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Untitled

+ (pronounced Plus) is the debut studio album by English singer-songwriter Ed Sheeran, released through Atlantic Records on 9 September 2011. The album marks Sheeran's commercial breakthrough, having previously released five EPs independently. Jake Gosling produced the majority of the album, with additional production coming from acclaimed American hip hop producer No I.D.. Upon release, + debuted atop of the UK Albums Chart with first-week sales exceeding 102,000 copies.[1]

Media interest surrounding + was fuelled significantly by its two preceding singles—"The A Team" and "You Need Me, I Don't Need You"—which peaked at number three and number four on the UK Singles Chart respectively. "Lego House" was released on 11 November 2011 as the album's third single and emulated the chart success of its predecessors, peaking at number five in the UK. It was met with generally mixed reviews from music critics.

Background

On 8 January 2011, Sheeran released his independent EP, No. 5 Collaborations Project.[2] With the EP, Sheeran gained mainstream attention.[3] Three months later, Sheeran put on a free show to fans at the Barfly in Camden. Over 1,000 fans turned up to see the show, so Sheeran ended up playing four different shows to make sure everyone saw a gig, including a gig outside on the street after the venue had closed. Later that month, Sheeran was signed to Asylum / Atlantic Records.

Sheeran started recording the album in January 2011 in a friend's garden shed in Suffolk. "I wanted to keep that organic, lo-fi feel. I've got the rest of my life to make an album in a swish studio. This time round I wanted to stay true to the sound that’s got me this far", he explained talking to the Q magazine. Sheeran went in with most of the songs written, but a couple appeared in the process, the last track, "Give Me Love", being one of them. "That's an important song for me. It's got a more fleshed-out sound, which I think is where I’m headed in future", he explained.[4]

Singles

+ has spawned five singles. "The A Team" was released as the album's lead single on 10 June 2011. It entered the UK Singles Chart at number three, and spent eleven consecutive weeks in the top 10. As of January 2012, the single had sold 801,000 copies in the United Kingdom.[5] The lead single reached the top ten on Australian, Irish, Scottish, New Zealand Singles Charts, the Dutch Top 40, the Japansese Hot 100, the Norwegian VG-lista and the German Media Control AG chart.

"You Need Me, I Don't Need You" was released as the album's second single on 27 August 2011. It was first announced during Sheeran's set at Glastonbury Festival 2011 and received its first radio play on Zane Lowe's BBC Radio 1 show on 6 July 2011.[6] It entered the UK Singles Chart at number 4, on 4 September 2011. "Lego House" was released as the album's third single on 11 November 2011.[7] It received its first radio play on Zane Lowe's BBC Radio 1 show on 8 September 2011.[8][9] It entered the UK Singles Chart at Number 5, on 17 November. It also reached the top ten on Australian, Irish, Scottish, New Zealand Singles Charts, Flemish Ultratop 50 and the Wallonian Ultratip. "Drunk" was released as the album's fourth single on 19 February 2012. The release of the track was announced by Sheeran via his Twitter page.[10] "Small Bump" will be released as the album's fifth single on 25 May 2012. The release of the track was announced by Sheeran via his Twitter page.[11]

Other charted songs

"Autumn Leaves" reached #84, "Sunburn" reached #140, "Kiss Me" reached #163, "Grade 8" reached #181, reached "U.N.I." #175, "Wake Me Up" reached #190 on the UK Singles Chart.[12]

Reception

Critical reception

Professional ratings
Aggregate scores
SourceRating
Metacritic(65/100)[13]
Review scores
SourceRating
Allmusic[13]
BBC Music[14]
The Guardian[13]
The Independent[15]
Sputnikmusic[16]
NME[17]
The Observer[18]
Q[4]

The album received generally mixed reviews from critics, and has a Metacritic score of 65/100.

Allmusic said, in a three star review, that "His debut's failure to capitalise on his unique selling point means it's likely to leave everyone else nonplussed."[19] NME felt that "There's little here that moves on from the kind of trip-hop balladeers that abounded in the late '90s or indeed the singer-songwriters that Sheeran admires such as Damien Rice or James Morrison" and gave the album 4/10.[20] Sputnikmusic felt it was "A true talent wasted on bed-wetting music."[16] The Observer was dissatisfied with the album, saying that "Half-rapped banalities about watching Shrek 12 times and being "crap at computer games" will certainly win hearts, but perhaps only those of a certain age" and finished saying it "hops between bullish mockney rap and quavering sentimentality".[21] BBC Music gave a mixed review, and felt that "it'll make him an easy target for critics hungry for new directions in pop, as it fails to really gel the man's loves of folk and rap."[22] Q magazine gave a more positive review, saying that the "Fresh-faced wunderkind aces his debut", and awarded the album four stars out of five. The Independent gave the album similar praise.

Commercial performance

+ debuted number one on the UK Albums Chart, selling 102,000 copies in its first week.[23] It became ninth biggest-selling album of 2011 in the UK, shifting 791,000 copies.[24] The album was certified quadruple platinum by the British Phonographic Industry for shipments of 1,200,000 units.[25] The album climbed back up to number one on the albums chart on 1 January 2012, fifteen weeks after it last peaked at the top. As of March 2012, the album had sold 1,021,072 copies in the UK.[26]

Track listing

Standard edition

No.TitleWriter(s)Length
1."The A Team"Ed Sheeran4:18
2."Drunk"Sheeran, Jake Gosling3:20
3."U.N.I."Sheeran, Gosling3:48
4."Grade 8"Sheeran, True Tiger2:59
5."Wake Me Up"Sheeran, Gosling3:49
6."Small Bump"Sheeran4:19
7."This"Sheeran, Mills3:15
8."The City"Sheeran, Gosling3:54
9."Lego House"Sheeran, Gosling, Leonard3:05
10."You Need Me, I Don't Need You"Sheeran3:40
11."Kiss Me"Sheeran, Julie Frost, Justin Franks4:40
12."Give Me Love"Sheeran, Gosling, Chris Leonard5:26
13."The Parting Glass" (hidden track)Traditional Song3:05
Enhanced edition bonus tracks
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
14."Wayfaring Stranger"Traditional Song4:04
15."U.N.I." ("One Take" Version)Ed Sheeran, Jake Gosling2:49
Deluxe edition bonus tracks[27]
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
13."Autumn Leaves"Ed Sheeran, Jake Gosling3:20
14."Little Bird"Ed Sheeran3:44
15."Gold Rush"Ed Sheeran, Amy Wadge4:03
16."Sunburn"Ed Sheeran4:35
Japanese special edition bonus tracks
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
13."Autumn Leaves"Ed Sheeran, Jake Gosling3:20
14."Little Bird"Ed Sheeran3:44
15."Gold Rush"Ed Sheeran, Amy Wadge4:03
16."Sunburn"Ed Sheeran4:35
17."The A Team" (acoustic)Ed Sheeran 

Credits and personnel

(Credits taken from Allmusic[28] and +'s liner notes.)

  • Phillip Butah – illustrations
  • Stuart Camp – management
  • Robert Colon – composer
  • Ben Cook – executive producer
  • Ruadhri Cushnan – mixing
  • Justin Franks – composer
  • Julie Frost – composer
  • Louisa Fuller – violin
  • Jake Gosling – composer, drums, engineer, handclapping, keyboards, mixing, piano, producer, programming, string arrangements, strings, vocal mixing, vocals (background)
  • Tom Greenwood – piano
  • Edd Hartwell – assistant
  • Sally Herbert – string arrangements
  • Ben Hollingsworth – drums
  • Ed Howard – executive producer
  • Charlie Hugall – additional production, drums, engineer, mixing, percussion, producer
  • Rob Kinaelski – engineer, mixing
  • Oli Langford – violin
  • Chris Leonard – bass, composer, guitar (acoustic), guitar (bass), guitar (electric), handclapping, vocals (background)
  • Marco Martini – assistant
  • Guy Massey – engineer, mixing
  • John Metcalfe – viola
  • Gordon Mills – composer
  • No Id – producer, programming
  • Grant Rawlinson – assistant
  • Ed Sheeran – bass, beat box, composer, guitar (acoustic), guitar (bass), guitar (electric), handclapping, percussion, piano, producer, vocals, vocals (background)
  • True Tiger – composer
  • Anna Ugarte – assistant
  • Sukhdeep Uppal – composer
  • Chris Worsey – cello
  • Christian Wright – mastering

Charts and certifications

Release history

Region Date Format Label
Ireland[52] 9 September 2011 CD, digital download (Standard + Deluxe) Asylum Records, Warner Music
United Kingdom[53][54] 12 September 2011 CD, digital download (Standard + Deluxe), LP (Standard)
Japan[55][56] 13 September 2011 CD, digital download (Standard + Special) Warner Music
Australia[57] 23 September 2011 CD, digital download
Netherlands[58] 18 November 2011
Switzerland[59] 13 January 2012
Poland[60] 16 January 2012
Germany[61] 10 February 2012
Argentina[62] 15 May 2012
United States[63] 12 June 2012 Elektra Records

See also

References

  1. ^ Published Sunday, 18 Sep 2011, 19:00 BST (18 September 2011). "Ed Sheeran tops UK album chart with '+' – Music News". Digital Spy. Retrieved 3 March 2012.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  2. ^ Haugh, Richard (10 January 2011). "Ed Sheeran battles Rihanna for top spot in album chart". BBC News. Retrieved 10 August 2011.
  3. ^ BBC Suffolk (13 January 2011). "Ed Sheeran signs with Asylum Records / Atlantic Records following 'No. 5 Collaborations Project' success". BBC News. Retrieved 19 January 2011.
  4. ^ a b Chris Cottingham. Q, Ocrober 2011, #303. Review: New Albums. Fresh-faced wunderkind aces his debut. p.118-119.
  5. ^ http://www.officialcharts.com/chart-news/the-top-20-biggest-selling-singles-of-2011-revealed/
  6. ^ 16:52 (28 July 2011). "Zane Lowe's Hottest Records blog: Hottest Record – Ed Sheeran – You Need Me". BBC. Retrieved 4 August 2011. {{cite web}}: |author= has numeric name (help)
  7. ^ "Twitter / Ed Sheeran: Tune into @zanelowe tonigh". Twitter. 8 September 2011. Retrieved 3 March 2012.
  8. ^ Zane Lowe. "Zane Lowe's Hottest Records blog: Hottest Record – Ed Sheeran – Lego House". BBC. Retrieved 3 March 2012.
  9. ^ "iTunes – Music – Lego House – EP by Ed Sheeran". Itunes.apple.com. 11 November 2011. Retrieved 3 March 2012.
  10. ^ "Singles Release Diary". Digital Spy. Retrieved 2 February 2012.
  11. ^ https://twitter.com/#!/edsheeran/status/158180811215081472
  12. ^ Peak positions for other charted sings in the UK:
    • For "Little Bird": "The UK Singles Chart for the week ending 2 July 2011". ChartsPlus (514). Milton Keynes: IQ Ware Ltd: 3. {{cite journal}}: |access-date= requires |url= (help)
    • For "Cold Coffee": "The UK Singles Chart for the week ending 6 August 2011". ChartsPlus (519). Milton Keynes: IQ Ware Ltd: 3. {{cite journal}}: |access-date= requires |url= (help)
    • For "Hush Little Baby": "The UK Singles Chart for the week ending 3 September 2011". ChartsPlus (523). Milton Keynes: IQ Ware Ltd: 3. {{cite journal}}: |access-date= requires |url= (help)
    • For all others: "The UK Singles Chart for the week ending 24 September 2011". ChartsPlus (526). Milton Keynes: IQ Ware Ltd: 3. {{cite journal}}: |access-date= requires |url= (help)
  13. ^ a b c ""+" critic reviews". Metacritic. Retrieved 10 October 2011.
  14. ^ Natalie Show. "+ album review". BBC Music. Retrieved 10 October 2011.
  15. ^ Andy Gill. "+ review". The Independent. UK. Retrieved 10 October 2011.
  16. ^ a b www.sputnikmusic.com/review/46069/Ed-Sheeran-%2B/
  17. ^ Emily MacKay. "+ album review". NME. UK. Retrieved 10 October 2011.
  18. ^ Hermiony Hoby. ""+" album review". The Observer. Retrieved 10 October 2011.
  19. ^ O'Brien, Jon (12 September 2011). "Ed Sheeran". AllMusic. Retrieved 3 March 2012.
  20. ^ "NME Album Reviews – Album review: Ed Sheeran – '+'". NME. UK. 13 September 2011. Retrieved 3 March 2012.
  21. ^ Hermione Hoby. "Ed Sheeran: + – review | Music | The Observer". The Guardian. UK. Retrieved 3 March 2012.
  22. ^ "Music – Review of Ed Sheeran". BBC. Retrieved 3 March 2012.
  23. ^ www.digitalspy.ie/music/news/a340995/ed-sheeran-tops-uk-album-chart-with-.html
  24. ^ http://www.officialcharts.com/chart-news/the-top-20-biggest-selling-albums-of-2011-revealed/
  25. ^ http://www.bpi.co.uk/certifiedawards/Search.aspx
  26. ^ Alan Jones (5 March 2012). "Official Chart Analysis: Sande thrives in Scotland, Ed Sheeran album tops 1m sales in UK". Music Week. Retrieved 6 March 2012.
  27. ^ "iTunes – Music – + (Deluxe Version) by Ed Sheeran". Itunes.apple.com. 9 September 2011. Retrieved 3 March 2012.
  28. ^ http://www.allmusic.com/album/r2246596/credits
  29. ^ "australian-charts.com – Ed Sheeran – +". Hung Medien. Retrieved 13 November 2011.
  30. ^ Steffen Hung. "Ed Sheeran – +". austriancharts.at. Retrieved 3 March 2012.
  31. ^ "Ed Sheeran – +". ultratop.be. Retrieved 3 March 2012.
  32. ^ "Ed Sheeran – +". ultratop.be. Retrieved 3 March 2012.
  33. ^ http://danishcharts.com/weekchart.asp?year=2012&date=20120309&cat=a
  34. ^ "dutchcharts.nl – Ed Sheeran – +". Hung Medien. Retrieved 29 November 2011.
  35. ^ http://www.chartsinfrance.net/actualite/news-78542.html
  36. ^ "VIVA Album Top 50 – KW 7 2012 | Charts | VIVA.tv". Archived from the original on 1 March 2012. Retrieved 1 March 2012. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
  37. ^ "GFK Chart-Track". Chart-track.co.uk. Retrieved 3 March 2012.
  38. ^ "Ed Sheeran – + - Music Charts". acharts.us. Retrieved 8 May 2012.
  39. ^ "charts.org.nz – Ed Sheeran – +". Hung Medien. Retrieved 7 March 2012.
  40. ^ "norwegiancharts.com – Ed Sheeran – +". Hung Medien. Retrieved 13 November 2011.
  41. ^ "Top 100 – lista miesięczna". ZPAV (in Polish). zpav.pl. Archived from the original on 3 March 2012. Retrieved 1 March 2012. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
  42. ^ "swedishcharts.com – Ed Sheeran – +". Hung Medien. Retrieved 7 May 2012.
  43. ^ Steffen Hung. "Ed Sheeran – +". hitparade.ch. Retrieved 3 March 2012.
  44. ^ "2011-09-24 Top 40 Official UK Albums Archive". Official Charts. 24 September 2011. Retrieved 3 March 2012.
  45. ^ "The Top 100 Biggest Selling Albums of the Year" (PDF). ARIA. 1 January 2012.
  46. ^ "The Top 20 Biggest Selling Albums of the Year". IRMA. 6 January 2012.
  47. ^ "The Top 40 Biggest Selling Albums of the Year". Official Charts Company. 2 January 2012.
  48. ^ "Top 50 Albums Chart". Australian Recording Industry Association (ARIA). 27 February 2012. Retrieved 3 March 2012.
  49. ^ http://www.irishcharts.ie/awards/multi_platinum11.htm
  50. ^ "NZ Top 40 Albums Chart". Recording Industry Association of New Zealand (RIANZ). Archived from the original on 7 March 2012.
  51. ^ "Certified Awards Search". British Phonographic Industry (BPI). 10 December 2011. Retrieved 3 December 2011.
  52. ^ "by Ed Sheeran – Preorder + on iTunes". Itunes.apple.com. Retrieved 4 August 2011.
  53. ^ "by Ed Sheeran – Preorder + on iTunes". Itunes.apple.com. Retrieved 4 August 2011.
  54. ^ "Ed Sheeran: + (Plus) (2011): LP". hmv.com. 15 December 2005. Retrieved 3 March 2012.
  55. ^ エド・シーラン - プラス
  56. ^ エド・シーラン - プラス（初回限定スペシャル・プライス盤）
  57. ^ "| Music , Music Genres, Pop/Rock : JB HI-FI". Jbhifionline.com.au. Retrieved 3 March 2012.
  58. ^ "Plus '+', Ed Sheeran | Muziek". bol.com. Retrieved 3 March 2012.
  59. ^ "album pop – Warner Music Switzerland". Warnermusic.ch. 13 January 2012. Retrieved 3 March 2012.
  60. ^ "Ed Sheeran - +". Warnermusic.pl. 16 January 2012. Retrieved 5 May 2012.
  61. ^ "Warner Music Germany – Ed Sheeran – Veröffentlichungen". Warnermusic.de. 25 November 2011. Retrieved 3 March 2012.
  62. ^ "Warner Music Argentina – Ed Sheeran". 7 may 2012. Retrieved 3 May 2012. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  63. ^ http://www.elektra.com/news/ed-sheerans-debut-album-now-available-pre-order-itunes-34766
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