The Essential Toni Braxton

Background

"The Essential Toni Braxton" became Braxton's second compilation, following 2003's "Ultimate Toni Braxton". The compilation contains 2 discs, with the first containing the majority of her hits, and the second containing non-singles from her previous albums, as well as remixes, collaborations and unreleased tracks. It was released on February 20, 2007 in the United States. In Brazil, the compilation was released with a different name and track list, being titled, "The Best So Far", with 14 tracks, and it was released in April, 2007.

Content

In addition to her previous hits, including "Another Sad Love Song", "Breathe Again", "Un-Break My Heart", "You're Makin' Me High", "He Wasn't Man Enough" and others, the first disc contains "Tell Me", from her 2002 album "More Than a Woman" and "Give U My Heart", a duet with Babyface to the soundtrack of the 1992 film Boomerang. The second disc contains some singles who performed very moderate on charts, such as "Hit the Freeway", many songs from her 1996 album "Secrets", the duet with Il Divo, "The Time of Our Lives", remixes from her remix compilation, "Un-Break My Heart: The Remix Collection", as well as her first single with her sisters, The Braxtons, called "Good Life".

The track list for the Brazilian version was composed with the songs from the compilation, with the exception of "Spanish Guitar", that is featured on the regular version, instead of the "Royal Garden" remix present on "The Essential". The singles "I Love Me Some Him" and "Hit the Freeway weren't on the Brazilian edition.

Critical reception

Andy Kellman of Allmusic gave to the compilation a rating of 4.5 out of 5 stars, writing that the album "amounts to an expanded update of 2003's Ultimate Toni Braxton, nearly doubling the content and digging deeper into the discography of one of the biggest R&B artists of the '90s. With the exception of favoring the R. Kelly remix of "How Many Ways" over the original, this set retains Ultimate's core 15 tracks while wisely choosing to use the studio version of "Seven Whole Days" instead of a live take. [...] Another pleasant surprise, tucked at the very end, is the inclusion of "Good Life," a 1990 single released by Toni and her four sisters as the Braxtons. If you want only the big hits, Ultimate will still do fine, but this set offers a more rounded and representative look back."

Mike Joseph of PopMatters gave the album 5 out of 10 stars, writing that, "It's hard to imagine why this album was even released. [...] and while it's a nice thing to have, it's by no means essential. This compilation contains just about every popular note Braxton ever offered, with a couple of mediocre dance mixes thrown in to add a bit of value to the project. [...] As a single disc containing all the necessary hits, it's the album you should probably bypass this bloated Essential set in favor of."

Chart performance

"The Essential Toni Braxton" charted on the Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums chart, peaking at number 48, remaining for two weeks on the chart. The Brazilian version, titled "The Best So Far", was a success in Brazil, reaching a gold status, for selling over 30,000 copies, and later receiving a platinum certification, for selling over 60,000 copies.