In 2001, not long after Faith Hill became an international superstar, European markets were treated to There You'll Be: The Best of Faith Hill, a 15-track collection that brought new listeners up to speed on Hill's American hits. Six years later, Hill had her first American compilation released. Simply titled The Hits, this 2007 set weighs in at 15 tracks, the same length as There You'll Be, but it does cover more ground, as Faith released two albums (2002's Cry and 2005's Fireflies) in the time separating the two compilations. That means this has two big hits not heard on the previous set -- 2002's "Cry" and 2006's "Mississippi Girl" -- along with a live version of "Stronger" and the new song "Red Umbrella." It's not just that The Hits has these new songs, but the rest of the record skews a little bit closer to Hill's country roots than her international comp (in other words, there's no "Over the Rainbow" here and no remixes), which makes this better suited for an American audience, and also a better compilation overall, as this captures Hill at her best as a country-pop singer and an adult contemporary diva. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine, All Music Guide
David Angell (Violin), Eric Darken (Percussion), Glenn Worf (Bass), Darran Smith (Producer), Stuart Duncan (Fiddle), Erik Lutkins (Assistant), Kathryn Plummer (Viola), Scott Hendricks (Producer), Faith Hill (Producer), Dann Huff (Guitar (Electric)), Jim Grosjean (Violin), John Catchings (Cello), Sara Lesher (Engineer), Lonnie Wilson (Drums), Jamie Muhoberac (Piano), Julia Tanner (Cello), Beth Nielsen Chapman (Vocals (Background)), Craig Nashville (Bass), Dan Dugmore (Pedal Steel), Kristin Wilkinson (String Arrangements), Michael Landau (Guitar (Electric)), Denny Hemingson (Pedal Steel), Mary Ann Kennedy (Vocals (Background)), Vinnie Colaiuta (Percussion), John Catchings (Percussion), Terry McMillan (Percussion), Troy Jensen (Make-Up), Richard Pagano (Drums), Dan Dugmore (Lap Steel Guitar), Dan Dugmore (Guitar (Steel)), Steve MacMillan (Mixing), Steve Marcantonio (Mixing), Tom Hemby (Gut String Guitar), Andrew Southam (Photography), Brent Mason (Guitar (Electric)), Pamela Rose (Vocals (Background)), Jimmy Nichols (Keyboards), Enzo Angileri (Hair Stylist), Lari White (Vocals (Background)), Brian Paturalski (Engineer), Carl Gorodetzky (Violin), Don Potter (Guitar (Acoustic)), Jerry McPherson (Guitar (Electric)), Denny Hemingson (Guitar (Electric)), Gary VanOsdale (Viola), Adam Ayan (Mastering), Biff Watson (Guitar (Acoustic)), Brendan O'Brien (Mixing), Shannon Forrest (Drums), Bob Minner (Guitar (Acoustic)), Larry Byrom (Guitar (Acoustic)), Byron Bukovac (Guitar (Acoustic)), Tim Lauer (Accordion), Alan Umstead (Violin), Byron Gallimore (Guitar (Acoustic)), Darran Smith (Guitar (Electric)), Aubrey Haynie (Fiddle), Serge Normant (Hair Stylist), Mary Kathryn Vanosdale (Violin), Dan Dugmore (Guitar (Electric)), Chris McHugh (Drums), Scott Hendricks (Mixing), John Marcus (Bass), Bekka Bramlett (Vocals (Background)), Craig Nelson (Bass), Jamie Muhoberac (Synthesizer), Bill Cuomo (Synthesizer), Tom Lord-Alge (Mixing), Byron Gallimore (Mixing), Gary VanOsdale (Violin), Byron Gallimore (Guitar (12 String Acoustic)), Billy Mason (Drums), Denny Hemingson (Guitar (Steel)), Chris Rodriguez (Vocals (Background)), Jed Hackett (Engineer), Anthony LaMarchina (Cello), Paul Bushnell (Bass), Paul Franklin (Guitar (Steel)), Pat Buchanan (Guitar (Electric)), Julian Peploe (Package Design), Dean Brown (Fiddle), Dean Brown (Mandolin), Marti Frederiksen (Vocals (Background)), John O'Mahoney (Assistant), Julian King (Engineer), Lisa Cochran (Vocals (Background)), Cindy Richardson Walker (Vocals (Background)), Shannon Forrest (Percussion), Karen Staley (Vocals (Background)), Marti Frederiksen (Guitar (Electric)), Stephanie Bentley (Vocals (Background)), Justin Niebank (Mixing), Jamie Muhoberac (Organ (Hammond)), Billy Joe Walker, Jr. (Guitar (Acoustic)), Paul Franklin (Dobro), Tom Bukovac (Guitar (Electric)), Crystal Taliefero (Vocals (Background)), Byron Gallimore (Loop), Erik Lutkins (Engineer), Jeff King (Guitar (Electric)), Jeff Balding (Engineer), Catherine Umstead (Violin), Marti Frederiksen (Guitar (Acoustic)), Curtis Young (Vocals (Background)), Steve Nathan (Keyboards), Bob Mason (Cello), Glen Duncan (Fiddle), Sonny Garrish (Guitar (Steel)), Tim McGraw (Mixing), Mark Luna (Vocals (Background)), Dann Huff (Producer), Kristin Katherine (Violin), Bruce Couton (Guitar (Steel)), John Barlow Jarvis (Piano), David Bryant (Assistant), Chip Davis (Vocals (Background)), B. James Lowry (Guitar (Electric)), Steve Nathan (Synthesizer), Ira Siegel (Guitar), Tom Tapley (Assistant), Tim Pierce (Guitar), John Kelton (Engineer), Tim McGraw (Producer), Julian Peploe (Art Direction), Mike Brignardello (Bass), Lee Larrison (Violin), Trevor Horn (Producer), Vince Gill (Vocals (Background)), Jamie Muhoberac (Programming), Darrell Scott (Mandolin), Kim Parent (Vocals (Background)), Byron Gallimore (Producer), Greg Barnhill (Vocals (Background)), Perry Coleman (Vocals (Background)), Andrea Liberman (Stylist), Connie Ellisor (Violin), Michael Rhodes (Bass), Tony Shanahan (Bass), Dan Dugmore (Soloist), Steve Hornbeak (Vocals (Background)), Andy Wallace (Mixing), Jamie Muhoberac (Synthesizer Programming), Jimmy Nichols (Organ), David Davidson (Violin), Mike Shipley (Mixing), Cate Myer (Violin), Byron Gallimore (Guitar (Electric)), Pamela Sixfin (Violin), David Campbell (Orchestration), Heath Stimmel (Engineer), Tony Duran (Stylist), Paul Leim (Drums), Jim Grosjean (Viola), David Campbell (Conductor), Kristin Wilkinson (Viola), Mary Katherine (Violin), Stuart Duncan (Mandolin), Travis Palmer (Assistant), Marti Frederiksen (Producer)
The Hits is the first USgreatest hits album from country singer Faith Hill. It was originally supposed to be released on May 8, 2007, but was pushed back several times until it was finally released on October 2, 2007.[1]
Hill initially planned to re-record her prior hits for the album:
“
It’s been difficult selecting the songs for The Hits. But when we decided to focus on what you’d want, the decisions became much clearer. We’re planning on newer, different versions of some songs and we’ve got a few new surprises on The Hits. Leave it to me, I would’ve made a whole album of surprises, but then it wouldn’t have been The Hits and it wouldn’t be coming out on October 2nd.[1]
”
Ultimately, the only tracks that were not the same as the original album versions were the live version of "Stronger" (an album track from Cry that was never released as a single) and the single remixes of "Breathe", "The Way You Love Me", and "This Kiss". The album contains all eight of her solo No. 1 Country singles in addition to two songs, Cry (No. 12 Country) and There You'll Be (No. 11 Country), which topped the AC chart. ("Breathe" topped both the Country and AC charts.)
The first single, "Lost" was released in May, 2007. The song did not perform well on the Country charts peaking at #32.[2] In September 2007, the song was released to AC radio and has peaked at #11 in January 2008. Faith debuted the second and final new track from the album, "Red Umbrella", on The Ellen DeGeneres Show on September 5. The song was released to Country radio on September 13.[3] It peaked at #28 on the country charts. The album also features her Grammy nominated duet with Tim McGraw "I Need You".
The album debuted at #12 on the Billboard 200 and #3 on the Country Albums charts selling 69,368 copies in its first week. This became her lowest debuting album on the Billboard 200 since 1995's It Matters to Me. A special edition of the CD was also released with a companion DVD featuring videos of some of Hill's singles.[4]
In April 2009, after 18 months on chart, the album moved to the Billboard Top Country Catalog Albums. To date, the album has sold 319,121 copies in the US.
