The Immaculate Collection

The Immaculate Collection is the first greatest hits compilation album by American singer-songwriter Madonna, released on November 13, 1990 by Sire Records. It contains newly remixed versions of her greatest hits from 1983 to 1990, as well as two new tracks "Justify My Love" and "Rescue Me".

The RIAA certified it Diamond on October 11, 2001, recognizing ten million shipments throughout the United States^[1] -making it her best-selling album there. In the UK, the BPI certified it 12.00x Multi-Platinum, for sales of 3.6 million copies, making it the tenth best-selling album of all-time in the U.K, and making her the most successful female act in UK album chart history. The album is the best-selling compilation ever released by a female artist, with over twenty-two million copies sold worldwide^[2]

Album history

Originally titled Ultra Madonna, the name was changed as Warner Bros felt that it was too similar to the name of dance artist Ultra Naté. Madonna dedicated the album to "The Pope, my divine inspiration". This led to many believing it was dedicated to Pope John Paul II, but it was actually dedicated to her brother, Christopher Ciccone, who had spent the year on tour with Madonna ("The Pope" is one of his nicknames). The production of this album is notable for its use of QSound; all songs were mixed in using it, except "Justify My Love" and "Rescue Me". A QSound mix of "Justify My Love" was later released on the US maxi-single to the song.

All of the songs on 'The Immaculate Collection' (with the obvious exception of the two new songs) were remixed by Shep Pettibone alongside either Goh Hotoda or Michael Hutchinson and some were also edited down from their original lengths in order to decrease the overall running time. Although Madonna re-recorded the vocals for the song "Lucky Star" for the compilation, all of the original vocals on the other tracks remained the same and ultimately the original vocals for "Lucky Star" were also used and the new version was scrapped (although it has appeared on bootlegs). Notably, "Like A Prayer" and "Express Yourself" feature completely different music backing Madonna's vocals from their original album release.

It was decided that a mixture of ballads and pop-dance hits would be included, although there wasn't space for every Madonna single released; the following notable hit singles are absent: "Burning Up," "Angel," "Dress You Up," "True Blue," "Who's That Girl," "Causing a Commotion," "Oh Father," "Keep It Together," and "Hanky Panky."

"Justify My Love" became the first single to promote the album, and after a furor over the R-Rated video and the controversy as to who wrote it. (Poet Ingrid Chavez claimed she wrote part of the lyrics, alongside credited lyricist Lenny Kravitz). The single shot to number one in the U.S. and number two in the UK. A second release, "Rescue Me," was released in early 1991, which also went top ten.

Many fans were quick to point out the shortcomings of the album. Every hit (except "Like A Prayer" and "Vogue") was heavily edited although the album was only 73 minutes long. Moreover, many fans and critics stressed that the presence of the Shep Pettibone's "Like A Prayer" dance remix, rather than the more familiar LP version , was not the best way to pay tribute to a track that is considered by many as one of her best . Fans also pointed out the numerous missing hits, so Warner Bros. released an EP in the UK and Europe titled The Holiday Collection which had the same design as The Immaculate Collection. The full-length version of "Holiday" was included alongside "True Blue," "Who's That Girl," and the Silver Screen Single mix of "Causing a Commotion". The re-released "Holiday" eventually went to number five in the UK charts, as did a re-release of the ballad "Crazy for You".

By the late 1990s, and after twenty million copies had been sold, the Guinness Book of World Records declared The Immaculate Collection to be the biggest selling 'hits' compilation album by a solo female artist and was placed in several "albums of the millennium" lists. In 2003, the album was ranked number 278 on Rolling Stone magazine's list of the 500 greatest albums of all time. In November 2006, the album was confirmed by the British Phonographic Industry to be the biggest selling album by a solo female artist in British history, and the tenth biggest selling album of all time in the UK by any artist.^[3]

The Royal Box

On January 1, 1991 a box set entitled The Royal Box was released which included either a Cassette/VHS (US-only) or Satin CD Digipak/VHS (US, Germany/UK) with additional postcards and poster. The VHS version also included the 1990 MTV Video Music Awards performance of "Vogue"; this was not included on the regular VHS release.

Formats

• CD — containing the 17-track compilation album.
• CD Limited Edition Box Set — The Royal Box containing a Satin Digi-Pak CD with VHS containing "Vogue" (from the 1990 MTV Video Music Awards), a 24" x 36" colour poster and postcard assortment, housed in a lingerie-inspired LP sized box.^[4]
• CD Limited Edition Gold Edition — Rare 1995 Taiwanese exclusive limited 'Gold' Edition in a unique gold bordered slipcase. ^[5]
• Cassette — containing the 17-track compilation album.
• Cassette Limited Edition Box Set — The Royal Box containing the Cassette version with VHS containing "Vogue" (from the 1990 MTV Video Music Awards), a 24" x 36" colour poster and postcard assortment, housed in a lingerie-inspired LP sized box.^[6]
• LP — double disc, containing 17 tracks.
• LP Limited Edition PIcture Disc — UK double picture disc, containing 17 tracks. ^[7]
• Mini Disc — 17-track compilation, released 25 October 1999. ^[8]
• VHS — 12-track video compilation, contains "Oh Father", not included on the audio releases.
• Laserdisc — 13-track double disc video compilation, contains "Oh Father", not included on the audio releases and "Vogue" (from the 1990 MTV Video Music Awards).
• VCD — Asia only, 13-track video compilation, contains "Oh Father", not included on the audio releases and "Vogue" (from the 1990 MTV Video Music Awards).
• DVD — 13-track video compilation released in November 1999, contains "Oh Father", not included on the audio releases and "Vogue" (from the 1990 MTV Video Music Awards). ^[9]
• i-Tunes version — released digitally in 2005, contains different version of: "Lucky Star" - (U.S. Remix) 7:15, "Borderline" - (Remix) 5:18 and "Like a Prayer" - (Extended 12" Version) 7:24, all other tracks are the same as the original release.

Track listing

This is the original 1990 tracklisting for the audio releases, for the VHS/VCD/Laserdisc/DVD version go to: The Immaculate Collection (video)

• All tracks: "1990 QSound Mix" except "Justify My Love" and "Rescue Me"
• iTunes version — released digitally in 2005, contains different version of: "Lucky Star" - (U.S. Remix) 7:15, "Borderline" - (Remix) 5:18 and "Like a Prayer" - (Extended 12" Version) 7:24, all other tracks are the same as the original release.

Singles

From this album, Madonna released four singles:

Chart performance

The Immaculate Collection was included in the list of BMG Music Club's top selling albums in the United States at number #10. On March 12, 2006 the album re-entered the UK charts more than 15 years after its release at #38 (it reached #1 on its original release in 1990). ^[10] Madonna's Confessions on a Dance Floor was also in the top 20 at #13. In 2006, the album returned to Ireland's Top 100 Albums chart, entering at #21, charting higher than Confessions on a Dance Floor, which was at #95. On the week of April 28th, 2008, the album rose 50 places from #122 to #72 on the official UK Albums Chart, the same week as Madonna's eleventh studio album Hard Candy was released internationally.

See also

• List of best-selling albums in the United States

References

External links

• The Immaculate Collection at MusicBrainz

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