In 2001, not long after Faith Hill became an international superstar, European markets were treated to There You’ll Be: The Best of Faith Hill, a 15-track collection that brought new listeners up to speed on Hill’s American hits. Six years later, Hill had her first American compilation released. Simply titled The Hits, this 2007 set weighs in at 15 tracks, the same length as There You’ll Be, but it does cover more ground, as Faith released two albums (2002′s Cry and 2005′s Fireflies) in the time separating the two compilations. That means this has two big hits not heard on the previous set — 2002′s “Cry” and 2006′s “Mississippi Girl” — along with a live version of “Stronger” and the new song “Red Umbrella.” It’s not just that The Hits has these new songs, but the rest of the record skews a little bit closer to Hill’s country roots than her international comp (in other words, there’s no “Over the Rainbow” here and no remixes), which makes this better suited for an American audience, and also a better compilation overall, as this captures Hill at her best as a country-pop singer and an adult contemporary diva. – Stephen Thomas Erlewine
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