''The Very Best Of'' is a

compilation album A compilation album comprises Album#Tracks, tracks, which may be previously released or unreleased, usually from several separate recordings by either one or several Performing arts#Performers, performers. If by one artist, then generally the tr ...

covering Scottish pop singer

Jimmy Somerville James William Somerville (born 22 June 1961) is a Scottish pop singer and songwriter. He sang in the 1980s with the pop groups Bronski Beat and The Communards, and has also had a solo career. He is known in particular for his powerful and soul ...

's career in

Bronski Beat Bronski Beat were a British synthpop trio which achieved success in the mid-1980s, particularly with the 1984 chart hit "Smalltown Boy", from their debut album '' The Age of Consent''. "Smalltown Boy" was their only US ''Billboard'' Hot 100 s ...

The Communards The Communards were a British synth-pop duo formed in London in 1985. The duo consisted of Jimmy Somerville and Richard Coles. They are most famous for their cover versions of "Don't Leave Me This Way", originally by Harold Melvin & the Blue N ...

and as a solo artist. It was released in 2001 and reached number 29 in the

UK Albums Chart The Official Albums Chart is a list of albums ranked by physical and digital sales and (from March 2015) audio streaming in the United Kingdom. It was published for the first time on 22 July 1956 and is compiled every week by the Official Charts C ...

. The album features mostly the same tracks, although in a different order, to the 1990 compilation '' The Singles Collection 1984/1990''. Only one track from that album, "Run from Love", isn't featured on ''The Very Best'' and is replaced with the newer track " Hurt So Good". Although Bronski Beat had three UK top 40 hits after Somerville's departure (" Hit That Perfect Beat", "C'mon C'mon" and "Cha Cha Heels") they are not included on the compilation as it is intended as a retrospective of Somerville's career. In 2002, the compilation was re-released as a limited edition double CD set.

Track listing

Charts and certifications

Weekly charts

Certifications

iTunes charts performance

In August 2015 the album debuted on the German

iTunes iTunes () is a software program that acts as a media player, media library, mobile device management utility, and the client app for the iTunes Store. Developed by Apple Inc., it is used to purchase, play, download, and organize digital mul ...

chart at number 12, while in August 2017 on the French equivalent it reached number 85. The Collector's Edition of the set would make entries first in Brazil, reaching number 17 in May 2019, and later in France at number 41 as well at number 43 in Spain, both in May 2020. In the UK, the enhanced version peaked at number 48 in July 2021, in Italy at number 40 in April 2022, and in Germany at number 50 in June 2022.}

References

Jimmy Somerville compilation albums Bronski Beat albums The Communards albums 2001 greatest hits albums London Records albums Albums produced by Mike Thorne Albums produced by Stephen Hague Albums produced by Pascal Gabriel {{LGBT-stub