Best Of (Vanilla Ninja album)

Best Of is a best-of album by the Estonian girl band Vanilla Ninja. The album was released in December 2005 and consists of thirteen songs from their Traces of Sadness and Blue Tattoo albums. The album was released in several countries in Central Europe, failing to make the top 100 in Germany and Austria, and peaking at #70 in Switzerland. The album also ended their run of three straight album chart number ones in Estonia, failing to chart there also.

Contents

• Vanilla ninja best of the video collection
• Vanilla ninja gigamix best of vanilla ninja 2002 2007
• Track listing
• Chart positions
• Songs
• References

Best Of was a controversial album because the group had left Bros Records when it was released by the label. It was released without consulting the girls, who were unaware that the album existed until it was released. Best Of is generally considered a money-making venture on the part of their former manager David Brandes, who has been widely reported as by then having an unpleasant relationship with the group. In interviews during the weeks around the album's release, Vanilla Ninja member Piret Järvis asked fans to not buy the album, as it would be supporting the Bros label. With the high-profile nature of the interviews, especially in Estonia, the album's sales and chart positions were probably lower than expected.

The album was, as the name suggests, essentially a greatest hits album of the group's releases since from their 2004 international breakthrough. The album contained no new material, with the tracks recorded between late 2003 and early 2005. Included on the album were most of their singles, including "Tough Enough", "When The Indians Cry", "I Know" and their Eurovision Song Contest 2005 song "Cool Vibes".

No tracks from their first album, Vanilla Ninja, were included, almost certainly because this was released by TopTen and not Bros Records. This meant that their first single, "Club Kung Fu", was missing. The album was generally criticised by critics, mostly because the girls' career was not long enough to warrant a "Best Of" album.

Notably, the album cover for Best Of showed the original Vanilla Ninja line-up, with Maarja Kivi shown instead of Triinu Kivilaan, despite her leaving the group in mid-2004. This was probably because Kivi was signed to Bros as solo artist, with her inclusion on the cover helping to promote her then-upcoming single "Could You".