The Greatest (Cat Power album)

"Empty Shell" redirects here. For the fraudulent use of shell corporations, see shell corporation.

Untitled

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 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 Magazine.

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 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

Professional ratings

Aggregate scores
Source	Rating
Metacritic	80/100
Review scores
Source	Rating
Allmusic
Blender
E! Online	(B)
The Guardian
Pitchfork Media	(7.9/10)
PopMatters	(6/10)
Rolling Stone
Spin	(A)
Stylus	A−
Tiny Mix Tapes

The Greatest has received universal critical acclaim 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 "universal acclaim".

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.

No.	Title	Length
1.	"The Greatest"	3:22
2.	"Living Proof"	3:11
3.	"Lived in Bars"	3:44
4.	"Could We"	2:21
5.	"Empty Shell"	3:04
6.	"Willie"	5:57
7.	"Where Is My Love"	2:53
8.	"The Moon"	3:45
9.	"Islands"	1:44
10.	"After It All"	3:31
11.	"Hate"	3:38
12.	"Love & Communication"	4:34

Limited edition

No.	Title	Length
13.	"Up and Gone"	2:15

Japanese bonus track

No.	Title	Length
13.	"Dreams" (Felice & Boudleaux Bryant's "All I Have to Do Is Dream")	2:46

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.

Chart	Peak position
Australia Album Chart	25
Belgium Album Chart	25
France Album Chart	20
Ireland Album Chart	44
Italy Album Chart	37
Norway Album Chart	35
Swiss Album Chart	57
Sweden Album Chart	50
UK Album Chart	45
U.S. Billboard 200	34
U.S. Top Independent Albums	1

Personnel

• Chan Marshall – vocals, piano, guitar
• Mabon "Teenie" Hodges – guitar on all songs except "Hate"
• Leroy Hodges – bass on #1, #3, #8, #12
• David Smith – bass on #2, #4, #5, #6, #9, #10
• Steve Potts – drums
• Doug Easley – guitar, pedal steel
• Rich Steff – keyboards, clavitone, piano, organ
• Jim Spake – saxophone
• Scott Thompson – trumpet
• Roy Brewer – violin
• Johnathan Kirkscey – cello
• Beth Luscone – viola