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Megalomania (Aqua album)

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Megalomania is the third studio album by Danish-Norwegian pop band Aqua. The album was released physically from September 30, 2011 and digitally on October 3, 2011, more than 11 years after the release of their previous studio album, Aquarius (2000). Due to the change of musical style from their previous album, critical reviews were more mixed, although the album peaked at number two in Denmark, and has since been certified gold by the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry (IFPI).

Background

After their split in 2001 Aqua announced their comeback on October 26, 2007 during a press conference. During the summer of 2008 Aqua played eight concerts in eight different cities as part of the one-day music festival Grøn Koncert in Denmark. On May 25, 2009 they released their first single since 2001, "Back to the 80's" soon followed by the greatest hits album, Greatest Hits. In February 2010 Aqua began working on their third studio album in Thailand.[1] Instead of touring that year, the band focused on writing and producing the album with the desire to create the "world's best pop album". After 18 months of songwriting and more than 100 songs recorded, the band finished the album after 12 months in the studio.[2]

Aqua were originally set to release the album on July 14, 2011, however the release was pushed back to September 5, with the record label citing bad timing.[3] On August 22, Aqua announced that the album would finally be released on October 3.[4]

Reception

Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
Allmusic[5]
B.T.[6]
Ekstra Bladet[7]
Gaffa[8]
Jyllands-Posten[9]
Soundvenue[10]
Politiken[10]

Unlike their other albums, reviews for Megalomania were more mixed.[11][12] A major criticism of the album was for it's shift from a more bubblegum pop and eurodance style to a more mature electropop and dance-pop, making it sound like the main usual generic dance-pop song of 2011 standards. One of these reviews would be of Jon O'Brien of Allmusic, who gave the album two and a half stars out of five writing: "Unsurprisingly, their previous squeaky, cartoonish pop sound is nowhere to be found on this record which, with its several expletive-laden lyrics and trashy electro production reveals a much more grown-up, if not necessarily mature, new direction. [...] They now sound like every other generic dance-pop outfit out there".[5]

The album was also not as commercially successful and certified as Aqua's other albums. It was released physically from September 30, 2011 in Denmark through selected Bilka retail outlets, three days ahead of its scheduled release date. On October 7, 2011 the album debuted at number six, with sales of 1615 copies after only three days of sale.[13] The following week the album peaked at number two selling 2282 copies. It is the only Aqua album not to reach number one.[14] On October 17, 2011 the album was certified gold by the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry (IFPI) for shipments of 10,000 copies in Denmark. In its third week on the chart the album fell to number twelve, selling 751 copies.[15] The album fell out of the chart after seven weeks in the top 40.[16] In its final week on the chart, the album charted at number thirty-three with 287 copies sold.[17] According to the band's manager Niclas Anker, the goal is to reach platinum certification for shipments of 20,000 copies.[14]

Singles

"How R U Doin?" was released on March 14, 2011 as the lead single from the album. The song peaked at number four in Denmark, and it has since been certified gold by the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry (IFPI) for sales of 15,000 copies in Denmark.[18]

During their 2011 tour the band confirmed that "Like a Robot" would be released as the album's second single in the beginning of July 2011, to coincide with the album release the same month.[19] However on September 8, 2011 it was announced that "Playmate to Jesus" and "Like a Robot" would be released as two separate singles, with "Like a Robot" being the club single and "Playmate to Jesus" serving as the radio single. Both songs were released on September 12, 2011. The official music video to "Playmate to Jesus" premiered on September 23, 2011. The song debuted at number twenty-six in Denmark. In its second week on the chart, "Playmate to Jesus" reached a peak position of number thirteen. The song has been certified gold in Denmark for being streamed 300,000 times.[20]

On November 5, 2011 producer Lucas Secon reported that "Like a Robot" would be released as the album's international lead single.[21] However, the release never materialized.

Track listing

No.TitleWriter(s)Producer(s)Length
1."Playmate to Jesus"Søren Rasted, Claus Norreen, René Dif, Lene NystrømClaus Norreen, Søren Rasted4:47
2."Dirty Little Pop Song"Kasper Bjørke, Rasted, Norreen, Sue BraskKasper Bjørke, Claus Norreen, Søren Rasted3:51
3."Kill Myself"Rasted, Norreen, NystrømClaus Norreen, Søren Rasted3:30
4."Like a Robot"Lucas Secon, Dif, Rasted, NorreenLucas Secon, Claus Norreen, Søren Rasted3:39
5."Viva Las Vegas"Rasted, Norreen, BraskClaus Norreen, Søren Rasted3:24
6."No Party Patrol"Rasted, Norreen, Brask, Niels RahrClaus Norreen, Søren Rasted3:21
7."Come n' Get It"Rasted, NorreenClaus Norreen, Søren Rasted3:25
8."Sucker for a Superstar"Rasted, Norreen, BraskFrederik Thaae, Claus Norreen, Søren Rasted3:20
9."Be My Saviour Tonight"Rasted, Norreen, Nicolaj Rasted, DifClaus Norreen, Søren Rasted3:17
10."How R U Doin?"Thomas Troelsen, Rasted, NorreenThomas Troelsen, Claus Norreen, Søren Rasted3:21
11."If the World Didn't Suck (We Would All Fall Off)"Rasted, Norreen, BraskFrederik Thaae, Claus Norreen, Søren Rasted3:22
  • The track listing was announced on August 29, 2011.[2] Credits adapted from album liner notes.[22]

Charts and certifications

Release history

Region Date Format Label
Denmark[4] October 3, 2011 CD, digital download Universal Music
Australia[25] February 24, 2012

References

  1. ^ "Aqua indspiller nyt album". GAFFA. 29 August 2009. Retrieved 12 October 2009.
  2. ^ a b "STORHEDSVANVID! Nyt album fra Aqua 3. oktober 2011: 'Megalomania"" (in Danish). Universal Music. 29 August 2011. Retrieved 29 August 2011.
  3. ^ Treo, Thomas (6 June 2011). "Ekstra Bladet - Aqua udskyder album" (in Danish). Ekstra Bladet. Retrieved 11 July 2011. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  4. ^ a b "Releaseplan" (in Danish). Universal Music. Retrieved 20 August 2011.
  5. ^ a b O'Brien, Jon. "Megalomania - Aqua | AllMusic". Allmusic. Retrieved 8 November 2011.
  6. ^ Høeg, Henning (3 October 2011). "Aqua på lidt for dybt vand". B.T. Retrieved 17 October 2011. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  7. ^ Albrechtsen, Peter (1 October 2011). "Aquas vandskade". Ekstra Bladet. Retrieved 1 October 2011. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  8. ^ Wehding, Signe Bønsvig. "Aqua: Megalomania - Anmeldelse - GAFFA.dk". Gaffa. Retrieved 1 October 2011. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  9. ^ Schütt-Jensen, Kasper (2 October 2011). "Aqua: Megalomania". Jyllands-Posten. Retrieved 2 October 2011. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  10. ^ a b Jensen, Erik (3 October 2011). "Musikanmeldelse af Aquas 'Megalomania': Vellykket popchok". Soundvenue. metroXpress. Retrieved 17 October 2011. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help) Cite error: The named reference "Jensen" was defined multiple times with different content (see the help page).
  11. ^ Lundsteen, Caroline Thing (3 October 2011). "Anmeldere: Aqua er en træt kliché" (in Danish). DR. Retrieved 17 October 2011.
  12. ^ Grøn, Tommy (3 October 2011). "Anmelderne: Aqua har lavet et endnu værre nummer end 'Barbie Girl'" (in Danish). Politiken. Retrieved 17 October 2011. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  13. ^ Treo, Thomas (7 October 2011). "Kandis topper - Aqua flopper". Ekstra Bladet. Retrieved 7 October 2011. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  14. ^ a b Treo, Thomas (14 October 2011). "Megaflop af Aqua". Ekstra Bladet. Retrieved 14 October 2011. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  15. ^ Treo, Thomas (21 October 2011). "Aqua i frit fald". Ekstra Bladet. Retrieved 21 October 2011. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  16. ^ a b "danishcharts.com - Aqua - Megalomania". IFPI. Hung Medien. Retrieved 14 October 2011. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |work= (help)
  17. ^ Treo, Thomas (18 November 2011). "Aqua synker dybt". Ekstra Bladet. Retrieved 14 December 2011. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  18. ^ "Certificeringer | ifpi.dk" (in Danish). International Federation of the Phonographic Industry. Retrieved 15 July 2011.
  19. ^ Sjørvad, Rune Melchior (18 June 2011). "Lene Nystrøm: Knep mig som en robot!". Ekstra Bladet (in Danish). Retrieved 10 August 2011.
  20. ^ "Certificeringer | ifpi.dk" (in Danish). International Federation of the Phonographic Industry. Retrieved 12 December 2011.
  21. ^ "Twitter / @lucasproduction: Aqua"Don't @#*# me like a ..." Twitter. Retrieved 14 December 2011.
  22. ^ (Media notes). {{cite AV media notes}}: Missing or empty |title= (help); Unknown parameter |Format= ignored (|format= suggested) (help); Unknown parameter |PID= ignored (help); Unknown parameter |Publisher= ignored (|publisher= suggested) (help); Unknown parameter |Type= ignored (|type= suggested) (help); Unknown parameter |Year= ignored (|year= suggested) (help)
  23. ^ "Album-Top 100". Hitlisten. IFPI Danmark & Nielsen Music Control. Archived from the original on 2012-01-23.
  24. ^ "Danish album certifications – Aqua – Megalomania". IFPI Danmark.
  25. ^ "Megalomania | Music , Music Genres, Pop/Rock". JB HI-FI. Retrieved 24 February 2012.

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