The Immaculate Collection | |||||
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Compilation album by Madonna | |||||
Released | November 13, 1990 The Royal Box: January 1, 1991 |
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Recorded | 1982-1990 | ||||
Genre | Pop, Dance | ||||
Length | 73:34 | ||||
Label | Sire, Warner Bros. | ||||
Producer | Madonna, Stephen Bray, Patrick Leonard, John "Jellybean" Benitez, Reggie Lucas, Nile Rodgers, Shep Pettibone, Lenny Kravitz | ||||
Professional reviews | |||||
Madonna chronology | |||||
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The Royal Box | |||||
Box set version of the album release The Royal Box.
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Singles from The Immaculate Collection | |||||
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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]
Contents |
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]
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.
This is the original 1990 tracklisting for the audio releases, for the VHS/VCD/Laserdisc/DVD version go to: The Immaculate Collection (video)
# | Title | from the album | Composers | Production credits | Time |
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1. | "Holiday" | Madonna | Curtis Hudson, Lisa Stevens | John "Jellybean" Benitez | 4:04 |
2. | "Lucky Star" | Madonna | Madonna | Reggie Lucas | 3:36 |
3. | "Borderline" | Madonna | Reggie Lucas | Reggie Lucas | 3:59 |
4. | "Like a Virgin" | Like a Virgin | Billy Steinberg, Tom Kelly | Nile Rodgers | 3:11 |
5. | "Material Girl" | Like a Virgin | Peter Brown, Robert Rans | Nile Rodgers | 3:53 |
6. | "Crazy for You" | Vision Quest (Soundtrack) | John Bettis, Jon Lind | John "Jellybean" Benitez | 3:44 |
7. | "Into the Groove" | Like a Virgin (1985 European re-release) | Madonna, Stephen Bray | Madonna and Stephen Bray | 4:08 |
8. | "Live to Tell" | True Blue | Madonna, Patrick Leonard | Madonna and Patrick Leonard | 5:16 |
9. | "Papa Don't Preach" | True Blue | Brian Elliot, additional lyrics by Madonna | Madonna and Stephen Bray | 4:09 |
10. | "Open Your Heart" | True Blue | Madonna, Gardner Cole, Peter Rafelson | Madonna and Patrick Leonard | 3:49 |
11. | "La Isla Bonita" | True Blue | Madonna, Patrick Leonard, Bruce Gaitsch | Madonna and Patrick Leonard | 3:48 |
12. | "Like a Prayer" | Like a Prayer | Madonna, Patrick Leonard | Madonna and Patrick Leonard | 5:50 |
13. | "Express Yourself" | Like a Prayer | Madonna, Stephen Bray | Madonna and Stephen Bray | 4:02 |
14. | "Cherish" | Like a Prayer | Madonna, Patrick Leonard | Madonna and Patrick Leonard | 3:52 |
15. | "Vogue" | I'm Breathless | Madonna, Shep Pettibone | Madonna and Shep Pettibone | 5:17 |
16. | "Justify My Love" | Previously Unreleased | Lenny Kravitz, Ingrid Chavez, additional lyrics by Madonna | Lenny Kravitz, Associate Producer: André Betts | 5:00 |
17. | "Rescue Me" | Previously Unreleased | Madonna, Shep Pettibone | Madonna and Shep Pettibone | 5:31 |
From this album, Madonna released four singles:
# | Title | Date |
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1. | "Justify My Love" | November 6, 1990 |
2. | "Rescue Me" | February 26, 1991 |
3. | "Crazy for You (Remix)" (UK) | February 18, 1991 |
4. | "Holiday (re-release)" (UK) | June 4, 1991 |
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.
Country | Peak position | Certification (if any) | Sales/shipments |
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Argentina | 6x Platinum [11] | 240,000+ | |
Australia | 1 | 12x Platinum [12] | 840,000+ |
Austria | 6 | Platinum [13] | 20,000+ |
Brazil | 2x Platinum [14] | 750,000+ | |
Canada | 7x Platinum [15] | 700,000+ | |
Denmark | 4 | Platinum [16] | 40,000+ |
Finland | 6 | 2x Platinum [17] | 92,500+ |
France | 2 | Diamond [18] | 1,000,000+ |
Ecuador[19] | 4 | ||
Germany | 10 | 3x Gold [20] | 750,000+ |
Netherlands | 13 | 3x Platinum [21] | 300,000+ |
Norway | 14 | ||
Spain | 16 | 3x Platinum | |
Sweden | 8 | Gold [22] | 50,000+ |
Switzerland | 3 | Platinum [23] | 50,000+ |
United Kingdom | 1 | 12x Platinum [24] | 3,600,000+ |
United States | 2 | Diamond[25] | 10,000,000 |
Preceded by In Concert by The Three Tenors |
Australian ARIA Albums Chart number-one album December 2 - December 22 1990 January 13 - January 26 1991 |
Succeeded by The Very Best of Elton John by Elton John |
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