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This Is the Life (Amy Macdonald album)

This Is the Life
Studio album by
Amy Macdonald
Released30 July 2007
Recorded2006–2007
StudioBrookland Road Studio
Soho Recording Studios (London)
Genre
Length44:15
Label
ProducerPete Wilkinson
Amy Macdonald chronology
This Is the Life
(2007) 		Live from Glasgow
(2007)
Amy Macdonald studio album chronology
This Is the Life
(2007) 		A Curious Thing
(2010)
Singles from This Is the Life
  1. "Poison Prince"
    Released: 7 May 2007
  2. "Mr Rock & Roll"
    Released: 16 July 2007
  3. "L.A."
    Released: 15 October 2007
  4. "This Is the Life"
    Released: 10 December 2007
  5. "Run"
    Released: 3 March 2008
  6. "Poison Prince"
    Released: 19 May 2008 (re-release)
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[1]
BBC(favourable)[2]
Blender[3]
Insiders' Guides8/10[4]
Los Angeles Times[5]
The Guardian[6]
The Independent[7]
TimesOnline[8]
Yahoo! Music[9]

This Is the Life is the debut studio album by British singer-songwriter Amy Macdonald, released on 30 July 2007. It reached number one on the UK Albums Chart on 13 January 2008[10] and sold over 900,000 copies in the UK as of February 2017,[11] awarding the album a certification of 3× Platinum.

Background and recording

Macdonald sent a demo CD in response to an advertisement placed in the NME[12] by a new production company set up by songwriters Pete Wilkinson and Sarah Erasmus.[13] Wilkinson said he was "literally aghast" at her songwriting abilities when first he heard Macdonald play the songs "This Is the Life" and "Mr Rock n Roll".[13] He then spent around eight or nine months recording demos with Macdonald at his home studio with a view to securing a record deal for his new client. In 2007 she signed a contract with Vertigo when she was 18 years old.[14]

She has claimed that she feels she was "in the right place at the right time" by answering the advertisement in NME, later claiming that the subsequent success she endured to be "a weird life". Macdonald has been described as "one of the last artists" to gain a recording contract by sending a demo to record companies, with Macdonald claiming it to be "mental", citing the music industry changes since 2007. Macdonald claims that "what’s funny is even then, everyone found it bizarre that I got a record deal from sending a demo, because this was when people were being discovered on MySpace — Lily Allen, Arctic Monkeys; they were all doing it that way".[15]

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.[16]

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.

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;[17] it has been certified 5× Platinum (as 2012) for over 1.000,000 copies sold in the country.[18] 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.[19] The album was released in the US on 19 August 2008.[20]

Track listings

All tracks were written by Amy Macdonald except where shown.

Standard edition

No.TitleWriter(s)Length
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."Amy Macdonald, Pete Wilkinson4:06
9."A Wish for Something More" 3:46
10."Footballer's Wife" 5:06
International bonus tracks
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
11."The Road to Home" 2:20
12."Caledonia" (hidden track)Dougie MacLean2:00
French and Japanese bonus tracks
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
11."The Road to Home" 2:20
12."Caledonia" (hidden track)Dougie MacLean2:00
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.TitleWriter(s)Length
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."Amy Macdonald, Pete Wilkinson4:06
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[21]
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
  • Bob Clearmountain – mixing
  • Danton Supple - mixing on tracks 3,4,5
  • Valerie Phillips – cover design, photography

Charts

Certifications

Region Certification Certified units/sales
Austria (IFPI Austria)[54] 2× Platinum 40,000*
Belgium (BEA)[55] 2× Platinum 60,000*
Denmark (IFPI Danmark)[56] Platinum 30,000^
France (SNEP)[57] Gold 75,000*
Germany (BVMI)[58] 5× Platinum 1,000,000^
Greece (IFPI Greece)[59] Gold 7,500^
Ireland (IRMA)[60] Gold 7,500^
Italy (FIMI)[61] Gold 40,000*
Netherlands (NVPI)[62] 2× Platinum 140,000^
Norway (IFPI Norway)[63] Gold 20,000*
Poland (ZPAV)[64] Gold 10,000*
Russia (NFPF)[65] Gold 10,000*
Spain (PROMUSICAE)[66] Gold 40,000^
Sweden (GLF)[67] Gold 20,000^
Switzerland (IFPI Switzerland)[68] 4× Platinum 120,000^
United Kingdom (BPI)[69] 2× Platinum 600,000‡
Summaries
Europe (IFPI)[70] 2× Platinum 2,000,000*
Worldwide — 3,000,000[71]

* Sales figures based on certification alone.
^ Shipments figures based on certification alone.
‡ Sales+streaming figures based on certification alone.

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
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  6. ^ Sullivan, Caroline (27 July 2007). "CD: Amy Macdonald, This Is the Life". The Guardian. London.
  7. ^ [3] Archived 1 August 2009 at the Wayback Machine
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  9. ^ Britten, Anna (1 August 2007). "Amy Macdonald: This Is The Life". Yahoo! Music UK & Ireland. Archived from the original on 13 June 2011. Retrieved 13 November 2024.
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  11. ^ Gumble, Daniel (24 February 2017). "Official Charts Analysis: Rag'N'Bone Man holds top spot on albums chart". Music Week. Retrieved 25 February 2017.
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  13. ^ a b "Interview With Manager Pete Wilkinson" Archived 6 June 2019 at the Wayback Machine, HitQuarters, 15 June 2009.
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  61. ^ "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. Type "This Is the Life" in the "Filtra" field. Select "Album e Compilation" under "Sezione".
  62. ^ "Dutch album certifications – Amy Macdonald – This Is the Life" (in Dutch). Nederlandse Vereniging van Producenten en Importeurs van beeld- en geluidsdragers. Retrieved 15 October 2021. Enter This Is the Life in the "Artiest of titel" box. Select 2008 in the drop-down menu saying "Alle jaargangen".
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