The Immaculate Collection

The Immaculate Collection is Madonna's first greatest hits album and eighth recording, released on November 13 1990. The album was later certified 10 million copies in the USA which contains two new tracks, "Justify My Love" and "Rescue Me".

Album information

Many of the songs on The Immaculate Collection were remixed and edited down from their original studio versions, in order to increase the overall running time. Notably, "Like a Prayer" and "Express Yourself" feature completely different music backing Madonna's vocals from their original album release. It was decided that a mixture of ballads and pop-dance hits would be included, although there wasn't space for every Madonna single released; the following hit singles are absent: "Everybody", "Burning Up", "Angel", "Dress You Up", "True Blue", "Who's That Girl", "Causing a Commotion", "Oh Father", "Keep It Together" and "Hanky Panky".

"Justify My Love" became the first single to promote the album, and after a furore over the R-Rated video and the controversy as to who wrote it (poet Ingrid Chavez claimed she wrote part of the lyrics alongside credited lyricist Lenny Kravitz), it shot to number 1 in the USA and number 2 in the UK. A second release, "Rescue Me", was released in early 1991 but failed to reach the heights of its predecessor.

Many fans were quick to point out the shortcomings of the album, particularly the missing hits, so Warner Brothers released an EP in Europe entitled The Holiday Collection which had the same design as The Immaculate Collection. The full-length version of "Holiday" was included alongside "True Blue", "Who's That Girl" (which had both reached number 1 in the UK) and the Silver Screen Single mix of "Causing a Commotion". The re-released "Holiday" eventually went to number 2 in the charts, as did a re-release of the ballad "Crazy for You".

By the late 1990's, and after 20 million copies had been sold, the Guinness Book of World Records declared The Immaculate Collection to be the biggest selling "greatest hits" album by a female artist and was placed in several "albums of the millennium" lists. In July 2006 the album was confirmed by the British Phonographic Industry to be the biggest selling album by a female artist in British history, the fifth biggest selling album of all time in the UK by any artist and to be the biggest selling compilation album by any artist in Britain.^*The album has sold an estimated 25-26 million copies worldwide.

On March 12, 2006 the album re-entered the UK charts more than 15 years after its release at #38. http://www.madonnatribe.com

The album has shattered a record in Ireland, as of 2006, the album returned to Ireland's Top 100 Albums chart. The album entered at #68, higher than Madonna's current album, Confessions on a Dancefloor, which now rests at #95. The reason for the unexpected surge of album sales is unknown and has never happened in the Irish charts.

Track listing

Chart performance

Chart (1990)	Peak Position
Australia albums chart	1 (7 wks)
Austria albums chart	6
Canada albums chart	1 (9 wks)
France albums chart	2 (2 wks)
Germany albums chart	10
Ireland (Éire) albums chart	1 (1 wks)
Mexico albums chart	1
Norway albums chart	14 (2 wks)
Portugal albums chart	2
Spain albums chart	5 (2 wks)
Switzerland albums chart	3
UK albums chart	1 (9 wks)
USA Billboard Top 200	2 (2 wks)

Certifications

Country	Certification
Australia	11x Platinum
Austria	Platinum
Belgium	3x Platinum
Brazil	Diamond
Canada	7x Platinum
France	Diamond
Germany	Platinum
Ireland	2x Platinum
Italy	5x Platinum
Mexico	Diamond
Nederlands	3x Platinum
Poland	2x Platinum
Singapore	8x Platinum
South Africa	Platinum
Spain	3x Platinum
Switzerland	Platinum
UK	12x Platinum
USA	10x Platinum (diamond)

Album trivia

The original title for The Immaculate Collection was "Ultra". While still known as "Ultra", Jeri and John Heiden, who designed the artwork for the album, came up with the initial idea for the cover to look like packaging for pantyhose.

The "Pope" reference in the dedication of this album is actually rumoured to be Madonna's brother Christopher Ciccone; this is a nick-name for him.

The album re-entered the UK Official Album Chart on the 12 March 2006 at number 38 (Confessions on a Dancefloor was also in the top 20 at number 13.)

References

Mad-eyes.net - "Immaculate Collection" Album Page - last accessed on October 24, 2005

For charts and certifications:

"Chart Performance of Madonna Records - A Compiled History". MLVC.ORG - Charts. link - last accessed on December 12, 2005.
"Madonna Tribe News: Pier Pinto's Charts Updates". Madonna Tribe News. link - last accessed on December 12, 2005.

1990 albums | Madonna albums | Greatest hits albums | Australian number one albums