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| length2 = 3:54
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| title3 = Rock God
| title3 = Rock God
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| note3 = not selena gomez
| writer3 = Katy Perry, Priese Prince LaMont Board, Victoria Jane Horn
| writer3 = Katy Perry, Priese Prince LaMont Board, Victoria Jane Horn
| extra3 = Rock Mafia
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| extra5 = Rock Mafia, [[RedOne]]
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| title6 = notice me
| writer6 = Queen Latifa Lady Gaga Selena gomez kATY PERRY
| extra6 = Pop
| length6 = 4:21
| title6 = Intuition
| title6 = Intuition
| note6 = featuring Eric Bellinger
| note6 = featuring Eric Bellinger

Revision as of 04:35, 4 November 2010

Untitled

A Year Without Rain is the second studio album by American band Selena Gomez & the Scene. The album was released on September 17, 2010. The band once again worked with writers and producers from their debut, Kiss & Tell such as Rock Mafia duo Tim James, and Antonina Armato, as well as Fefe Dobson, Toby Gad, and Superspy. New contributions came from Kevin Rudolf, Katy Perry, Jonas Jeberg and RedOne among others. Whilst making use of the auto-tune effect, A Year Without Rain mainly draws from the genre of dance-pop while incorporating electropop, and containing dancehall and techno, among other influences. According to Gomez, most of the songs on the album are dedicated to the fans, while she wanted content with more melodies and empowering lyrics. Lyrical themes include topics of love, freedom, and the joy of living in the moment.

The album has been given mostly positive reviews, with critics noting it as an improvement from the band's debut album. A Year Without Rain debuted in the United States at number four selling 66,000 copies in its first week.[1] The album has so far spawned two top forty singles in the United States, lead single, "Round & Round" and follow-up "A Year Without Rain".

Background and development

In an interview with MTV News in February 2010, when referring to the then-upcoming record, frontwoman Selena Gomez said, "It's kind of different — older — and it's kind of got, like, a reggae sound."[2] Gomez also stated she was unsure of taking on the responsibility of the album's main songwriter, unwanting the added pressure.[2] She also talked about producers for the album, expressing interest to work with "Naturally" producers, Antonina Armato and Tim James, as well as Dr. Luke.[2] She pointed out main goals for the record, which were making sure that she could relate to it, and that the fans could also, stating, "all of those songs are things that I went through, and that's why I put that all together."[2] Later in an interview with Digital Spy, Gomez gave hints about the album, stating that instead of pulling another single from 2009's Kiss & Tell, that she looked forward to moving into the next album, which would be completely different.[3]

Gomez stated that the album was named after the titular single because it was the first song recorded for the album, and she wanted to base the rest of the work on the song.[4] Gomez went into further explanation, stating, "I mean, even down from putting the track listing and numbering it, I wanted to make sure I envisioned [fans] putting it in their car or putting it on their iPod and how I wanted them to listen to the record."[4] According to Gomez, most songs on the album were inspired by the band's dedicated fans, as she stated, "I wish I could give to them, because they mean so much to me."[4] Calling the album "a feel-good record," Gomez said it has a more dance/techno vibe.[4] The frontwoman also said that she wanted something with more "meaning and melody, and more empowering lyrics."[5] About the new techno-leaning, Gomez said that it was inspired by the success of their breakout hit, "Naturally".[5] She explained, "There’s a feeling when I perform that song that I love, so when I was going back in the studio, I had a better understanding of where I wanted to be musically."[5]

In July 2010, Gomez confirmed that an unreleased track co-penned by Katy Perry was given to her, and that Perry also contributed background vocals.[6] She also confirmed the titles of songs "A Year Without Rain" and "Intuition".[6] On August 17, 2010, Gomez revealed the album's track listing.[7] The singer did not confirm any collaborations, whilst at the time it was rumored that Perry would be featured on her co-written "Rock God", and Miley Cyrus would perform alongside Gomez on "Off the Chain".[7] It was also reported that a Demi Lovato duet "The Beginning of the Road" did not make the track listing, however this was unconfirmed and the collaborations proved to be false.[7] A few days later, Lovato confirmed that she did not work on a track with Gomez for the album, but did not rule out a possible Gomez collaboration for her upcoming R&B-influenced album.[8]

Composition

The album features a predominant dance-pop-electropop feel, while incoporating eurodance, and reggae-dancehall influences.[9][10] On most tracks, Gomez's vocals contain the auto-tune affect.[10] Lyrical content deals with themes of love, freedom, and the joy of living in the moment.[5] Album opener "Round & Round", an upbeat synth-driven song,[5] features a "riding electro groove," while "Summer's Not Hot" has a eurodance chorus, courtesy of RedOne.[9] "Spotlight" seems to derive from dancehall, and according to Mikael Wood of Billboard, the song does not feature a hook.[9] The title track, "A Year Without Rain" is a dance ballad that is also disco, described as "emo."[9] Eric Bellinger makes an appearance in rap interludes in "Intuition," while Katy Perry has backing vocals on "Rock God."[5] "Ghost of You" is a ballad about a breakup. Ending track "Live Like There's No Tomorrow" has been called a power ballad.[5]

Critical reception

Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
Allmusic[11]
Billboard77/100
Washington Post(mixed)
About.com

The album received generally positive reviews. Mikael Wood of Billboard stated while the lyrics contain "standard issue tween-pop topics," the effort was an improvement over 2009's Kiss & Tell, commenting that the production outweighed the lyrical content.[9] Although noting most songs on the album as "over-produced" dance-pop songs ballads and that Gomez spends most of the record trying to "dig herself out" of vocal effects, Allison Stewart of The Washington Post said at its worst, the album was a marked improvement over the "attitude-heavy", Kiss & Tell. Calling Gomez a young version of Katy Perry, Stewart commented, "Disney princesses seem to come along every 15 minutes, but few of them charm like Selena Gomez."[10] Bill Lamb of About.com reviewed the album saying, "Clearly Selena Gomez and the Scene have evolved musically in the short year that has elapsed since their first album Kiss and Tell... This time around they are immersed in a more polished dance-pop style that moves easily from the glossy midtempo title cut to perky uptempo club tunes. If you have dismissed Selena Gomez as merely a cookie cutter Disney pop princess, it is high time to listen to more of her music and [the music] is likely to change your mind. While not deep, A Year Without Rain is a solid, pleasing pop album.[12]

Singles

The album's lead single, "Round & Round", co-written and produced by Kevin Rudolf of Cash Money and Andrew Bolooki, Jeff Halavacs, was released on June 22, 2010.[13] Fefe Dobson and Andrew Bolooki also receives writing credits. The song received positive reviews from critics who noted its catchiness and expanding of Gomez's demographic.[14][15] It debuted at twenty-four on the Billboard Hot 100, and also appeared on the Pop Songs, and Hot Dance Club Play charts, as well as charting internationally.[16] The song's accompanying music video, shot in Budapest, Hungary, features Gomez and the band in a secret spy storyline.[17] The second single, "A Year Without Rain", written by Lindy Robbins and produced by Toby Gad, was released on September 7, 2010.[18] It debuted at thirty-five in the United States, and at number thirty-seven in Canada.[16]

Track listing

Standard edition
No.TitleWriter(s)ProducerLength
1."Round & Round"Kevin Rudolf, Andrew Bolooki, Fefe Dobson, Jeff Halavacs, Jacob KasherRudolf, Bolooki, Halavacs3:06
2."A Year Without Rain"Lindy Robbins, Toby GadGad3:54
3."Rock God" (not selena gomez)Katy Perry, Priese Prince LaMont Board, Victoria Jane HornRock Mafia3:08
4."Off the Chain"Tim James, Antonina Armato, Devrim KaraogluRock Mafia4:03
5."Summer's Not Hot"Armato, James, Nadir KhayatRock Mafia, RedOne3:05
6."Intuition" (featuring Eric Bellinger)Gad, Eric Bellinger, RobbinsGad2:59
7."Spotlight"Peer Åström, Shelly Peiken, Adam Anders, Nikki HassmanÅström, Anders3:31
8."Ghost of You"Peiken, Jonas Jeberg, Rasmus SeebachJeberg3:23
9."Sick of You"Matt Squire, Lucas BankerSquire3:23
10."Live Like There's No Tomorrow"Matt Bronleewe, Nicky Chinn, Andrew Fromm, Meghan KabirSuperspy4:07
Deluxe edition bonus tracks
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
11."Round & Round" (Dave Audé Radio Remix)Rudolf, Bolooki, Dobson, Halavacs, Kasher3:33
12."A Year Without Rain" (EK's Future Classic Remix Radio Edit)Gad, Robbins4:05
13."A Year Without Rain" (Spanish-Language Version)Edgar Cortazar, Gad, Mark Portmann, Robbins3:30
Deluxe edition DVD
No.TitleLength
1."Girl Meets World - extended edition" 
2."Girl on Film - behind the scenes at the photo shoot" 
3."A Year Without Rain Video Shoot - behind the scenes" 
4."Round & Round - music video" 
5."Naturally - music video" 

Note

  • On international standard and deluxe editions of the album, track 3 is "Naturally". The rest of the songs follow in the same order of the standard edition and therefore these editions have a total of 11 tracks (14 in deluxe edition).[19]

Charts

Chart (2010) Peak
position
Australian Albums Chart[20] 46
Austrian Albums Chart[21] 19
Belgian Albums Chart (Flanders)[22] 11
Belgian Albums Chart (Wallonia)[23] 21
Canadian Albums Chart[24] 6
Czech Republic Album Chart[25] 9
European Albums Chart[26] 14
French Albums Chart[27] 26
German Albums Chart[28] 22
Greek Album Chart[29] 41
Hungarian Albums Chart[30] 23
Irish Albums Chart[31] 40
Italian Albums Chart[32] 28
Mexican Albums Chart[33] 17
Netherlands Albums Chart[34] 51
New Zealand Albums Chart[35] 24
Polish Albums Chart[36] 11
Portuguese Albums Chart[37] 9
Spanish Albums Chart[38] 7
Swiss Albums Chart[39] 37
UK Album Chart[40] 14
US Billboard 200[41] 4

Release history

Country Date Format Label
Poland[42] September 17, 2010 CD Universal Music
Canada[43][44] September 21, 2010 CD/CD+DVD
Germany[45][46]
United States[47][48] Hollywood Records
Australia[49] September 24, 2010 CD+DVD Universal Music
Mexico[50]
United Kingdom[51] October 4, 2010 CD/CD+DVD Fascination Records
Brazil[52][53] October 15, 2010 Universal Music
India[54] October 29, 2010 CD/CD+DVD Universal Music

References

  1. ^ Caulfield, Keith (2010-09-29). "Zac Brown Band Bows At No. 1 on Billboard 200". Billboard.com. Billboard. Retrieved 2010-09-29.
  2. ^ a b c d Vena, Jocelyn (2010-02-23). "Selena Gomez Says Next Album Will Have 'Reggae Sound'". MTV News. MTV Networks. Retrieved 2010-09-15.
  3. ^ Martin, Lara (2010-04-10). "Music - Interview - Selena Gomez". Digital Spy. Retrieved 2010-09-15.
  4. ^ a b c d Vena, Jocelyn. "Selena Gomez Says Fans Inspired A Year Without Rain". MTV News. MTV Networks. Retrieved 2010-09-21. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |work= (help)
  5. ^ a b c d e f g "Amazon.com:Selena Gomez and the Scene:Albums, Songs, Bios, Photos". Amazon.com. Retrieved 2010-09-21.
  6. ^ a b Vena, Jocelyn. "Selena Gomez's New Album Features Katy Perry Collaboration". MTV News. MTV Networks. Retrieved 2010-09-15. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |work= (help)
  7. ^ a b c Vena, Jocelyn (2010-08-17). "Selena Gomez Releases New Album Track Listing". MTV News. MTV Networks. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |work= (help); Unknown parameter |accesdsate= ignored (help)
  8. ^ Vena, Jocelyn (2010-08-19). "Will Demi Lovato Be On Selena Gomez's Album? Demi Dishes". MTV News. MTV Networks. Retrieved 2010-09-15. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |work= (help)
  9. ^ a b c d e f Wood, Mikael (2010-09-10). "Selena Gomez and the Scene, "A Year Without Rain"". Billboard. Nielsen Business Media, Inc. Retrieved 2010-09-15.
  10. ^ a b c Stewart, Allison. "Album review: Selena Gomez, "A Year Without Rain"". Washington Post. The Washington Post Company. Retrieved 2010-09-21.
  11. ^ Sendra, Tim. "Review: A Year Without Rain". Allmusic. Retrieved 23 September 2010.
  12. ^ http://top40.about.com/od/albums/fr/Selena-Gomez-And-The-Scene-A-Year-Without-Rain.htm
  13. ^ "Round & Round - Single by Selena Gomez & the Scene". iTunes. Retrieved 2010-06-30.
  14. ^ Lamb, Bill. "Selena Gomez and the Scene - "Round & Round"". About.com. Retrieved 2010-06-23.
  15. ^ Bain, Becky. "Selena Gomez Goes "Round And Round" On New Single". Idolator. Retrieved 2010-06-30.
  16. ^ a b "Selena Gomez & the Scene Chart History". Billboard. Nielsen Business Media, Inc. Retrieved 2010-09-21.
  17. ^ Cheung, Nadine. "Selena Gomez Becomes a Spy in Her New Video 'Round and Round'". AOL JSYK. Retrieved 2010-06-30.
  18. ^ "A Year Without Rain - Single by Selena Gomez & the Scene". iTunes. Retrieved 2010-09-16.
  19. ^ http://music.ovi.com/in/r/nm/Product/r/r/12801385
  20. ^ "australian-charts.com - Hung Medien". Australian Recording Industry Association. Retrieved 2010-10-03.
  21. ^ "Discographie Selena Gomez & The Scene" (in German). austriancharts.at. Hung Medien. Retrieved 2010-10-20.
  22. ^ http://www.ultratop.be/nl/showitem.asp?interpret=Selena+Gomez+%26+The+Scene&titel=A+Year+Without+Rain&cat=a
  23. ^ http://www.ultratop.be/fr/showitem.asp?interpret=Selena+Gomez+%26+The+Scene&titel=A+Year+Without+Rain&cat=a
  24. ^ http://www.billboard.com/charts/canadian-albums#/charts/canadian-albums
  25. ^ http://www.ifpicr.cz/hitparada/index.php?a=titul&hitparada=14&titul=148399&sec=e90faa5612e62afb2c9b237820904601
  26. ^ http://www.billboard.com/#/album/selena-gomez-the-scene/a-year-without-rain/1392923
  27. ^ http://lescharts.com/showinterpret.asp?interpret=Selena+Gomez
  28. ^ http://www.media-control.de/album-charts-joe-cocker-ist-die-neue-nummer-eins.html
  29. ^ http://greekcharts.com/showitem.asp?interpret=Selena+Gomez+%26+The+Scene&titel=A+Year+Without+Rain&cat=a
  30. ^ http://www.mahasz.hu/?menu=slagerlistak&menu2=archivum&lista=top40&ev=2010&het=39&submit_=Keres%E9s
  31. ^ "GFK Chart-Track". GFK Chart-Track. Retrieved 2010-10-12.
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  33. ^ http://greaves.tv/amprofon3/Top100.pdf
  34. ^ http://dutchcharts.nl/showitem.asp?interpret=Selena+Gomez+%26+The+Scene&titel=A+Year+Without+Rain&cat=a
  35. ^ "Discography Selena Gomez & the Scene". charts.org.nz. Hung Medien. Retrieved 2010-10-12.
  36. ^ http://olis.onyx.pl/listy/index.asp?idlisty=609&lang=en
  37. ^ http://portuguesecharts.com/showitem.asp?interpret=Selena+Gomez+%26+The+Scene&titel=A+Year+Without+Rain&cat=a
  38. ^ http://spanishcharts.com/showitem.asp?interpret=Selena+Gomez+%26+The+Scene&titel=A+Year+Without+Rain&cat=a
  39. ^ http://hitparade.ch/showitem.asp?interpret=Selena+Gomez+%26+The+Scene&titel=A+Year+Without+Rain&cat=a
  40. ^ http://www.theofficialcharts.com/albums-chart/
  41. ^ http://www.billboard.com/news/zac-brown-band-bows-at-no-1-on-billboard-1004117424.story?tag=hpfeed#/news/zac-brown-band-bows-at-no-1-on-billboard-1004117424.story?tag=hpfeed
  42. ^ "Year Without Rain PL Wykonawca:Gomez Selena Data ([[Polish language|Polish]])". Retrieved 2010-09-21. {{cite web}}: URL–wikilink conflict (help)
  43. ^ "A Year W/O Rain: Selena and the Scene Gomez: Amazon.ca: Music". Amazon.ca. Retrieved 2010-09-12.
  44. ^ "A Year W/O Rain (Dlx Ed): Selena and the Scene Gomez: Amazon.ca: Music". Amazon.ca. Retrieved 2010-09-17.
  45. ^ "A Year Without Rain: Selena Gomez & the Scene: Amazon.de: Musik". Amazon.de. Retrieved 2010-10-16.
  46. ^ "A Year Without Rain (Deluxe) (Doppel-CD): Selena Gomez & the Scene: Amazon.de: Musik". Amazon.de. Retrieved 2010-10-16.
  47. ^ "A Year Without Rain: Selena Gomez and the Scene: Music". Amazon.com. Retrieved 2010-09-12.
  48. ^ "A Year Without Rain (Deluxe Edition) (CD+DVD): Selena Gomez and the Scene: Music". Amazon.com. Retrieved 2010-09-17.
  49. ^ "Year Without Rain )(sic): Selena Gomez (CD/DVD)". Sanity.com.au. Retrieved 2010-09-23.
  50. ^ "A Year Without Rain: Selena Gomez (CD + DVD)" (in Spanish). {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |Publisher= ignored (|publisher= suggested) (help)CS1 maint: unrecognized language (link)
  51. ^ "A Year Without Rain: Selena Gomez". Fascination Records. Retrieved 2010-09-17.
  52. ^ "A Year Without Rain: Selena Gomez (Brazil release date)". Saraiva.com.br. Retrieved 2010-09-30.
  53. ^ "A Year Without Rain (Deluxe Edition) (CD+DVD): Selena Gomez (Brazil release date)". Saraiva.com.br. Retrieved 2010-09-30.
  54. ^ http://www.rhythmhouse.in/Detail.aspx?productListing=94948. {{cite web}}: Missing or empty |title= (help)
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