Tina Arena - Greatest Hits 1994-2004 (2004)

Greatest Hits albums are a kiss of death. They can signal one of two things: on one hand, it could suggest that the artist is taking an extended break without a new album on the horizon. On the other hand, it could also indicate that the recording company has decided to turn the artist loose. For Melbourne born Tina Arena, sadly it is the latter. Earlier in 2004, Sony Music Australia has decided to drop their once platinum studded star after a commercially abysmal album "Just Me" and Arena's failed attempts to crack the American pop market. To prove that there's no rancor in the parting, Sony has been altruistic in coming up with a generous dollop of 27 tracks for this double disc collection! Culled from Arena's 3 studio albums, movie soundtracks, remixes from various singles, a couple of new tracks and 9 foreign language album tracks, this is indeed value for money.
But it's not the quantity, but also the quality of Arena's performance and her dexterously chosen songs that make this CD such a magnum opus. Vocally, Arena has the tenacious resilience of a Celine Dion, the mellifluous sweetness of an Olivia Newton-John and the bombastic exuberance of a Barbra Streisand. And she puts her voice to best use especially on those big pop ballads like the ultra romantic "Sorrento Moon," the poignantly lustful "Burn" and the endearing Foreigner classic "I Want to Know What Love Is." Being a writer herself, Arena has the gift of exploring new tributaries of pain. This is especially evident in the caliginous "Heaven Help My Heart." Written as a prayer of a forlorn lover to God, "Heaven Help My Heart" has such an intimate dimension that you might have thought it is a tete-a-tete conversation with the Divine. Equally effectual is the plaintive "Wasn't It Good." Heartbreak had never been so eloquently articulated and so melodically prehensile. Though an expatriate to the American country music community, Arena's scribal skills have been acknowledged when "Burn" and "Heaven Help My Heart" have re-recorded and became hits for Jo Dee Messina and Wynonna Judd respectively.
When it comes to the more jocund side of romance, she equally excels on the melodically superior "If I Didn't Love You," a big hit from her "In Deep" CD. Teaming with songwriter and producer Desmond Child, "Soulmate #9," the chic vanguard single from her "Just Me," finds a fun filled Arena kicking up her heels. With a fresh beat and a bouncy tune, Arena shows that she can just be a hip as Jessica Simpson and Britney Spears without sacrificing an iota of her integrity. Though it covers no new territory, the catchy "That's What a Woman Needs" is a stately feministic anthem without giving in to any tetchy male bashing. Stately and pensive, Diane Warren's ballad "If I Was a River" has all the fingerprints of the hit writer. However, titillated to the more cliché side, "If I Was a River" is no where near the profundity this lady hit writer is capable of.
"Italian Love Song" (an English language midtempo number with a fresh beat) is the first of the two new cuts. Already a top 40 Australian hit, "Italian Love Song" finds Arena going to her Italian roots. Though one would wish Arena and her co-writers would utilize the Italian influence more pronouncedly both lyrically and melodically. Fiona Kernaghan's (an Australian country artist in her own right) "Take Me Apart" has a 70s pop feel without being too acerbic.
Why American pop radio has not embraced Arena is an enigma. At the apogee of her career, her "Don't Ask" CD was even outselling Mariah Carey, Michael Jackson and Celine Dion in Australia. In France, Arena has been a mainstay on their pop charts. Corollary this has resulted in the 9 foreign language tracks here, with her tribute to Edith Piaf "Les Trois Cloches" being the highlight. Conspicuously "Greatest Hits 1994-2004" captures conspicuously some of Arena's biggest moments over the past decade, but it is also proleptic of greater things to come from this Australian (and hopefully international) icon.