Disco de Whitney Houston: “Whitney: The Greatest Hits”

Perhaps if Arista downplayed the "greatest hits" label in favor of a more accurate title--maybe creating a unique two-cover front/back packaging based on the COOL DOWN/THROW DOWN theme--this set might have been met with less fan resistance. To sum up the majority opinion (and I agree): Disc 1/COOL DOWN is a fine if incomplete remastered representation of Whitney's most famous ballad performances. Disc 2/THROW DOWN mostly plays remix games with her up-tempo cuts--and most buyers would seem to prefer the original versions on a "greatest hits" collection. Couldn't the remixes have been issued on a separate CD targeted to the fans who want them?

To the potential buyer...if you aren't picky about having the original versions of every Houston hit, this colection is a decent but flawed representation of her career--probably a good deal given the discounted price. If you were hoping that this set would render all other Whitney CDs obsolete by collecting the best, unaltered tracks from each album, your expectations will NOT be met here--not even close! NONE of Whitney's uptempo hit singles are heard here except in a significantly remixed/altered state.

Two solutions: 1) if you have a DVD player, the video version of this album has the original versions of a much greater percentage of Whitney's hits than does this audio release (PLUS you get the visuals). And/or 2) pay extra money and get an import version of GREATEST HITS, which has the original versions of most of Whitney's dance hits as well as her ballads.

Forget all the rumours, the marriage, etc. This lady has a once-in-a-lifetime voice and this greatest hits double CD proves her importance in pop music history! This collection is top rate and so much better than most greatest hits albums, because of the new songs and bonus tracks which are unavailable on previous albums.

Disc 1 - "Cool Down" is simply a documentary of hit after hit from the 80s with "You Give Good Love" to the Bodyguard ballads to her more recent 90s hits like "Heartbreak Hotel". These are classics, folks. There are few artists that have sustained such a long string of hits that are landmarks in many of our lives. The addition of "If You Say My Eyes Are Beautiful" with Jermaine Jackson was a fine choice, and brings itback o the public. The best new song is the duet with Deborah Cox "Same Script, Different Cast". Their voices blend so well together and it will definitely be a #1 hit.

Disc 2 - "Throw Down" and Whitney can do just that: throw it down! I don't think there is any artist out there that can boast the number of remixed hits that Whitney has had. Many of these remixes have never been available on CD before, so that makes this collection so much more valuable! The Junior Vasquez remixes are top-notch!

The final addition of her Olympic contributions "One Moment In Time" and "The Star Spangled Banner" show how important this artist is to America and the rest of the world. She's a national treasure! This album is essential for anyone who is breathing!

I love Whitney Houston and have loved her music since the 80's when I heard How Will I Know playing all the time! I bought the studio albums of Whitney Houston, Whitney, I'm Your Baby Tonight and The Bodyguard Soundtrack and love them all! I bought this American version of The Greatest Hits because I already have the album/radio versions of songs like How Will I Know, So Emotional, I Wanna Dance With Somebody (Who Loves Me), I'm Your Baby Tonight, and Love Will Save The Day! Why would I want to buy a greatest hits with album versions that I already own on CD instead of rare dance mixes? I actually listen to club mixes while working out so it's cool to have these dance mixes! Now, if you don't own any of Whitney's studio albums and just love the album/radio versions of the song, then buy the U.K. version. But for me, I have a variety.

My favorite all time song from Whitney is How Will I Know!! It's just such an amazing song to dance to!! And I love the music video that went along with it also!! I also love Saving All My Love For You, Greatest Love Of All, So Emotional which is an awesome upbeat song, I Wanna Dance With Somebody (Who Loves Me) which is another favorite upbeat song, If You Say My Eyes Are Beautiful which is such a breathtakingly beautiful ballad with Jermaine Jackson and it's SO romantic, I Love it!!! I am so happy that One Moment In Time and The Star Spangled Banner are here too because they are so beautiful as well! Run To You, I Have Nothing, and I Will Always Love You are ballads from The Bodyguard Soundtrack that I love a lot and love singing along to. The song Same Script, Different Cast which I love also, samples Beethoven's Fur Elise which isn't mentioned in the CD booklet but really SHOULD HAVE been because you HAVE to give credit to the person who composed the music! I don't mind artists sampling another person's music, AS LONG AS they give proper credit!!!

All At Once, You Give Good Love, Where Do Broken Hearts Go, All The Man That I Need, and My Love Is Your Love are more favorites of mine. I love all the upbeat songs and dance mixes on CD 2! If I Told You That features George Michael and it's really cool. This is a perfect CD to listen to in the car when your driving!

I recommend this CD to anyone who already has Whitney's studio albums and would like the club mixes. If you just like the radio versions and couldn't care less about club mixes, then just get the U.K. version. This is definitely an awesome collection of Whitney's hits and for me, the song If You Say My Eyes Are Beautiful, is a definite reason that I love this CD because since I already owned 99% of the ballads on here, it's such a beautiful addition that I didn't have!

And I have to recommend the Music Video DVD for Whitney Houston's Greatest Hits! I own the DVD that has ALMOST ALL of Whitney's videos that were shown on MTV and VH1, A MUST HAVE for Whitney fans!!!!

This is Whitney Houston and these are her greatest hits. A 2 cd set, divided by uptempo and ballads. Disc One is the ballads, a cd titled Cool Down and Disc Two is Throw Down, the uptempo songs (more like remixes). We all know Whitney for her voice, that powerful voice with so much emotion. The ballads are all here, from the beggining of her career in 1985, to her Bodyguard days, to her current hits, its all here. The second disc consists mostly of remixes which I admit is a downer, because it ruins some of them. Some songs sound so much better as remixes (example Its Not Right But Its Okay in my opinion was much better with this remix than the original) but what is lacking is the original versions. There are 4 new songs: Same Script Different Cast (with Deborah Cox) which is one of my favorites, Could I Have This Kiss Forever (with Enrique Iglesias), Fine (really good upbeat song), and If I Told You That (with George Michael) which is a more spiced up version than the one on the My Love Is Your Love album. This is a must for fans, even if the remixes are somewhat dissapointing.

This is probably one of the worst Greatest Hits packages I've ever purchased. I hate these overproduced re-mixes of songs, particularly when the originals are just fine, thank you. The entirety of Disc 2 is all re-mixes. The originals of several #1 songs and TOP 5 charters don't appear anywhere on the CD, including "How Will I Know", "I Want To Dance With Somebody", and others. I found that very disappointing. Of course, this is all by design. You purchase this CD, and then are forced to purchase the others in her catalog if you want the original chart-topper. That's really unfair to the consumer and strikes of blatant disregard for truth in advertising. People buy Greatest Hits collections for the hits, not some new-fangled re-mix. I feel duped. I have this CD and Whitney's 6 other albums. They are now all going to the "Used CD" rack at the nearest college re-seller. Madonna didn't screw her fans over with overproduced remixes (though there were some), and neither did Mariah. Such a surprise Whitney did. By the way, just where is THAT duet with Mariah? Didn't it go to #1? It's not here...big surprise! A shame!