Ultimate Top 10 ‘difficult second albums’ of the last decade in pop

June 23, 2012 in Music with 0 Comments

The second album is notoriously tough, particularly in the fickle industry we know as pop. One minute you’re the country’s favourite newcomer, your singles are played on commercial radio about 204 times a day and your debut album flies off shelves quicker than you can say ‘Gabriella Cilmi’. But then the second album comes around and it all goes to pot.

Anyone remember Duffy’s second album Endlessly? Anyone brave enough to compare sales of Pixie Lott’s 2009 breakthrough Turn It Up with its 2011 sequel Young Foolish Happy? Did anyone even notice Alexandra Burke releasing her second LP a couple of weeks ago?

The follow-up is a death trap, and while many (JLS, Lady GaGa, Beyonce, The Wanted, Olly Murs, Britney Spears, Cheryl Cole etc etc) stay consistent, some come back far, far stronger than before. So today, as it is reported that poor Burkey is cut up about seeing her first-week album sales swan dive 95% and, on the other end of the spectrum, that Justin Bieber is heading for his first simultaneous transatlantic chart-topper, we take a look at the best 10 Second Albums to emerge from the pop world over the last 10-ish years.

10. Joe McElderry – Classic
August 2011, follow-up to 2010′s Wide Awake
Critics were (understandably) unimpressed, but fans were certainly a lot more taken with Joe’s first post-Cowell record than they were with his debut. Classic, released just four months after he was dropped from his SyCo record deal, outsold its X Factor-friendly predecessor within weeks of being released. Unfortunately it didn’t do a great deal for Joe’s reputation as one of the talent show’s least successful winners, but he is currently the only champion from the show’s roster to score three Gold-selling albums, and that wouldn’t have been possible without Classic.

09.  Girls Aloud – What Will The Neighbours Say?
November 2004, follow-up to 2003′s Sound Of The Underground
The excitement around Girls Aloud looked like it was off down the drain very quickly, until producers Xenomania whipped out their A-Game and their second LP paved the way for what was to come over the next four or five years. ‘The Show’ and ‘Love Machine’ were both welcomed warmly by critics and pop music fans, and if it weren’t for this album the band would probably have disbanded a lot sooner. Who knows what Cheryl would be doing now…

08.  Justin Bieber – Believe
June 2012, follow-up to 2010′s My World/My World 2.0
Just how successful this album will turn out to be in the long run remains to be seen, but its opening sales figures are nothing to be scoffed at. Believe has edged ahead of Cheryl Cole’s A Million Lights in the UK midweeks and could become his first ever No. 1 album in this country on Sunday, while in the US Madonna’s record for the best first-week sales of 2012 looks likely to be overtaken. But whether or not Believe has the longevity to out-do My World(s) remains to be seen.

07. Justin Timberlake – FutureSex/LoveSounds
September 2006, follow-up to 2002′s Justified
How do you follow an album that sells 8 million copies worldwide? With one that sells 10 million worldwide, that’s how. FutureSex/LoveSounds gave us a new, edgier Justin – one who has had a lasting influence on Bieber and our very own Conor Maynard, and one who is still missed today. ‘SexyBack’, ‘My Love’ and ‘What Goes Around… Comes Around’ were all global smash hits, and it remains a tragedy that he’s stepped away from hitmaking to focus on his much less interesting film career.

06.  Sugababes – Angels With Dirty Faces
August 2002, follow-up to 2000′s One Touch
Everyone nowadays seems to be wetting themselves over the reunion of the “original” three Sugababes, but lest we forget that very few people really gave two shits about them back in the day. Their album peaked at No.26 and lost them a record deal. But when Siobhan left (claiming Keisha bullied her) and Heidi Range was bought in, things really started to pick up. Led by singles ‘Freak Like Me’, ‘Round Round’ and ‘Stronger’, Angels… went triple platinum and is the band’s top-selling record to date.

05. Will Young – Friday’s Child
December 2003, follow-up to 2002′s From Now On
Following a debut album that he himself probably detests, Will came back in 2003 with a game-changer that paved the way for one of the longest careers in talent show history. Friday’s Child launched with the enormohit ‘Leave Right Now’, and also produced ‘Your Game’, aka Song With The Coolest Video 2004. His more dedicated fans will say that Echoes is his best record to date, but there’s no way that would have even been released were it not for Friday’s Child.

04. Lily Allen – It’s Not Me, It’s You
February 2009, follow-up to 2006′s Alright, Still
Lily made a media-baiting name for herself in 2006 with her first record, but it was 2009′s sequel that cemented her position as one of the country’s best popstars. ‘The Fear’ rocketed to No.1, ‘Not Fair’ became an instant fan favourite, and it remains a (may-as-well-be-a-) criminal offence that ‘I Could Say’ was never given single treatment. Confirmation this week that she’s back in the recording studio with Greg Kurstin is among the best pieces of news EVER.

03. Katy Perry – Teenage Dream
August 2010, follow-up to 2008′s One Of The Boys
One of the most successful second album campaigns in the history of pop, Teenage Dream spawned eight (yes EIGHT) singles that were ALL global hits, and were – mostly – all amazing. ‘Firework’! ‘Teenage Dream’! ‘E.T.’! ‘Last Friday Night’! ‘The One That Got Away’! The album propelled its singer from a slightly whacky newcomer to one of the most famous faces on the planet, and also paved the way for one of the most successful concert tours of all time. Good luck with album 3, Katy…

02. Kelly Clarkson – Breakaway
November 2004, follow-up to 2003′s Thankful
Kelly’s attempts to break the international markets with her debut album fell flat on their face – in the UK for one, Thankful only charted at No. 41. But then came Breakaway. Initially making only a minor smash when the title track was chosen as the lead single in the US, it wasn’t until ‘Since U Been Gone’ hit airwaves that its sales skyrocketed and propelled Kelly to the most famous she has ever been, and ever will be, in her whole career. ‘Behind These Hazel Eyes’, ‘Because Of You’ and ‘Walk Away’ followed in similarly huge fashion, the live version of ‘Beautiful Disaster’ went down a storm, and the album sold 6.2 million units in the US, and 1.6 in the UK.

01. Adele – 21
January 2011, follow-up to 2008′s 19
Who else?! Whether or not you’re sick to the back teeth of hearing about it by now (and understandably so),  21 is one of the best-selling albums of all time. Resonating with so many people in so many places, it only dropped down as low as No12 for the first time a couple of weeks ago (this being after 18 months in the Top 10) and is STILL riding high in the US. Grammys, Brits, world record after world record… Adele admits herself that her third album stands a cat in hell’s chance of matching the success of 21, but to be fair, she’d really have to go some to pull that off.

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Joe McElderry’s new album has a name and release date

June 12, 2012 in Music with 1 Comment

Joe McElderry releases his 495th album on September 17th, it has now been confirmed.

The record, which follows the amazing and underrated Wide Awake, the not-too-bad Classic and the honestly-Joe-this-is-pushing-it Classic Christmas, is out in a few months’ time and has been given the title Here’s What I Believe.

The smiley Geordie has also posted a video message revealing that the LP has been in progress since January – a relatively long process, by his standards – and promised that there’s lots of exciting “content” coming our way in the run-up to the drop date.

The record can now be pre-ordered on Amazon, Play and all the usual places.

We’re assuming that Dappy duet never came to fruition. Lucky escape, everyone. Lucky escape.

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Cheryl Cole knew Joe McElderry was gay before Joe McElderry knew he was gay

June 1, 2012 in Music with 0 Comments

Cheryl Cole is SO perceptive.

The ‘Call My Name’ hitmaker has said in a new interview with Attitude magazine that she was well aware of Joe McElderry’s sexuality before he came out.

She mentored him to victory during the 2009 run of the talent show, and he came out just before his debut album Wide Awake failed to sell enough copies to keep the ink wet on his first recording contract.

Asked if she ‘knew’, Cheryl said:

“Yeah, I think I knew before he did. He didn’t tell me. I had a chat with my boys and I just told them they could tell us whatever they wanted and I was there for them.

“I really don’t know if Joe knew. I had deep conversations with Joe and he never, ever suggested it, and he never said, ‘That guy’s fit’. I think he actually said a girl was one time. But I kinda knew.”

Joe, who has inexplicably let six months pass without releasing an album (not like him at all), is expected to bring out his fourth collection later this year, while Chez brings out A Million Lights on June 18.

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Joe McElderry sings some songs

May 1, 2012 in Music with 1 Comment

Joe McElderry recently performed at charity event Sunday For Sammy at Newcastle City Hall, and two of the performances have been stuck up on his YouTube account.

‘Big River’ and ‘Nessun Dorma’ seem to have the respectfully quiet audience nodding along nicely etc etc get on with your new album please Joe cool thanks.


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American Idol shocker, Rebecca Ferguson abroad, Joe McElderry in the studio and more: It’s this week’s TLTV!

April 14, 2012 in TLTV with 0 Comments

If you’ve missed anything in the poposphere over the past week then you need our 3-minute TLTV round-up.

It’s your essential round-up of all things pop from the last seven days, from Jessica Sanchez’s dramatic near-elimination on American Idol to Emeli Sande’s confirmation as the first guest performer on The Voice.

We also had the exciting news that Joe McElderry is planning his fourth album (and that he wants a duet with the not-so-exciting Dappy), the announcement of Alexandra Burke’s second album title, the chart success of Justin Bieber, Rebecca Ferguson’s international chart invasion, and new videos from Paloma Faith, Jessie J and Lawson. Oh, and a lovely new Diana Vickers cover.

Check it out here:

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Joe McElderry working on fourth album, wants Dappy duet

April 12, 2012 in Music with 0 Comments

Joe McElderry is working on his fourth (yes FOURTH) album at the moment, and the exciting news is that he’s going “back to the roots” of his X Factor days.

Although still unfairly regarded as a bit of a flop by the media, his track record is quite impressive. Dumped by Simon Cowell’s Syco label a year ago after Wide Awake‘s rapid exit from the charts, he went on to win Popstar To Operastar and scored a hugely successful covers album, Classic, which outperformed its predecessor in a matter of weeks. He then released a festive follow-up, Classic Christmas, which peaked inside the Top 20 and made him the first X Factor winner to bag three Gold-certified albums.

This is all great, as Joe is one of the best singers to ever come from the ITV juggernaught, but the downside of course is that Classic and Classic Christmas weren’t particularly interesting. BUT FEAR NOT.

He tells MSN Celebrity:

“I’m really excited. I’ve been in the studio and writing and trying out different songs. I’m just getting everything ready… It’s going back to the roots of what everyone will know from The X Factor. There are some elements to a classic album – some ballads – and I’m hopefully going to be writing some original material for it. It’s going to showcase my voice to its best ability. Ever since the opera training last year on Popstar To Operastar, I’ve learnt so much about my voice. So from now on, I really want to show my vocal off.”

He also wants to duet with, erm, Dappy.

“I’d love to do a rap-pop collaboration, where I don’t change my style of music but I bring in a rapper on board. I think that dynamic would work really well because you wouldn’t put my voice with a rap track. I really like Dappy’s songs. He’s amazing. I also like Chipmunk, Tinchy Stryder and Tinie Tempah, but I really like Dappy. I think he’s really quirky and cool.”

Yeaaaaaah… not too sure about that one, babe.

Stay up-to-date with us on Twitter and Facebook.

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From Steve Brookstein to Little Mix: A brief history of X Factor Christmas singles

December 15, 2011 in Music with 0 Comments

With Little Mix’s ‘Cannonball’ reported to be 80,000 copies ahead of their nearest rivals in this week’s chart race, it seems the 100% strike rate of X Factor winners hitting No. 1 with their coronation hit will remain safe.

But, of course, even though every debut from every winner has gone to the top, it hasn’t always been at Christmas, and some years the sales figures have drastically differed from the preceding or following winner.

LET’S HAVE A LOOK, SHALL WE?

Updated with Little Mix sales

2004: Steve Brookstein – ‘Against All Odds’
Christmas chart position: #2 (climbed to #1 for New Year)
First week sales: 127,701
X Factor first week sales rank: 8th
Actual quality rank: 7th.
In brief: Steve released this Phil Collins cover as his debut, and its performance reflected the decent, but not almighty impact The X Factor had in its first year. Spot Sinitta (FUCK OFF SINITTA!) in the video…

2005: Shayne Ward – ‘That’s My Goal’
Christmas chart position: #1
First week sales:  742,180
X Factor first week sales rank: 1st
Actual quality rank: 1st. A big, cheesy, shamelessly corny classic
In brief: Shayne’s title for most successful X Factor winner’s hit ever will probably remain in tact for ever. It’s the only coronation single from the show to not be a cover.

2006: Leona Lewis – ‘A Moment Like This’
Christmas chart position: #1
First week sales: 571,253
X Factor first week sales rank: 3rd
Actual quality rank: 3rd
In brief: Believe it or not, ratings for Leona’s year are the second-lowest in the show’s 8-year history, which explains the difference in opening sales between ‘A Moment Like This’, originally the debut from a certain Kelly Clarkson when she won American Idol, and Shayne’s effort.

2007: Leon Jackson – ‘When You Believe’
Christmas chart position: #1
First week sales: 275,742
X Factor first week sales rank: 6th
Actual quality rank: 8th. Leon’s no Houston or Carey, bless him… but not for lack of trying…
In brief: This Whitney/Mariah cover was met with a tepid fan reception, and accordingly the song charged to No. 1 with less of a staggering sales tally than the two before it. Unsurprisingly, Leon’s mainstream career didn’t last too long.

2008: Alexandra Burke – ‘Hallelujah’
Christmas chart position: #1
First week sales:  576,046
X Factor first week sales rank: 2nd
Actual quality rank: 2nd. In terms of ‘Hallelujah’ versions, some screamed murder. But it’s one of the most listenable winner’s singles yet.
In brief: Alexandra scored the biggest-selling single of 2008 with just two weeks’ worth of sales, thanks to a strong ratings turnout for the show’s fifth season. The arrival of Cheryl Cole and an onslaught of fresh-faces such as Burke, JLS and Diana Vickers made for an exciting climax and, accordingly, a well received winner’s single.

2009: Joe McElderry – ‘The Climb’
Christmas chart position: #2 (climbed to #1 for New Year)
First week sales: 450,838
X Factor first week sales rank: 4th
Actual quality rank: 5th. Shamelessly Disney, if a little cliché by now.
In brief: Joe put up a good will-he-won’t-he-fight for Xmas No.1 in 2009, but was forced to take the hit from an anti-Cowell campaign from Rage Against The Machine supporters. Still, made for a tense chart battle, and ‘The Climb’ – originally by, uh, Miley Cyrus – managed to become the last No. 1 single of the decade.

2010: Matt Cardle – ‘When We Collide’
Christmas chart position: #1
First week sales: 439,007
X Factor first week sales rank: 5th
Actual quality rank: 4th. Obviously the original tops it, but in its own right it’s pretty decent.
In brief: The sheer amount of copycat RATM campaigns meant Matt had relatively little opposition with his Biffy Clyro cover. Indie purists hated it, but surely the band must have collected a hefty payday from half a million sales of the cover…

2011: Little Mix – ‘Cannonball’
Christmas chart position: Predicted #2, but entered at #1 the week before.
First week sales: 210,000
X Factor first week sales rank: 7th
Actual quality rank: 6th. The girls will be capable of much better in 2012.
In brief: HURRAH! Little Mix release one week before Xmas, meaning we might actually get an interesting old-school Christmas chart battle this year. The girls’ cover of ‘Cannonball’ is bland and uninspiring, carried only by the charm and likeability of the quartet themselves and, of course, Damien Rice’s powerful lyrics.

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Midweek Chart Update: Gary down, Tulisa up, Kelly still M.I.A.

November 30, 2011 in Music with 1 Comment

The X Factor team’s onslaught of new albums have changed somewhat since yesterday, but they started at such polarising ends of the list yesterday that they make little difference.

Gary Barlow’s tour album with Take That, Progress Live, opened in sixth place yesterday but in the last 24 hours has dropped down to No. 10.

Tulisa’s N-Dubz Greatest Hits effort meanwhile has glided into the Top 40, from No. 43 yesterday to No. 35 today.

But, as you can see, there are still miles separating the two.

Kelly Rowland meanwhile is still registering outside the Top 40 with Here I Am. That’ll be embarrassing on Saturday.

In terms of the show’s graduates, Olly is still at No. 1 with In Case You Didn’t Know, and Joe has lost a place on his No. 12 start yesterday, now at No. 13 with Classic Christmas.

No big news over on the singles chart – the X Factor Finalists are continuing their comfy lead with ‘Wishing On A Star’.

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Album Review: Joe McElderry – Classic Christmas

November 24, 2011 in Music, Reviews with 0 Comments

UK Release Date: Monday 28th November 2011

Label: Universal

I’m in a bit of a conundrum here. How do you rate a Christmas album against the same criteria as “proper” pop albums? And Classic Christmas, the third album in thirteen months from Joe McElderry, is not even a Christmas album of the hip-pop Justin Bieber kind, but a very traditional collection with big choirs, a shameless amount of sleigh bells and enough cheese to put Dairylea out of business way into early February.

Truth be told, I’m coming to terms with Joe McElderry The Susan Boyle Style Covers Artist as time goes on and Joe McElderry The Really Good Popstar becomes more and more of a distant memory. But still, it’s not particularly fair on other artists who have put out incredible 2011-defining records (Adele and Coldplay, for example) to put something like Classic Christmas in the same league as them, or anywhere near it. As I said with Classic back in August, it’s not that Joe isn’t a good singer – we all know his voice is incredible, that’s how he comfortably won two talent shows –  it’s just that this, for the most part, is a largely uninspired seize-the-season LP with little to offer beyond short-term Yuletide cheer.

Most of it will appeal almost exclusively the older, more mature listener. ‘Adeste Fideles (O Come All Ye Faithful)’ and ‘O Holy Night’ (complete with children’s choir) are two particular examples, whilst ‘Mary’s Boy Child’, ‘I Believe In Father Christmas’ and ‘Santo Natale’ could have been lifted straight from a Joseph And His Amazing Technicolour Dreamcoat style West End recording. Great if it’s your sort of thing, but for the casual pop music fan it’s nothing to get particularly excited about.

Don’t even get me started on the ‘Last Christmas’ cover. The accompanying press release states it’s a contender for Christmas Number One, and I hate to be the killjoy but there is genuinely more chance of a last-minute upset from Same Difference than that going anywhere near the Top 10.

But there are some great versions on here. ‘In The Bleak Midwinter’ sounds like it belongs on the soundtrack to a particularly sad film, ‘White Christmas’ is gorgeous, and the simplicity of ‘Silent Night’ is enough to give you goosebumps. Then, right at the end, comes a brilliant cover of ‘Driving Home For Christmas’, and an unavoidable frustration that it’s the only song that goes down the Big Band route.

At the end of the day we could go in-depth with every track until the cows come home, but this isn’t really an LP intended to re-design the musical landscape as we know it. It’s just a hastily-compiled, relatively diverting collection of Christmas songs , and there are enough listenable renditions on here to keep Joe’s fiercely loyal fanbase by his side until he makes his next proper move. But as a fiercely loyal fan myself, I can’t help but be unenthused by albums like this when we’ve already had a taste of what he’s fully capable of.

An edited version of my above review has also been published to Entertainmentwise

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EXCLUSIVE: Olly Murs discusses his five-way X Factor chart battle

November 16, 2011 in Music with 0 Comments

Come the end of November, many companies are thinking about their staff Christmas parties. Over at X Factor, it seems they’re thinking about a staff chart battle.

On November 28th, judges Gary, Kelly and Tulisa will all bring out new albums, as will Xtra Factor‘s Olly Murs and his old 2009 co-star Joe McElderry.

That said, it’s only Olly and Kelly who have their OK-this-is-a-proper-serious-album game-faces on, with their respective LPs In Case You Didn’t Know and Here I Am. For Joe, it’s his festive offering Classic Christmas, for Tulisa it’s the EAGERLY-AWAITED N-Dubz Greatest Hits package, and for Gary it’s a live album covering Take That’s Progress tour.

It’s a wonder Dermot O’Leary and Louis Walsh aren’t teaming up for some kind of festive offering.

I met up with Olly yesterday and asked him about the battle. He said: “For me, we’re not the same artists. Of course we’ll all be battling for Number One, but I think collectively some fans will buy my record and that record at the same time, so you don’t really lose out.

“So regardless of who’s coming out the same week as you, you just hope your fans will go out and buy your record. If they don’t it’s fine, you know, but I think that me and Kelly and the other artists are so different.

“I think back to when I used to buy albums, I remember once it was Craig David and Justin Timberlake, and both released on the same day. I just went out and bought both records cos I thought they’d be good!”

That said, he does reckon his profile has been raised considerably following his new hosting gig alongside Caroline Flack. When I asked him if the pressure was better or worse this time around, he said: “I’d probably say the pressure’s got more, actually. If I wasn’t doing anything, if I was sat around and I wasn’t doing the Xtra Factor and stuff like that then maybe I would be a bit more nervous, but because I’ve been kept in the public eye…

“The Xtra Factor‘s been a real positive because it’s given me a chance for people to see my personality more than they did before, and I’ve sold myself more. I’ve had a massive change in my Facebook followers and my Twitter followers. I think more people are interested in what I’ve got to say now.

“I am feeling the pressure and I do feel like having the second album is always gonna be nerve-wracking for any artist, but I think because I’ve got the TV side of things, I’ve taken some of that pressure off.”

My full interview with Olly – which also covers the brilliant Lady Gaga stage invasion, how rumours of a relationship with Caroline have affected his love life, and what Caroline thought of him and the One Direction boys making her feel as awkward as possible with Harry Styles – will be available on Entertainmentwise at the end of this week. A link will be posted to this page as and when.

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