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|align="left"|Latvia Top 40<ref>[http://www.europeanhitradio.com/topi "Latvian Singles Chart"] Retrieved [[February 15]], [[2008]]</ref>
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|align="left"|Lithuania Top 40<ref>[http://www.m-1.fm/?top40/] Retrieved [[January 27]], [[2008]]</ref>
|align="left"|Lithuania Top 40<ref>[http://www.m-1.fm/?top40/] Retrieved [[January 27]], [[2008]]</ref>

Revision as of 06:17, 15 February 2008

For the camping equipment company, see Early Winters.
"Early Winter"
Song

"Early Winter" is a pop rock ballad written by Tim Rice-Oxley (pianist for British band Keane) for Gwen Stefani's second album The Sweet Escape (2006). The song received positive reviews from music critics, and its opening riffs were used in a Hewlett-Packard commercial featuring Stefani. According to Billboard, it was released as the fifth single off the album.[3]

Background and writing

Stefani called Rice-Oxley the night before she was to work with him in the studio and told him that she wanted a ballad in the vein of Billy Idol's "Eyes Without a Face", Roberta Flack's "Killing Me Softly with His Song", and Cyndi Lauper's "Time After Time". Stefani, pleased with the song, avoided making changes to it after Rice-Oxley played it for her. She later rewrote part of it before recording the song. The song's lyrics describe lovers approaching the end of a relationship.[4]

Critical reception

"Early Winter" received positive reviews from music critics. Digital Spy praised the song, calling it "...the most affecting moment of Stefani's solo career to date."[5] Pitchfork Media stated that the song "...proves that Stefani still has the ability to elevate an otherwise ordinary rock song to another level..."[6] The Guardian referred to it as 'stylish,'[7] and The New York Times called it one of the album's most 'tuneful' tracks.[8] PopMatters noted it as a highlight of the album and compared the song's vulnerability to No Doubt's "Don't Speak."[9] The NME characterized it as "...one of the few potential hits..." from The Sweet Escape.[10] Entertainment Weekly described it as a "majestic power ballad" on which Stefani's "Orange County-girl voice doesn't seem genuinely sad."[11] Slant Magazine compared "Early Winter" to the songs that Stefani wrote with No Doubt bassist Tony Kanal for the album. It was also stated that the track sounded "...less forced and much less self-conscious" than other songs.[12] John Murphy of MusicOHM called the song's lyrics some of the best written by Gwen. He also called the ballad 'palatable.'[13]

Music video

File:EarlyWinterVideo.PNG
Stefani singing to the mirror.

The music video premiered on November 15, 2007 on LAUNCHcast. The video opens with a black and white scene of Stefani lying on the floor in a long white gown. In the next scene, Stefani is shown walking on the street under red street lights and then holds her love interest against the wall and talks to him. The scene then changes to Stefani walking on a street and then walks into the railway station. In the next scene, Stefani is seen singing under falling red - coloured feathers in a huge palace type hall. There are intercuts of Stefani staring at herself in the mirror in unkempt hair and smudged make - up. Stefani is also seen sitting on the floor and singing while crying. Stefani is then seen on the railway station walking besides a moving train. The video ends with Stefani running out of the hall.

In the video, Gwen Stefani wore a green Dolce and Gabbana gown.[14] As seen in the single cover.

Sophie Muller shot the video in three cities of the European Union, in Milan, Italy, in Prague, Czech Republic and Budapest, Hungary during the European-leg of Stefani's The Sweet Escape Tour. In Milan she shot some parts at a church and hotel. In Hungary she chose one of the railway stations of Budapest, the Nyugati Railway Station for the video-shoot.

The video has been viewed millions of times on multiple videos from the popular video-sharing website YouTube. The video premiered on TRL on 18 December 2007 and has peaked at #4 on V Spot.

Formats and track listing

Germany/North American CD Single[15]
  1. "Early Winter" (Album version) - 4:45
  2. "Early Winter" (Live) - 6:52

Chart performance

"Early Winter" had its early charting period restricted only to European countries. The song first appeared on the Bulgarian Singles Chart in 2007. It entered the chart at number 39 and peaked at number 28 for two weeks before falling out of the chart.[16] In Slovakia, it began it's run at number 95 and then peaked at number 6.[17] In the Czech Singles Chart, the song peaked at number 19.[18] The song entered the European Top 200 at number 199 and currently peaks at number 23. The song entered the Finland Top 20 at number 15.[16] In Macedonia the song began its chart run at number 4 and peaked at number 3.[19] In Poland, the song debuted at number 66 and currently is at number 13.[20] The song debuted at the German Singles Chart at number 6, the song's highest debut so far.[16]

Charts

Chart (2007) Peak
position
Austria Top 75[21] 36
Bulgaria Singles Top 40[16] 28
Billboard European Hot 100[22] 26
Czech Singles Chart[23] 19
Euro Chart[24] 23
Mediatraffic German Top 40[25] 4
European Top 20[26] 11
Faroe Islands Top 20[27] 10
Finland Top 20[16] 14
Germany Singles Top 100[16] 6
Latvia Top 40[28] 32
Lithuania Top 40[29] 19
Macedonian Top 30[30] 3
Polish National Chart[31] 13
Romanian Top 100 Chart[32] 90
Slovakia Singles Chart[33] 6
Slovenian Singles Chart[34] 9
Swiss Singles Top 100[16] 54
Ukraine Top 40 Chart[35] 7

References

  1. ^ http://phobos.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewAlbum?id=271791946&s=143460
  2. ^ Early winter release (US) Retrieved: January 20, 2008
  3. ^ http://phobos.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewAlbum?id=271791946&s=143460
  4. ^ Vineyard, Jennifer. It's not available yet."Baby On Board! Gwen Stefani's Son Joins Her On LP, Spring Tour". MTV News. December 4, 2006. Retrieved August 24, 2007.
  5. ^ Digital Spy
  6. ^ Pytlik, Mark. "Gwen Stefani: The Sweet Escape". Pitchfork Media. December 7, 2006. Retrieved August 24, 2007.
  7. ^ Sullivan, Caroline. "Gwen Stefani, The Sweet Escape". The Guardian. December 1, 2006. Retrieved August 24, 2007.
  8. ^ Pareles, Jon. "Gwen Stefani: The Sweet Escape". The New York Times. December 4, 2006. Retrieved August 24, 2007.
  9. ^ Huff, Quentin B. "Gwen Stefani: The Sweet Escape". PopMatters. December 14, 2006. Retrieved August 24, 2007.
  10. ^ Miller, Alex. "Gwen Stefani: The Sweet Escape". NME. Retrieved August 24, 2007.
  11. ^ Michel, Sia. "Sweet Escape | Music Review". Entertainment Weekly. December 1, 2006. Retrieved August 24, 2007.
  12. ^ Cinquemani, Sal. "Music Review: Gwen Stefani: The Sweet Escape". Slant Magazine. 2006. Retrieved August 24, 2007.
  13. ^ MusicOHM.com Retrieved September 4, 2007
  14. ^ Image of Gown Source stating the Gown
  15. ^ Amazon.com: Early Winter (2-Track): Music: Gwen Stefani
  16. ^ a b c d e f g "Early Winter" Chart performance α charts.com Retrieved January 5, 2008
  17. ^ "Early Winter" Chart performance (Slovakia) Retrieved January 5, 2008
  18. ^ "Early Winter" Chart performance Czech Singles Chart Retrieved January 5, 2008
  19. ^ Macedonian Chart
  20. ^ Poland Singles Chart
  21. ^ http://acharts.us/austria_singles_top_75Retrieved February 07,2008
  22. ^ "Gwen Stefani - Early Winter European Hot 100 Chart Performance" Billboard Retrieved 2008-01-10
  23. ^ Czech Top 100. Ifpicr.cz . Retrieved November 17, 2007
  24. ^ http://euro200.eu.mialias.net/ Retrieved January 12,2008
  25. ^ "German Singles Chart (Unofficial) Week 07 of 2008" Retrieved February 11,2008
  26. ^ http://www.mtv.de/charts/14823685 Retrieved February 03,2008
  27. ^ [1] Retrieved January 27, 2008
  28. ^ "Latvian Singles Chart" Retrieved February 15, 2008
  29. ^ [2] Retrieved January 27, 2008
  30. ^ Macedonian Top 30 Retrieved January 25, 2008
  31. ^ Polish Singles Chart. apcchart.com. Retrieved February 10, 2008.
  32. ^ http://www.rt100.ro/top-100-edition.htmlRetrieved February 13, 2008.
  33. ^ Slovakia Top 100. Ifpicr.cz . Retrieved November 17, 2007
  34. ^ "Slovenian Singles Chart" Note :- The Official Slovenian Chart as "APCC Charts" displays this chart. Retrieved on 2008-02-14
  35. ^ [3] Retrieved February 10, 2008.
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