The Greatest is the seventh studio album by indie rock artist Chan Marshall, a.k.a. Cat Power. It debuted at #34 on the Billboard 200, her highest charting album at the time. The Memphis Rhythm Band includes Roy Brewer, Teenie Hodges, Steve Potts, Dave Smith, Rick Steff, Doug Easley, Jim Spake, Scott Thompson and Susan Marshall. String arrangements were contributed by Harlan T. Bobo and Jonathan Kirkscey.
The Greatest won the 2006 Shortlist Music Prize, making Marshall the first woman to win the honor. It was also named the number 6 best album of 2006 by Rolling Stone.
The title track was featured in the Bones episode The Titan on the Tracks. It was also used in the UK for Garnier hair products advertisements. The song was featured in the film and in the trailers for Wong Kar-Wai's debut English production, My Blueberry Nights. In 2009 the song was featured in the movies Mammoth by Lukas Moodysson and Ricky by Francois Ozon. In 2016 the song was featured in the French film "Un homme à la hauteur" (Up For Love).
In 2008, the song "Hate" was featured in the second episode of the second season of the teen UK drama Skins.
In 2013, the title track was featured in Season 4, Episode 13 of Covert Affairs.
All tracks on the album were written by Marshall, making it her first album not to include any cover songs.
Critical reception
The Greatest has received a very positive response since its release. At Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, the album received an average score of 80, based on 35 reviews, which indicates "generally favorable reviews".
Rhapsody ranked the album #6 on its "Alt/Indie’s Best Albums of the Decade" list. "The mercurial Chan Marshall returned to her Southern roots and recorded this blissful album in Memphis. The Greatest glows with a new ease, and the music itself -- which features many of the greatest soul musicians in history -- is sunny and open. There's a sense of joy coming through here that you'll want to share with friends."
Track listing
All tracks written by Chan Marshall.
Personnel
- Chan Marshall â€" vocals, piano, guitar
- Mabon "Teenie" Hodges â€" guitar on all songs except "Hate"
- Leroy Hodges â€" bass (on tracks: 1, 3, 8, 12)
- David Smith â€" bass (on tracks: 2, 4-6, 9, 10)
- Steve Potts â€" drums
- Doug Easley â€" guitar, pedal steel
- Rich Steff â€" keyboards, clavitone, piano, organ
- Jim Spake â€" saxophone
- Scott Thompson â€" trumpet
- Roy Brewer â€" violin
- Johnathan Kirkscey â€" cello
- Beth Luscone â€" viola
Chart positions
Album
The album debuted at number 34 on the U.S. Billboard 200 chart, selling about 23,000 copies in its first week.