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Original GHV2 working title(s)


Apples388

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I just read this on the GHV2 Wikipedia page:

"The album was originally titled Greatest Hits: The Second Coming but was changed prior to its release as Madonna wanted it to have a title which was memorable."

I don't seem to remember that. I know we were discussing The Second Coming as a title on Madonna forums back then, but my impression was that it was something some fans wanted or suggested rather than a genuine working title.

Any more info? I also remember people talking about Hit Lady as a title. :lmao:

Mind you anything would have been better than GHV2. The whole thing (title, content, packaging, etc.) was such an abortion!

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I always forget about GHV2

I remember Hit Lady being thrown around the internet,

I also remember The Second Coming, i assumed at the time it was a clever name in reference to

The Immaculate Collection, but i'm glad now it wasn't called that, but I also don't really care for GHV2.

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Now now, that packaging was to die for. A Kevin Regan classic. His last proper album design for Madonna. (And no, I refuse to count that abomination that is R&R)

madonna4.jpg

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I remember Hit Lady and The Immaculate Collection 2: The Second Coming from official sources.

GHV2 looked and sounded wonderful. No mastering errors and everything on it is an official single or DJ edit from the original masters (several of which were rare at the time). Even subtle things like the (very) slighlty longer single fade on the song "Music" are present.

Fans got this bad taste in their mouth over the lack of new songs and infrequent overlap with the then only 6 year old Something To Remember. I also think many weren't familiar with the single versions and were a bit shocked by the edits. Regardless, despite a a few jarring sequencing decisions, it's a great summary of her 92-01 output.

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Now now, that packaging was to die for. A Kevin Regan classic. His last proper album design for Madonna. (And no, I refuse to count that abomination that is R&R)

madonna4.jpg

Such a beautiful release.

I WANTS THAT ALTERNATE PACKAGE THAT MATCHES THE FRONT OF THE DROWNED WORLD TOUR BOOK. :D

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I remember Hit Lady and The Immaculate Collection 2: The Second Coming from official sources.

GHV2 looked and sounded wonderful. No mastering errors and everything on it is an official single or DJ edit from the original masters (several of which were rare at the time). Even subtle things like the (very) slighlty longer single fade on the song "Music" are present.

Fans got this bad taste in their mouth over the lack of new songs and infrequent overlap with the then only 6 year old Something To Remember. I also think many weren't familiar with the single versions and were a bit shocked by the edits. Regardless, despite a a few jarring sequencing decisions, it's a great summary of her 92-01 output.

It is. She picked great songs that would have been overlooked if a WBR executive had done the track list. The entire song selection showcases her versatility quite well.

And we even got a stand-alone version of "Drowned World." :laugh: But in other news, "Playground" is missing, as it should have been included because of it being #1 (in the US). And another reason for it to lose points is the lack of new material. We were robbed from getting a new song. They should have included the Thunderpuss Megamix to make up for it.

Oh well. It's still a pretty good compilation, and like you said, it had good sound.

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Such a beautiful release.

I WANTS THAT ALTERNATE PACKAGE THAT MATCHES THE FRONT OF THE DROWNED WORLD TOUR BOOK. :D

Me too babe, me too. I'm sure there's a box filled with nothing but those at the Warner offices. I'm sure they knew from the very beginning what images to use for the cover(s), after all both those images are used on the front and back covers of the tourbook. How wonderful would it have been in the GHv2 covers were shiny and metallic like the tourbook? :wow:

Why wonder why they scrapped the 2 cover limited edition idea..., I mean we did get like 3 or 4 variations for the Music limited edition....

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GHV2 had potential to become a great successor of The Immaculate Collection.

Most of the songs should have been reworked: maybe the Mirwais remix of Music, Fever (Edit One), The Power of Good Bye (Remix), Deeper And Deeper (Shep's Deep Makeover Edit), Erotica (Madonna's in My Jeep Mix)...

I would have included Run, Liquid Love and Like A Flower as new songs.

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GHV2 had potential to become a great successor of The Immaculate Collection.

Most of the songs should have been reworked: maybe the Mirwais remix of Music, Fever (Edit One), The Power of Good Bye (Remix), Deeper And Deeper (Shep's Deep Makeover Edit), Erotica (Madonna's in My Jeep Mix)...

I would have included Run, Liquid Love and Like A Flower as new songs.

You wanted a completely different kind of collection though, not a hits package. :lol:

The only changes I would have made would be to switch out "Don't Cry For Me Argentina" for the Miami Mix since it was the hit, and "Human Nature" with the specially mixed Video Version which appeared on the US promo single.

The focus here was on the single. Part of the artwork was based around 7" single paraphernalia and they were clear about what versions were included on the back insert. They also commercially released the entire GHV2 collection (minus DCFMA) across 7 7" records in the US.

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I may be one of the few fans who love GHV2. When I wasn't a fan back then, I saw the CD in the house and was familiar with half of the songs and I played it to death. I love that album.

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I remembered Madonna was asked in an interview why she didn't record any new song for GHV2 and she said that would be " really presumptuous wouldn't it ?" since it was

called Greatest Hits Volume 2.

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You wanted a completely different kind of collection though, not a hits package. :lol:

The only changes I'd make would be to switch out "Don't Cry For Me Argentina" for the Miami Mix since it was the hit, and "Human Nature" with the specially mixed Video Version which appeared on the US promo single.

well, I'm watching since a fan perspective. I already have those versions so that's why i never bought it. Maybe a fan edition like this although we had megamixes with the release:

01. Deeper And Deeper (Shep's Deep Makeover Edit)

02. Fever (Edit One)

03. Erotica (Madonna's in My Jeep Mix)

04. Human Nature (Chorus Door Slam with Nine Sample)

05. Secret (Junior's Luscious Single Mix)

06. Don't Cry For Me Argentina (Miami Mix)

07. Bedtime Story (Orbital Mix Edit)

08. The Power of Good-Bye (Remix)

09. Beautiful Stranger

10. Frozen (William Orbit Widescreen Edit)

11. Take A Bow (Indasould Mix)

12. Ray Of Light (William Orbit Liquid Mix Edit)

13. Don't Tell Me (Thunderpuss Radio Mix)

14. What It Feels Like For A Girl (Video version)

15. Music (Mirwais Remix)

16. Run

That would be a Remix album, but I would buy the damn thing! GHV2: Remixed & Revisited :laugh:

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GHV2 looked and sounded wonderful. No mastering errors and everything on it is an official single or DJ edit from the original masters (several of which were rare at the time). Even subtle things like the (very) slighlty longer single fade on the song "Music" are present.

Yes! Which is why I love GHV2. When I bought my copy, I immediately checked (and hoped) all the tracks were the single and/or edit versions. I jumped up and down when I discovered they were - literally. The DJ edits were the icing on the cake.

Swapping for the video version of HN is a good idea. But I love the radio version too.

I don't think the radio edit for WIFLFAG was used. I would have switched that. I love the edit version without Charlotte Gainsbourg.

Never noticed the slightly longer fade of Music...until now - THANKS!

:wow:

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I remembered Madonna was asked in an interview why she didn't record any new song for GHV2 and she said that would be " really presumptuous wouldn't it ?" since it was

called Greatest Hits Volume 2.

She was just being lazy. That logic didn't stop her ass with TIC.

I don't mind the name GHV2, although next to TIC it does sound rather tame.

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Maybe I'm nuts, but I remember reading Madonna had already worked on some tracks that later on became part of American Life. I specifically remember Nobody Knows Me mentioned. Imagine!? IMHO It would have been nice to listen to NKM as a stand alone single off a GH.

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She had amazing outtakes from Music. Run is a great example. What the fuck is this song doing outside any release? Is she deaf or something?

Bitch! Every time I think about I just wanna slap her in the face.

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During the months prior to the release there was a lot of speculation about the tracklisting. Rumour had it that the album would contain two new tracks. For a short while, the titles 'Veronica Electronica' and 'Sex Makes The World Go Round', but these rumours were obviously false, as the first title referred to an abandoned remix project of Madonna and William Orbit, while the latter seems to be a parody of 1986's Love Makes The World Go Round. Later it was said that the new tracks would be live versions of Holiday and Music, but that also was later denied. For a while Amazon displayed different tracklistings for the UK and Japan (including an unknown bonus track), but this also seemed untrue. The real tracklisting consisted of two singles from Erotica, four singles from Bedtime Stories, four singles from Ray Of Light, three singles from Music, plus Beautiful Stranger and Don't Cry For Me Argentina. For some tracks the album version was included, for others they used the radio edit; notice the disgraceful butchering of Ray Of Light! To avoid an 'explicit lyrics'-sticker they used a clean version of Human Nature, that cuts out the line 'I'm not your bitch, don't hang your shit on me'.

Some singles were surprisingly left off, like This Used To Be My Playground, I'll Remember, You'll See and You Must Love Me (all of which were certified gold in the US). Or what about Fever, Bad Girl, Rain and more recently Nothing Really Matters? Some, like This Used To Be My Playground, I'll Remember, You'll See and Rain of course did already appear on the ballads collection Something To Remember. In an interview with BBC's Jo Whiley Madonna said about the selection of the GHV2 tracks: "I only wanted songs that I could listen to 5 times in a row". American Pie was excluded as a 'punishment' because Madonna regretted putting it on the Music album. "It was something a certain record company executive twisted my arm into doing, but it didn't belong on the album so now it's being punished". The original tracklist of GHV2 showed a more random order of the songs and it included You'll See instead of Drowned World/Substitute For Love.

The name was another subject of rumour for a long time. First everyone spoke about 'The Immaculate Collection 2'. Later names as 'Second Coming' and 'Hit Lady' were mentioned. In the end it would just turn out to be 'Greatest Hits Volume 2' or 'GHV2'.

Source: www.mad-eyes.net

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Now now, that packaging was to die for. A Kevin Regan classic. His last proper album design for Madonna. (And no, I refuse to count that abomination that is R&R)

madonna4.jpg

Yes, I was just thinking about this yesterday -- thought of name-dropping Kevin Reagan in the thread about the new album cover speculation. He did such good work ... I forgot about R&R, but I thought I recalled that he did the single cover for "Nothing Fails" too, which ... yeah. I choose to overlook that, since he won the Grammy for Ray of Light, did a solid job on Music (although it doesn't necessarily match my personal aesthetic preferences, I can say it was well executed for embellishing her 'cyber sequin cowgirl' incarnation, and used the Mondino photos wisely), and GHV2 was excellent, in my opinion. I know some fans hate the artwork and all I can say is that I loved seeing so many mini-Madonnas. The multiplicity of images gave the impression of how multi-faceted she was an artist -- many layers. And the Cameron cover recalled that one BA "Express Yourself" set photo, where she is looking intensely at the camera through her blonde hair (at least for me, anyway) -- and I thought the inclusion of the 'title' was subtle and clever (in the pupil of her eye). It was sort of cheeky and also minimized the title, since that was one of the weaknesses of this release.

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Oh, forgot to say how much I can't take the edit to "Ray of Light." So disappointed they carried that over to Celebration, as well. Criminal. That track needs to be heard in its full album-length running time. They did no favors to it by truncating it. Deeper & Deeper on the other hand stands up well, and they gave it those little extra punches by adding those extra sounds to the "Someone said that romance was dead, and I believed it instead of remembering what my mama told me..." just before the Spanish guitar break. The best single edits always seem to intensify the album version a bit, which works because it's usually a shorter/condensed version. "Ray of Light" was a case where the end result was too perfect to improve upon, and when they sliced it up, the track suffered. The video version used the full-length version, so it's really surprising they wouldn't use that. I would have thought more people were familiar with that version, especially since the video received multiple awards, including the major categories (VMA Video of the Year, Grammy), plus it seemed to tap into the zeitgeist on the verge of the new millennium, with the rapid advancements in technology seeming to accelerate the pace of life and the year 2000 on the calendar also making people expectant and slightly introspective, too. (Hence Microsoft tapping her and that track for the campaign as they released a new operating system around that time.)

I don't know. I'm rambling a bit. But the "Ray of Light" edit is just ... I just can't. Fail.

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