GHV2

Untitled

GHV2 ("Greatest Hits Volume 2") is Madonna's second greatest hits album and the followup to 1990's The Immaculate Collection. The album peacked at #2 on the official UK albums chart, and went to #7 on the Billboard 200.

Album overview

GHV2 was released exactly eleven years after The Immaculate Collection and featured Madonna's biggest hits of the 90s, ranging from 1992's Erotica to 2001's What It Feels Like For A Girl. But, unlike its predecessor it did not contain any new songs. Madonna chose not to include any new songs on the album because "it's called a greatest hits" album and therefore could not contain a new song because it was not a "greatest hit".

Many of the songs on GHV2' were edited down from their original studio versions. Like The Immaculate Collection, there was not space for many other popular singles released, such as: This Used to be My Playground, Bad Girl, Fever, Rain, I'll Remember, You'll See (or the spanish version "Verás"), You Must Love Me, Another Suitcase in Another Hall, Buenos Aires, Nothing Really Matters, and American Pie. In an interview with BBC's Jo Whiley Madonna said about the selection of the GHV2 tracks: "I only wanted songs that I could listen to 5 times in a row". The hit song American Pie was excluded as a "punishment" because Madonna regretted putting it on the Music album. "It was something a certain record company executive twisted my arm into doing, but it didn't belong on the album so now it's being punished", she said. Many Madonna fans were upset and confused at the use of Edits. To avoid an "explicit lyrics" label, an edit of Human Nature was included that completely removes the infamous line "I'm not your Bitch, don't hang your Shit on me", which renders the "Express yourself, Don't repress yourself" line null.

Unlike The Immaculate Collection, there were no new single to promote the album or even recorded for GHV2. However, a promo-only megamix was used to promote the album. The most well known is the Thunderpuss GHV2 Megamix. Thunderpuss mixed "Don't Tell Me", "Erotica", "Secret", "Frozen", "What It Feels Like For A Girl", "Take A Bow", "Deeper And Deeper", "Music" and "Ray of Light" (in that order). The Thunderpuss GHV2 Megamix was accompanied by a video, compiled of images of live performances and 23 Madonna videos

The coverwork does not offer many new photos either; the cover picture is from a photo shoot for the Drowned World Tour, in 2001 by Regan Cameron. The logo in the right corner says "Madonna" and "GHV2". The Japanese letters spell out 'Madonna' as well, though the word does not have any real significance in Japanese. The word "GHV2" can also be seen in Madonna's eye. Kevin Reagan gave the album some extra value with the inside artwork.

A special edition of GHV2, featuring the same tracklisting but some additional art work was released in December 2001.

Track listing

1. "Deeper and Deeper" [7" edit]
2. "Erotica" [radio edit]
3. "Human Nature" [radio edit]
4. "Secret" [edit]
5. "Don't Cry for Me Argentina" [radio edit]
6. "Bedtime Story" [edit]
7. "The Power of Good-Bye" [Album version]
8. "Beautiful Stranger" [William Orbit radio edit]
9. "Frozen" [edit]
10. "Take a Bow" [edit]
11. "Ray of Light" [radio edit]
12. "Don't Tell Me" [Album version]
13. "What It Feels Like for a Girl" [Album version]
14. "Drowned World/Substitute for Love" [Album version]
15. "Music" [Album version]

Chart performance

Chart (2001)	Peak Position
Australia albums chart	3
Austria albums chart	1
Canada albums chart	11
Europe albums chart	3 (2 wks)
Finland albums chart	11
France albums chart	2 (2 wks)
Germany albums chart	3
Hungary albums chart	8
New Zealand albums chart	8
Norway albums chart	5
Portugal albums chart	6
Spain albums chart	3
Switzerland albums chart	3
UK albums chart	2
USA Billboard Top 200	7

Certifications

Country	Certification
Australia	Platinum
Canada	Platinum
Europe	2x Platinum
France	Platinum
UK	2x Platinum
USA	Platinum