The Hits (Garth Brooks album)

The Hits
Greatest hits album by Garth Brooks
Released	December 13, 1994
Genre	Country
Length	76:05
Label	Liberty
Producer	Allen Reynolds
Garth Brooks chronology
The Garth Brooks Collection (1994) The Hits (1994) Fresh Horses (1995)

Professional ratings
Review scores
Source	Rating
Allmusic	[1]
Entertainment Weekly	B+[2]
Robert Christgau	A[3]
The Rolling Stone Album Guide	[4]

The Hits is the second compilation album and first wide-released greatest hits album from American country music artist Garth Brooks. Brooks first greatest hits album, The Garth Brooks Collection, was released three months earlier exclusively at McDonald's restaurants for a limited time to raise money for the Ronald McDonald Children's Charities. The Hits was released on December 13, 1994 and is now out of print. This was due to Brooks' views for whole record sales, instead of albums of singles. He insisted it only be available for a limited time, but not before it sold well over ten million copies. The Hits debuted at #1 on the Billboard 200, and Top Country Albums. A CD Zoom containing 20-second sound bites of 61 songs accompanied The Hits. In June 1995, the master was buried under Garth’s star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.^[5]

Track listing

1. "Ain't Goin' Down ('Til The Sun Comes Up)" (from In Pieces) (Kent Blazy, Kim Williams, Garth Brooks) – 4:33 (1993)
2. "Friends in Low Places" (from No Fences) (DeWayne Blackwell, Earl "Bud" Lee) – 4:18 (1990)
3. "Callin' Baton Rouge" (from In Pieces) (Dennis Linde) – 2:38 (1993)
4. "The River" (from Ropin' the Wind) (Victoria Shaw, Brooks) – 4:25 (1991)
5. "Much Too Young (To Feel This Damn Old)" (from Garth Brooks) (Randy Taylor, Brooks) – 2:53 (1989)
6. "The Thunder Rolls" (from No Fences) (Pat Alger, Brooks) – 3:42 (1990)
7. "American Honky-Tonk Bar Association" (from In Pieces) (Bryan Kennedy, Jim Rushing) – 3:33 (1993)
8. "If Tomorrow Never Comes" (from Garth Brooks) (Blazy, Brooks) – 3:37 (1989)
9. "Unanswered Prayers" (from No Fences) (Alger, Larry Bastian, Brooks) – 3:23 (1990)
10. "Standing Outside the Fire" (from In Pieces) (Jenny Yates, Brooks) – 3:52 (1993)
11. "Rodeo" (from Ropin' the Wind) (Bastian) – 3:53 (1991)
12. "What She's Doing Now" (from Ropin' the Wind) (Alger, Brooks) – 3:26 (1991)
13. "We Shall Be Free" (from The Chase) (Stephanie Davis, Brooks) – 3:48 (1992)
14. "Papa Loved Mama" (from Ropin' the Wind) (Williams, Brooks) – 2:51 (1991)
15. "Shameless" (from Ropin' the Wind) (Billy Joel) – 4:19 (1991)
16. "Two of a Kind, Workin' on a Full House" (from No Fences) (Bobby Boyd, Warren Haynes, Dennis Robbins) – 2:31 (1990)
17. "That Summer" (from The Chase) (Alger, Sandy Mahl-Brooks, Brooks) – 4:46 (1992)
18. "The Dance" (from Garth Brooks) (Tony Arata) – 3:37 (1989)

In Europe both "The Red Strokes" and "Burning Bridges" were added to the album due to their success on that continent. "Burning Bridges" as 3rd Track and "The Red Strokes" as 19th Track.

Chart performance

The Hits debuted at #1 on the U.S. Billboard 200, becoming his fourth, and #1 on the Top Country Albums, becoming his fifth #1 Country album. In November 1998, The Hits was certified 10x Platinum by the RIAA.

Charts Charts (1994/1995) Peak position Australian Albums Chart[6] 2 Austrian Albums Chart[6] 35 Canadian RPM Top Albums 7 Canadian RPM Country Albums 1 Dutch Albums Chart[6] 64 European Albums Chart[7] 20 German Albums Chart[8] 19 Irish Albums Chart[9] 1 New Zealand Albums Chart[6] 15 Norwegian Albums Chart[6] 3 Scottish Albums Chart[10] 13 Spanish Albums Chart[11] 24 Swiss Albums Chart[6] 17 UK Albums Chart[12] 11 U.S. Billboard 200[13] 1 U.S. Billboard Top Country Albums[13] 1

Sales and certifications Region Provider Certification Sales/Shipments Australia ARIA Platinum [14] 70,000 Canada CRIA Diamond [15] 1,000,000 Ireland IRMA 8 x Platinum 120,000 United Kingdom BPI Gold [16] 100,000 United States RIAA 10x Platinum[17] 7,821,000+[18] World-Wide 9,111,000

End of decade charts

Chart (1990–1999)	Position
U.S. Billboard 200[19]	24

Chart Successions

References

1. Allmusic review
2. Browne, David (23 December 1994). "The Hits Review". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved 13 December 2012.
3. Christgau, Robert. "CG: Garth Brooks". RobertChristgau.com. Retrieved 14 April 2013.
4. Brackett, Nathan; Christian Hoard (2004). The Rolling Stone Album Guide. New York City, New York: Simon and Schuster. p. 105. ISBN 0-7432-0169-8.
5. "Garth Brooks". Garth Brooks. 1994-12-13. Archived from the original on 2012-09-04. Retrieved 2013-12-10.
6. http://www.swisscharts.com/showitem.asp?interpret=Garth+Brooks&titel=The+Hits&cat=a
7. "Hits of the World - Eurochart". Billboard. Nielsen Business Media, Inc. 18 March 1995. p. 43.
8. http://www.musicline.de/de/chartverfolgung_summary/artist/Garth+Brooks/3491/longplay
9. "Hits of the World - Ireland". Billboard. Nielsen Business Media, Inc. 28 January 1995. p. 61. Retrieved 21 July 2012.
10. http://www.officialcharts.com/charts/scottish-albums-chart/19950305/40/
11. Salaverri, Fernando (September 2005). Sólo éxitos: año a año, 1959–2002 (1st ed.). Spain: Fundación Autor-SGAE. ISBN 84-8048-639-2.
12. http://www.officialcharts.com/artist/_/garth%20brooks/
13. "The Hits - Garth Brooks". Billboard.com. Retrieved 13 December 2012.
14. "ARIA Charts".
15. "Canadian Recording Industry Association: Certification Results- February 15, 2010". CRIA. Retrieved 2010-02-15.
16. "BPI Certified Awards". BPI. Retrieved 2013-02-15.
17. "Gold & Platinum - February 12, 2010". RIAA. Retrieved 2010-02-12.
18. Grein, Paul (2011-09-14). "Chart Watch Extra: All The Greatest Hits | Chart Watch - Archives - Yahoo! Music". New.music.yahoo.com. Retrieved 2012-02-21.
19. Geoff Mayfield (December 25, 1999). 1999 The Year in Music Totally '90s: Diary of a Decade - The listing of Top Pop Albums of the '90s & Hot 100 Singles of the '90s. Billboard. Retrieved October 15, 2010.