Wide Awake (Joe McElderry album) explained

Wide Awake
Type:Studio Album
Artist:Joe McElderry
Cover:Joe McElderry - Wide Awake (LQ).jpg
Alt:A black-and-white photo of McElderry wearing a plaid shirt. Both the artist's name and album title appear on the top-left corner, colored in white and red respectively.
Recorded:December 2009 – September 2010
Genre:Pop, dance pop, teen pop
Label:Syco Music
Producer:Ray Hedges, Dallas Austin, John Shanks
Next Title:Classic
Next Year:2011

Wide Awake is the debut album of English pop singer Joe McElderry, winner of the sixth series of British talent competition The X Factor. The album was released digitally on 22 October 2010,[1] [2] with a physical release following on 25 October 2010.[3]

Two retailer exclusive versions of the album were available, with Asda offering four bonus cards and play.com offering signed copies of the album.

Background

McElderry recorded his first single "The Climb" in December 2009, releasing it on 14 December, shortly after he won the sixth series of the British television talent contest The X Factor. The singer received 61.3% of the final public vote. Joe's prize was a £1 million recording contract with Syco Music, a subsidiary of Sony BMG including a £150,000 advance payment. After completing X Factor Live tour, various meetings of the album took place and recording on the album began in July, before being completed in early September. Joe worked with producers Ray Hedges,[4] Dallas Austin and John Shanks on the album.[5] Simon Cowell contacted Journey for permission to release a cover of "Don't Stop Believin'", which McElderry had covered on the show before, as a single, but was declined.[6] The album was originally planned to include a selection pop-rock, ballad and slow songs, however, the album's direction was changed upon completion of the single "Ambitions".[7]

Ahead of the album's release Digital Spy reported that it would outsell previous male winners of the X-Factor[8] based on pre-order charts where Wide Awake was 49% higher sales than 2005's winner Shayne Ward's debut album, 23.2% higher than 2007's winner Leon Jackson's Right Now and 40.7% higher than Steve Brookstein's Heart and Soul. McElderry had said before its release that the album had "some different elements" and is "definitely going to be a bit of a shocker",[9] while Simon Cowell said that McElderry "has moved on to new musical territory" and that fans would be "pleasantly surprised".[10] McElderry launched the album at G-A-Y.[11] "Until the Stars Run Out" contains elements of "Faith" by George Michael.[12]

Singles

"The Climb", a cover of Miley Cyrus' single, was released on 14 December 2009, as the X Factor winner's single. It reached number-one on the UK Singles Chart, Scottish Singles Chart and Irish Singles Chart. It also peaked at number four on the European Hot 100 Singles chart, and appears as a bonus track on the album, for the UK and Ireland editions only.

"Ambitions", a cover of Donkeyboy's single, was released as the lead single from Wide Awake, and second overall single. The track made its debut on The 5:19 Show on 19 September 2010.[13] McElderry performed the single on the seventh series of The X Factor on 10 October 2010, the same day that the single was released by digital download, causing the iTunes Store to crash for two minutes as fans tried to download the track.[14] The physical CD single was released following day, reaching number 4 on the Irish Singles Chart and number 6 on the UK Singles Chart. "If You Love Me" is the B-Side.

"Someone Wake Me Up" is the third single from the album.[15] It was released on 5 December 2010.[16] The video contains clips from the film [17] but the song will not appear in the film, however, the B-Side "There’s A Place For Us"[18] is played during the credits of the film.[19] The single peaked at number 68 in the UK and number 69 in Ireland.

Commercial performance

Wide Awake debuted at number 3 on the UK Albums Chart in its first week of release,[20] with retail sales of 39,405 copies in the country during that week.[21] The album fell to number 20 on the chart the following week,[22] and to number 40 the week after that.[23] As of November 2015, the album has sold 105,231 copies in the United Kingdom.[24]

Critical reception

Wide Awake received generally positive reviews from critics. Acclaim came from Heat which called Wide Awake "The best album ever released by a winner of The X Factor" and gave it 5 stars.[25] Unreality Shout praised the album and said it is "the best X Factor winner's album to date, despite it being nearly schizophrenic of nature: one minute you're flouncing you're way through some of the campest songs of the year ('Real Late Starter', 'Fahrenheit'), throwing some suggestive moves and jazz hands while you do so, and the next you're relaxing in the shade of a veranda in the back garden of a country farm house, looking out on fields upon fields of lush greenery ('Smile', 'Wide Awake')."[26] Gay Times gave the songs on the album a positive review.[27] BBC Music said the album is "a disco-dusted debut of giddy pop pleasures."[28] Yahoo! Music gave the album 7/10.[29] 4Music gave the album 4 stars, saying "rather than making the ballad-heavy collection that everyone was expecting, Joe has produced a fun, upbeat pop album which takes its inspiration from acts such as Alphabeat ('Feel the Fire') and Scissor Sisters ('Fahrenheit')"[30] OK! also gave the album 4 stars, saying "recent single 'Ambitions' sets the tone, with its chugging guitars, while 'Someone Wake Me Up' is an epic lighters-aloft stunner and 'Real Late Starter' has a definite Take That vibe."[31]

Charts

Chart (2010)Peak
position
Irish Albums Chart[32] 5
Scottish Albums Chart[33] 2
UK Albums Chart[34] 3
European Albums Chart[35] 10

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Wide Awake. 22 October 2010 . iTunes Store UK. 24 October 2010.
  2. Web site: Wide Awake. 22 October 2010 . iTunes Store Ireland. 24 October 2010.
  3. Web site: Joe Mcelderry: Wide Awake (2010): CD: hmv.com. HMV Group. 25 October 2010.
  4. http://www.we7.com/#/magazine/focus/joe-mcelderry-interview Joe McElderry interview
  5. http://www.joe-music.com/news/post/joes_in_the_studio/ Joe’s in the studio!
  6. Web site: Journey wouldn't allow Joe McElderry to cover 'Don't Stop Believein' . Unreality TV . 2010-01-16 . 2012-03-15.
  7. http://www.digitalspy.co.uk/music/news/a278172/joe-mcelderry-new-single-changed-lp.html Joe McElderry: 'New single changed LP'
  8. Web site: McElderry storms album pre-order chart - Music News . Digital Spy . 2010-10-22 . 2012-03-15.
  9. Web site: Joe McElderry: my new album will shock people. Entertainment.stv.tv . 2010-06-23 . 2012-03-15.
  10. Web site: Joe McElderry's album is 'surprising' says Simon Cowell . Entertainment.stv.tv . 2010-08-18 . 2012-03-15.
  11. https://www.mirror.co.uk/celebs/news/2010/08/18/joe-mcelderry-to-launch-debut-album-at-g-a-y-115875-22495122/ Joe McElderry to launch debut album at G-A-Y
  12. Web site: Album Review: Joe McElderry - 'Wide Awake' . Unreality Shout . 2012-03-15.
  13. Web site: http://www.sonymusic.co.uk/news/17344/15/ . 26 October 2010 .
  14. Web site: Sarah . Tetteh . Joe McElderry X Factor performance sparks iTunes crash . The Mirror. 2010-10-11 . 2012-03-15.
  15. http://sevenfootsounds.com/2010/joe-mcelderry-selects-someone-wake-me-up-as-next-single/ Joe McElderry selects Someone Wake Me Up as next single
  16. http://www.modestmanagement.com/joe_mcelderry.php Joe McElderry
  17. http://music.aol.co.uk/2010/11/24/joe-mcelderry-someone-to-wake-me-up-exclusive-video/ Someone Make Me Up (music video)
  18. http://www.last.fm/music/Joe+McElderry/Someone+Wake+Me+Up Someone Wake Me Up - Joe McElderry
  19. http://www.joe-music.com/news/post/joe_records_the_title_track_for_the_new_the_chronicles_of_narnia_movie_/ Joe records the title track for the new The Chronicles of Narnia movie!
  20. Web site: 2010-11-6 Top 40 Official UK Albums Archive . Official Charts . 2010-11-06 . 2012-03-15.
  21. Alan Jones, Reality stars top UK sales charts From Music Week (30 August 2011). Retrieved on 9 September 2011.
  22. Web site: 2010-11-13 Top 40 Official UK Albums Archive . . 2010-11-13 . 2012-03-15.
  23. Web site: 2010-11-20 Top 40 Official UK Albums Archive . . 2010-11-20 . 2012-03-15.
  24. News: Official Charts Analysis: Justin Bieber takes singles summit but misses out on albums. Jones. Alan. 21 November 2015. Music Week. Intent Media. 21 November 2015. subscription .
  25. http://www.joe-music.com/news/post/have_you_got_wide_awake/ Have you got WIDE AWAKE?
  26. http://unrealityshout.com/blogs/album-review-joe-mcelderry-wide-awake Album Review: Joe McElderry - 'Wide Awake'
  27. http://www.gaytimes.co.uk/Interact/Blogs-articleid-7526-sectionid-712.html GT Review
  28. https://www.bbc.co.uk/music/reviews/fgpn Review of Joe McElderry - Wide Awake
  29. http://new.uk.music.yahoo.com/blogs/albumreviewsuk/3101/joe-mcelderrywide-awake/ Joe McElderry - "Wide Awake" - Album Reviews
  30. http://www.4music.com/artist/joe-mcelderry/album-review.html Joe McElderry - "Wide Awake" review
  31. http://www.ok.co.uk/music/view/27976/Review-Joe-McElderry-Wide-Awake/ Review: Joe McElderry - Wide Awake 4/5
  32. Web site: Irish-charts.com - Discography Joe McElderry . Hung Medien . 25 May 2020.
  33. Web site: Archive Chart. Official Charts Company. 31 October 2010.
  34. Web site: Archive Chart. Official Charts Company. 31 October 2010.
  35. Archive Chart. European Albums Chart. Billboard. 12 November 2010.