Ego and the obnoxious album cover (which shows Houston mounting her platinum albums to a wall) aside, Whitney Houston's long overdue Greatest Hits album is a very comprehensive set, including nearly all of the songstress' hits as well as a collection of choice remixes. Divided into two CDs, the album's 36 tracks trace her career from her highly polished pop singles of the mid-'80s to her more recent, hipper R&B leanings, leaving few stones unturned.

Disc one plays it straight with nearly all of Houston's hit ballads, ironically showing just how similar the musical arrangements to her early songs were. Oddly, the set leaves off her 1998 duet with Mariah Carey, "When You Believe," from The Prince of Egypt Soundtrack -- perhaps the result of diva rivalry?

The new song "Same Script, Different Cast" and the newly re-recorded "Could I Have This Kiss Forever" feature duets with fellow R&B chanteuse Deborah Cox and Latin heartthrob Enrique Iglesias, respectively. The former expertly borrows a piano riff from Beethoven's "Fur Elise" behind Houston and Cox's beautifully paired vocals, while the re-mixed latter track displays a sultry rhythm that resuscitates what was an otherwise lifeless ballad from Iglesias' Enrique album.

Disc two, focusing mostly on club versions of Houston's hits, reads like a who's who of remixers of the past 15 years -- Jellybean, C+C Music Factory, Junior Vasquez, Hex Hector, and others are represented. The collection smartly includes the greatly-improved-over-the-original "It's Not Right But It's Okay," remixed by Thunderpuss 2000, and the highly danceable Clivilles and Cole mix of "I'm Every Woman." Also included are one new track, the funky, mid-tempo "Fine," and a revisited version of "If I Told You That," a song that rips off the musical arrangement of the Brandy/Monica hit "The Boy Is Mine," with a guest appearance by George Michael.

Unfortunately, Vasquez's remixes of Houston's "I Wanna Dance With Somebody (Who Loves Me)" and "How Will I Know" do not fare as well as the CD's other mixes; both come off as '80s-pop fluff despite his efforts. Surprisingly, Vasquez's take on "The Greatest Love of All" nicely updates the ballad into a slick house track.

Two noteworthy inclusions -- "One Moment in Time" from The 1988 Summer Olympics Album and Houston's live rendition of "The Star Spangled Banner" from Super Bowl XXV -- round out Greatest Hits, bringing to an end an expertly organized, if ego-inflated, album.

Regis D'Angiolini
CDNOW Copy Editor