200 km / h in Wrong Lane

200 km / h in Wrong Lane
Studio album from tATu
Publication (s)	December 10, 2002
admission	2002
Label (s)	Interscope Records Universal Music
Format (s)	CD , cassette , download
Genre (s)	Pop , pop-rock , dance-pop , eurodance
Title (number)	12
running time	48:16 min.
production	Iwan Nikolajewitsch Schapovalov Trevor Horn Martin Kierszenbaum Robert Orton
Studio (s)	SARM West Studios (London) Village Studios (Los Angeles)
chronology 200 Po Wstrechnoi (2001) 200 km / h in Wrong Lane tATu Remixes (2003)
Single releases August 18, 2002 All the Things She Said May 5, 2003 Not gonna get us July 6, 2003 How Soon Is Now?

200 km / h in the wrong lane ( Engl. "200 km / h in the wrong lane") is the first English-language album of the pop duo tATu , while the translated version of the Russian-speaking album 200 Po Wstretschnoi . It reached top chart positions in various countries around the world and, with more than seven million copies sold, developed into one of the most successful albums of 2003.

History of origin

In 2001 tATu had already released a very successful album with 200 Po Wstretschnoi , the success of which was limited to Russia and Eastern Europe . There, 200 Po Wstretschnoi had climbed to the top of the charts in Poland , the Czech Republic , Bulgaria and Slovakia . However, it had already been established that the album had the potential to be successful in Western Europe and the United States . In December 2001 Universal Music Germany decided to release 200 Po Wstretschnoi including singles in April of the following year in Germany. This plan was postponed in favor of an English-language album for the western music market.

The American Martin Kierszenbaum was entrusted with the production of the album. Some of the Russian-language songs of the vocal duo had been sent to the young producer and songwriter by a colleague at Universal Music Russia. Kierszenbaum reminded tATu's style of ABBA , and he thought it was something special. In January 2002, the recordings for the album began in London . Kierszenbaum also included Trevor Horn in the project, and after recording the first three tracks, Horn gave Kierszenbaum the sole production of the rest of the album. Horn, Kierszenbaum and Robert Orton, who had since joined them, partially revised the sound of the originally Russian songs in order to better tailor them to the western music market. The pieces were interspersed with guitars, among other things, which changed the music style from electronica and electro-pop to pop-rock .

There are Russian-language counterparts for seven of the eight English-language titles on the album. Only the cover version of the original The Smiths song How Soon Is Now? was added as a new song. Ivan Schapovalov originally pursued the idea of ​​including Prostyje dvischenija , which was presented in Russia on May 30, 2002, in the album. There was already a pre-recorded English version of this song, A Simple Motion , and it had not yet been released on CD . However, Trevor Horn persuaded Schapovalov to use How Soon Is Now? to incorporate into the album. Da How Soon Is Now? is one of the most popular songs by the well-known band The Smiths in Great Britain, Horn hoped it would have a sales-boosting effect when marketing the album. Tatus record company Universal Music supported this proposal and was also ready to 200,000 pounds sterling royalties to Morrissey and Johnny Marr to pay.

The language barrier to the two young Russians turned out to be a particular challenge. Jelena Katina spoke only mediocre and Julija Wolkowa hardly any English, which is why both singers had big problems with the English lyrics. Both girls took English classes daily. Martin Kierszenbaum helped Katina and Wolkowa to memorize the correct pronunciation. Nevertheless, recording the English songs required a high level of concentration. The first songs recorded included All the Things She Said , Not Gonna Get Us and Clowns , Recent Stars and How Soon Is Now? . In June 2002 the studio work, some of which had also taken place in Los Angeles , ended.

On July 1st, recording began for the music video for All the Things She Said . Only the vocal scenes were re-shot, all other scenes were taken from the Russian-language music video for Ja soschla s uma and only the Russian text was exchanged for the English text. However, since there were two years between the two video shoots, the setting had to be completely rebuilt. The metal fence is the same in both music videos, but the wall that moves on wheels has been rebuilt, as it had already been dismantled in the meantime.

Cover design

The album was released in three different versions.

• The version intended for Europe and America shows Katina and Wolkowa sitting on a motorcycle. Katina lays her head on Volkova's shoulder, who is also holding the steering wheel. This is an indication of Volkova's leading and guiding role, which also appears in several music videos and songs on the album. With the exception of the red lettering "tATu 200 km / h in the wrong lane", the cover image is completely greenish. This is an allusion to the music video for All the Things She Said , which also has a greenish tint.
• The version, which is primarily intended for the Japanese market, also features the two singers on the cover. Both stand in front of a white background, hug each other and smile towards the viewer. Volkova and Katina wear school uniforms. The lettering "tATu" was applied in green letters.
• The version of the album, which is distributed in the CIS countries such as Russia, Ukraine and Belarus , also depicts singers wearing school uniforms against a white background. Volkova stands in front of Katina and kisses her so that the faces of both cannot be recognized. The lettering "tATu 200 km / h in the wrong lane" was used in red with an incline to the left. On the back cover, the two are facing each other against a white background. Their eyes are almost closed and their faces - like just before a kiss - only a few inches apart.

For the 2003 deluxe edition of the album, a new cover image was selected for the version released in Japan. It shows Katina and Volkova, who are both touching with their hands and standing close together in an abandoned room in front of green wallpaper.

publication

The album was released in Poland on November 18th. Like the Russian-language album before, 200 km / h in Wrong Lane quickly rose to the top of the charts. It was released in Russia on December 10, and finally in the USA on December 22 . There it entered the Billboard 200 album charts at number 191 on January 18, 2003 and improved to number 13 by March 8. The Eastern European release date was October 7, in Germany and Western Europe it was October 10. December. On January 13, 2003 the album was released in Great Britain and finally on March 5 in Japan (under the alternative title tATu ), where it entered the album charts at number one.

A deluxe edition of the album was released in Europe on May 26, 2003 and on June 4 in Japan. In addition to Ne wer, ne boisja, it also contains a DVD with three music videos and a 25-minute documentary titled Julia + Lena Are tATu In Japan, this deluxe edition was sold over 300,000 times in just two days and reached number three the album charts.

Track list

No.	title	Songwriter	length
1	Not gonna get us	T. Horn, E. Kiper, V. Polienko, S. Galoyan	4:22
2	All the Things She Said	T. Horn, M. Kierszenbaum, E. Kiper, V. Polienko, S. Galoyan	3:34
3	Show me love	S. Galoyan, M. Kierszenbaum, V. Polienko	4:16
4th	30 minutes	S. Galoyan, M. Kierszenbaum, I. Shapovalov, V. Polienko	3:18
5	How Soon Is Now?	Morissey, J. Marr	3:16
6th	Clowns (Can You See Me Now?)	T. Horn, E. Kuritsin, I. Shapovalov, V. Polienko	3:12
7th	Malchik Gay	A. Karaseva, M. Kierszenbaum, V. Stepantsov, S. Galoyan	3:10
8th	Stars	M. Kierszenbaum, V. Polienko, I. Shapovalov, A. Voitinskiy, A. Vulih	4:08
9	Я сошла с ума ( Ja soschla s uma )	S. Galoyan, E. Kiper, V. Polienko	3:35
10	Нас не догонят ( Nas ne dogonjat )	S. Galoyan, E. Kiper, V. Polienko	4:22
11	Show Me Love (Extended Version)	S. Galoyan, M. Kierszenbaum, V. Polienko	5:10
12	30 Minutes (Remix)	S. Galoyan, M. Kierszenbaum, I. Shapovalov, V. Polienko	5:53

The CD also contains the music video for All the Things She Said as well as the second part of a short documentary in which the band is introduced and shown during the album recordings ( Behind the scenes with Julia and Lena (Part 2) ). The first part of said documentary can be found on the US CD single from All the Things She Said ; all three parts are combined on the DVD release tATu - Screaming for More .

Composition and lyrics

composition

Not Gonna Get Us is described by Allmusic as a Eurodance song with influences from pop, dance-pop, Eurodance and rock music. All the Things She Said is the first single from the album and the second title on the tracklist. The song begins with dreamy, trance-backed synthesizers and changes with the first chorus into a guitar-accompanied pop-rock piece that also has elements of R&B. Matt Cibula of PopMatters writes about Show Me Love that it sounds like “ ABBA with metal guitars.” 30 Minutes is described by the same music critic as a ballad with a slow atmosphere. In How Soon Is Now? it is a cover version of the song of the same name by The Smiths. Synthesizers with hard guitar sounds also dominate this track. Clowns (Can You See Me Now?), On the other hand, is a piece taken over from the Russian-language counterpart to the album, which is therefore more likely to be assigned to the music genres electronica and synthpop. Malchik Gay , which is in seventh position on the tracklist, differs significantly from the other album titles as an acoustic version . Stars , which Matt Cibula describes as the common "smooth pop", has the stylistic peculiarity that the vocal passages of the Russian version have been translated into English, but not the rap part that interrupts them, which is untranslated that of the original Russian version ( Satschem Yes ).

Song lyrics

The lyrics of the album deal with the relationship between the two singers, Jelena Katina and Julija Wolkowa. Each song can be seen as part of a story. The main concerns are the free exercise of same-sex partnerships, self-discovery and self-realization, as well as breaking through existing ideas of being in society.

In All the Things She Said , the plaintive vocals and the lyrics make it clear how much the two protagonists suffer from their relationship ( “I'm in serious shit, I feel totally lost” ). It is described that the girls are marginalized, misunderstood and despised by their parents, classmates and society, and try to suppress or keep their affection for one another a secret. At the end of the song, however, it becomes clear that both admit their love for one another and leave behind those who want to separate them.

According to Jelena Kiper , Not Gonna Get Us can be understood as a sequel to All the Things She Said , although it can be found first on the album's tracklist. Here the two singers leave all problems behind and leave their families and friends to be free from any oppression by peers and the authorities. At the same time, there is another declaration of love by the two girls in this song: "My love for you, always forever / Just you and me, all else is nothing" .

The other songs also deal with special situations in the relationship between Katina and Volkova. The song Malchik Gay, for example, is about unrequited love for a homosexual boy. It says: "I try to keep on hoping for a way / A reason for Us / Both to come in close" .

tATus then manager and video director Ivan Schapovalov always defended the provocative image and the open display of eroticism by the two singers. He described tATu as a pure relationship, beyond any reproductive character, whereby the love and affection depicted become particularly intense. In retrospect, however, Katina and Wolkowa distanced themselves from the portrayals of their manager.

“He [Schapovalov] made us perform as lesbians while we sang only for lesbians. We wanted to make people understand, not judge. That they are as free as everyone else. "

- Jelena Katina (2004) on the band's image.

Russian language

Despite being the duo's first English-language album, the producers decided to give the album a Russian twist. Except for How Soon Is Now? All of the songs can also be found on the Russian counterpart 200 Po Wstretschnoi , but with a modified text and a different sound. Three songs feature large Russian text passages: Show Me Love begins with a telephone conversation in Russian between the two singers before the actual song begins, in Malchik Gay a 15-second excerpt from the original Russian song was incorporated and in Stars Julia Wolkowa wears the included rap part in Russian. The words "Ja soschla s uma" in All the Things She Said , which appear several times in the background vocals , are also placed a little more discreetly . With Ja soschla s uma and Nas ne dogonjat , the original Russian versions of the first two tracks were included in the album. However, they were remixed for release on the English album and given a more rocky sound. On the 2003 deluxe edition of the album, Ne wer, ne boisja was added as track 13 .

success

The album became a huge success, especially in Europe and Japan. It achieved gold status in Germany, France and Great Britain, among others, but also in the United States, Malaysia and Mexico. In Japan, 200 km / h in Wrong Lane achieved double platinum status for over 500,000 units sold in its release week. In total, the album was sold around two million times in Japan, was in the top 10 of the charts for 6 months (63 weeks in total) and was awarded seven platinum records . Only world stars such as Mariah Carey and Whitney Houston had previously achieved comparable successes in Japan . tATu also succeeded in being the first international performers to have their debut album go straight to number one on the Japanese album charts.

In 2003 tATu received the IFPI Platinum Europe Award for over one million albums sold 200 km / h in the Wrong Lane within Europe . Since the band had already received this award for the Russian-language version of the album (see 200 Po Wstrechnoi ), this made them the first group to receive the IFPI Platinum Europe Award for the same album in two different languages. In her home country Russia and the former states of the Soviet Union , several hundred thousand copies of the album had been sold by the end of 2003. In total, 200 km / h in Wrong Lane achieved sales of over eight million copies worldwide and topped the charts in some countries until late summer.

In Poland, tATu received the Best International Album Award for the album , and at the Japan Gold Disc Awards 2004 it was named Rock Album of the Year International . At the MUZ-TV Awards 2003, popular in Russia , the duo had to be satisfied with a nomination in the Best Album category .

Chart placements

Charts	Top ranking	Weeks
Chart placements
Germany (GfK)	3 (33 weeks)	33
Austria (Ö3)	1 (27 weeks)	27
Switzerland (IFPI)	5 (35 weeks)	35
United Kingdom (OCC)	12 (19 weeks)	19th
United States (Billboard)	13 (33 weeks)	33

Awards for music sales

country	Certification	Sales
Australia	gold	35,000
United Kingdom	gold	100,000
Germany	gold	150,000
Japan	7 × platinum	2,000,000
Russia	diamond	1,000,000
France	2 × gold	200,000
Malaysia	gold	10,000
Hong Kong	3 × platinum	90,000
Singapore	gold	5,000
Spain	gold	50,000
South Korea	platinum	55.010
Mexico	gold	75,000
Finland	platinum	49,418
Greece	gold	10,000
Italy	platinum	100,000
Indonesia	platinum	15,000
Canada	2 × platinum	200,000
Austria	gold	10,000
Poland	platinum	110,000
Portugal	silver	10,000
Hungary	gold	15,000
Sweden	gold	30,000
Switzerland	platinum	40,000
South Africa	gold	25,000
Taiwan	2 × platinum	60,000
Czech Republic	2 × platinum	12,000
Thailand	gold	5,000
United States	gold	831,000
European Union	platinum	1,000,000
	1 × silver 16 × gold 23 × platinum 1 × diamond	6,292,428

criticism

200 km / h in Wrong Lane received mostly positive reviews, but also some bad ones. Many music critics particularly emphasized the provocative appearance of the singing duo in music videos and in public, but usually did not interpret it negatively.

The US American Billboard Magazine sees the album's success as being largely based on the "simple but rousing Euro-Dance songs" it contains, of which All the Things She Said and Not Gonna Get Us have the greatest hit potential. Furthermore, Billboard attests to the two singers "a cheeky, even if vocally limited, charm." Separated from the media staging, it is "an album dripping with sugar-sweet pop grace." The only counterpart to this is the "poorly thought-out interpretation" of How Soon Is now .

Matt Cibula names All the Things She Said , Not Gonna Get Us and Malchik Gay in his review on PopMatters.com as the best songs on the album, and particularly praises its professional production and mixing. Cibula sees tATu as " ABBA with metal guitars" and describes her style of music as "touching, heavy-blooded, moody sadcore pop, for which there is no reason not to like it."

David Merryweather writes in his album review on drownedinsound.com that the band's image is an essential part of the duo, but points out that the musical work should not be overlooked. According to Merryweather, tATu achieved a “pop masterpiece” with the “clear and memorable voices of the singers”, which he rated with 4 out of 5 stars and described as “really very good”.

Lisa Verrico from the London Times confirms the uniqueness of 200 km / h in Wrong Lane and writes that it doesn't sound like a second album. The British The Guardian also gave the album a positive rating, giving it 4 out of 5 stars.

Martina Schmid from laut.de rates the album with one of five possible points and misses variety and contrast. She thinks the voices of the two singers are “okay”, but criticizes the small number of songs on the album and the deliberately scattered scandals surrounding the duo: “Admittedly - what Yulia and Lena have delivered is not always bad. However, the fact that four of twelve tracks are Russian versions or remixes of the already known songs tickles the word 'Füllsel' in my language center. "

New release 2012

Almost ten years after its first release, a 10th Anniversary Edition of the album was released on November 12, 2012 on the occasion of the anniversary . The CD, which is distributed by Universal Music Russia and Cherrytree Records, has been given a new artwork and, in addition to the original tracks, also contains the previously omitted A Simple Motion and two new remixes for All the Things She Said (by Fernando Garibay ) and Show Me Love . A double-sided poster has also been added.

Individual evidence

1. ↑ 7 million records sold ( Memento from July 21, 2009 in the Internet Archive )
2. ↑ "About the TATU Group" - official band's website ( Memento of 15 October 2002 in the Internet Archive )
3. ↑ kommersant.ru
4. ↑ Martin Kierszenbaum in an interview on album production
5. ↑ European and American version
6. ↑ Japanese version
7. ↑ Russian version
8. ↑ Deluxe Edition - Japan
9. ↑ ^{a b c d} Tatu Sales in Japan - comparative statistics. In: TatySite.net. October 29, 2005, accessed December 24, 2014 . 
10. ↑ Deluxe edition of the album
11. ↑ Sales of the Deluxe Edition
12. ↑ Chart placement - Deluxe Edition
13. ↑ Screaming for More DVD release
14. ↑ Allmusic.com over 200 km / h in the Wrong Lane
15. ↑ Allmusic.com on Not Gonna Get Us
16. ↑ blogcritics.org ( Memento from September 25, 2012 in the Internet Archive )
17. ↑ PopMatters.com over 200 km / h in Wrong Lane
18. ↑ Drownedinsounds at 200 km / h in Wrong Lane
19. ↑ Christina Ribar: TATU - Press - Reviews - tATu's "200 KM / H In The Wrong Lane" ("Aggie Arts").
20. ↑ Lyrics to "All the Things She Said" ( Memento from May 2, 2014 in the Internet Archive )
21. ↑ http://www.lena-katina.com/images/news/Jan_Afisha1.pdf (link not available)
22. ↑ http://www.lena-katina.com/images/news/Jan_Afisha2.pdf (link not available)
23. ↑ Lyrics to "Not Gonna Get Us" ( Memento from April 29, 2014 in the Internet Archive )
24. ↑ Lyrics of Malchik Gay ( Memento from January 23, 2016 in the Internet Archive )
25. ↑ faz.net
26. ^ Spiegel TV report on tATu from May 25, 2003 on YouTube
27. ↑ Lyrics to "Stars" ( Memento from July 11, 2009 in the Internet Archive )
28. ↑ Lyrics to "All the Things She Said" ( Memento from May 2, 2014 in the Internet Archive )
29. ↑ oricon.co.jp
30. ↑ oricon.co.jp
31. ↑ galoyan.co.uk ( Memento from April 1, 2008 in the Internet Archive )
32. ↑ Universal Music Russia's David Junk Assumes Responsibility for Eastern Europe License . Universalmusic.com
33. ↑ IFPI Platinum Europe Awards - 2003.
34. ↑ kommersant.ru
35. ↑ Worldwide album sales figures ( Memento of the original from May 28, 2014 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. 
36. ↑ tATu - 200 km / h In The Wrong Lane. In: hitparade.ch. Retrieved February 22, 2013 . 
37. ↑ eng.tatysite.net
38. ↑ riaj.or.jp
39. ↑ ^{a b c d e} Chart sources: DE AT CH UK US
40. ↑ Record awards ( Memento from April 1, 2008 in the Internet Archive )
41. ^ German record awards
42. ↑ http://2m-online.ru/gold_n_platinum/detail.php?COUNTRY=5595 (link not available)
43. ^ French record awards
44. ↑ Album sales in South Korea
45. ↑ Mexican Record Awards ( Memento from July 22, 2011 in the Internet Archive )
46. ↑ Album sales in Finland
47. ↑ Album sales in Poland
48. ↑ Polish Record Awards ( Memento of the original from December 11, 2011 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. 
49. ↑ Hungarian Record Awards
50. ↑ Swedish Record Awards ( Memento of May 21, 2012 in the Internet Archive ) (PDF)
51. ↑ Swiss record awards
52. ^ Taiwanese record awards
53. ↑ Czech record awards ( Memento of the original from December 11, 2011 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. 
54. ↑ Album sales in the USA
55. ↑ 200 km / h in Wrong Lane . Billboard.com
56. ^ Album review by Matt Cibula
57. ↑ music review. Drownedinsound.com
58. ↑ Guardian and Times album reviews. tatysite.net
59. ↑ 10th Anniversary Edition of the album ( Memento from October 8, 2012 in the Internet Archive )