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This Is the Life (Amy Macdonald album)

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Untitled
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[1]
BBC(favourable)[2]
Blender[3]
Insiders' Guides(8/10)[4]
Los Angeles Times[5]
The Epoch Times(positive)[6]
The Guardian[7]
The Independent[8]
TimesOnline[9]
Yahoo! Music[10]

This Is the Life is the debut studio album by Scottish singer-songwriter Amy Macdonald, released on 30 July 2007. It reached number one on the UK Albums Chart on 13 January 2008[11] and sold over 900,000 copies in the UK as of February 2017,[12] awarding the album a certification of 3× Platinum.

Singles and other tracks

The first single from the album was "Poison Prince", a limited online release, while the debut first full single was the successful "Mr Rock & Roll", which debuted at number 12. The following singles "L.A." and "This Is the Life" were considerably less successful in the UK, although "This Is the Life" is considered her most successful song in the rest of Europe, where it peaked at number 1 in Belgium and the Netherlands, number 2 in Switzerland, number 3 in Spain, number 6 in Norway and number 8 in Denmark. It peaked at number 28 in the UK, spending 17 weeks in the top 75. After fifth single "Run", the sixth release from the album was a re-release of "Poison Prince" on 19 May 2008.[13]

Three songs of the album are cover versions: "Caledonia", originally recorded in 1979 by Dougie MacLean, "Fairytale of New York", first performed in 1987 by The Pogues and Kirsty MacColl, written by Jem Finer and Shane MacGowan, and "Mr. Brightside", cover version of a 2004 song by The Killers, written by Brandon Flowers and Dave Keuning.

Singles chronology
United Kingdom
Europe
  • "Mr Rock & Roll" (5 August 2008)
  • "This Is the Life"
  • "Run" (20 February 2009)
  • "Poison Prince" (19 June 2009)
Poland
  • "Poison Prince"
  • "This Is the Life"
  • "Mr Rock & Roll"
Canada and US
  • "Mr Rock & Roll" (5 August 2008)

Chart performance

The album was particularly successful in Germany, spending 57 weeks in the top 20 of the German Albums Chart, 36 weeks in the top 10 of the German albums chart and a total of 100 weeks on the entire chart;[14] it has been certified 9× Gold (February 2011) for over 900,000 copies sold in the country.[15] It also spent 57 weeks in the Dutch albums chart and 53 weeks in the Swiss albums chart.

It has also been certified Gold in Sweden. It has been certified Platinum in France for over 220,000 copies sold.[16] The album was released in the US on 19 August 2008.[17]

Track listings

All tracks were written by Amy Macdonald except where shown.

Standard edition

No.TitleLength
1."Mr Rock & Roll"3:35
2."This Is the Life"3:05
3."Poison Prince"3:28
4."Youth of Today"4:00
5."Run"3:50
6."Let's Start a Band"4:05
7."Barrowland Ballroom"3:58
8."L.A." (written by Amy Macdonald and Pete Wilkinson)4:06
9."A Wish for Something More"3:46
10."Footballer's Wife"5:06
International bonus tracks
No.TitleLength
11."The Road to Home"2:20
12."Caledonia" (hidden track, written by Dougie MacLean)2:00
French and Japanese bonus tracks
No.TitleLength
11."The Road to Home"2:20
12."Caledonia" (hidden track, written by Dougie MacLean)2:00
13."Mr. Brightside" (live from King Tuts)4:14
14."Mr Rock & Roll" (live from King Tuts)3:28
15."Rock Bottom"3:45

Deluxe edition

After the major success of "This Is the Life" across Europe, near the end of 2008 a deluxe version of the album was released. The two-disc set include the standard version of the album and a bonus CD with several bonus tracks, live and acoustic versions.

CD 1
No.TitleLength
1."Mr Rock & Roll"3:35
2."This Is the Life"3:05
3."Poison Prince"3:28
4."Youth of Today"4:00
5."Run"3:50
6."Let's Start a Band"4:05
7."Barrowland Ballroom"3:58
8."L.A." (written by Amy Macdonald and Pete Wilkinson)4:06
9."A Wish for Something More"3:46
10."Footballer's Wife"5:06
CD 2
No.TitleLength
1."This Is the Life" (acoustic live version)3:19
2."This Much Is True"2:44
3."Somebody New"3:29
4."Footballer's Wife" (live from Glasgow Barrowlands)5:02
5."Fairy Tale of New York" (live from Glasgow Barrowlands, originally performed by The Pogues & Kirsty MacColl)5:50
6."Mr. Brightside" (live from Glasgow Barrowlands, originally performed by The Killers)4:05
7."Mr Rock & Roll" (live from Glasgow Barrowlands)3:28
8."Rock Bottom"3:46
9."The Road to Home"2:21
10."Caledonia" (hidden track)2:06
Digital release[18]
No.TitleLength
11."What Is Love"3:42

Personnel

  • Amy Macdonald - vocals, acoustic guitar
  • Pete Wilkinson - producer, manager
  • Seton Daunt - guitar
  • Jolyon Dixon - guitar, mixing
  • Jamie Sefton - bass
  • Adam Falkner - drums, percussion
  • Johnny Dyke - keyboards
  • Phillip Read Mason - bagpipes
  • Audrey Riley - cello, conductor
  • Richard George - violin
  • Jonathan Hill - violin
  • Laura Melhuish - violin
  • Susan Dench - viola
  • Joe Fields - engineer
  • Paul Adam & His Mayfair Music - executive producer
  • Guy Katsav - assistant engineer
  • Danton Supple and Bob Clearmountain - mixing
  • Valerie Phillips - cover design, photography

Charts and certifications

Year-end charts

Chart (2008) Position
Austrian Albums Chart[52] 13
German Albums Chart[53] 8
Chart (2009) Position
German Albums Chart[54] 10
Swiss Albums Chart[55] 18

References

  1. ^ This Is the Life at AllMusic
  2. ^ "Music - Review of Amy MacDonald - This Is The Life". BBC. Retrieved 12 March 2012.
  3. ^ [1] Archived 6 October 2008 at the Wayback Machine
  4. ^ [2] Archived 13 May 2008 at the Wayback Machine
  5. ^ "New CDs: Staind, Amy Macdonald". Los Angeles Times. 19 August 2008.
  6. ^ "Music Review: Amy MacDonald—'This Is The Life' | Music | Arts & Entertainment | Epoch Times". En.epochtimes.com. Archived from the original on 10 September 2008. Retrieved 2012-03-12. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
  7. ^ Sullivan, Caroline (27 July 2007). "CD: Amy Macdonald, This Is the Life". The Guardian. London.
  8. ^ [3] Archived 1 August 2009 at the Wayback Machine
  9. ^ Bremner, Charles. "Amy Macdonald : This Is The Life". The Times. London.
  10. ^  22 mins ago (20 April 2011). "Yahoo! UK & Ireland omg! - Celebrity Gossip | News | Photos | Videos". Uk.launch.yahoo.com. Retrieved 12 March 2012.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  11. ^ "Macdonald tops the UK album chart". bbc.co.uk. 13 January 2008. Retrieved 4 June 2008.
  12. ^ Gumble, Daniel (24 February 2017). "Official Charts Analysis: Rag'N'Bone Man holds top spot on albums chart". Music Week. Intent Media. Retrieved 25 February 2017. {{cite news}}: Unknown parameter |subscription= ignored (|url-access= suggested) (help)
  13. ^ "Footballer's wife? Not me says Amy Macdonald". edinburghnews.scotsman.com. 9 May 2008. Retrieved 3 June 2008.
  14. ^ "Die ganze Musik im Internet:". musicline.de. Retrieved 12 March 2012.
  15. ^ "Gold-/Platin-Datenbank ('This+Is+the+Life')" (in German). Bundesverband Musikindustrie.
  16. ^ "Les Tops" (in French). Chartsinfrance.net. Retrieved 26 July 2013.
  17. ^ "This Is The Life". amazon.com. Retrieved 4 June 2008.
  18. ^ "iTunes - Musik – "This is The Life" von Amy Macdonald". Itunes.apple.com. 30 July 2007. Retrieved 12 March 2012.[permanent dead link]
  19. ^ "Australiancharts.com – Amy Macdonald – This Is the Life". Hung Medien.
  20. ^ "Ultratop.be – Amy Macdonald – This Is the Life" (in Dutch). Hung Medien.
  21. ^ "Ultratop.be – Amy Macdonald – This Is the Life" (in French). Hung Medien.
  22. ^ "Danishcharts.dk – Amy Macdonald – This Is the Life". Hung Medien.
  23. ^ "Dutchcharts.nl – Amy Macdonald – This Is the Life" (in Dutch). Hung Medien.
  24. ^ "Lescharts.com – Amy Macdonald – This Is the Life". Hung Medien.
  25. ^ "GFK Chart-Track Albums: Week 24, 2007". Chart-Track. IRMA.
  26. ^ "Italiancharts.com – Amy Macdonald – This Is the Life". Hung Medien.
  27. ^ "Amy Macdonald - This Is The Life, in various albums charts". Acharts. Retrieved 11 July 2009. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  28. ^ "Norwegiancharts.com – Amy Macdonald – This Is the Life". Hung Medien.
  29. ^ "Polish Albums Chart". OLiS. Archived from the original on 24 April 2009. Retrieved 11 July 2009.
  30. ^ "Portuguesecharts.com – Amy Macdonald – This Is the Life". Hung Medien.
  31. ^ "Official Scottish Albums Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company.
  32. ^ "Spanishcharts.com – Amy Macdonald – This Is the Life". Hung Medien.
  33. ^ "Swedishcharts.com – Amy Macdonald – This Is the Life". Hung Medien.
  34. ^ "Swisscharts.com – Amy Macdonald – This Is the Life". Hung Medien.
  35. ^ "Official Albums Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company.
  36. ^ "Amy Macdonald Chart History (Billboard 200)". Billboard.
  37. ^ "Austrian album certifications – Amy Macdonald – This Is the Life" (in German). IFPI Austria.
  38. ^ "Ultratop − Goud en Platina – albums 2008". Ultratop. Hung Medien.
  39. ^ "Danish album certifications – Amy Macdonald – This Is the Life". IFPI Danmark.
  40. ^ "French album certifications – Amy Macdonald – This Is the Life" (in French). Syndicat National de l'Édition Phonographique.
  41. ^ "Gold-/Platin-Datenbank (Amy Macdonald; 'This Is the Life')" (in German). Bundesverband Musikindustrie.
  42. ^ "Ελληνικό Chart – Top 50 Ξένων Aλμπουμ" (in Greek). IFPI Greece.
  43. ^ "Italian album certifications – Amy Macdonald – This Is the Life" (in Italian). Federazione Industria Musicale Italiana. Select "Tutti gli anni" in the "Anno" drop-down menu. Select "This Is the Life" in the "Filtra" field. Select "Album e Compilation" under "Sezione".
  44. ^ "Amy MacDonald komt naar Heineken Music Hall". Trouw (in Dutch). 27 August 2008. Retrieved 18 January 2013.
  45. ^ Expression error: Unexpected <= operator
  46. ^ "Russian album certifications – Amy Macdonald – This Is the Life" (in Russian). National Federation of Phonogram Producers (NFPF).
  47. ^ "Spanish album certifications – Amy Macdonald – This Is the Life". El portal de Música. Productores de Música de España.
  48. ^ "Guld- och Platinacertifikat − År 2008" (PDF) (in Swedish). IFPI Sweden. Archived from the original (PDF) on 17 May 2011.
  49. ^ "The Official Swiss Charts and Music Community: Awards ('This Is the Life')". IFPI Switzerland. Hung Medien.
  50. ^ "British album certifications – Amy Macdonald – This Is the Life". British Phonographic Industry. Select albums in the Format field. Select Platinum in the Certification field. Type This Is the Life in the "Search BPI Awards" field and then press Enter.
  51. ^ "IFPI Platinum Europe Awards – 2008". International Federation of the Phonographic Industry.
  52. ^ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 28 August 2013. Retrieved 2013-10-31. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  53. ^ https://web.archive.org/web/20080610050653/http://www.mtv.de/charts/Album_Jahrescharts_2007. Archived from the original on 10 June 2008. Retrieved 13 June 2014. {{cite web}}: Missing or empty |title= (help); Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
  54. ^ [4][dead link]
  55. ^ "Swiss Year-End Charts 2009". Media Control. Hung Medien. Archived from the original on 2 October 2011. Retrieved 6 February 2009. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |work= (help); Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)

External links

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