The Hits

Editorial Reviews

All Music Guide - Jon O'Brien
Breaking the mold of the archetypal pop idol, Will Young has avoided the here today, gone tomorrow fate of many other talent contest winners, arguably thanks to a determination to distance himself from Simon Cowell as quickly as possible. The Hits, which features 12 singles from his four studio albums plus two new tracks, only emphasizes what a wise decision that was. Early post-Idol singles "Evergreen," a rather clichéd Westlife album track that became the template for the TV show winners' debut singles, and "Light My Fire," a competent but unexciting rendition of the Doors classic, have Cowell's stamp all over them. Luckily, his Gareth Gates duet, "The Long and Winding ...
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Editorial Reviews

All Music Guide - Jon O'Brien
Breaking the mold of the archetypal pop idol, Will Young has avoided the here today, gone tomorrow fate of many other talent contest winners, arguably thanks to a determination to distance himself from Simon Cowell as quickly as possible. The Hits, which features 12 singles from his four studio albums plus two new tracks, only emphasizes what a wise decision that was. Early post-Idol singles "Evergreen," a rather clichéd Westlife album track that became the template for the TV show winners' debut singles, and "Light My Fire," a competent but unexciting rendition of the Doors classic, have Cowell's stamp all over them. Luckily, his Gareth Gates duet, "The Long and Winding Road," undoubtedly the dullest number one this decade, isn't included here. But it's pretty likely that if the other two hadn't been such gargantuan successes ("Evergreen" is the biggest-selling single of the noughties), Young would quite happily have omitted them as well. Only the gorgeous string-soaked "You and I" hinted that Young could fulfill his initial promise if he weren't lumbered with such pure karaoke material. Fortunately, second album Friday's Child saw Young take his career into his own hands, eschewing the Burt Bacharach-influenced sounds of his debut in favor of the blue-eyed soul-pop that Simply Red based a career on. The simple acoustic ballad "Leave Right Now" has since become a modern classic, but the Blow Monkeys-inspired "Your Game" and the Groove Armada-esque epic title track are just as well-produced. Buoyed by its critical and commercial success, Young continued to develop his brand of sophisticated intelligent pop for third album Keep On. "Switch It On," famous for its Top Gun pastiche video, is arguably his most adventurous single, a frenetic piece of country-rock that owes more than a passing nod to George Michael's "Faith." But it was the maturity of piano-led love songs "All Time Love" and "Who Am I" that showed Young was an artist in his artistic and vocal prime. Fourth album Let It Go served up more of the same, but with its increasingly MOR leanings, Young was ignored by Radio 1 for the first time and the disappointing chart positions for soft-spoken ballads "Grace" and "Let It Go" suggest the rumored dance-led sound for album number five could be a much needed change in direction. However, Young is undoubtedly still one of the success stories of reality TV pop. He may be unable to match the multi-million sales of Leona Lewis or the huge tabloid profile of Girls Aloud, but based on the consistently impressive The Hits, he certainly appears to be the most in control.
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Product Details

  • Release Date: 11/24/2009
  • Label: Sony Bmg Europe
  • UPC: 886975843022
  • Catalog Number: 7584302
  • Sales rank: 99,073

Tracks

Disc 1
  1. 1 Evergreen (4:12)
  2. 2 Light My Fire (3:28)
  3. 3 You And I (4:04)
  4. 4 Leave Right Now (3:34)
  5. 5 Your Game (4:10)
  6. 6 Friday's Child (8:59)
  7. 7 Switch It On (3:48)
  8. 8 All Time Love (3:56)
  9. 9 Who Am I (4:28)
  10. 10 Changes (4:00)
  11. 11 Grace (4:37)
  12. 12 Let It Go (3:41)
  13. 13 Hopes & Fears (3:46)
  14. 14 If It Hadn't Been For Love (3:36)
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Album Credits

Performance Credits
Will Young Primary Artist, Vocals, Background Vocals
Anne Dudley Conductor, Keyboards
David Angell Violin
Chris Ballin Background Vocals
Tim Cansfield Guitar
John Catchings Cello
Jack Daley Bass
David Davidson Violin
Geoff Dugmore Drums
Mark Feltham Harmonica
Claudia Fontaine Background Vocals
Tee Green Background Vocals
Nick Ingman Conductor
Henrik Janson Conductor
Luis Jardim Percussion
London Community Gospel Choir Choir, Chorus
The London Session Orchestra Strings
Pino Palladino Bass Guitar
Kristin Wilkinson Viola
Gavyn Wright Leader
Neil Conti Drums
Simon Hale Conductor, Keyboards
Ed Johnson Background Vocals
Patrick Kiernan Violin
Steve Lee Harmonica
Bruce White Viola
Hazel Fernandez Background Vocals
John Gibbons Background Vocals
Dan Brown Bass
Ash Howes Keyboards
Anders Von Hofsten Background Vocals
Absolute Various
Tomas Lindberg Bass
Blair Mackichan Background Vocals
Per Magnusson Keyboards
London Studio Orchestra Strings
Metro Voices Choir, Chorus
Stockholm Session Orchestra Performing Ensemble
Eg White Bass, Percussion, Drums, Keyboards, Background Vocals
Beverlei Brown Background Vocals
Jeanette Olsson Background Vocals
Steve Barney Drums
Millennia Strings Strings
United Colours of Sound Background Vocals
Jamie Hartman Piano
Lucie Silvas Background Vocals
Yolanda Quartey Background Vocals
Dave Daniels Cello
Perry Montague-Mason Violin
Dan Moore Piano, Keyboards
Greg Wells Keyboards
Ronnie Peterson Guitar
Graham Kearns Guitar
Ros Stephen Violin
Uli Janson Conductor
Phil Todd Flute
Jenny O'Grady Choir Master
Louisa Fuller Leader
Karlos Edwards Percussion
Peter Gordeno Keyboards
Michelle John Background Vocals
Stephen Lipson Guitar, Bass Guitar, Keyboards
Tracy Ackerman Background Vocals
Karen Poole Background Vocals
Katy Latham Violin
Skip Wiseman Drums
Ash Soans Drums
Jez Ashurst Bass, Keyboards
Alexandra Urquhart Viola
Keith Tempest Cello
Stewart Jackson Acoustic Guitar, Percussion, Electric Guitar
Clark Coslett-Hughes Bass
Charmain Elliott Background Vocals
Technical Credits
Anne Dudley String Arrangements, Orchestral Arrangements
David Davidson String Arrangements
Martin Hayles Engineer
Nick Ingman String Arrangements, Orchestral Arrangements
Henrik Janson Arranger
Heff Moraes Engineer, Engineering
Steve Wolf Composer, Programming
Gavyn Wright Orchestra Leader
Simon Hale String Arrangements, Brass Arrangment
Ed Johnson Composer
Steve Lee Composer, Programming, Producer
Peter Lewis Engineer
Dan Brown String Arrangements
Ash Howes Producer
Absolute Producer
Blair Mackichan Composer, Programming, Producer
Per Magnusson Arranger, Composer, Producer
Jörgen Elofsson Composer, Producer
Bobby Shin Engineer
Eg White Programming, Producer, String Arrangements
Will Young Composer
David Treahearn Engineer
Jamie Hartman Composer
Charlie Russell Programming
Yolanda Quartey Composer
Dan Moore Composer, String Arrangements
Ronnie Peterson Composer
Dustin Brayley Composer
Matt Prime Composer, Vocal Producer
Robot Club Producer, Engineering
David Kreuger Arranger, Composer, Programming, Producer
Fredrik Andersson Engineer
Ros Stephen String Arrangements
Uli Janson Arranger
J. Gregory Composer
Dave Naughton Pro-Tools
Richard "Biff" Stannard Producer
Mike Peden Composer, Producer
J. Morrison Composer
Robby Krieger Composer
F. White Composer
Stephen Lipson Composer, Programming, Producer
Karen Poole Composer
Heff Mores Engineer
Jez Ashurst Composer, Programming
Stewart Jackson Composer, String Arrangements
Jeff Moraes Engineering
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