''Hits'' is a compilation album by
Tony! Toni! Toné!. It was released on October 28, 1997, by
Mercury Records
Mercury Records is an American record label owned by Universal Music Group. It had significant success as an independent operation in the 1940s and 1950s. Smash Records and Fontana Records were sub labels of Mercury. In the United States, it is ...
and was produced by
Tony! Toni! Toné!,
Foster & McElroy and Quik. ''Hits'' peaked at No. 54 on the
Top R&B Albums chart.
Critical reception
In his review for
AllMusic
AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databas ...
, critic
Stephen Thomas Erlewine
Stephen Thomas Erlewine (; born June 18, 1973) is an American music critic and senior editor for the online music database AllMusic. He is the author of many artist biographies and record reviews for AllMusic, as well as a freelance writer, occ ...
said ''Hits'' serves as both a great overview of the group and "a convincing argument that they were one of the best contemporary R&B bands of the early '90s".
Matt Diehl of ''
Entertainment Weekly
''Entertainment Weekly'' (sometimes abbreviated as ''EW'') is an American digital-only entertainment magazine based in New York City, published by Dotdash Meredith, that covers film, television, music, Broadway theatre, books, and popular cul ...
'' argued that the album showcases the band's visionary mix of modern and classic
soul
In many religious and philosophical traditions, there is a belief that a soul is "the immaterial aspect or essence of a human being".
Etymology
The Modern English noun ''soul'' is derived from Old English ''sāwol, sāwel''. The earliest attes ...
, which "paved the way" for singers such as
Maxwell and
D'Angelo
Michael Eugene Archer (born February 11, 1974), better known by his stage name D'Angelo (), is an American singer, songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, and record producer. He first garnered attention after co-producing the single "U Will Know" ...
: "You won't find a more ebullient collection of jams anywhere else".
In his book ''Consumer Guide: Albums of the '90s'' (2000),
Robert Christgau
Robert Thomas Christgau ( ; born April 18, 1942) is an American music journalist and essayist. Among the most well-known and influential music critics, he began his career in the late 1960s as one of the earliest professional rock critics and ...
wrote that Tony! Toni! Toné! peaked only with ''
House of Music'' in 1996, and "this one merely creates the illusion that they always had it in them to match easy pop funk like '
Feels Good
"Feels Good" is the title of a number-one R&B single by Tony! Toni! Toné! featuring a rap verse by Mopreme Shakur. The hit song spent two weeks at number one on the U.S. R&B chart. It was also their first top-ten hit on the U.S. ''Billboard'' ...
' and '
Little Walter
Marion Walter Jacobs (May 1, 1930 – February 15, 1968), known as Little Walter, was an American blues musician, singer, and songwriter, whose revolutionary approach to the harmonica had a strong impact on succeeding generations, earning him ...
' with come-ons like the opportunistic 'Thinking of You' and the steadfast—a whole year, gosh—'
Anniversary
An anniversary is the date on which an event took place or an institution was founded in a previous year, and may also refer to the commemoration or celebration of that event. The word was first used for Catholic feasts to commemorate saints ...
.'"
Fred Schruers wrote in ''
The Rolling Stone Album Guide
''The Rolling Stone Album Guide'', previously known as ''The Rolling Stone Record Guide'', is a book that contains professional music reviews written and edited by staff members from ''Rolling Stone'' magazine. Its first edition was published in 1 ...
'' (2004) that ''Hits'' is the best of the band's compilations because of its length and tasteful packaging, although the lyrics are poorly transcribed in the booklet.
Track listing
#"If I Had No Loot" (
1993
File:1993 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The Oslo I Accord is signed in an attempt to resolve the Israeli–Palestinian conflict; The Russian White House is shelled during the 1993 Russian constitutional crisis; Czechoslovakia is peace ...
) – 4:01
#"Boys and Girls" (
1997
File:1997 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The movie set of ''Titanic'', the highest-grossing movie in history at the time; ''Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone'', is published; Comet Hale-Bopp passes by Earth and becomes one of t ...
) – 4:37
#"Annie May" (
1996
File:1996 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: A Centennial Olympic Park bombing, bomb explodes at Centennial Olympic Park in Atlanta, set off by a radical Anti-abortion violence, anti-abortionist; The center fuel tank explodes on TWA Flight 8 ...
) – 5:44
#"
The Blues
Blues is a music genre and musical form which originated in the Deep South of the United States around the 1860s. Blues incorporated spirituals, work songs, field hollers, shouts, chants, and rhymed simple narrative ballads from the African- ...
" (
1990
File:1990 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The 1990 FIFA World Cup is played in Italy; The Human Genome Project is launched; Voyager I takes the famous Pale Blue Dot image- speaking on the fragility of Humankind, humanity on Earth, Astroph ...
) – 4:13
#"Don't Fall in Love" (
1996
File:1996 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: A Centennial Olympic Park bombing, bomb explodes at Centennial Olympic Park in Atlanta, set off by a radical Anti-abortion violence, anti-abortionist; The center fuel tank explodes on TWA Flight 8 ...
) – 4:42
#"
Little Walter
Marion Walter Jacobs (May 1, 1930 – February 15, 1968), known as Little Walter, was an American blues musician, singer, and songwriter, whose revolutionary approach to the harmonica had a strong impact on succeeding generations, earning him ...
" (
1988
File:1988 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The oil platform Piper Alpha explodes and collapses in the North Sea, killing 165 workers; The USS Vincennes (CG-49) mistakenly shoots down Iran Air Flight 655; Australia celebrates its Australian ...
) – 4:49
#"Thinking of You" (
1996
File:1996 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: A Centennial Olympic Park bombing, bomb explodes at Centennial Olympic Park in Atlanta, set off by a radical Anti-abortion violence, anti-abortionist; The center fuel tank explodes on TWA Flight 8 ...
) – 3:55
#"Anniversary" (
1993
File:1993 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The Oslo I Accord is signed in an attempt to resolve the Israeli–Palestinian conflict; The Russian White House is shelled during the 1993 Russian constitutional crisis; Czechoslovakia is peace ...
) – 4:30
#"
Feels Good
"Feels Good" is the title of a number-one R&B single by Tony! Toni! Toné! featuring a rap verse by Mopreme Shakur. The hit song spent two weeks at number one on the U.S. R&B chart. It was also their first top-ten hit on the U.S. ''Billboard'' ...
" (
1990
File:1990 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The 1990 FIFA World Cup is played in Italy; The Human Genome Project is launched; Voyager I takes the famous Pale Blue Dot image- speaking on the fragility of Humankind, humanity on Earth, Astroph ...
) – 4:57
#"Let's Get Down" (
1996
File:1996 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: A Centennial Olympic Park bombing, bomb explodes at Centennial Olympic Park in Atlanta, set off by a radical Anti-abortion violence, anti-abortionist; The center fuel tank explodes on TWA Flight 8 ...
) – 4:57
#"(Lay Your Head on My) Pillow" (1993) – 6:06
#"
It Never Rains (in Southern California)
"It Never Rains (In Southern California)" is a 1990 song recorded by the American R&B group Tony! Toni! Toné!. This song peaked at number one on the ''Billboard'' Hot R&B Singles chart in 1990 for two weeks, and thirty-four on the Hot 100.
Mus ...
" (
1990
File:1990 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The 1990 FIFA World Cup is played in Italy; The Human Genome Project is launched; Voyager I takes the famous Pale Blue Dot image- speaking on the fragility of Humankind, humanity on Earth, Astroph ...
) – 4:59
#"Baby Doll" (
1988
File:1988 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The oil platform Piper Alpha explodes and collapses in the North Sea, killing 165 workers; The USS Vincennes (CG-49) mistakenly shoots down Iran Air Flight 655; Australia celebrates its Australian ...
) – 5:39
#"
Whatever You Want" (
1990
File:1990 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The 1990 FIFA World Cup is played in Italy; The Human Genome Project is launched; Voyager I takes the famous Pale Blue Dot image- speaking on the fragility of Humankind, humanity on Earth, Astroph ...
) – 4:50
#"My Ex-Girlfriend" (
1993
File:1993 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The Oslo I Accord is signed in an attempt to resolve the Israeli–Palestinian conflict; The Russian White House is shelled during the 1993 Russian constitutional crisis; Czechoslovakia is peace ...
) – 4:49
References
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hits (Tony! Toni! Tone! album)
1997 greatest hits albums
Tony! Toni! Toné! albums
Albums produced by DJ Quik
Albums produced by G-One
Albums produced by Raphael Saadiq