A Guide to Amy Grant's Greatest Hits Albums
How to Choose Which One is Right for You
Amy Grant is celebrating her thirtieth year as a recording artist and since 1977, she's amassed a tremendous number of hits on Pop, Contemporary Christian, Dance, Country, and Christmas radio. She's also been signed with three record companies, each of which have changed hands a number of times during her career. As a result, there are quite a few Amy Grant compilations of the market, including a brand new one coming this October.
If you're a newcomer to Amy's music, this will help you decide which "Best Of" album you want to start with (a separate page for her Live Albums is coming soon).
In total, there are six "Best of" Amy Grant albums. Three of them are mainstream releases that are part of her official discography. One is an unauthorized release from BMG that is usually considered part of her discography. One of them is a Christmas collection. One of them is a retailer-exclusive hymns collection.
We'll start with the three official releases. 1986's The Collection concentrates on Amy's early Christian radio hits. 2004's Greatest Hits 1986-2004 is essentially a "Volume II", picking up where that album left off, concentrating on Amy's pop hits. The new 2007 album, Greatest Hits (just released this October), combines a selection of songs from each of these two albums. Unfortunately, there is not yet a compilation of Amy's many Christian radio-only hits from 1986 to the present, though one is rumored for the future.
For most newcomers, the biggest question will be which of these to buy. The first two albums don't contain any of the same tracks, but the 2007 CD is compared to both of the previous releases that it draws from below.
Amy Grant: Greatest Hits (2007) vs. Amy Grant: Greatest Hits 1986-2004 (2004)
Greatest Hits (2007)
1. Simple Things Disc 2* "Baby Baby"
•Free Amy Grant ringtone download *Available only in the Special Edition
Summary Audio Notes
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Greatest Hits 1986-2004 (2004)
Disc 2* *Available only in the Limited Edition Click on the Album Cover to sample the tracks or purchase.
Audio Notes
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So, if you're looking to buy one CD to start your collection, which Greatest
Hits album should you buy? If you're strictly a fan of Amy's pop music,
then the answer is clearly the 2004 release. If you're strictly a fan of her
Christian music, you should go with either the 2007 release or 1986's The
Collection (see below).
If you like all of her music or want a general introduction to all of her music, it's harder to say. The tracks listed in bold above appear on BOTH Greatest Hits albums. (NOTE: Both albums include "Every Heartbeat" and "Lucky One" but they are slightly different versions of the former and radically different versions of the latter).
You can look at the tracks that aren't in bold to see what you'll gain and lose with each. The biggest difference is that the 2007 release will feature a lot more of Amy's older music from the days before she "crossed over" to pop radio. (Her first pop radio hit was "Find a Way" in 1986 and her first #1 pop song was "The Next Time I Fall" in 1987).
If you want to sample her Christian and Pop hits, consider (A) starting with just the 2007 release or (B) starting out with both the 2004 release AND the 1986 Greatest Hits CD, entitled The Collection (more on this below).
Amy Grant: Greatest Hits (2007) vs. Amy Grant: The Collection (1986)
Greatest Hits (2007)
1. Simple Things Disc 2* *Available only in the Special Edition
Summary Audio Notes
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The Collection (1986)
Audio Notes
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If you're strictly a fan of Amy's Christian music, then this is the album for you. The 2004 Greatest Hits album picks up where this one left off, but only covers her pop releases. Unfortunately, a compilation of Amy's numerous Christian radio hits from 1986 to today hasn't been released, though one is rumored for the future. The music on this CD spans from 1977 to 1986.
If you're a fan of all of her music or just want a general introduction, then you might consider the 2007 Greatest Hits album. You can look at the tracks that aren't in bold to see what you'll gain and lose with each.
If you want to sample her Christian and Pop hits, consider (A) starting with just the 2007 release or (B) starting out with both the 2004 release AND The Collection. If you're going to buy The Collection, be sure you buy the digitally remastered edition from Sparrow records, which was released in August 2007. The new reissues are labeled "Digitally Remastered" in the front gutter of the CD case and feature the Sparrow Records and EMI labels.
And now for that unauthorized release. In 2002, just as Amy was about to release her first all-Christian music album in almost 15 years, BMG Record Label released Amy Grant: Her Greatest Inspirational Songs. At that time, BMG had the right to distribute select Amy Grant songs, though the deal that allowed them to do this was about to expire. In order to cash in on Amy's catalog, they distributed this album in early 2002. Therefore, it is not so much a collection of the "Best" or "Greatest" tracks, but simply those that BMG could distribute. Still, most of the songs were hits on Christian radio in the '70s and '80s. Amy Grant did not authorize the release, but it is often included in her discography (even on her official website) and fans' reaction to the CD was generally positive.
The CD is fairly similar to The Collection and also covers much of the same ground as the upcoming 2007 Greatest Hits. Still, there are some notable differences. There aren't any pop, country, or Christmas songs on this album, but Amy's Christian Music fans will want to know which album they should start with. To help with that, the album is compared to both The Collection and Greatest Hits (2007) below.
Amy Grant: Her Greatest Inspirational Songs (2002) vs. Amy Grant: The Collection (1986) vs. Amy Grant: Greatest Hits (2007)
Her Greatest Inspirational Songs (2002)
Audio Notes
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The Collection (1986)
Audio Notes
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Greatest Hits (2007)
1. Simple Things Disc 2* *Available only in the Special Edition
Summary Audio Notes
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Blue - Songs that appear on both Her
Greatest Inspirational Songs and The Collection (there are three)
Red - Songs that appear on both Her
Greatest Inspirational Songs and 2007's Greatest Hits (there is only
one)
Black - Songs that appear on all three (there are only two)
As you can see, Her Greatest Inspirational Songs offers a rather different assortment of Amy Grant songs. These are all good but many of them were lesser hits and some weren't released to radio at all. If very early Amy Grant is your favorite, then definitely pick this up. If you're a newcomer to Amy's music, though, one of the other three Greatest Hits albums would be a better starting point. Those are the songs that made her famous; these are mostly songs that you'll want to discover a little later in your fandom.
In 2006, Amy Grant signed a deal with Cracker Barrel Old Country Store and Restaurant to produce an exclusive collection of songs to be sold only in Cracker Barrel stores. The album, titled Hymns for the Journey, continues to be a grand success. It is comprised entirely of songs from Amy Grant's two hymns albums, Legacy... Hymns of Faith (2002) and its "sequel" CD, Rock of Ages... Hymns & Faith (2005). The two hymns albums, which present contemporary, country and rock-flavored renditions of classic Christian hymns, were critical and commercial successes, both debuting at #1 on Billboard. In 2006, Rock of Ages won Amy her 6th Grammy. Several of the songs on each album were hits on both Contemporary Christian and Country radio stations.
This is the only "Best Of" album to feature any of the songs from Amy's hymns albums. Therefore, a comparison to the other albums isn't necessary. A look at the CD's contents is below.
Amy Grant: Her Greatest Inspirational Songs (2002)
Hymns for the Journey (2006)
Audio Notes |
Red - Originally appeared on 2002's Legacy...
Hymns & Faith
Blue - Originally appeared on 2005's Rock
of Ages... Hymns & Faith
This is a good album and ideal for picking up while shopping around Cracker Barrel and listening to on the drive home. However, with only ten songs, buying the two hymns albums individually would be a wiser choice. After all, the two albums are excellent from beginning to end and are really designed to be heard that way -- from the first track to the last, as they are musically matched to produce one cohesive album experience. Hymns for the Journey isn't a bad starting point, but either getting the two original hymns albums or sticking with one Greatest Hits or The Collection is recommended for newcomers.
Amy is known as one of the most-played and most popular Christmastime artists in history. She has a total of six Christmas CDs to her name, with numerous additional Christmas singles emerging from other projects as well. A great many of her Christmas recordings top radio's Christmas music charts each year. In 2005, Amy partnered with Radio Shack stores to create a Greatest Hits collection of her Christmas music. It was entitled My Best Christmas and originally sold inside Radio Shack stores, where it was heavily advertised and sold well. The next year, the album became available to general retail. It is the only "Best Of" collection of Amy's Christmas music so far, though others are rumored for the future. Therefore, there's no need to compare it to other albums (the only other "Best Of" CD to feature a Christmas song is The Collection, which includes "Emmanuel"). For more on Amy's Christmas music, click here (coming soon).
Amy Grant: My Best Christmas (2005)
My Best Christmas (2005)
Click on the Album Cover to sample tracks or purchase.
Audio Notes |
This is an excellent collection of Amy's Christmas music. Of course, her Christmas albums are some of the greatest ever made, so you'll want to check them out individually. This can be either a great starting point or something to pick up after you've gotten all the others. Even if you have her primary Christmas albums, the inclusion of "Merry Chrsitmas Darling" and "Child of God" and the digital remastering is reason enough to buy this too. Plus, it's a very well thought-out ordering of tracks. There are still a handful of Amy's famous and chart-topping Christmas songs (including her recent Christmastime #1 song, "God is With Us") that didn't make the cut, but with 14 tracks, this album is a great value. For more information of Amy's Christmas music, click here (coming soon).
By Aaron Wallace, 2007
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