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| rev1 = [[Allmusic]]
| rev1 = [[Allmusic]]
| rev1Score = {{Rating|4|5}}<ref name="Allmusic"/>
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| rev2 = [[BBC Music]]
| rev2 = [http://bitbitbite.com bitbitbite]
| rev2Score = (fairly negative)<ref name="BBC"/>
| rev2Score = (fairly negative)<ref name="BBB"/>
| rev3 = ''[[Daily Express]]''
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| rev3Score = (3/5)<ref name="Daily Express"/>
| rev3Score = (3/5)<ref name="Daily Express"/>

Revision as of 22:57, 15 November 2010

Untitled

The Spell is the second studio album by Danish pop group Alphabeat. It was released in Denmark on 26 October 2009 by Copenhagen Records. Alphabeat stated their second album has moved away from the pop roots of their debut album, Alphabeat, in favour of popular dance acts of the 1990s such as Snap! and Black Box.[2][3] Lead single "The Spell" uses keyboard chords very similar to Cut 'N' Move's 1991 classic "Get Serious", with band member Anders SG saying the song was especially inspired by Black Box's 1990 song "I Don't Know Anybody Else".[3][4]

The album was originally set to be released in the United Kingdom one week after the original Danish release,[2][3] but was eventually released on 1 March 2010, followed by the second single, "Hole in My Heart".[4] As announced by the band through their Facebook page on 27 January 2010,[5] UK and international pressings of the album were retitled The Beat Is... including the bonus track "Till I Get Round".

Singles

  • "The Spell" is the lead single from the album. It made the top spot in Denmark, while becoming a top twenty hit in Belgium, Netherlands and the United Kingdom.
  • "Hole in My Heart" is the album's second single. Released in the UK on 22 February 2010, the single peaked at twenty-nine on the UK Singles Chart.
  • "DJ" is the album's third single overall. Released in Denmark as the album's second single, the track peaked at nine in Denmark. For the UK release, the single was remixed by Biffco and promoted as "DJ (I Could Be Dancing)". It failed to chart within the UK top 100.
  • "Heat Wave" is overall the album's fourth single, released in Denmark on 21 June 2010. The video for the track was released on 11 August 2010.[6]

Critical reception

Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
Allmusic[7]
bitbitbite(fairly negative)[8]
Daily Express(3/5)[9]
Drowned in Sound(1/10)[10]
entertainment.ie[11]
The Guardian[12]
musicOMH[13]
NME(5/10)[14]
The Observer(positive)[15]
The Times[16]

The album received mixed reviews from music critics, based on an aggregate score of 58 out of 100 from Metacritic.[17] K. Ross Hoffman of Allmusic deemed it "an even glossier, more unabashedly poptastic affair than their first album. Continuing in the overtly dancy direction signaled by the tracks added to their debut's re-release (in particular 'Touch Me Touching You') and the popular Pete Hammond remix of 'Boyfriend,' and slightly updating the band's oh-so-'80s touchstones, Beat takes its cues from turn of the '90s club music: Hi-NRG, Euro-beat, hip-house, and the Scandinavian synth-reggae of Ace of Base."[7] Hugh Montgomery wrote for The Observer that the album finds the group "appropriating the handbag house sound that was the cornerstone of provincial clubs circa 1995. Thus jittery piano riffs and hands-in-the-air breakdowns abound, while singer Stine hollers dancefloor doggerel."[15] Simon Gage from Daily Express described the songs as "chirpy and silly with witty lyrics", while calling the music itself "Euro-nonsense at its finest."[9] The Guardian's Michael Hann, however, believed that "[t]he glee that infused that first album has been swamped by endless staccato synth or piano riffs, all of which sound like a score of minor hits from a generation ago."[12] Mike Diver of BBC Music agreed, stating: "With its makers performing like they'd rather be elsewhere, compositions finalised by playing percentages rather than the passion that fuelled their debut, The Beat Is… represents a nadir for a group once heralded as purveyors of the very brightest pop."[18] Stephen Kelly of the NME commented that "Alphabeat have bravely stripped away all the bubblegum that originally made them popular in favour of the Euro-dance years of the late-'80s/early-'90s. The result is stronger than you might think, but too inconsistent and devoid of depth to stand out on a battlefield where Gaga rules all."[14]

The Times' Peter Paphides opined that "their second album varies the tempo and tone without sacrificing the joyful execution. The ultra-catchy single, The Spell, is an apt microcosm of a whole that peaks with the Italo-house urgency of 365 Degrees. But, if Chess' resemblance to Ace of Base strikes you as a bad thing, the rest may not appeal to you either."[16] Michael Cragg of musicOMH noted that "[t]hings start promisingly, [...] with the first four songs zipping by in a blaze of joyfully cheesy beats (The Spell), '90s rave piano (Hole In My Heart) and neat vocal interplay between singers Anders SG and Stine Bramsen (DJ)", but felt that the remainder of the album "lacks any sparkle or panache, with the band falling foul of a very current musical disease; the Auto-Tune obsession."[13] Lauren Murphy from entertainment.ie concluded that "Alphabeat may have lost some of their magic, but they admittedly make reparations with the damned catchy 'Heat Wave' and 'The Right Thing', two of the peppiest tunes on offer here. Unfortunately, it's not quite enough to prevent this album from being something of an anticlimax. A highly stylised one, sure – but a disappointment, nonetheless."[11] Aaron Lavery was emphatic in his review for Drowned in Sound, referring to the album as "an absolute abomination of a record", as well as saying: "Gone is any sense of personality or charm that Alphabeat once had, to be replaced by masses of Autotuned vocals, processed beats and batteries of keyboard sounds that haven't been aired since Ace Of Base and 2Unlimited ruled the waves."[10]

Track listing

The Spell (Danish release)

  1. "The Spell" (Anders SG, Anders B) – 3:37
  2. "DJ" (B) – 3:28
  3. "Hole in My Heart" (SG) – 4:08
  4. "The Beat Is" (B, Stine Bramsen, Troels Hansen, Rasmus Nagel) – 3:21
  5. "Heatwave" (B, Mike Spencer) – 3:47
  6. "Chess" (SG, B, Bramsen, Jonas Quant, Richard "Biff" Stannard) – 3:33
  7. "Heart Failure" (B) – 3:33
  8. "Always Up with You" (SG) – 3:38
  9. "Q&A" (SG, B, Bramsen, Steve Robson) – 4:06
  10. "The Right Thing" (SG, B) – 4:11
iTunes bonus tracks[19]
  2. "The Spell" (Buzz Junkies Remix) – 3:27
  3. "The Spell" (Digital Dog Remix) – 2:49

The Beat Is... (international release)

  1. "The Beat Is" – 3:21
  2. "The Spell" – 3:37
  3. "DJ" – 3:28
  4. "Hole in My Heart" – 4:08
  5. "Chess" – 3:33
  6. "Heart Failure" – 3:33
  7. "Heat Wave" – 3:47
  8. "Always Up with You" – 3:38
  9. "Q & A" – 4:06
  10. "The Right Thing" – 4:11
  11. "Till I Get Round" (B) – 3:27
iTunes bonus tracks[20]
  2. "365 Degrees" – 3:10
  3. "The Spell" (Video) – 3:44
  4. "Hole in My Heart" (Video) – 3:36
Amazon.co.uk pre-order bonus track[21]
  2. "Telephone"/"Bad Romance" – 4:25
Play.com pre-order bonus track
  2. "Ain't Nobody" – 3:06

Charts

References

  1. ^ "Heat Wave (Edit) – Single by Alphabeat". Danish iTunes Store (in Danish). Apple Inc. Retrieved 22 June 2010. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |work= (help)
  2. ^ a b "Alphabeat to release second album". Newsbeat. BBC Online. 21 August 2009. Retrieved 21 August 2009.
  3. ^ a b c Balls, David (24 September 2009). "Alphabeat LP 'influenced by '90s dance'". Digital Spy. Retrieved 24 September 2009.
  4. ^ a b "Single & Album News". Facebook. 17 November 2009. Retrieved 17 November 2009.
  5. ^ "Album Name Change – "THE BEAT IS…"". Facebook. 27 January 2010. Retrieved 31 January 2010.
  6. ^ http://www.thisisalphabeat.com/news.php?item=203
  7. ^ a b K. Ross, Hoffman. "The Beat Is... – Alphabeat – Review". Allmusic. Rovi Corporation. Retrieved 6 August 2010. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |work= (help)
  8. ^ Cite error: The named reference BBB was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  9. ^ a b Gage, Simon (26 February 2010). "Alphabeat: The Beat Is review". Daily Express. Northern & Shell Media Publications. Retrieved 6 August 2010.
  10. ^ a b Lavery, Aaron (1 March 2010). "Alphabeat – The Beat Is". Drowned in Sound. Retrieved 6 August 2010.
  11. ^ a b Murphy, Lauren (2 March 2010). "Alphabeat – The Beat Is..." entertainment.ie. Retrieved 6 August 2010.
  12. ^ a b Hann, Michael (25 February 2010). "Alphabeat: The Beat Is …". The Guardian. guardian.co.uk. Retrieved 6 August 2010.
  13. ^ a b Cragg, Michael. "Alphabeat – The Beat Is..." musicOMH. Retrieved 6 August 2010.
  14. ^ a b Kelly, Stephen (5 March 2010). "Album Review: Alphabeat – 'The Beat Is...' (Polydor)". NME. IPC Media. Retrieved 6 August 2010.
  15. ^ a b Montgomery, Hugh (28 February 2010). "Alphabeat: The Beat Is…". The Observer. guardian.co.uk. Retrieved 6 August 2010.
  16. ^ a b Paphides, Peter (27 February 2010). "Alphabeat: The Beat is . . ". The Times. Times Newspapers Ltd. Retrieved 6 August 2010.
  17. ^ "The Beat Is... – Alphabeat". Metacritic. CBS Interactive Inc. Retrieved 8 July 2010. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |work= (help)
  18. ^ Diver, Mike (2 March 2010). "Review of Alphabeat – The Beat Is..." BBC Music. BBC Online. Retrieved 6 August 2010. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |work= (help)
  19. ^ "The Spell (Bonus Track Version) by Alphabeat". iTunes Store Denmark (in Danish). Apple Inc. Retrieved 5 August 2010. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |work= (help)
  20. ^ "The Beat Is... by Alphabeat". iTunes Store UK. Apple Inc. Retrieved 5 August 2010. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |work= (help)
  21. ^ "Re that Alphabeat/Lady Gaga cover we had as Song Of The Day the day before yesterday". Popjustice. 10 February 2010. Retrieved 10 February 2010.
  22. ^ a b "danishcharts.com – Alphabeat – The Spell". Hung Medien. Retrieved 5 August 2010.
  23. ^ "Chart Stats – Alphabeat – The Beat Is". The Official Charts Company. Chart Stats. Retrieved 5 August 2010. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |work= (help)
  24. ^ "IFPI Denmark – Guld og platin 2009". International Federation of the Phonographic Industry (in Danish). 15 December 2009. Retrieved 5 August 2010. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |work= (help)
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