Greatest Hits (Aqua album)

Greatest Hits
Compilation album by Aqua
Released June 15, 2009
Recorded 1996–2009
Genre Bubblegum dance, Eurodance, Europop, pop
Length 70:45
Label Universal
Producer Claus Norreen, Delgado, Jan Langhoff, Johnny Jam, Peter Hartman, Per Adebratt, Søren Rasted, Tommy Ekman
Aqua chronology

Cartoon Heroes: The Best of Aqua
(2002)		 Greatest Hits
(2009)		 Megalomania
(2011)
Singles from Greatest Hits
  1. "Back to the 80's"
    Released: May 25, 2009
  2. "My Mamma Said"
    Released: June 25, 2009
  3. "Spin Me a Christmas"
    Released: November 16, 2009

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 80s", "My Mamma Said", and "Live Fast – Die Young".[1] "Back to the 80s" 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.

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" was not 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 listings

No. TitleWriter(s)Producer(s) Length
1. "Back to the 80's"  
Rasted 3:44
2. "My Mamma Said"  
Rasted 3:37
3. "Live Fast Die Young"  
Rasted 3:03
4. "Happy Boys & Girls"  
  • Johnny Jam
  • Delgado
  • Rasted
  • Norreen
 3:34
5. "Barbie Girl"  
  • Rasted
  • Norreen
  • Dif
  • Johnny Jam
  • Delgado
  • Rasted
  • Norreen
 3:15
6. "Around the World"  
  • Rasted
  • Norreen
  • Rasted
  • Norreen
 3:29
7. "Doctor Jones"  
  • Anders Øland
  • Rasted
  • Norreen
  • Dif
  • Johnny Jam
  • Delgado
  • Rasted
  • Norreen
 3:22
8. "Aquarius"  
  • Rasted
  • Norreen
  • Rasted
  • Norreen
 4:21
9. "Cuba Libre"  
  • Rasted
  • Norreen
  • Rasted
  • Norreen
 3:35
10. "Lollipop"  
  • Rasted
  • Norreen
  • Nystrøm
  • Johnny Jam
  • Delgado
  • Rasted
  • Norreen
 3:35
11. "Cartoon Heroes"  
  • Rasted
  • Norreen
  • Rasted
  • Norreen
 3:39
12. "Be a Man"  
  • Rasted
  • Norreen
  • Per Adebratt
  • Tommy Ekman
 4:21
13. "My Oh My"  
  • Rasted
  • Norreen
  • Dif
  • Johnny Jam
  • Delgado
  • Rasted
  • Norreen
 3:23
14. "Freaky Friday"  
  • Rasted
  • Norreen
  • Dif
  • Rasted
  • Norreen
 3:44
15. "We Belong to the Sea"  
  • Rasted
  • Norreen
  • Dif
  • Rasted
  • Norreen
 4:17
16. "Roses Are Red"  
  • Rasted
  • Norreen
  • Dif
  • Nystrøm
  • Hartmann & Langhoff
Hartmann & Langhoff 3:42
17. "Halloween"  
  • Rasted
  • Norreen
  • Dif
  • Rasted
  • Norreen
 3:49
18. "Turn Back Time"  
  • Rasted
  • Norreen
  • Rasted
  • Norreen
 4:02
19. "Goodbye to the Circus"  
  • Rasted
  • Norreen
  • Rasted
  • Norreen
 3:59

Charts and certifications

Charts

Chart (2009) Peak
position
Danish Albums Chart[3] 1
Norwegian Albums Chart[5] 7
Swedish Albums Chart[6] 24
UK Albums Chart[7] 135

Certifications

Region Certification Sales/shipments
Denmark (IFPI Denmark)[8] 2× Platinum 60,000^

^shipments figures based on certification alone

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

Release history

Region Date Format
Denmark June 15, 2009[9] Standard edition
November 16, 2009 Special edition
United Kingdom September 14, 2009 Standard edition
European Union September 22, 2009

References

  1. ↑ "New Aqua Greatest Hits on the way". Aquarama.tk. Retrieved 2009-05-07.
  2. ↑ "CD + DVD reissue for Aqua's Greatest Hits". Aquarama.tk. Retrieved 2009-11-16.
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 danishcharts.com
  4. ↑ "Danish certifications – Aqua". IFPI Denmark.
  5. ↑ norwegiancharts.com
  6. ↑ swedishcharts.com
  7. ↑ "2009 Chart Booklet". The Official Charts Company. The Official Zobbel Homepage. Retrieved 11 July 2011.
  8. ↑ "Danish album certifications – Aqua – Greatest Hits". IFPI Denmark.
  9. ↑ Hansen, Helle Kastholm (19 May 2009). "Ekstra Bladet - Barbie Girl lyder som sig selv" (in Danish). Ekstra Bladet. Retrieved 11 July 2011.