprise anyone. Since 1997, Faith has taken her cue from Shania Twain who also released her Hits cd in 2004 in the most boring fashion imagineable. Neither female artist offered any real insight to their work or allowed someone to write a commentary on their careers; both women neglected to include ALL their hits; both women include "so-so" new songs as a catch; and both women packaging is so boring I felt offended about spending my money.



The problem with Faith is, she waited too late to release this Hits cd. This cd should have been release AFTER her "Breathe" album and include both her pop and country hits and contain no songs from "Cry" or "Fireflies" because she was doing different things and "Breathe" would have given her an opportunity to close one chapter while beginning a new phase in her career. Plus, if she had contained songs from "Cry" and "Fireflies" there would have been too many songs being on the collection. My example of Faith's Hits would be:



CD 1 (Country)

Red Umbrella

I Need You

Lost

Take Me As I Am

Wild One

Piece of My Heart

But I Will

Someone Else's Dream

Let's Go to Vegas

It Matter To Me

You Can't Lose Me (single version)

I Can't Do That Anymore



CD 2 (Pop)

This Kiss

It's Your Love

Let Me Let Go

Just To Hear You Say That You Love Me

The Secret of Life

Breathe

The Way You Love Me

Let's Make Love

If My Heart Had Wings

Piece of My Heart (Rock Remix)

There You'll Be

Let Me Let Go (Movie Version)

Let Me Let Go (Pop Version)



To be honest, she already released a GH cd to the International markets (right after Breathe). However, at that time she was trying to become a "pop" artist because she really didn't include any of her country hits and if she did, it did not include any country influences. That is why I don't consider that album a Hits collection...its more like an album used to help give her more exposure to fans overseas.



In my opinion, Faith is suffering from poor advice. Why did she feel it was necessary to NOT include "Let's Go To Vegas"? That song/video is one of her most popular songs. "I Can't Do That Anymore" is one of her best ballads EVER and "It's Your Love" is considered one of the best country duets of all times. This Hits cd was LONG overdue and instead of releasing this Hits collection, I think she should be releasing her long delayed Christmas album. I feel VERY disappointed in this cd and its sad that Faith and her label threw this weak hits collection together for devoted fans to buy. I think we deserve more than this."

Disappointing

Kat | MI | 10/02/2007

(2 out of 5 stars)

"One word: Disappointing. I've been a Faith fan since 1994 and I noticed that so many hit singles were missing from the compliation. "The Hits" possesses many flaws. First, the track listing on the back of the cd, like other reviewers have mentioned, is inaccurate. The songs run in a different order than it does on the track list. Second, the lack of new material. While "Lost" and "Red Umbrella" are impressive, songs like "Stronger" and "I Need You" have no place on here; they are not new nor are they hits. Third, this is only half of her hits. It's missing classics like "Lets Go To Vegas", "I Can't Do That Anymore", "You Can't Lose Me", "Take Me As I Am" and "If My Heart Had Wings". And finally, the cheap packaging. But that's the least of this cd's problems. I am just really disappointed with the lack of marketing and the lack of effort put into this cd. I will always be a Faith fan and I hope her next effort will be better. Thank goodness a real Greatest Hits comes out next week...Sara Evans. Now that is a true hit collection. I would recommend that one instead of this one."

Why oh why did I buy this?

JW | Scottsdale, Arizona USA | 10/04/2007

(1 out of 5 stars)

"Love Faith, but whoever was in charge of this project at the record company deserves to be fired. Many of the "the hits" are actually missing, and I agree with other reviewers asking why is "I Need You" included on this album and not the other Faith/Tim duets that were hits. The live version of "Stonger" is nice, but what about "There Will Come A Day", which is a Faith fan-standard. Faith rocks that track live and it brings the house down. "Lost" is a great song and I was so thinking Faith would have another hit on the scale of "Breathe", but it seems like it came and went with little to no bother, and now we have "Red Umbrella" as a single already and the song is horrible. The fact that the track list on the back of the CD package does not match how the tracks appear on the CD is ridiculous. My CD came with a tiny sticker saying the track listing doesn't match. But why? Seems like a huge oversight. That said, the track list on the CD packaging would have been much better than how it actually turned out. The order of the tracks on the CD is odd for a Greatest Hits, starting with "Red Umbrella" and going straight to a live track with "Stronger" and then "I Need You", bypassing the Faith standards. The fact that the track list is all messed up and won't even import into iTunes correctly is yet another indicator that whoever was in charge of this project did it half heartedly. Was hoping with all the fan outgrage at the original, dismal track listing for this CD that when the record company decided to rethink things they'd get it right. Missing hits, no special live songs or radio/single versions, screwed up track listing, no real fan favorites. They didn't get it right. Again, love my Faith, and glad if I bought this it supports her, she is a gem, but this is so so so disappointing and I blame the suits."