Levels (song)
| Levels | |
|---|---|
| Avicii | |
| publication | October 28, 2011 |
| length | 5:37 3:19 ( Radio Edit ) |
| Genre (s) | EDM |
| Author (s) | Tim Bergling, Ash Pournouri, Leroy Kirkland, Pearl Woods, Etta James |
| album | True (Japan Bonus Version) |
Levels is a song by the Swedish DJ Avicii . It was released as a digital single on October 28, 2011 via Universal Music . In Germany it was released on October 31, 2011. The song was composed and produced by Avicii and Ash Pournouri, while a vocal sample of the song Something's Got a Hold on Me by Etta James is used in the break . The song is featured on the Japanese CD version of Avicii's debut album True . Levels is named by various critics not only as the best song by Avicii, but also as one of the best songs of the EDM genre of all time. His big chart success and his unmistakable synthesizer riff would be decisive for this .
background
Avicii experimented in 2010 with a vocal sample of Etta James' 1962 gospel song Something's Got a Hold on Me , written by Leroy Kirkland, Pearl Woods and Etta James. The sample is based on the version used in Pretty Lights' song Finally Moving in 2006. On December 11, 2010, he played an instrumental demo version of levels in a DJ mix that he produced for a show on the radio station BBC Radio 1 . He later merged the vocals with the final version of the instrumental.
In March 2011, Levels played full length on its gig at the Ultra Music Festival, after which it quickly spread across the internet. Avicii's manager Arash Pournouri, who was also involved in the composition, got in touch with Universal Music , who signed the song for publication.
After the song was released on September 28, 2011 as a promo single via Island Records , it was released a month later, on October 28, 2011, via Universal Music in several European countries as a digital single. Levels was published digitally in German-speaking Europe on October 31, 2011 . In February 2012, Avicii's own record label Le7els was opened with the maxi CD release of the track.
A vocal version of the song was released in South Korea on May 5, 2013. This was created in collaboration with the South Korean K-Pop singer Seulong, who is known as a member of boy group 2AM. Another vocal version was produced with American pop musician Mike Posner , but this version has been discarded.
Music video
The official music video for the song was released on November 29, 2011 on YouTube . Petro directed the film. The video clip begins with a man who seems absent from the start, who is in an office and is talking to a colleague, when he suddenly begins to dance. He scribbles the word Avicii on various surfaces and dances on the tables, while his colleagues look at him disapprovingly. He is incapacitated by a policeman with a taser and falls into a coma . He comes to a hospital and is handcuffed to a bed. When the nurses touch a flower growing out of his mouth, they are infected and also begin to dance uncontrollably. At the end of the video, all the doctors and nurses are dancing.
use
Levels was featured in the pilot of the US action television series Arrow . Various sports clubs, including the USC Trojans, used the song during their games. In 2012 it was the anthem of the Miss Universe 2012 Swimsuite Competition. In the same year it was heard during the Super Bowl in the advertising spot for the Bud Light Platinum beer brand.
It was played in full after the 2018 UEFA Champions League final between Liverpool FC and Real Madrid in Kiev.
influence
The use of the vocal sample of the level , which has been heard since the beginning of the year , inspired the American rapper Flo Rida to produce his own version based on Etta James' Something's Got a Hold on Me . The result is the song Good Feeling , which was released in the USA in August 2011. In Germany it was published on November 11th, 2011, almost two weeks after levels .
Mike Candys and Jack Holiday released a cover version of the song Children by Robert Miles in late February 2012 labeled Higher Level Mix , which is a reference to levels . The background is the style of the remix, which is similar to that of levels .
At the end of 2015, Italian DJ Ninni Angemi produced the song Secrets by Tiësto , KSHMR and Vassy in the EDM style of different years. The 2012 version is based on the style of Levels and the video in this version is also a compilation of the official Levels music video.
Remixes and cover versions
On December 20, 2011, an official remix EP was released, which contained remixes by Cazzette and Skrillex . The CD version also featured new interpretations by Tom Rez, Clockwork and FTampa.
The German DJane Housekat used the hookline of Levels for her song All the Time , released in February 2013 . The melody was played backwards.
reception
criticism
Maxumi gave the song 5 stars and praised the fact that the “happy electronic anthem” “got us on our feet” and “put us in a euphoric mood” (“This cheery electro anthem will have us on our feet, in a euphoric state of mind . ").
Commercial win
Levels became a worldwide success. It achieved top 10 placements in over 16 countries, including Germany, Italy and Denmark. It was also Avicii's first number one hit in his homeland Sweden, as well as in Hungary, Scotland and Slovakia. In late November 2011, it also entered the charts in the United States. While it advanced to number 60 in the singles charts, it stayed at the top of the “Dance Club Songs” category for a week. On the streaming platform Spotify , Levels recorded over 350 million views in Radio Edit , plus 50 million streams in the original version . The song sold over 3.5 million times worldwide and was awarded 8 platinum records in Sweden alone.
Charts and chart placements
| Charts | Top ranking | Weeks |
|---|---|---|
| Chart placements | ||
 Germany (GfK)
|
6th (60 weeks) | 60 |
 Austria (Ö3)
|
4th (50 weeks) | 50 |
 Sweden (GLF)
|
1 (116 weeks) | 116 |
 Switzerland (IFPI)
|
5 (46 weeks) | 46 |
 United States (Billboard)
|
60 (20 weeks) | 20th |
 United Kingdom (OCC)
|
4th (50 weeks) | 50 |
Awards
| Country / Region | Award | Sales |
|---|---|---|
| Awards for music sales (country / region, Award, Sales) |
||
 Australia (ARIA)
|
 4 × platinum
|
280,000 |
 Belgium (BEA)
|
platinum
|
30,000 |
 Denmark (IFPI)
|
platinum
|
30,000 |
|
Germany (BVMI)
|
2 × platinum
|
600,000 |
 Italy (FIMI)
|
2 × platinum
|
60,000 |
 Canada (MC)
|
 gold
|
40,000 |
 New Zealand (RMNZ)
|
gold
|
7,500 |
 Netherlands (NVPI)
|
4 × platinum
|
80,000 |
 Norway (IFPI)
|
5 × platinum
|
50,000 |
|
Austria (IFPI)
|
platinum
|
30,000 |
|
Sweden (IFPI)
|
8 × platinum
|
320,000 |
|
Switzerland (IFPI)
|
2 × platinum
|
60,000 |
|
United States (RIAA)
|
platinum
|
1,000,000 |
|
United Kingdom (BPI)
|
2 × platinum
|
1,200,000 |
| All in all |
2 × gold 33 × platinum |
3,787,500 |
Main article: Avicii / Music Sales Awards
Web links
Individual evidence
- ↑ http://itunes.apple.com/gb/album/levels-ep/id476026646
- ↑ http://www.cd-evaluations.de/reviews/dance/kritik-levels-single-von-avicii/
- ↑ Kat Bein & David Rishty: Avicii's 10 Best Songs: Critics' Picks on " Billboard "
- ↑ Kat Bein: Mike Posner Says He Recorded Unused Vocals For Avicii's 'Levels' on " Billboard "
- ↑ Avicii - Levels (official video clip). Retrieved November 12, 2012 .
- ↑ Leigh Raines: Arrow Review: A Man in a Green Hood on "TV Fanatic"
- ↑ Dan Hymann: Flo Rida and Avicii Remember Etta James. Retrieved January 11, 2019 .
- ↑ Levels (Remixes) [LE7ELS] :: Beatport. Archived from the original on March 27, 2012 ; accessed on January 11, 2019 .
- ↑ Sebastian Wernke-Schmiesing: Greetings from "Levels"! - Music video »DJane HouseKat feat. Rameez - All The Time on Dance Charts ; accessed on December 18, 2016
- ↑ Samantha McCallum: Avicii Levels. November 13, 2011, archived from the original on January 27, 2017 ; accessed on January 11, 2019 .
- ↑ Chart history from Levels at acharts.us
- ↑ a b c d e f Chart sources: DE AT CH UK US SE