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Hamilton (album)

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Hamilton (Original Broadway Cast Recording)
Cast recording by
the original Broadway cast of Hamilton
ReleasedSeptember 25, 2015 (2015-09-25)
RecordedAugust 16–21, 2015
Studio
  • Avatar, New York City
  • Invictus Sound, Long Island, NYC
Genre
Length142:13
LabelAtlantic
Producer

Hamilton (Original Broadway Cast Recording) is the cast album to the 2015 musical Hamilton. The musical is based on the 2004 biography of Alexander Hamilton written by Ron Chernow, with music, lyrics, and book by Lin-Manuel Miranda. The recording stars Lin-Manuel Miranda, Leslie Odom Jr., Phillipa Soo, Renée Elise Goldsberry, Christopher Jackson, Daveed Diggs, Anthony Ramos, Okieriete Onaodowan, Jasmine Cephas Jones, and Jonathan Groff. The ensemble features Jon Rua, Thayne Jasperson, Sydney James Harcourt, Ephraim Sykes, Ariana DeBose, and Sasha Hutchings. The musicians on the album are Alex Lacamoire, Kurt Crowley, Andres Forero, Robin Macatangay, Richard Hammond, Benny Reiner, Jonathan Dinklage, Erin Benim Mayland, Anja Wood, Mario Gotoh, and Laura Sherman. It achieved the largest first week sales for a digital cast album and is the highest-charting cast album since 1963.[1] It was the highest-selling Broadway cast album of 2015 and peaked at number one on the Rap Albums chart, the first cast album to ever do so.[2] After being certified Diamond by the RIAA in 2023, Hamilton became the best-selling cast album of all time. It is also considered one of the best ever musicals.

Commercial performance

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The cast album for the musical premiered in September 2015 on NPR's website.[3] Its digital release on September 25, 2015, debuted on numerous charts and was released in stores as a two-disc set on October 16, 2015. It debuted at number one on the Top Broadway Albums chart, as well as number 3 on Top Rap Albums.[1] Hamilton's debut was the second-biggest first week sales of a Broadway cast album, just behind the cast album for the musical Rent. It debuted at number 12 on the overall Billboard 200 chart for sales, with over 2.1 million streams combined from digital service providers, the largest streaming debut for a cast album ever.[1] Following the 70th Tony Awards in 2016, the album re-peaked at number 3 on the Billboard 200 chart, making it one of only three cast recordings to reach the top 10 in the last 50 years.[4] The album reached a new peak of number two in July 2020, following the release of the live stage film of the Broadway production on July 3, 2020. This made Hamilton the highest charting cast album since Hair in 1969. This peak also came on the album's 250th consecutive week on the Billboard 200.[5]

The album was the highest-selling Broadway cast album of 2015 and peaked at number one on the Top Rap Albums chart, the first cast album to ever do so.[2] It achieved the largest first week sales for a digital cast album and was the highest-charting cast album debut since 1963.[1] It sold 169,000 copies in 2015, and a further 739,000 copies in 2016, making it the fifth best-selling album of 2016.[6] It was certified 6x Multiplatinum by the RIAA on April 4, 2019, making it the best-selling cast recording of all time.[7] That record was extended when the album was certified 7× platinum on September 16, 2020.[7] As of July 2020 the album has sold 1.97 million pure copies.[5] On June 26, 2023, it became the first cast album to receive a Diamond certification.[8]

Critical reception

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Professional ratings
Aggregate scores
SourceRating
Metacritic85/100[9]
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[10]
Billboard[11]
Pitchfork6.9/10[12]
Rolling Stone[13]
ViceA[14]

Hamilton was met with critical acclaim. Billboard called the album an "eye-popping debut", giving it a 5-out-of-5 star review and listing it at number 2 on the magazine's 50 Best Albums of 2015.[11] Rolling Stone gave it a 4.5-out-of-5 star rating, listing it at number 8 on the magazine's Top 50 Albums of 2015.[13][15] Robert Christgau wrote in Vice, "I can attest that the intrinsic intellectual interest [Lin-Manuel Miranda] powers up here is so impressive it's exciting".[14]

Track listing

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All tracks are written by Lin-Manuel Miranda

Act One
No.TitlePerformer(s)Length
1."Alexander Hamilton"3:56
2."Aaron Burr, Sir"
  • Miranda
  • Odom Jr.
  • Ramos
  • Diggs
  • Onaodowan
2:36
3."My Shot"
  • Miranda
  • Ramos
  • Diggs
  • Onaodowan
  • Odom Jr.
  • Cast
5:33
4."The Story of Tonight"
  • Miranda
  • Ramos
  • Onaodowan
  • Diggs
  • Cast
1:31
5."The Schuyler Sisters"3:06
6."Farmer Refuted"
  • Thayne Jasperson
  • Miranda
  • Cast
1:52
7."You'll Be Back"3:28
8."Right Hand Man"
  • Jackson
  • Miranda
  • Odom Jr.
  • Cast
5:21
9."A Winter's Ball"
  • Odom Jr.
  • Miranda
  • Cast
1:09
10."Helpless"
  • Soo
  • Cast
4:09
11."Satisfied"
  • Goldsberry
  • Cast
5:29
12."The Story of Tonight (Reprise)"
  • Ramos
  • Onaodowan
  • Diggs
  • Miranda
  • Odom Jr.
1:55
13."Wait for It"
  • Odom Jr.
  • Cast
3:13
14."Stay Alive"Cast2:39
15."Ten Duel Commandments"
1:46
16."Meet Me Inside"
  • Miranda
  • Odom Jr.
  • Ramos
  • Jackson
  • Cast
1:23
17."That Would Be Enough"
  • Soo
  • Miranda
2:58
18."Guns and Ships"
  • Odom Jr.
  • Diggs
  • Jackson
  • Cast
2:07
19."History Has Its Eyes On You"
  • Jackson
  • Miranda
  • Cast
1:37
20."Yorktown (The World Turned Upside Down)"Cast4:02
21."What Comes Next?"Groff1:39
22."Dear Theodosia"
  • Odom Jr.
  • Miranda
3:04
23."Non-Stop"
  • Odom Jr.
  • Miranda
  • Goldsberry
  • Soo
  • Jackson
  • Cast
6:25
Total length:70:58
Act Two
No.TitlePerformer(s)Length
1."What'd I Miss"
  • Diggs
  • Odom Jr.
  • Onaodowan
  • Cast
3:56
2."Cabinet Battle #1"
  • Jackson
  • Diggs
  • Miranda
  • Onaodowan
3:35
3."Take a Break"
  • Soo
  • Ramos
  • Miranda
  • Goldsberry
4:46
4."Say No to This"
  • Cephas-Jones
  • Odom Jr.
  • Miranda
  • Sydney James Harcourt
  • Cast
4:02
5."The Room Where It Happens"
  • Odom Jr.
  • Miranda
  • Diggs
  • Onaodowan
  • Cast
5:18
6."Schuyler Defeated"
  • Ramos
  • Soo
  • Miranda
  • Odom Jr.
1:03
7."Cabinet Battle #2"
  • Jackson
  • Diggs
  • Miranda
  • Onaodowan
2:22
8."Washington On Your Side"
  • Odom Jr.
  • Diggs
  • Onaodowan
  • Cast
3:01
9."One Last Time"
  • Jackson
  • Miranda
  • Cast
4:56
10."I Know Him"Groff1:37
11."The Adams Administration"Cast0:54
12."We Know"
  • Miranda
  • Diggs
  • Odom Jr.
  • Onaodowan
2:22
13."Hurricane"
  • Miranda
  • Cast
2:23
14."The Reynolds Pamphlet"Cast2:08
15."Burn"Soo3:45
16."Blow Us All Away"
2:53
17."Stay Alive (Reprise)"
  • Miranda
  • Ramos
  • Soo
  • Cast
1:51
18."It's Quiet Uptown"
  • Goldsberry
  • Miranda
  • Soo
  • Cast
4:30
19."The Election of 1800"
  • Diggs
  • Onaodowan
  • Odom Jr.
  • Miranda
  • Cast
3:57
20."Your Obedient Servant"
  • Odom Jr.
  • Miranda
  • Cast
2:30
21."Best of Wives and Best of Women"
  • Soo
  • Miranda
0:47
22."The World Was Wide Enough"
  • Odom Jr.
  • Miranda
  • Cast
5:02
23."Who Lives, Who Dies, Who Tells Your Story"Cast3:37
Total length:71:15 2:22:13

Interpolations

Notes

  • Lin-Manuel Miranda made a conscious decision to exclude one scene in the performance from the cast album, "Tomorrow There'll Be More of Us", also known as Laurens' Interlude.[16]

Personnel

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Charts

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Certifications

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Certifications for Hamilton
Region Certification Certified units/sales
Australia (ARIA)[56] Platinum 70,000
Denmark (IFPI Danmark)[57] Platinum 20,000
New Zealand (RMNZ)[58] Platinum 15,000
United Kingdom (BPI)[59] 2× Platinum 600,000
United States (RIAA)[7] Diamond 5,000,000

Sales+streaming figures based on certification alone.

Song certifications

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List of songs, with selected chart positions and available certifications
Title Certifications
"Aaron Burr, Sir"
"Alexander Hamilton"
"A Winter's Ball"
"Best of Wives and Best of Women"
"Blow Us All Away"
"Burn"
"Cabinet Battle #1"
"Cabinet Battle #2"
"Dear Theodosia"
"Election of 1800"
"Farmer Refuted"
"Guns and Ships"
"Helpless"
"History Has Its Eyes On You"
"Hurricane"
"I Know Him"
"It's Quiet Uptown"
"Meet Me Inside"
"My Shot"
"Non-Stop"
"One Last Time"
"Right Hand Man"
"Satisfied"
"Say No to This"
"Schuyler Defeated"
"Stay Alive"
"Take a Break"
"Ten Duel Commandments"
"That Would Be Enough"
"The Adams Administration"
"The Reynolds Pamphlet"
"The Room Where It Happens"
"The Schuyler Sisters"
  • RIAA: 2× Platinum[60]
"The Story of Tonight"
"The Story of Tonight (Reprise)"
"Wait For It"
"Washington on Your Side"
"We Know"
"What Comes Next?"
"What'd I Miss"
"Who Lives, Who Dies, Who Tells Your Story"
"Yorktown (The World Turned Upside Down)"
"You'll Be Back"
"Your Obedient Servant"

Awards

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Year Award type Categories Results
2016 Grammy Award Best Musical Theater Album[64] Won
NAACP Image Award Outstanding Duo, Group, or Collaboration[65] Nominated
2017 Billboard Music Award Billboard Music Award for Top Soundtrack/Cast Album[66] Won

References

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  2. ^ a b Estevez, Marjua (November 18, 2015). "Hamilton Broadway Album Tops Billboard Rap Chart". Vibe. Archived from the original on January 23, 2016. Retrieved January 20, 2016.
  3. ^ Jekket, Frannie (September 21, 2015). "Review: Cast Recording, 'Hamilton'". NPR Music. Archived from the original on January 20, 2016. Retrieved January 20, 2016.
  4. ^ Caulfield, Keith (June 19, 2016). "'Hamilton' Cast Album Races to No. 3 on Billboard 200 Chart After Tony Awards". Billboard. Archived from the original on June 21, 2016. Retrieved June 19, 2016.
  5. ^ a b Caulfield, Keith (July 12, 2020). "Pop Smoke's 'Shoot for the Stars Aim for the Moon' Debuts at No. 1 on Billboard 200 Albums Chart". Billboard. Retrieved July 19, 2020.
  6. ^ Caulfield, Keith (February 15, 2018). "'Hamilton' Surpasses Jersey Boys'". Billboard. Retrieved June 2, 2018.
  7. ^ a b c "American album certifications – Various Artists – Hamilton (Original Broadway Cast Recording)". Recording Industry Association of America. Retrieved June 23, 2023.
  8. ^ Culwell, Logan (June 26, 2023). "Hamilton Broadway Album 1st Cast Recording to Be Certified Diamond by RIAA". Playbill. Retrieved October 1, 2023.
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