This Is the Life (Amy Macdonald album)

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This Is the Life
Studio album by Amy Macdonald
Released 30 July 2007 (UK)
9 May 2008 (Europe)
August 19, 2008 (USA)
Genre Soft rock, Indie Rock, Indie folk
Length 44:15
Label Melodramatic, Vertigo
Producer Pete Wilkinson
Amy Macdonald chronology
This is the Life
(2007)		 A Curious Thing
(2010)
Singles from This Is the Life
  1. "Poison Prince"
    Released: 7 May 2007
  2. "Mr Rock & Roll"
    Released: 16 July 2007
  3. "L.A."
    Released: 15 October 2007
  4. "This Is the Life"
    Released: 10 December 2007
  5. "Run"
    Released: 3 March 2008
  6. "Poison Prince (Re-Release)"
    Released: 19 May 2008
Professional ratings
Review scores
Source Rating
Allmusic 3/5 stars [1]
BBC (favourable) [2]
Blender 4/5 stars [3]
Insiders' Guides (8/10) [4]
Los Angeles Times 2.5/4 stars [5]
The Epoch Times (positive) [6]
The Guardian 3/5 stars [7]
The Independent 4/5 stars [8]
TimesOnline 3/5 stars [9]

This Is the Life is the debut album by Scottish singer-songwriter Amy Macdonald, released on 30 July 2007. It was highly successful, reaching the number one in the UK albums chart on 13 January 2008,[10] and as of 14 March 2008, over 700,000 copies have been sold in the UK, certifying it 2x Platinum.[11] Later in the year at 15 December 2008, her debut album reached over 2,000,000 copies sold. It has now sold over 3,000,000 worldwide.[12]

Contents

[edit] Singles and other tracks

The first single from the album was "Poison Prince", a limited online release, while the debut first full single was the successful "Mr Rock & Roll" which debuted at #12. The following singles "L.A." and "This Is the Life" were considerably less successful in the UK, although "This Is the Life" is considered her most successful song in the rest of Europe, where it peaked at #1 in the Belgian Top 50 and Dutch Top 40, #3 in the Spanish Top 50, it's also reached #6 on the Norway Top 20 Singles, #2 on the Swiss Top 100 and #8 in the Danish Top 40. It peaked at a disappointing #28 in the UK spending 17 weeks in the UK's Top 75 Singles. After fifth single Run, the sixth release from the album was a re-release of "Poison Prince" on 19 May 2008.[13]

Three songs of the album are cover versions: "Caledonia", originally recorded in 1979 by Dougie MacLean, "Fairytale of New York", first performed in 1987 by The Pogues and Kirsty MacColl, written by Jem Finer and Shane MacGowan, and "Mr. Brightside", cover version of a 2004 song by The Killers, written by Brandon Flowers and Dave Keuning.

Singles chronology
United Kingdom
Europe
Poland
Canada and U.S.

[edit] Chart performances

The album has spent 57 weeks in the German Top 20 Albums Chart, 36 weeks in the German Top 10 Albums Chart and a total of 100 weeks on the entire chart;[14] it has been certified 9x Gold (February 2011) for over 900,000 copies sold in Germany.[15] It has also spent 57 weeks in the Netherlands album chart and 53 weeks in the Swiss album chart so far.

It has also been certified Gold in Sweden. It has been certified Platinum in France for over 220,000 copies sold.[16] The album was released in the U.S. on August 19, 2008.[17]

It has now sold over three million worldwide.[12]

[edit] Track listings

All tracks were written by Amy Macdonald except where shown.

[edit] Standard edition

This Is The Life – Standard Edition
No. Title Length
1. "Mr. Rock And Roll"   3:35
2. "This Is the Life"   3:05
3. "Poison Prince"   3:28
4. "Youth of Today"   4:00
5. "Run"   3:50
6. "Let's Start a Band"   4:05
7. "Barrowland Ballroom"   3:58
8. "L.A." (written by Amy Macdonald and Pete Wilkinson) 4:06
9. "A Wish for Something More"   3:46
10. "Footballer's Wife"   5:06

[edit] Deluxe edition

After the major success of "This Is the Life" across Europe, in the end of 2008 a deluxe version of the album was released. The 2-disc-set include the standard version of the album and a bonus-CD with several bonus tracks, live and acoustic versions.

Deluxe Edition CD 1
No. Title Length
1. "Mr Rock & Roll"   3:35
2. "This Is the Life"   3:05
3. "Poison Prince"   3:28
4. "Youth of Today"   4:00
5. "Run"   3:50
6. "Let's Start a Band"   4:05
7. "Barrowland Ballroom"   3:58
8. "L.A." (written by Amy Macdonald and Pete Wilkinson) 4:06
9. "A Wish for Something More"   3:46
10. "Footballer's Wife"   5:06


Deluxe Edition CD 2
No. Title Length
1. "This Is the Life" (Acoustic live version) 3:19
2. "This Much Is True"   2:44
3. "Somebody New"   3:29
4. "Footballer's Wife" (Live from Glasgow Barrowlands) 5:02
5. "Fairy Tale Of New York" (Live from Glasgow Barrowlands, written by The Pogues & Kirsty MacColl) 5:50
6. "Mr. Brightside" (Live from Glasgow Barrowlands, written by The Killers) 4:05
7. "Mr Rock & Roll" (Live from Glasgow Barrowlands) 3:28
8. "Rock Bottom"   3:46
9. "The Road to Home"   2:21
10. "Caledonia" (hidden track) 2:06

[edit] Personnel

  • Amy Macdonald - vocals, acoustic guitar
  • Pete Wilkinson - Producer/ Manager
  • Seton Daunt - guitar
  • Jolyon Dixon - guitar, mixing
  • Johnny Dyke - keyboards
  • Phillip Read Mason - bagpipes
  • Audrey Riley - cello, conductor
  • Richard George - violin
  • Jonathan Hill - violin
  • Laura Melhuish - violin
  • Susan Dench - viola
  • Joe Fields - engineer
  • Paul Adam & His Mayfair Music - executive producer
  • Guy Katsav - assistant engineer
  • Danton Supple and Bob Clearmountain’- Mixing
  • Valerie Phillips - cover design, photography

[edit] Charts and certifications

[edit] Charts

Chart (2007/09) Peak
position
Austrian Albums Chart[19] 3
Belgium (Flanders) Albums Chart[20] 2
Belgium (Wallonia) Albums Chart[20] 5
Danish Albums Chart[20] 1
Dutch Albums Chart[19] 1
European Albums Chart 1
French SNEP Albums Chart[19] 6
German Albums Chart[19] 3
Greek Albums Chart 2
Irish Albums Chart[19] 16
Italian FIMI Albums Chart[20] 6
Mexican Albums Chart[19] 1
Norwegian Albums Chart[20] 5
Polish Albums Chart[21] 14
Portuguese Albums Chart[20] 19
Spanish Albums Chart[20] 2
Swedish Albums Chart[20] 5
Swiss Albums Chart[20] 1
UK Album Chart[19] 1
U.S. Billboard 200[19] 92

[edit] Certifications

Region Certification Sales/shipments
Austria (IFPI Austria)[22] 2× Platinum 40,000x
Belgium (BEA)[23] Platinum 30,000*
Denmark (IFPI Denmark)[24] Platinum 30,000^
France (SNEP)[25] Gold 75,000*
Germany (BVMI)[26] 9× Gold 900,000^
Greece (IFPI Greece)[27] Gold 7,500^
Italy (FIMI)[28] Gold 35,000*
Poland (ZPAV)[29] Gold 10,000*
Russia (NFPF)[30] Gold 10,000*
Spain (PROMUSICAE)[31] Gold 40,000^
Sweden (GLF)[32] Gold 20,000^
Switzerland (IFPI Switzerland)[33] 4× Platinum 120,000x
United Kingdom (BPI)[34] 2× Platinum 600,000^
Summaries
Europe (IFPI)[35] 2× Platinum 2,000,000*

*sales figures based on certification alone
^shipments figures based on certification alone
xunspecified figures based on certification alone

[edit] Year-end charts

Chart (2008) Position
German Albums Chart[36] 8
Chart (2009) Position
German Albums Chart[37] 10
Swiss Albums Chart[38] 18

[edit] Chart processions and successions

Preceded by
In Rainbows by Radiohead		 UK Albums Chart number-one album
13 January 2008 - 20 January 2008		 Succeeded by
Scouting for Girls by Scouting for Girls
Preceded by
Melankolia / XXXCouture by L.O.C.		 Danish Albums Chart number-one album
25 April 2008 - 2 May 2008		 Succeeded by
Hard Candy by Madonna
Preceded by
Rockferry by Duffy
Tättoo - Best Of Bärndütsch / So Damn Sexy by Gölä
Flavors of Entanglement by Alanis Morissette
Viva la Vida or Death and All His Friends by Coldplay		 Swiss Albums Chart number-one album
27 April 2008 - 4 May 2008 (2 weeks)
8 June 2008 (1 week)
22 June 2008 (1 week)
3 August 2008 (1 week)		 Succeeded by
Hard Candy by Madonna
Flavors of Entanglement by Alanis Morissette
Viva la Vida or Death and All His Friends by Coldplay
Viva la Vida or Death and All His Friends by Coldplay
Preceded by
Everything You Want by Kane		 Dutch Albums Chart number-one album
31 May 2008 - 14 June 2008		 Succeeded by
Viva la Vida or Death and All His Friends by Coldplay

[edit] References

  1. ^ http://www.allmusic.com/album/r1109998
  2. ^ http://www.bbc.co.uk/music/release/bnw6/
  3. ^ http://www.blender.com/guide/reviews.aspx?id=5255
  4. ^ http://www.insidersguides.net/musicguides/artists/AmyMacdonald/ThisIsTheLife.php
  5. ^ "New CDs: Staind, Amy Macdonald". Los Angeles Times. 19 August 2008. http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/news/music/la-et-recordrack19-2008aug19,0,6422716.story. 
  6. ^ http://en.epochtimes.com/n2/arts-entertainment/amy-macdonald-3409.html
  7. ^ Sullivan, Caroline (27 July 2007). "CD: Amy Macdonald, This Is the Life". The Guardian (London). http://www.guardian.co.uk/music/2007/jul/27/folk.shopping. 
  8. ^ The Independent (London). http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/music/reviews/album-amy-macdonald-458812.html. 
  9. ^ Bremner, Charles. The Times (London). http://entertainment.timesonline.co.uk/tol/arts_and_entertainment/music/cd_reviews/article2133350.ece. 
  10. ^ "MacDonald tops the UK album chart". bbc.co.uk. 2008-01-13. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/7186208.stm. Retrieved 2008-06-04. 
  11. ^ Woods, Judith (2008-05-16). "Why Amy Macdonald's a reluctant Wag". London: dailymail.co.uk. http://www.dailymail.co.uk/you/article-1019197/Why-Scottish-singer-Amy-Macdonalds-reluctant-Wag.html. Retrieved 2008-06-04. 
  12. ^ a b Macdonald's myspace blog and IFPI
  13. ^ "Footballer's wife? Not me says Amy Macdonald". edinburghnews.scotsman.com. 9 May 2008. http://edinburghnews.scotsman.com/features/Footballers-wife-Not-me-says.4066272.jp. Retrieved 2008-06-03. 
  14. ^ http://musicline.de/de/chartverfolgung_summary/artist/Macdonald,Amy/?type=longplay
  15. ^ "Gold-/Platin-Datenbank ('This+Is+the+Life')" (in German). Bundesverband Musikindustrie. http://www.musikindustrie.de/gold_platin_datenbank/?action=suche&strTitel=This%2BIs%2Bthe%2BLife&strInterpret=&strTtArt=alben&strAwards=checked. 
  16. ^ http://www.chartsinfrance.net/charts/bilan-2008.php
  17. ^ "This Is The Life". amazon.com. http://www.amazon.com/dp/B0017OLUUC. Retrieved 2008-06-04. 
  18. ^ http://itunes.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewAlbum?id=293996515&s=143443
  19. ^ a b c d e f g h "Amy Macdonald - This Is The Life, in various albums charts". Acharts. http://acharts.us/album/27139. Retrieved 2009-07-11. 
  20. ^ a b c d e f g h i "Amy Macdonald - This Is The Life, in various albums charts". Lescharts. http://lescharts.com/showitem.asp?interpret=Amy+Macdonald&titel=This+Is+The+Life&cat=a. Retrieved 2009-07-11. 
  21. ^ "Polish Albums Chart". Olis Onyx. Archived from the original on 2009-04-24. http://replay.web.archive.org/20090424235300/http://www.olis.onyx.pl/listy/index.asp?idlisty=501&lang=. Retrieved 2009-07-11. 
  22. ^ "Austrian album certifications – Amy Macdonald – This Is the Life" (in German). IFPI Austria. http://www.ifpi.at/?section=goldplatin.  Enter Amy Macdonald in the field Interpret. Enter This Is the Life in the field Titel. Select album in the field Format. Click Suchen
  23. ^ "Ultratop − Goud en Platina - 2008". Ultratop & Hung Medien / hitparade.ch. http://www.ultratop.be/nl/certifications.asp?year=2008. 
  24. ^ "Danish album certifications – Amy Macdonald – This Is the Life". IFPI Denmark. http://www.hitlisterne.dk/default.asp?w=31&y=2008&list=a40. 
  25. ^ "French album certifications – Amy Macdonald – This Is the Life" (in French). Syndicat National de l'Édition Phonographique. http://www.disqueenfrance.com/fr/pag-259165-CERTIFICATIONS.html?year=2008&type=8. 
  26. ^ "Gold-/Platin-Datenbank (Amy Macdonald; 'This Is the Life')" (in German). Bundesverband Musikindustrie. http://www.musikindustrie.de/gold_platin_datenbank/?action=suche&strTitel=This+Is+the+Life&strInterpret=Amy+Macdonald&strTtArt=alben&strAwards=checked. 
  27. ^ "Greek album certifications – Amy Macdonald – This Is the Life" (in Greek). IFPI Greece. http://replay.waybackmachine.org/20090201024016/www.ifpi.gr/chart01.htm. 
  28. ^ "Italian album certifications – Amy Macdonald – This Is the Life" (in Italian) (PDF). Federation of the Italian Music Industry. http://www.fimi.it/temp/cert_Gfk_week0212.pdf. 
  29. ^ "Polish album certifications – Amy Macdonald – This Is the Life" (in Polish). Polish Producers of Audio and Video (ZPAV). http://www.zpav.pl/rankingi/wyroznienia/zlote/index.php. 
  30. ^ "Russian album certifications – Amy Macdonald – This Is the Life" (in Russian). National Federation of Phonogram Producers (NFPF). http://web.archive.org/web/20090124001155/http://2m-online.ru/gold_n_platinum/detail.php?COUNTRY=5077. 
  31. ^ "Spanish album certifications – Amy Macdonald – This Is the Life" (in Spanish) (PDF). Productores de Música de España. http://promusicae.es/files/listassemanales/albumes/historial/TOP%20100%20ALBUMES%2009_19.pdf. 
  32. ^ "Guld- och Platinacertifikat − År 2008" (in Swedish) (PDF). IFPI Sweden. http://www.ifpi.se/wp/wp-content/uploads/guld-platina-20082.pdf. 
  33. ^ "The Official Swiss Charts and Music Community: Awards (Amy Macdonald; 'This Is the Life')". Hung Medien. http://www.swisscharts.com/search_certifications.asp?search=Amy+Macdonald+This+Is+the+Life. 
  34. ^ "British album certifications – Amy Macdonald – This Is the Life". British Phonographic Industry. http://www.bpi.co.uk/certifiedawards/search.aspx.  Enter This Is the Life in the field Search. Select Title in the field Search by. Select album in the field By Format. Click Go
  35. ^ "IFPI Platinum Europe Awards – 2008". International Federation of the Phonographic Industry. http://www.ifpi.org/content/section_news/plat2008.html. 
  36. ^ http://www.mtv.de/charts/Album_Jahrescharts_2007
  37. ^ http://www.mtv.de/charts/Album_Jahrescharts_2008
  38. ^ "Swiss Year-End Charts 2009". Media Control. Hung Medien. http://swisscharts.com/year.asp?key=2009. Retrieved 6 February 2009. 

[edit] External links

Amy Macdonald
Studio albums
Live albums
Singles
Tours
Related articles
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