Experience the Divine: Greatest Hits

Experience the Divine: Greatest Hits is a compilation album by American singer Bette Midler, featuring many of her best-known songs. The fourteen track compilation was released on Atlantic Records in 1993.

Experience the Divine: Greatest Hits
US edition
Greatest hits album by Bette Midler
Released	June 22, 1993 1996 (re-release)
Genre	Vocal
Length	51:35 66:27 (re-release)
Label	Atlantic
Bette Midler chronology
For the Boys (1991) Experience the Divine: Greatest Hits (1993) Gypsy (1993)
Alternative cover
International edition

Professional ratings

Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic	[1]
Robert Christgau	[2]
Entertainment Weekly	B−[3]
The Rolling Stone Album Guide	[4]

While several greatest hits albums with Midler had been released in the UK, Continental Europe, Scandinavia, Australia, New Zealand and Japan throughout the 1970s and 1980s, such as The Best of Bette (1978) and The Best of Bette (1981)—two different compilations with the same title—and Just Hits (1987), this was the first career overview to be released worldwide including the US and Canada, some twenty years after Midler recorded her first studio album for the Atlantic Records label. The album included one new recording, Midler's Emmy Award-winning rendition of "One for My Baby (and One More for the Road)", sung to retiring talk show host Johnny Carson on the penultimate Tonight Show in May 1992. Experience the Divine: Greatest Hits peaked at #50 on the Billboard 200 albums chart in 1993 and was three years later certified platinum for one million copies sold in the US.

Experience the Divine: Greatest Hits was re-released in Europe, Australia and New Zealand in 1996 with a slightly altered track list, then also including two of Midler's biggest hits which for some reason had been left off the 1993 edition; "Favorite Waste of Time" and the Rolling Stones cover "Beast of Burden", both from the 1983 album No Frills. The 1996 edition also included two versions of the US hit single "To Deserve You", taken from what became Midler's final studio album for Atlantic, 1995's Bette of Roses.

Track listings

1993 edition

1. "Hello in There" (John Prine) – 4:17
   • From the 1972 album The Divine Miss M
2. "Do You Want to Dance?" (Bobby Freeman) – 2:44
   • From the 1972 album The Divine Miss M
3. "From a Distance" (Julie Gold) – 4:37
   • From the 1990 album Some People's Lives
4. "Chapel of Love" (Jeff Barry, Ellie Greenwich, Phil Spector) – 2:53
   • From the 1972 album The Divine Miss M
5. "Only in Miami" (Max Gronenthal) – 3:57
   • From the 1983 album No Frills
6. "When a Man Loves a Woman" (Calvin Lewis, Andrew Wright) – 4:42
   • From the 1979 soundtrack album The Rose
7. "The Rose" (Single version) (Amanda McBroom) – 3:40
   • From the 1979 soundtrack album The Rose
8. "Miss Otis Regrets" (Cole Porter) – 2:39
   • From the 1990 album Some People's Lives
9. "Shiver Me Timbers" (Live version) (Tom Waits) – 4:42
   • From the 1977 album Live at Last. Original studio version appears on 1976 album Songs for the New Depression
10. "Wind Beneath My Wings" (Larry Henley, Jeff Silbar) – 4:52
    • From the 1988 soundtrack album Beaches
11. "Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy" (Don Raye, Hughie Prince) – 2:19
    • Previously unavailable on album hit 45 version. Original studio version appears on 1972 album The Divine Miss M
12. "One for My Baby (and One More for the Road)" (Live) (Harold Arlen, Johnny Mercer, additional lyrics by Marc Shaiman and Bette Midler) – 4:06
    • Previously unreleased. Recorded and aired on The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson on May 21, 1992.
13. "Friends" (Mark Klingman, Buzzy Linhart) – 2:55
    • From the 1972 album The Divine Miss M
14. "In My Life" (Single version) (John Lennon, Paul McCartney) – 3:12
    • From the 1991 soundtrackalbum For the Boys

1996 edition

1. "To Deserve You" (single remix) (Maria McKee) – 4:11
   • Original version appears on the 1995 album Bette of Roses
2. "Beast of Burden" (Mick Jagger, Keith Richards) – 3:48
   • From the 1983 album No Frills
3. "Favorite Waste of Time" (Marshall Crenshaw) – 2:40
   • From the 1983 album No Frills
4. "Hello in There" (Prine) – 4:17
   • From the 1972 album The Divine Miss M
5. "Do You Want to Dance?" (Freeman) – 2:44
   • From the 1972 album The Divine Miss M
6. "From a Distance" (Gold) – 4:38
   • From the 1990 album Some People's Lives
7. "Chapel of Love" (Barry, Greenwich, Spector) – 2:53
   • From the 1972 album The Divine Miss M
8. "Only in Miami" (Gronenthal) – 3:57
   • From the 1983 album No Frills
9. "When a Man Loves a Woman" (Lewis, Wright) – 4:54
   • From the 1979 soundtrack album The Rose
10. "The Rose" (McBroom) – 3:34
    • From 1979 soundtrack album The Rose
11. "Miss Otis Regrets" (Porter) – 2:39
    • From the 1990 album Some People's Lives
12. "Shiver Me Timbers" (Live version) (Tom Waits) – 4:42
    • From the 1977 album Live at Last. Original studio version appears on 1976 album Songs for the New Depression
13. "Wind Beneath My Wings" (Henley, Silbar) – 4:53
    • From the 1988 soundtrack album Beaches
14. "Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy" (Prince, Raye) – 2:19
    • From the 1972 album The Divine Miss M
15. "One for My Baby (and One More for the Road)" (Arlen, Mercer, additional lyrics by Marc Shaiman and Bette Midler) – 4:06
    • Previously unreleased. Recorded and aired on The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson on May 21, 1992.
16. "Friends" (Klingman, Linhart) – 2:55
    • From the 1972 album The Divine Miss M
17. "In My Life" (Single version) (Lennon, McCartney) – 3:12
    • From the 1991 soundtrack album For the Boys
18. "To Deserve You" (album version) (McKee) – 5:13
    • From the 1995 album Bette of Roses

Production (1993 edition)

• Bette Midler – compilation producer
• Arif Mardin – compilation producer
• Scott Wittman – creative consultant
• Doug Sax – digital remastering at The Mastering Lab
• Greg Gorman – cover photo
• Rod Dyer Group / Qris Yamashita – art direction

Charts

Weekly charts Chart (1993–2000) Peak position Australian Albums (ARIA)[5] 3 Austrian Albums (Ö3 Austria)[6] 35 Canada Top Albums/CDs (RPM)[7] 27 Dutch Albums (Album Top 100)[8] 1 German Albums (Offizielle Top 100)[9] 67 Irish Albums (IRMA)[10] 63 New Zealand Albums (RMNZ)[11] 3 UK Albums (OCC)[12] 3 US Billboard 200[13] 50

Year-end charts Chart (1993) Position Australian Albums (ARIA)[14] 28 New Zealand Albums (RMNZ)[15] 34

Certifications

Region	Certification	Certified units/sales
Australia (ARIA)[16]	4× Platinum	280,000^
Canada (Music Canada)[17]	Gold	50,000^
Netherlands (NVPI)[18]	2× Platinum	200,000^
New Zealand (RMNZ)[19]	Gold	7,500^
United Kingdom (BPI)[20]	Platinum	300,000^
United States (RIAA)[21]	Platinum	1,000,000^
^ Shipments figures based on certification alone.

References

1. Experience the Divine: Greatest Hits at AllMusic
2. Christgau, Robert. "Robert Christgau: CG: Bette Midler". robertchristgau.com. Retrieved 7 January 2023.
3. Woodard, Josef (30 July 1993). "Experience the Divine". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved 1 April 2022.
4. Coleman, Marc; Brackett, Nathan (2004). "Bette Midler". In Brackett, Nathan; Christian, Hoard (eds.). The New Rolling Stone Album Guide (4th ed.). New York: Simon & Schuster. p. 540. ISBN 0-7432-0169-8.
5. "Australiancharts.com – Bette Midler – Experience The Divine - Greatest Hits". Hung Medien. Retrieved 2 January 2018.
6. "Austriancharts.at – Bette Midler – Experience The Divine - Greatest Hits" (in German). Hung Medien. Retrieved 2 January 2018.
7. "Top RPM Albums: Issue 2191". RPM. Library and Archives Canada. Retrieved 2 January 2018.
8. "Dutchcharts.nl – Bette Midler – Experience The Divine - Greatest Hits" (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved 2 January 2018.
9. "Offiziellecharts.de – Bette Midler – Experience The Divine - Greatest Hits" (in German). GfK Entertainment Charts. Retrieved 2 January 2018.
10. "Irish-charts.com – Discography Bette Midler". Hung Medien. Retrieved 1 April 2022.
11. "Charts.nz – Bette Midler – Experience The Divine - Greatest Hits". Hung Medien. Retrieved 2 January 2018.
12. "Bette Midler | Artist | Official Charts". UK Albums Chart. Retrieved 2 January 2018.
13. "Bette Midler Chart History (Billboard 200)". Billboard. Retrieved 2 January 2018.
14. "End of Year Charts – Top 50 Albums 1993". Australian Recording Industry Association. Retrieved 2 November 2021.
15. "Top Selling Albums of 1993 — The Official New Zealand Music Chart". Recorded Music New Zealand. Retrieved 2 November 2021.
16. "ARIA Charts – Accreditations – 2005 Albums" (PDF). Australian Recording Industry Association. Retrieved December 27, 2021.
17. "Canadian album certifications – Bette Midler – Experience the Divine". Music Canada.
18. "Dutch album certifications – Bette Midler – Experience the Divine: Greatest Hits" (in Dutch). Nederlandse Vereniging van Producenten en Importeurs van beeld- en geluidsdragers. Retrieved October 22, 2020. Enter Experience the Divine: Greatest Hits in the "Artiest of titel" box. Select 2000 in the drop-down menu saying "Alle jaargangen".
19. "New Zealand album certifications – Bette Midler – Experience the Divine". Recorded Music NZ.
20. "British album certifications – Bette Midler – Experience the Divine". British Phonographic Industry.
21. "American album certifications – Bette Midler – Experience the Divine". Recording Industry Association of America.