GHV2

Background and development

In early September 2001, rumors surfaced that Madonna had cut two new songs, "Sex Makes the World Go Round" and "Veronica Electronica," for an upcoming greatest hits collection, with the latter coming from an abandoned remix project with William Orbit. The album was supposedly called The Immaculate Collection 2, but those reports turned out to be false. Following the final date of her Drowned World Tour on September 15, 2001, MTV News confirmed she was planning a greatest hits release for November.

Maverick Records revealed the track list and release date on October 4, 2001, and the album arrived alongside a DVD and VHS of the tour. As a follow-up to 1990's The Immaculate Collection, GHV2 gathered fifteen singles from "Erotica" (1992) through "What It Feels Like for a Girl" (2001), but unlike the first collection, it contained no new recordings. Madonna told BBC's Jo Whiley she chose songs she could enjoy hearing five times in a row, and that the record reflected her growth as a singer, songwriter, and person.

Several hits were left off. "American Pie" was excluded because Madonna regretted including it on her album Music after a record executive pressured her into it. Other omissions were "This Used to Be My Playground," "Rain," "I'll Remember," and "You'll See," all of which had already appeared on her 1995 ballads compilation Something to Remember.

Release and promotion

Warner Bros. spent £1 million on promotion for GHV2, aiming to generate excitement without media interviews or TV performances, as Madonna was in Malta filming Swept Away. A company executive stated that the unusual name was intended to get people thinking about the association between Madonna and GHV2 and to compensate for her unavailability. In December 2001, Madonna appeared at the Turner Prize award ceremony and mentioned the album. Maverick Records sent a promotional megamix titled "GHV2 Megamix" to radio stations on October 29, 2001, but it was limited to airplay and never commercially released.

The megamix featured nine songs in chronological order, with remixes by Thunderpuss, Johnny Rocks & Mac Quayle, and Tracy Young. Chris Cox of Thunderpuss explained that several remix entities were approached, and theirs was chosen. The remix peaked at number five on the Billboard Hot Dance Club Play chart. An accompanying music video directed by Dago Gonzalez premiered on November 2, 2001, on Total Request Live and MTV's website.

On December 20, 2001, Maverick also released a promotional remix album, GHV2 Remixed: The Best of 1991–2001, featuring remixes by Victor Calderone, Junior Vasquez, BT, Sasha, Timo Maas, and Hex Hector, excluding three tracks. MTV France streamed the remixes on their website.

Critical reception

The compilation received generally positive reviews from music critics. Robert Christgau called it an essential package, noting that it gleans goodies from Bedtime Stories and Ray of Light and includes "Beautiful Stranger" and "Don't Cry for Me Argentina". A writer from the South Wales Echo described it as an essential pop album and truly immaculate. Michael Hubbard of MusicOMH complimented the inclusion of "Don't Cry for Me Argentina" and "Beautiful Stranger", stating the end result does the job.

John Aizlewood of The Guardian gave four out of five stars, saying the album is confident to avoid remixes or new tracks. Ian Wade of Dotmusic positively reviewed it, noting that it contains some of the best pop music made by anybody, though he criticized the omission of "Nothing Really Matters" and "Rain". Cristine Leach from Raidió Teilifís Éireann gave four out of five stars, calling it essential listening. Dugald Baird of Music Week noted the set is something of an anti-climax but an essential purchase for fans.

Commercial performance

In the United States, GHV2 debuted at number seven on the Billboard 200 with first-week sales of 150,000 copies, an improvement over Something to Remember's 113,000 copies, but it became Madonna's lowest debut since The Immaculate Collection. It spent 18 weeks on the chart and ranked at number 58 on the Billboard 200 year-end chart for 2002. As of October 2016, it had sold 1,397,000 copies in the US according to Nielsen SoundScan, with an additional 90,000 sold at BMG Music Clubs, and received a platinum certification from the RIAA.

In Canada, it debuted at number 11 and spent 16 weeks on the chart, earning a platinum certification from Music Canada. In the United Kingdom, the compilation broke a record for most shipments before release with 750,000 copies, debuting at number two with 88,500 copies, behind Westlife's World of Our Own. It spent 33 weeks on the UK chart and was certified double platinum by the BPI, selling 868,500 copies as of June 2019. It also debuted at number two in Ireland and Scotland.

Across Europe, it reached number one in Austria and the top ten in Belgium, France, Germany, Hungary, Italy, Norway, Spain, and Switzerland, peaking at number three on the European Top 100 Albums.