Piece by Piece (Katie Melua album)
| Untitled | |
|---|---|
| Review scores | |
|---|---|
| Source | Rating |
| AllMusic |   [1] |
| Rolling Stone | [2] |
Piece by Piece is the second studio album by British-Georgian jazz and blues singer Katie Melua. It was released on 26 September 2005 by Dramatico Records. In the United Kingdom, the album debuted at #1 with 120,459 copies sold in its first week.[3]
Its first single, "Nine Million Bicycles", became Melua's first top five hit in the UK and caused controversy when science writer Simon Singh said the lyrics "demonstrates a deep ignorance of cosmology and no understanding of the scientific method". After an amusing and good-natured debate in the Press Melua eventually recorded Singh's version, which both agreed was scientifically accurate and musically pathetic.[4]
The second single was a double A-side comprising "I Cried for You" and a cover of The Cure's "Just Like Heaven". The former song was written after Melua met the writer of The Holy Blood and the Holy Grail and is about Jesus and Mary Magdalene, while the latter was recorded for the soundtrack to the film Just Like Heaven. The single peaked outside the UK top twenty, and the album's third single, "Spider's Web" (which Melua wrote when she was eighteen, during the Iraq War) did not reach the top forty.
Melua wrote the title song "Piece By Piece" after she broke up with her boyfriend Luke Pritchard, and "Half Way up the Hindu Kush" was written by Katie and Mike Batt as a joke playing on the innuendo implicit in the title phrase, which cropped up in a conversation about scarves on a train journey. Katie wrote the chorus and Mike the verses. Alongside covers of "Blues in the Night" and Canned Heat's "On the Road Again", the album includes "Thank you, Stars", which was previously released as a B-side on Melua's debut single "The Closest Thing To Crazy" in 2003.
The album was re-released in 2006, as Piece by Piece: Special Bonus Edition, with three additional tracks and a bonus DVD with concert Moment by Moment and promo videos.
Track listing
| No. | Title | Writer(s) | Length |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Shy Boy" | Mike Batt | 3:22 |
| 2. | "Nine Million Bicycles" | Batt | 3:15 |
| 3. | "Piece by Piece" | Katie Melua | 3:24 |
| 4. | "Halfway Up the Hindu Kush" |
| 3:06 |
| 5. | "Blues in the Night" | 4:12 | |
| 6. | "Spider's Web" | Melua | 3:58 |
| 7. | "Blue Shoes" | Batt | 4:39 |
| 8. | "On The Road Again" | 4:38 | |
| 9. | "Thankyou, Stars" | Batt | 3:39 |
| 10. | "Just Like Heaven" | 3:35 | |
| 11. | "I Cried For You" | Melua | 3:38 |
| 12. | "I Do Believe in Love" | Melua | 3:00 |
| 13. | "It's Only Pain" (Special Bonus Edition track) | Batt | |
| 14. | "Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds" (Acoustic version) (Special Bonus Edition track) | Lennon–McCartney | |
| 15. | "Sometimes When I'm Dreaming" (Special Bonus Edition track) | Batt |
Variants
A special edition for Spanish department store El Corte Inglés had additional tracks - Spanish language versions of "Closest Thing to Crazy" ("Esa Clase de Locura") and "Faraway Voice" (aka "Otra vez tu").
The American release had two extra tracks (but not the Special Bonus edition tracks), "Jack's Room" and "Market Day in Guernica".
Chart and certifications
Weekly charts |
Certifications
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Personnel
- Katie Melua - vocals
- Katie Melua, Chris Spedding, Jim Cregan - guitar
- Mike Batt (Katie Melua on "I Do Believe in Love") - piano
- Tim Harries - bass
- Henry Spinetti - drums
- Dominic Glover - trumpet
- Mike Darcy - violin
- Martin Ditcham, Chris Karan - percussion
- Paul Jones - harmonica ("Blues in the Night")
- Adrian Brett - ethnic flute ("Nine Million Bicycles")
- Peter Knight - mandolin ("Thankyou, Stars")
- Craig Pruess - sitar ("Halfway up the Hindu Kush")
- The Irish Film Orchestra - orchestra; conductor: Mike Batt
Production
- Producer: Mike Batt
- Engineer: Steve Sale
- Arranger: Mike Batt
- Photography: Simon Fowler
References
- ^ AllMusic review
- ^ "Rolling Stone review".
- ^ "Official Chart Analysis: Springsteen album sells 74k, Gotye single shifts another 81k". Music Week. Retrieved 1 October 2014.
- ^ Simon Singh (30 September 2005). "Simon Singh: Katie Melua's bad science | Education". The Guardian. Retrieved 10 January 2014.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n Steffen Hung. "Katie Melua - Piece By Piece". charts.org.nz. Retrieved 5 March 2012.
- ^ "Official Retail Sales Chart - sales for the period 18.09.2006 - 24.09.2006". OLiS. Retrieved 20 September 2013.
- ^ "Austrian album certifications – Katie Melua – Piece by Piece" (in German). IFPI Austria.
- ^ "Ultratop − Goud en Platina – albums 2007". Ultratop. Hung Medien.
- ^ "Danish album certifications – Katie Melua – Piece by Piece". IFPI Danmark. Scroll through the page-list below until year 2007 to obtain certification.
- ^ "Gold-/Platin-Datenbank (Katie Melua; 'Piece by Piece')" (in German). Bundesverband Musikindustrie.
- ^ "The Irish Charts - 2006 Certification Awards - Multi Platinum". Irish Recorded Music Association.
- ^ "Dutch album certifications – Katie Melua – Piece by Piece" (in Dutch). Nederlandse Vereniging van Producenten en Importeurs van beeld- en geluidsdragers. Enter Piece by Piece in the "Artiest of titel" box.
- ^ "New Zealand album certifications – Katie Melua – Piece by Piece". Recorded Music NZ.[dead link]
- ^ "Norwegian album certifications – Katie Melua – Piece by Piece" (in Norwegian). IFPI Norway.
- ^ "Wyróżnienia – Platynowe płyty CD - Archiwum - Przyznane w 2006 roku" (in Polish). Polish Society of the Phonographic Industry.
- ^ "The Official Swiss Charts and Music Community: Awards ('Piece by Piece')". IFPI Switzerland. Hung Medien.
- ^ "British album certifications – Katie Melua – Piece by Piece". British Phonographic Industry. Select albums in the Format field. Select Platinum in the Certification field. Type Piece by Piece in the "Search BPI Awards" field and then press Enter.
- ^ "IFPI Platinum Europe Awards – 2006". International Federation of the Phonographic Industry.