Ultimate Collection (Aimee Mann album)

Ultimate Collection is a compilation album by American singer-songwriter Aimee Mann. It was released on September 12, 2000 by Hip-O, and is largely made of tracks from her major label days along with a couple of tracks from the new wave band she fronted, 'Til Tuesday. Before its release, Mann issued a statement disavowing any involvement with the creation of Ultimate Collection, writing that the compilation was never authorized by her and that her offer to assist in putting the album together after she heard of the project's existence was "flatly refused."^[2]

Track listing

All tracks written by Aimee Mann unless otherwise noted

1. "That's Just What You Are" (Brion, Mann) – 4:32
2. "You Could Make a Killing" – 3:43
3. "You're with Stupid Now" – 3:27
4. "Wise Up" – 3:27
5. "Driving with One Hand on the Wheel" – 2:44
6. "Long Shot" – 3:09
7. "Choice in the Matter" (Brion, Mann) – 3:12
8. "Voices Carry [Singles Mix]" ('Til Tuesday) – 4:21
9. "Take It Back" (Brion, Mann) – 2:52
10. "Say Anything" (Brion, Mann) – 4:57
11. "Jacob Marley's Chain" – 3:01
12. "Amateur" (Brion, Mann) – 4:43
13. "All Over Now" – 3:38
14. "Baby Blue" (Pete Ham) – 3:51
15. "Everything's Different Now" (Shear, Sweet) – 3:57
16. "Sign of Love" (Condos, Goldenberg) – 3:50
17. "The Other End (Of the Telescope) [Live]" (Costello, Mann) – 4:27
18. "Jimmy Hoffa Jokes" – 2:30
19. "Stupid Thing" (Brion, Mann) – 4:27
20. "I Should've Known" – 4:53

A Word About The So-Called "Ultimate Collection" by Aimee Mann

There is a CD that was released recently titled "Aimee Mann--the Ultimate Collection". I want to give everyone a heads-up about this CD, because it was not only something that I had nothing to do with, it's a product I consider to be seriously substandard and misleading. My manager Michael Hausman and I heard that this project was in the works several months ago. In our opinion the label putting out the record, Hip-O Records, had no right to use the material they were intending to use in the first place. But I didn't want to be the bad guy and shut the project down entirely, so I asked Michael to get in touch with whoever was heading the project and offer our services, so that the record could be one I was proud of, even if it wasn't something I wanted out in the first place. I offered to do the artwork, as I had done for every record I've ever made except the first Til Tuesday record, and be involved in song selection. This offer was flatly refused—we were basically barred from being involved in any way on a project that had my NAME on it. As typical as this is in the music business, it still never ceases to amaze me. The most unbelievable thing they did was to take quotes from old interviews and weave them into liner notes for the package so that it would APPEAR that I had been involved—basically using my own reputation for integrity in my music to sell their own lame product.

And the very title--"The Ultimate Collection"--implies at the very least a comprehensive collection, when it doesn't contain anything from Bachelor No. 2 and only one song from Magnolia (and not the Oscar-nominated song), and yet it DOES contain several things I personally consider to be absolute crap, including a rough mix of one song from just one of two reels of tracks, a song recorded live off the radio 10 years ago and never authorized by me to be recorded at all, much less released, a song I recorded for a movie as a favor to a producer friend that I didn't even write, etc. None of the great little B-sides or demos that I was actually proud of and thought would be perfect for this kind of collection.

So I would ask everyone to please give this one a miss—I hate to see fans being subjected to this kind of music industry bait-and-switch. Michael Hausman and I have been planning to put out our own collection that I promise will be a lot more "ultimate" than this wretched fraud. Needless to say, there's also a lawsuit in the works. To put out a record that deliberately gives the impression that it's been authorized by me is really the last straw.^[3]

References

1. ^ Allmusic review
2. ^ Mann, Aimee. "A Word About The So-Called "Ultimate Collection"". Archived from the original on 2007-09-28. http://web.archive.org/web/20070928054820/http://www.aimeemann.com/archive/news/letter1.html. Retrieved 2007-11-13. 
3. ^ Mann, Aimee. "A Word About The So-Called "Ultimate Collection"". Archived from the original on 2007-09-28. http://web.archive.org/web/20070928054820/http://www.aimeemann.com/archive/news/letter1.html. Retrieved 2007-11-13.