Kaleidoscope Heart

Untitled

Kaleidoscope Heart is the third studio album by singer-songwriter Sara Bareilles, which was released September 7, 2010.The album debuted at number one on the Billboard 200, selling 90,000 copies in its first week.

Background

Bareilles stated on her website the reason behind the album's title, "I picked out the name of the record months before I even finished writing the songs. I love the imagery of those words, and they’re really representative of how I envision my heart. It's a colorful but fragmented, ever-changing sum of all the bits and pieces that make it up. A kaleidoscope is the tool that helps make sense of the mess. Or at least makes it nice to look at."

She also stated she suffered from "writer's block" after her debut album "Little Voice", however upon writing the song "Uncharted", she drew inspiration from this song to write the rest of the record. The title of the album, "Kaleidoscope Heart" was chosen by Bareilles from the lyric in the bridge of "Uncharted".

Promotion

"King of Anything" was released as the first single.

On May 12 (Canada) and May 14 (USA), during the fourth season finale of "Brothers and Sisters", a new song from Bareilles was played during a scene of the show. It was confirmed by www.abc.com that the song is called "Uncharted" On June 1, the tracklist and release date were released online.

Three promotional singles and the entire album were made available before the release of the album. On August 23, 2010, the track "Hold My Heart" was released exclusively for streaming on Whole Foods' website. On August 25, 2010 the track "Uncharted" was released exclusively for streaming on the Entertainment Weekly website. On August 27, 2010, the track "Gonna Get Over You" was released exclusively for streaming on Barnes and Noble's website. On August 31, 2010, the full album was made available for stream on www.iheartradio.com.

She performed "King of Anything" on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno on September 3, 2010, as well as on Regis & Kelly and The Today Show on September 7, 2010. On September 21, 2010, Bareilles performed on The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson.

Reception

Critical reception

Professional ratings

Aggregate scores
Source	Rating
Metacritic	65%
Review scores
Source	Rating
Allmusic
Daily News
Entertainment Weekly	(B-)
Los Angeles Times
New York Times	(positive)
PopMatters	(4/10)
Rolling Stone
Sputnik Music
Washington Post	(positive)

Kaleidoscope Heart received a 65% on Metacritic, resulting from generally favorable reviews. Stephen Thomas Erlewine from Allmusic rated the album with 4 stars out of 5 and has claimed positively that "Despite lushly detailed arrangements, Bareilles never pushes this distinctly commercial gift too hard, letting the songs flow easily and this gentleness is almost as appealing as those classically constructed melodies, tunes so softly insistent they could conceivably appear on adult contemporary charts anytime from 1971 to 2010"[1]. Jon Pareles from The New York Times was also positively with the album, saying that "When Ms. Bareilles goes for more straightforward tugs on the heartstrings, she often sounds like Sarah McLachlan's gifted apprentice, complete with Ms. McLachlan's trademark of going breathy at the top of a phrase" [2].Ann Powers from Los Angeles Times claimed that " The singer-songwriter's background in university show choirs serves her well here, as she finds strength in complex vocal arrangements and the sorts of dramatic set-ups that have reminded us, through Fox's popular television show, that the very act of raising our voices can be a hugely liberating act" [3]. Mikael Wood from Entertainment Weekly was favorable, saying that "On Kaleidoscope Heart, sometimes, as in the airless Breathe Again, all that earnest yearning can make you feel like you've been sentenced to life at Lilith Fair" [4]. Will Hermes from Rolling Stone gave a rating of 2.5 stars (out of 5) and a mixed review, analising that "Bareilles veers between fellow pianists Alicia Keys and Regina Spektor, avoiding either's extremes" [5]. Another mixed review, came from Enio Chiola from Pop Matters, who claimed that "Although Kaleidoscope Heart was probably intended to prove Bareilles' staying power, it only confirms suspicions that in some years, she'll be as remembered as Michelle Branch, or Tracy Bonham, still making music, but without any of the mass appeal they once enjoyed" [6].

Commercial perfomance

On the Billboard 200, Sara Bareilles scores her first number-one album and her best sales week ever. "Kaleidoscope Heart" top the chart with 90,000 sold, according to Nielsen SoundScan..In its second week, the album dropped to number 12 on the Billboard 200 and sold 28,000. .

Track listing

Source:

All songs written by Sara Bareilles except where noted.

1. "Kaleidoscope Heart" - 1:02
2. "Uncharted" - 3:35
3. "Gonna Get Over You" (Bareilles, Sam Farrar) - 4:16
4. "Hold My Heart" - 4:33
5. "King of Anything" - 3:27
6. "Say You're Sorry" - 3:41
7. "The Light" - 4:23
8. "Basket Case" - 4:12
9. "Let the Rain" - 3:40
10. "Machine Gun" - 4:08
11. "Not Alone" - 3:42
12. "Breathe Again" - 4:58
13. "Bluebird" - 4:04

iTunes version

14. "Carolina" (iTunes Pre-Order Only) (Bareilles, Javier Dunn, Daniel Rhine, Josh Day) - 3:38

Target-exclusive bonus track version (on iTunes these 3 tracks are sold as the "Kaleidoscope - EP" and not as part of the album)

14. "Gonna Get Over You (Demo)" - 3:43
15. "Send Me the Moon" - 4:58
16. "King of Anything (Strings Version)" - 3:37

Singles

1. "King of Anything" was the lead single of the album. It was released on radio in the USA on May 10, 2010, and went on sale in June 2010.

2. "Hold My Heart" will be a single at some point.

Charts

Chart (2010)	Peak position
U.S. Billboard 200	1
U.S. Billboard Digital Albums	1
U.S. Billboard Tastemaker Albums	10
Canadian Albums Chart	13