Greatest Hits (Aqua album)

Greatest Hits is the second greatest hits album by Danish-Norwegian pop band Aqua. The album was released on June 15, 2009 on Universal. Although it is their second greatest hits album, it is the first one to be released internationally, with Cartoon Heroes: The Best of Aqua (2002) only being released in Japan. The album includes digitally remastered versions of sixteen songs from Aqua's two previous studio albums, Aquarium (1997) and Aquarius (2000), and three new songs: "Back to the 80's", "My Mamma Said", and "Live Fast - Die Young".^[1] "Back to the 80's" was released as the album's lead single on May 25, 2009.

A Special Edition re-issue was released in Denmark on November 16, 2009. It includes a new song, "Spin Me a Christmas", and replaces "Be a Man" with "Good Morning Sunshine". It also includes a DVD with a live recording of Aqua at Tivoli in Copenhagen, recorded on August 7, 2009.^[2] The DVD track listing features the unreleased song "Shakin' Stevens (Is a Superstar)", which supposedly were written for the band's third studio album before their split in July 2001. The song was re-written for the band's third studio album, Megalomania (2011).

The album peaked at number one in Denmark and therefore was released in the rest of Europe on September 22, 2009, but without repeating the same success.

1 Commercial performance
2 Singles
3 Track listing
- 3.1 Special Edition
4 Charts and certifications
- 4.1 Charts
- 4.2 Certifications
5 Release history
6 References

Commercial performance

On the chart dated June 26, 2009 the album debuted at number one in Denmark, where it stayed for two weeks. In its third week on the chart the album fell to number two, and stayed there for six weeks before reaching number one on the chart dated August 21, 2009. The album stayed in the top 40 for thirty-nine weeks.^[3] In December 2009 the album was certified two-times platinum by the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry (IFPI) for shipments of 60,000 copies in Denmark.^[4]

Singles

"Back to the 80's" was released digitally as the lead single of the album on May 25, 2009. It is Aqua's first single in eight years. On May 25, it premiered on the Danish radio channel Radio 100FM. The song reached number one in Denmark, knocking the 2009 Eurovision Song Contest winner Alexander Rybak's song "Fairytale" off the top spot for five weeks. "My Mamma Said" was released as the second single from the album in November 2009. Previously, the song had already reached number 11 on the Danish Singles Chart due to strong digital sales from the album. The new song made for the Special Edition re-release, "Spin Me a Christmas", was released as the album's third single on November 16, 2009.

Even though "Live Fast - Die Young" has not been released as an official single, it peaked at number twenty-four on the Danish Singles Chart due to strong digital sales from the album.

Track listing

Søren Rasted co-wrote every song on the album; additional writers are given below.^[5]

No.	Title	Writer(s)	Producer(s)	Length
1.	"Back to the 80s"	Claus Norreen	Rasted	3:44
2.	"My Mamma Said"	Lene Nystrøm	Rasted	3:37
3.	"Live Fast - Die Young"	Nystrøm, Steve Robson, John McLaughlin	Rasted	3:03
4.	"Happy Boys & Girls"	Norreen, René Dif, Nystrøm	Rasted, Norreen, Johnny Jam, Delgado	3:34
5.	"Barbie Girl"	Norreen, Dif, Nystrøm	Rasted, Norreen, Johnny Jam, Delgado	3:15
6.	"Around the World"	Norreen	Rasted, Norreen	3:29
7.	"Doctor Jones"	Anders Øland, Norreen, Dif	Rasted, Norreen, Johnny Jam, Delgado	3:22
8.	"Aquarius"	Norreen	Rasted, Norreen	4:21
9.	"Cuba Libre"	Norreen, Dif	Rasted, Norreen	3:35
10.	"Lollipop (Candyman)"	Norreen, Nystrøm, Dif, Peter Hartman, Jan Langhoff	Rasted, Norreen, Johnny Jam, Delgado	3:35
11.	"Cartoon Heroes"	Norreen	Rasted, Norreen	3:39
12.	"Be a Man"	Norreen, Nystrøm	Per Adebratt, Tommy Ekman	4:21
13.	"My Oh My"	Norreen, Dif	Rasted, Norreen, Johnny Jam, Delgado	3:23
14.	"Freaky Friday"	Norreen	Rasted, Norreen	3:44
15.	"We Belong to the Sea"	Norreen	Rasted, Norreen	4:17
16.	"Roses Are Red"	Norreen, Dif, Nystrøm, Hartman, Langhoff	Hartmann, Langhoff	3:42
17.	"Halloween"	Norreen, Dif	Rasted, Norreen	3:49
18.	"Turn Back Time"	Norreen	Rasted, Norreen, Johnny Jam, Delgado	4:07
19.	"Goodbye to the Circus"	Norreen	Rasted, Norreen	3:59

Special Edition

CD
No.	Title	Writer(s)	Producer(s)	Length
1.	"Back to the 80s"	Claus Norreen	Rasted	3:44
2.	"My Mamma Said"	Lene Nystrøm	Rasted	3:37
3.	"Live Fast - Die Young"	Nystrøm, Steve Robson, John McLaughlin	Rasted	3:03
4.	"Happy Boys & Girls"	Norreen, René Dif, Nystrøm	Rasted, Norreen, Johnny Jam, Delgado	3:34
5.	"Barbie Girl"	Norreen, Dif, Nystrøm	Rasted, Norreen, Johnny Jam, Delgado	3:15
6.	"Around the World"	Norreen	Rasted, Norreen	3:29
7.	"Doctor Jones"	Anders Øland, Norreen, Dif	Rasted, Norreen, Johnny Jam, Delgado	3:22
8.	"Aquarius"	Norreen	Rasted, Norreen	4:21
9.	"Cuba Libre"	Norreen, Dif	Rasted, Norreen	3:35
10.	"Lollipop (Candyman)"	Norreen, Nystrøm, Dif, Peter Hartman, Jan Langhoff	Rasted, Norreen, Johnny Jam, Delgado	3:35
11.	"Cartoon Heroes"	Norreen	Rasted, Norreen	3:39
12.	"Good Morning Sunshine"	Norreen, Dif	Rasted, Norreen, Johnny Jam, Delgado	4:03
13.	"My Oh My"	Norreen, Dif	Rasted, Norreen, Johnny Jam, Delgado	3:23
14.	"Freaky Friday"	Norreen	Rasted, Norreen	3:44
15.	"We Belong to the Sea"	Norreen	Rasted, Norreen	4:17
16.	"Roses Are Red"	Norreen, Dif, Nystrøm, Hartman, Langhoff	Hartmann, Langhoff	3:42
17.	"Halloween"	Norreen, Dif	Rasted, Norreen	3:49
18.	"Turn Back Time"	Norreen	Rasted, Norreen, Johnny Jam, Delgado	4:07
19.	"Goodbye to the Circus"	Norreen	Rasted, Norreen	3:59
20.	"Spin Me a Christmas"	Norreen	Norreen	3:33

DVD: Live at Tivoli
No.	Title	Director(s)	Length
1.	"Intro"
2.	"Back to the 80s"
3.	"Cartoon Heroes"
4.	"My Oh My"
5.	"Doctor Jones"
6.	"Live Fast - Die Young"
7.	"Turn Back Time"
8.	"Shakin' Stevens (Is a Superstar)"
9.	"Lollipop (Candyman)"
10.	"Aquarius"
11.	"Freaky Friday"
12.	"My Mamma Said"
13.	"Happy Boys & Girls"
14.	"Barbie Girl"
15.	"We Belong to the Sea"
16.	"Goodbye to the Circus"
17.	"Around the World"
18.	"Roses Are Red"

Charts and certifications

Charts

Chart (2009)	Peak position
Danish Albums Chart^[3]	1
Norwegian Albums Chart^[6]	7
Swedish Albums Chart^[7]	24
UK Albums Chart^[8]	135

Certifications

Region	Certification	Sales/shipments
Denmark (IFPI Denmark)^[9]	2× Platinum	60,000^{^}
^{^}shipments figures based on certification alone

Preceded by Danmark/Denmark by Newphew The Collection by Michael Jackson	Danish Albums Chart June 26, 2009 – July 10, 2009 (first run) August 21, 2009 – August 28, 2009 (second run)	Succeeded by The Collection by Michael Jackson No More Stories... by Mew

Release history

Region	Date	Format
Denmark	June 15, 2009^[10]	Standard edition
Denmark	November 16, 2009	Special Edition
United Kingdom	September 14, 2009	Standard edition
European Union	September 22, 2009	Standard edition

References

^ "New Aqua Greatest Hits on the way". Aquarama.tk. http://www.the-aquarama.com/new119.htm. Retrieved 2009-05-07.
^ "CD + DVD reissue for Aqua's Greatest Hits". Aquarama.tk. http://www.the-aquarama.com/new148.htm. Retrieved 2009-11-16.
^ ^a ^b danishcharts.com
^ "Danish certifications – Aqua". IFPI Denmark. http://www.ifpi.dk/index.php?pk_menu=13.
^ (2009) Album notes for Greatest Hits (Liner Notes) by Aqua [Compact Disc]. Geffen Records.
^ norwegiancharts.com
^ swedishcharts.com
^ "2009 Chart Booklet". The Official Charts Company. The Official Zobbel Homepage. http://zobbel.de/cluk/CLUK2009.pdf. Retrieved 11 July 2011.
^ "Danish album certifications – Aqua – Greatest Hits". IFPI Denmark. http://www.hitlisterne.dk/default.asp?w=50&y=2009&list=a40.
^ Hansen, Helle Kastholm (19 May 2009). "Ekstra Bladet - Barbie Girl lyder som sig selv" (in Danish). Ekstra Bladet. http://ekstrabladet.dk/flash/dkkendte/article1170101.ece. Retrieved 11 July 2011.

Aqua

Lene Nystrøm · René Dif · Søren Rasted · Claus Norreen

Studio albums	Aquarium · Aquarius · Megalomania

Compilation albums	Cartoon Heroes: The Best of Aqua · Greatest Hits

Remix albums	Aqua Mania Remix · Bubble Mix (The Ultimate Aquarium Remixes Album) · Remix Super Best

Singles	"Itzy Bitsy Spider" · "Roses Are Red" · "My Oh My" · "Barbie Girl" · "Doctor Jones" · "Lollipop (Candyman)" · "Turn Back Time" · "Good Morning Sunshine" · "Cartoon Heroes" · "Around the World" · "Bumble Bees" · "We Belong to the Sea" · "Back to the 80's" · "My Mamma Said" · "How R U Doin?" · "Playmate to Jesus" · "Like a Robot"

DVDs	Around the World · The Aqua Diary · Aqua: The Videos · Aqua: The Video Collection · Aqua: The Hits VCD Karaoke

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