Greatest Hits, Vol. 2 (Ltd. Ed.)

1	Deeper and Deeper 7" Edit 4:54
2	Erotica Radio Edit 4:33
3	Human Nature Radio Version 4:32
4	Secret Edit 4:32
5	Don't Cry for Me Argentina Radio Edit 4:51
6	Bedtime Story Edit 4:07
7	The Power of Good-Bye 4:12
8	Beautiful Stranger William Orbit Radio Edit 3:58
9	Frozen Edit 5:10
10	Take a Bow Edit 4:31
11	Ray of Light Radio Edit 4:35
12	Don't Tell Me 4:40
13	What It Feels Like for a Girl 4:45
14	Drowned World/Substitute for Love 5:11
15	Music 3:45

Barnes & Noble

Viewed through the prism of her GHV2, the '90s marked Madonna's transformation from Material Girl to den mother for a new generation of club kids, as she collaborated with innovative DJs and producers to forge yet another new identity. Like her previous greatest-hits package, The Immaculate Collection, GHV2 features alternate versions of Madonna's well-known smashes arranged in loose chronological order. The alluring 1992 club anthems "Erotica" and "Deeper and Deeper," produced by Shep Pettibon, point the way toward her immersion in the electronica movement, and soon after, names such as Björk and Nellee Hooper (the chilly trip-hop of "Bedtime Story") and Dave "Jam" Hall (the Main Source sample-driven "Human Nature") started appearing in her songwriting credits. The culmination -- and Madonna's most exciting match to date -- came via her work with dance guru William Orbit, who helped the star shine brightly on the euphoric "Ray of Light" (which was also snagged for a Microsoft commercial), the whimsical psychedelia of "Beautiful Stranger"(originally from the Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me soundtrack), and the gorgeous ballad "The Power of Good-Bye." French DJ Mirwais kept the ambient mood flowing by overseeing the sinewy electro-funk of 2000's "Music" and the lush thump of "Don't Tell Me." It's only when Madonna's instincts lead her to middle-of-the-road collaborations with usually invincible R&B producers Dallas Austin ("Secret") and Babyface ("Take a Bow") that her efforts sound less innovative. But these are growing pains -- the glory of Madonna's later work is the fully formed artist they reveal. Don't bet against a Volume 3. Dave Gil de Rubio

Barnes & Noble

Viewed through the prism of her GHV2, the '90s marked Madonna's transformation from Material Girl to den mother for a new generation of club kids, as she collaborated with innovative DJs and producers to forge yet another new identity. Like her previous greatest-hits package, The Immaculate Collection, GHV2 features alternate versions of Madonna's well-known smashes arranged in loose chronological order. The alluring 1992 club anthems "Erotica" and "Deeper and Deeper," produced by Shep Pettibon, point the way toward her immersion in the electronica movement, and soon after, names such as Björk and Nellee Hooper (the chilly trip-hop of "Bedtime Story") and Dave "Jam" Hall (the Main Source sample-driven "Human Nature") started appearing in her songwriting credits. The culmination -- and Madonna's most exciting match to date -- came via her work with dance guru William Orbit, who helped the star shine brightly on the euphoric "Ray of Light" (which was also snagged for a Microsoft commercial), the whimsical psychedelia of "Beautiful Stranger"(originally from the Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me soundtrack), and the gorgeous ballad "The Power of Good-Bye." French DJ Mirwais kept the ambient mood flowing by overseeing the sinewy electro-funk of 2000's "Music" and the lush thump of "Don't Tell Me." It's only when Madonna's instincts lead her to middle-of-the-road collaborations with usually invincible R&B producers Dallas Austin ("Secret") and Babyface ("Take a Bow") that her efforts sound less innovative. But these are growing pains -- the glory of Madonna's later work is the fully formed artist they reveal. Don't bet against a Volume 3.

For those who can never get enough of the Material Girl, this limited edition comes in a deluxe hardcover booklet housing extra pictures of the queen of pop on an eight-panel foldout, and a special disc designed to look like an old-school 45. Dave Gil de Rubio

Barnes & Noble

Greatest Hits, Vol. 2 picks up where The Immaculate Collection left off, featuring hits from the chameleonlike Queen of Pop’s later iterations and albums, Erotica, Bedtime Stories, the soundtrack to Evita, Ray of Light, and Music.

All Music Guide

Why isn't this as good as it should be? Why does it seem to have songs missing when it really doesn't? Why is it slightly disappointing? You could blame it on the non-chronological sequencing, which tends to rob this collection of Madonna's '90s hits of any momentum it might have had, or you could blame it on the presence of radio edits (which is actually sort of a good thing, since these are indeed the versions that were on the air), or the very presence of "Don't Cry for Me Argentina," which simply does not feel comfortable next to the rest of the savvy, modern music here. But the real problem is that during the '90s, Madonna was a true album artist, even as she was making singles as tremendous as "Take a Bow," "Deeper and Deeper," "Ray of Light," "Don't Tell Me," and the non-LP "Beautiful Stranger." Which means that these songs don't really hold together when taken together, since they were designed to be part of a bigger context -- either their parent album or the airwaves of the time. Taken on their own, most of these are still pretty tremendous, but tossed together on GHV2, the end result is less than the sum of its parts, even if this is a good way to get all of Madge's '90s hits at once. Stephen Thomas Erlewine