Pictures
| Pictures | ||||
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| Studio album by Katie Melua | ||||
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Publication |
September 28, 2007 |
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| Label (s) | Dramatico | |||
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Format (s) |
CD, vinyl ; CD with bonus tracks only for Japan |
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Title (number) |
12; 14 with bonus titles |
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running time |
44:38 min; 52:11 min with bonus tracks |
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| occupation |
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Studio (s) |
Dramatico |
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Pictures is the third studio album by Georgian - British singer Katie Melua .
history
After the two successful predecessors Call Off the Search and Piece by Piece , Melua's third album Pictures was released on September 28, 2007, more than two years after the previous release . October 1st, 2007 is also given as the release date because September 28th, 2007 was a Friday and there are actually no new releases in Great Britain. At least in Germany and a number of other countries, the album was delivered on September 28th.
Melua co-wrote six of the twelve tracks on the album, one song is from her alone. Also on Pictures , five of the new titles are from Mike Batt, while only two cover versions are included. Two pieces were created in collaboration with Australian actress, singer and composer Andrea McEwan , and there is a co-production with Molly McQueen. Blues and jazz elements, as they were mainly to be found on Call Off the Search , are less represented on the third album. The album is more poppy and sometimes rockier than the first two.
In the last few weeks before Pictures was released, the individual titles were posted on the Dramatico website for previewing. Among the fans who were enthusiastic about the first two albums, a discussion began about the qualitative classification of the new album, in the course of which some were initially rather disappointed, although the reviews were also directed at Mike Batt. Even after the official release, there were further criticisms and the sales figures initially seemed to confirm them. In the further course, however, a great commercial success also emerged at Pictures .
Nine of the 23 tracks on the 2008 Live Tour came from the Pictures album , and the tour itself had this name on some tickets and promotional materials. When Melua was asked at her concert in Milan on April 29, 2008 during the Live Tour 2008 how she would describe the new album with an adjective, she said “moving”, which means “in motion”.
CD with two bonus tracks only for Japan
The album Pictures with two bonus tracks was released in Japan on September 19, 2007 . This special edition is sometimes offered at market prices on online auction sites. The sellers mostly come from Eastern Europe, the CDs usually make a perfect impression. Nevertheless, it is sometimes controversial among the fans whether they are originals or perfect copies. It is also unclear why this publication came about in the first place; it is assumed that a special purchase incentive should be created for the East Asian region. What is interesting about this edition for fans is the possibility of having the title When You Taught Me How to Dance on CD, which was previously only available as a video clip on the Miss Potter DVD .
On September 2, 2007, just under a month before the announced release date, iTunes put a download version of Pictures in its online offering , which was available in several regions, including the UK and Australia . It was initially unclear whether this was a mistake. On September 3, the offer was no longer available and an error message appeared with reference to the publication date of September 29. The download version also included the Prince Cover Under the Cherry Moon as a bonus track , to which many fans, as well as other download-only titles, e.g. B. the later single release Mary Pickford, reacted with incomprehension.
Katie Melua stated in an interview that iTunes was her record store and performed on May 5, 2008 at the iTunes Festival in Berlin. Almost simultaneously, on May 9, 2008, a vinyl edition of the album Pictures was released .
Album title
Mary Pickford
The original concept of the album was to write the music for an imaginary Tarantino film. Katie Melua wanted to express her passion for films, especially horror films. However, this project turned out to be too complex and the subject of “film” was instead broadened. The first title is about the silent film actress Mary Pickford and the founding of the film company United Artists .
Stylistically, this slightly swinging acoustic title, written in A major, cannot be clearly classified. Verse, chorus and C-part each have a length of twelve bars and, despite the clear voice guidance, refer in their basic character to elements of rhythm 'n' blues, which is made even clearer by the standard figures of guitar and bass. At the end of the chorus, the singing voice becomes quite low and takes a final turn that is often typical of folk music. The C part, which changes by a minor third in C major, offers a contrast to the scheme of verse and refrain that is reminiscent of romantic music and loosens up the piece towards pop. With the melodic return from the chorus to the verse, the acoustic guitar moves technically between classical and folk.
Mary Pickford was released on November 26, 2007 as the second single from the album. It was, however, a pure download single, i. H. it could only be downloaded from music providers on the Internet and no CD was put on the market.
It's All In My Head
picks up the root note of the first title, but changes the tone gender and creates the impression of a change in mood with this direct transition from A major to A minor.
If the lights go out
Track # 3 is the cover version of a Mike Batt song the Hollies recorded on their 1983 album What Goes Around . A powerfully with bass, electric guitar and drums lined without C-Part get along Direction pop song, the music in the 1960s with groups like the Byrds roots and the on the base cadence with the typical use for major chord parallel to the first stage minor chord developed. A statement that is more characteristic of the early 1980s can be found at the text passage:
"Start living for today. Don't think about tomorrow. "
It is noticeable that this passage in the single version, which will be released on February 25, 2008, is too
"Start living for today. Think about tomorrow. "
becomes.
One explanation is that a positive message should be conveyed, people should just think about "tomorrow", even if the future may make this difficult. Katie Melua has so far stuck to this version on her Live Tour in 2008 and introduces the title there with reference to her homeland Georgia, which is in some ways being built up, sometimes in this sense. B. on March 26, 2008 in the Salle Erasme in Strasbourg . A view that at first glance doesn't quite match the original statement, as it was confirmed in a Katie Melua quote at the time the single was released.
As the " B-side ", the single contains the title Looking for Clues , a cover version of the song by Robert Palmer .
What I Miss About You
is the fourth track on the album, but actually it's about the exact opposite, because in the second part of the song it says:
"What I Don't Miss About You"
Again it is about the end of a love, but unlike the sad and gloomy D minor blues piece by piece , the one disappointed in love calculates here in a pop song held in the parallel key of F major, albeit slow and with abundant minor chords in an ironic, almost cynical way with the former partner by first wistfully listing things that she misses at first glance, and then almost disparagingly to say, "No, I haven't missed that since you left":
"Your habit of soaking yourself in over-priced cologne"
The musical implementation is simple and effective using the standard chord sequence for the verse:
F - Dm - F - Gm - Am - B b - Dm - C - B b - F
and a variation above it for the chorus:
Dm - Am - B b - F - B b - F - C
There is no C part, the piece draws its tension from the melody that runs upwards in the chorus and the increasingly stronger statement in the text.
What I Miss About You was born from a collaboration between Andrea McEwan (text) and Katie Melua (music). When listening to pieces of music, she always pays attention - if possible - to the lyrics first and then to the music, and she does the same with her own compositions, as Katie Melua said on April 4, 2008 on the radio show Nocturnes on RTL France , which she co-hosted.
Spellbound
is the only song on the album composed by Katie Melua alone. It is slightly influenced by Georgian folk music by their own account:
"(...) slightly influenced by georgian folk music"
Spellbound is a long way from the roots of the blues and, compared to other tracks on the album, has a rather complicated structure with changes in rhythm , measure and key .
Scary Films
means horror films in German and the title clearly shows its relationship.
Perfect Circle
Concert-goers already had the opportunity in July 2007 to hear and experience this title in advance. On her 2007 tour, Katie Melua surprisingly played Perfect Circle as the second track behind Thankyou Stars , followed by Blues In The Night and Blame It On The Moon , but without introducing it as the new track on their upcoming album. The solo guitar part on this tour was performed by Justin Sandercoe , who had previously worked frequently with Katie Melua and who had also written the title Turn To Tell , which was included on one of the two 2004/2005 versions of the maxi single Call Off The Search .
Perfect Circle is the 8th title on Pictures and is composed by Katie Melua and Molly McQueen . Stylistically, the piece with its slightly rocking blues and funky elements is reminiscent of the Dire Straits , whereby the studio version is still characterized by the arrangement of Mike Batts with a background piano, soft sounding guitars and brass section.
On the Live Tour 2008 , Perfect Circle is in 12th place on the set list and also forms - together with the What I Miss About You performed immediately afterwards - pretty much the middle of the concert. The 2007 preliminary version already differed from the studio version in that it had a rather long outro with piano and guitar solo; on the 2008 Live Tour , the outro with improvisations on just one chord, with piano and guitar sometimes competing with each other, took up almost half of the A piece that now takes just under six and a half minutes. Justin Sandercoe, whose last appearance so far with Katie Melua on 10/11. November 2007 was seen at the AVO session , is no longer part of this tour. He was replaced by the session musician Luke Potashnick . The sound of his guitar, which is more clearly characterized by blues and rock elements, as well as his playing style are reminiscent of Eric Clapton , but also of Carlos Santana . The live version of Perfect Circle is given a particularly characteristic note by partly very free improvisations by pianist Jim Watson , whose part is occasionally taken over by Rob Taggart .
Some critics consider Perfect Circle to be one of Pictures' best titles :
“It's her voice on other tracks as well, but above all the way she really conveys the feelings that make the album really worth listening to. "Perfect Circle", for example, in which she furiously wants to break out of the little perfect world. "
If You Were A Sailboat
On September 24, 2007, written by Mike Batt, If You Were A Sailboat was released as a pre-release. The single was released in a limited edition of only 15,000 copies and each cover has a serial number. The B-sides included Junk Mail and Straight to DVD, written by Mike Batt, and a cover version of David Gray's This Year's Love . It is the only track on the album so far that Katie Melua presented on German television, e.g. B. on December 13, 2007 at the José Carreras Gala.
Dirty Dice
The text and music of the penultimate track play with motifs from the spaghetti western genre
"'Dirty dice' is our take on a spaghetti western."
List of titles
- Mary Pickford
- It's All In My Head
- If the lights go out
- What I Miss About You
- Spellbound
- What It Says On The Tin
- Scary Films
- Perfect Circle
- Ghost town
- If You Were A Sailboat
- Dirty Dice
- In My Secret Life
- When You Taught Me How To Dance *
- The Closest Thing To Crazy - acoustic *
(* Bonus titles only for Japan )
Chart placements
The album reached number 1 and double platinum in Switzerland, number 2 in Germany and gold and later platinum and number 6 in Austria.
The album peaked at number 2 in the UK .
Individual evidence
- ↑ http://www.katiemelua.de/index.php?view=article&catid=70%3ADetailseiten+der+Alben&id=123%3Apictures&option=com_content&Itemid=85
- ↑ http://www.katiemelua-fanclub.de/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=278&Itemid=121 ( page no longer available , search in web archives ) Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ↑ - ( Memento of the original from August 23, 2009 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. (Italian / English)
- ↑ - ( Memento of the original from April 14, 2008 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.
- ↑ - ( Memento of the original from May 14, 2008 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.
- ↑ Archived copy ( Memento of the original from May 13, 2008 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.
- ↑ - ( Memento of the original from May 17, 2008 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.
- ↑ a b c d For original texts see katiemelua.de or the booklet on the CD
- ↑ - ( Memento of the original from May 20, 2008 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.
- ↑ - ( Memento of the original from June 27, 2008 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. (English France)
- ↑ This is how Spellbound presented them on May 5th, 2008 at the iTunes Festival in Berlin
- ↑ http://www.laut.de/lautstark/cd-reviews/m/melua_katie/pictures/index.htm
- ↑ - ( Memento of the original from May 23, 2008 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.
- ↑ - ( Memento of the original from March 25, 2008 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.
- ↑ Printed tour program "Katie Melua Live Tour 2008", page 10, paragraph "Scary films":
- ↑ http://hitparade.ch/showitem.asp?interpret=Katie+Melua&titel=Pictures&cat=a
- ↑ Archived copy ( Memento of the original from September 27, 2013 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.
- ↑ http://austriancharts.at/showitem.asp?interpret=Katie+Melua&titel=Pictures&cat=a
- ^ Katie Melua “Pictures” in the IFPI database DE AT CH UK
- ↑ http://everyhit.com/
