Greatest Hits is the second greatest hits album and second compilation album by the Red Hot Chili Peppers, released on Nov. 18, 2003, by Warner Bros. Records. Aside from their cover of "Higher Ground", all songs on the album are from the band's tenure on Warner Bros. Records from 1991 to 2002, in addition to two newly recorded songs.
Greatest Hits | ||||
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Greatest hits album by | ||||
Released | November 18, 2003 | |||
Recorded | 1988–2003 | |||
Genre | Funk rock, alternative rock | |||
Length | 66:46 | |||
Label | Warner Bros. | |||
Producer |
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Red Hot Chili Peppers chronology | ||||
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Singles from Greatest Hits | ||||
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Review scores | |
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Source | Rating |
AllMusic | ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() |
Entertainment Weekly | B+[3] |
Rolling Stone | ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() |
The Rolling Stone Album Guide | ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() |
Greatest Hits was released along with a separately sold DVD containing most of their music videos from the same time period.
The album was released with Copy Control protection system in some European markets, but not in the United States.
Overview
While their first hits compilation album What Hits!? encompasses material from their 1984 debut to 1989's Mother's Milk, this collection of songs takes off from that point, including material from their 1991 album Blood Sugar Sex Magik up through their 2002 album By the Way. It was during this period of their career that the band became a major commercial force in the music industry. Therefore, this compilation includes the majority of hit singles released since their breakthrough cover of Stevie Wonder's "Higher Ground".
"My Friends" is the only track included from the 1995 album, One Hot Minute. However, the music video for "Aeroplane" is featured on the DVD version of the compilation. "Warped", the lead single from One Hot Minute, is also absent as both a song and music video on the DVD.
Of the band's eight U.S. number-one singles on the Billboard Modern Rock Tracks chart up to that point, only one, "Can't Stop", from their 2002 album By the Way, was excluded, though the music video was featured on the DVD.
Also absent were top-10 hits "Around the World," from their 1999 album Californication and "The Zephyr Song" from By the Way although the DVD contained the music videos for the songs. Conversely, "Breaking the Girl" was not included on the DVD, as well as "Parallel Universe," the latter of which never had a music video released.
To date, Greatest Hits has outsold six of the band's 13 studio albums, including Mother's Milk and I'm with You, making it the band's fifth-highest-selling release.
Unreleased studio album
In 2011, drummer Chad Smith discussed the recording sessions for Greatest Hits, mentioning that the band had recorded 16 songs and wished to release an entirely new album just for this material after a brief tour; however, guitarist John Frusciante was heavily against this idea at the time, claiming that his playing style had evolved and changed too much, as had his musical influences. Smith said there was an entire Red Hot Chili Peppers album out there that nobody would ever hear.[6]
Aside from the two new tracks on the album ("Fortune Faded" and "Save the Population”), only two other studio tracks from these sessions have been officially released. "Bicycle Song" and "Runaway" appeared as bonus tracks on the deluxe edition of By the Way when it was released on iTunes in 2006 and can now be found on many other digital music stores. Live versions of several other songs have also been released. "Rolling Sly Stone" and "Leverage Of Space" were included on the Live in Hyde Park album in 2004 and "Mini-Epic (Kill for Your Country)" was released as an "official" bootleg in 2015. A studio in-house CD-R was leaked in 2014 which contained two instrumental tracks from these sessions, called "Starlight" and "50/Fifty", and 3 different takes of "Runaway".[7] The names of the remaining songs are either unknown or unconfirmed.
On February 7, 2014, in an interview with fans on Reddit, Smith claimed that the band hoped to one day release a box set including all unreleased material from the recording sessions for Greatest Hits.[8]
Track listing
All tracks are written by Kiedis, Frusciante, Flea, Smith except where noted
No. | Title | Album | Length |
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1. | "Under the Bridge" | Blood Sugar Sex Magik, 1991 | 4:33 |
2. | "Give It Away" | Blood Sugar Sex Magik | 4:44 |
3. | "Californication" | Californication, 1999 | 5:29 |
4. | "Scar Tissue" | Californication | 3:35 |
5. | "Soul to Squeeze" | Coneheads: Music from the Motion Picture Soundtrack, 1993 | 4:50 |
6. | "Otherside" | Californication | 4:15 |
7. | "Suck My Kiss" | Blood Sugar Sex Magik | 3:35 |
8. | "By the Way" | By the Way, 2002 | 3:35 |
9. | "Parallel Universe" | Californication | 4:29 |
10. | "Breaking the Girl" | Blood Sugar Sex Magik | 4:54 |
11. | "My Friends" (Kiedis/Flea/Navarro/Smith) | One Hot Minute, 1995 | 4:09 |
12. | "Higher Ground" (Wonder) | Mother's Milk, 1989 | 3:22 |
13. | "Universally Speaking" | By the Way | 4:16 |
14. | "Road Trippin'" | Californication | 3:25 |
15. | "Fortune Faded" | Previously unreleased | 3:21 |
16. | "Save the Population" | Previously unreleased | 4:05 |
Total length: | 66:37 |
DVD
Greatest Hits and Videos | ||||
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Video by | ||||
Released | November 18, 2003 | |||
Recorded | 1989–2003 | |||
Genre | Alternative rock, funk rock | |||
Label | Warner Bros. | |||
Red Hot Chili Peppers chronology | ||||
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Greatest Hits and Videos was also released with the tracks above, including a DVD (available as Greatest Videos) containing the following music videos:
No. | Title | Original album | Length |
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1. | "Higher Ground" | Mother's Milk | 3:22 |
2. | "Suck My Kiss" | Blood Sugar Sex Magik | 3:38 |
3. | "Give It Away" | Blood Sugar Sex Magik | 4:32 |
4. | "Under the Bridge" | Blood Sugar Sex Magik | 4:26 |
5. | "Soul to Squeeze" | Coneheads soundtrack | 4:51 |
6. | "Aeroplane" | One Hot Minute | 4:09 |
7. | "My Friends" (studio version) | One Hot Minute | 4:06 |
8. | "Around the World" | Californication | 4:01 |
9. | "Scar Tissue" | Californication | 3:04 |
10. | "Otherside" | Californication | 4:18 |
11. | "Californication" | Californication | 5:20 |
12. | "Road Trippin'" | Californication | 3:23 |
13. | "By the Way" | By the Way | 3:37 |
14. | "The Zephyr Song" | By the Way | 3:50 |
15. | "Can't Stop" | By the Way | 4:34 |
16. | "Universally Speaking" | By the Way | 4:14 |
Total length: | 66:46 |
Charts
Chart (2004) | Peak position |
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Austrian Albums (Ö3 Austria)[25] | 2 |
Danish Albums (Hitlisten)[26] | 9 |
Finnish Albums (Suomen virallinen lista)[27] | 11 |
German Albums (Offizielle Top 100)[28] | 4 |
Hungarian Albums (MAHASZ)[29] | 40 |
Swiss Albums (Schweizer Hitparade)[30] | 2 |
Chart (2011) | Peak position |
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French Albums (SNEP)[31] | 39 |
Chart (2016) | Peak position |
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Canadian Albums (Billboard)[32] | 38 |
Hungarian Albums (MAHASZ)[33] | 20 |
Chart (2017) | Peak position |
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US Top Rock Albums (Billboard)[34] | 13 |
Chart (2020) | Peak position |
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Polish Albums (ZPAV)[35] | 3 |
Year-end charts
Chart (2003) | Position |
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Australian Albums (ARIA)[36] | 25 |
Austrian Albums (Ö3 Austria)[37] | 62 |
Belgian Albums (Ultratop Flanders)[38] | 33 |
Dutch Albums (Album Top 100)[39] | 43 |
Irish Albums (IRMA)[40] | 14 |
Italian Albums (FIMI)[41] | 32 |
Swedish Albums (Sverigetopplistan)[42] | 49 |
Swiss Albums (Schweizer Hitparade)[43] | 53 |
UK Albums (OCC)[44] | 20 |
Worldwide Albums (IFPI)[45] | 15 |
Chart (2004) | Position |
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Australian Albums (ARIA)[46] | 17 |
Austrian Albums (Ö3 Austria)[47] | 22 |
Belgian Albums (Ultratop Flanders)[48] | 64 |
Dutch Albums (Album Top 100)[49] | 42 |
German Albums (Offizielle Top 100)[50] | 49 |
Italian Albums (FIMI)[51] | 56 |
Japanese Albums (Oricon)[52] | 39 |
New Zealand Albums (RMNZ)[53] | 47 |
Swiss Albums (Schweizer Hitparade)[54] | 27 |
UK Albums (OCC)[55] | 58 |
US Billboard 200[56] | 70 |
Chart (2006) | Position |
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UK Albums (OCC)[57] | 133 |
Chart (2013) | Position |
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Australian Albums (ARIA)[58] | 81 |
Chart (2016) | Position |
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Australian Albums (ARIA)[59] | 41 |
UK Albums (OCC)[60] | 80 |
US Billboard 200[61] | 165 |
Chart (2017) | Position |
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US Billboard 200[62] | 165 |
US Top Rock Albums (Billboard)[63] | 28 |
Chart (2018) | Position |
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Australian Albums (ARIA)[64] | 66 |
UK Albums (OCC)[65] | 96 |
US Billboard 200[66] | 169 |
US Top Rock Albums (Billboard)[67] | 29 |
Chart (2019) | Position |
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Australian Albums (ARIA)[68] | 74 |
UK Albums (OCC)[69] | 88 |
US Billboard 200[70] | 177 |
US Top Rock Albums (Billboard)[71] | 28 |
Chart (2020) | Position |
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UK Albums (OCC)[72] | 73 |
US Billboard 200[73] | 173 |
US Top Rock Albums (Billboard)[74] | 28 |
Chart (2021) | Position |
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Australian Albums (ARIA)[75] | 86 |
UK Albums (OCC)[76] | 76 |
US Billboard 200[77] | 179 |
US Top Rock Albums (Billboard)[78] | 33 |
Chart (2022) | Position |
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Australian Albums (ARIA)[79] | 75 |
UK Albums (OCC)[80] | 57 |
Chart (2023) | Position |
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Australian Albums (ARIA)[81] | 60 |
UK Albums (OCC)[82] | 53 |
Decade-end charts
Chart (2000–2009) | Position |
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Australian Albums (ARIA)[83] | 32 |
Chart (2010–2019) | Position |
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Australian Albums (ARIA)[84] | 65 |
Certifications
Region | Certification | Certified units/sales |
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Argentina (CAPIF)[85] | Platinum | 40,000^ |
Australia (ARIA)[86] | 6× Platinum | 420,000^ |
Austria (IFPI Austria)[87] | Gold | 15,000* |
Belgium (BEA)[88] | Platinum | 50,000* |
Brazil (Pro-Música Brasil)[89] | Gold | 50,000* |
Denmark (IFPI Danmark)[90] | Platinum | 40,000^ |
Finland (Musiikkituottajat)[91] | Gold | 17,920[91] |
France (SNEP)[92] | Gold | 100,000* |
Germany (BVMI)[93] | 2× Platinum | 400,000^ |
Greece (IFPI Greece)[94] | Gold | 10,000^ |
Italy (FIMI)[95] sales since 2009 | Platinum | 50,000‡ |
Japan (RIAJ)[96] | Platinum | 250,000^ |
Netherlands (NVPI)[97] | Gold | 40,000^ |
New Zealand (RMNZ)[98] | 2× Platinum | 30,000^ |
Spain (PROMUSICAE)[99] | Gold | 50,000^ |
Sweden (GLF)[100] | Gold | 30,000^ |
Switzerland (IFPI Switzerland)[101] | 2× Platinum | 80,000^ |
United Kingdom (BPI)[102] | 7× Platinum | 2,100,000‡ |
United States (RIAA)[103] | 2× Platinum | 2,000,000^ |
Summaries | ||
Europe (IFPI)[104] | 3× Platinum | 3,000,000* |
* Sales figures based on certification alone. |