This Is the Life (Album)

This is the life
Amy Macdonald's studio album
Publication (s)	2007
admission	2006
Label (s)	Vertigo Records
Format (s)	LP, CD, download
Genre (s)	Folk rock
Title (number)	10
running time	44:15
production	Pete Wilkinson
Location (s)	los Angeles
chronology - This is the life A Curious Thing (2010)

This Is the Life is the debut album by Scottish singer-songwriter Amy Macdonald . It was released in the UK on July 30, 2007 and has sold more than 2.4 million copies to date.

Emergence

Amy Macdonald at the presentation of her album

The album was created in the summer of 2006 in London's Soho Recordings Studios under producer Pete Wilkinson of Melodramatic Records. It was largely mixed by sound engineer Bob Clearmountain in Los Angeles . The music and all lyrics were written by Amy Macdonald, except for the song LA by Wilkinson and Macdonald. The album was released by the Melodramatic Records label in collaboration with Mercury Records .

In addition to Amy Macdonald's voice and acoustic guitar, many additional instruments such as bass , cello , drums and other percussion instruments , electric guitar , piano , keyboard , saxophone , flugelhorn , trumpet , viola and violin were used during the recording .

reception

• The music has been described by Mike Pattenden, a reviewer for The Times , as "Jangly Indie Folk with a powerful voice," reminiscent of the cranberries .

• Elle J. Small of the BBC wrote that Macdonald has an "old voice on her young shoulders" and that it takes a mature ear to access her folk-oriented narrative, adult voice and country- influenced guitar . The first song Mr Rock & Roll is a radio-friendly sing-along piece, full of Celtic campfire romance. But one can doubt the authenticity of her work. Words and tones sound a bit forced and would suit a wise 39-year-old rather than a naive 19-year-old.

• The German online magazine laut.de described the album as "country folk pop that is still looking for the right amount". Like the British reviewers, it made Amy Macdonald a mature voice, but criticized the fact that it often slipped into shrill tones in higher registers. Too often the texts would be in the foreground. The acoustic guitar is also sometimes boring, strings create an exaggerated theatricality. Highlights, on the other hand, are Mr Rock & Roll and the song This Is the Life . Although it is not yet fully developed, potential shows through in various places and approaches for a style of its own are shown.

• Sharon Mawer wrote in her review on Allmusic that the album arouses nostalgic feelings and reminds of Kirsty MacColl .

Cover design

On the cover you can see Amy Macdonald's head and shoulders in a color photograph by London photographer Valerie Philips. Below that is the name of the artist in large white capital letters and below it the title of the album in smaller letters. The edges have been processed so that they look like they belong to an old, crushed record. According to Allmusic, the design is reminiscent of the albums of the seventies.

Track list

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. LA - 4:06
9. A Wish for Something More - 3:46
10. Footballer's Wife - 5:06

Song information

Footballer's Wife reflects the obsession with British tabloids, while Poison Prince brings up Pete Doherty's drug addiction . The LA lyrics are about her enthusiasm for Jake Gyllenhaal . she was supported by Pete Wilkinson . Their song Barrow Ballroom refers to the same venue in Glasgow .

Charts

The album was a great radio and sales success in Europe, mainly in German-speaking countries. In the United Kingdom, it was number two in the British singles chart on the first Sunday after its release and even number one on January 13, 2008. On March 14, 2008, it achieved double platinum status with 600,000 copies sold.

In the Swiss hit parade , the album entered the charts on February 24, 2008 at number 58. It worked its way up to number one and stayed for five weeks. More than 100 weeks of charts are reflected in quadruple platinum and more than 150,000 CDs in Switzerland. In Germany , it came in third place and reached four-fold platinum status in June 2009 and nine-fold gold in February 2011 with 900,000 copies sold. The album finally cracked the million mark in 2012, making it one of the best-selling albums in Germany since 1975. In Austria, the highest level was also number three.

In addition to first place in the United Kingdom, Switzerland, Denmark and the Netherlands, the album reached number two in Belgium, number five in Norway and Sweden, number six in France, number 16 in Ireland and number 92 on the US Billboard charts .

album

year	title	Top ranking, total weeks, awardChart placementsChart placements (Year, title, rankings, weeks, awards, notes)					Remarks
		DE	AT	CH	UK	US
2007	This is the life	DE3 (100 weeks) DE	AT3 (82 weeks) AT	CH1 (106 weeks) CH	UK1 (75 weeks) UK	US92 (2 weeks) US

Singles

year	Title album	Top ranking, total weeks, awardChart placementsChart placements (Year, title, album , rankings, weeks, awards, notes)					Remarks
		DE	AT	CH	UK	US
2007	Poison Prince	DE66 (8 weeks) DE	-	CH58 (9 weeks) CH	-	-
	Mr Rock & Roll	DE21 (40 weeks) DE	AT19 (35 weeks) AT	CH3 (65 weeks) CH	UK12 (16 weeks) UK	-
	LA	-	-	-	UK48 (2 weeks) UK	-
	This is the life	DE2 (56 weeks) DE	AT1 (43 weeks) AT	CH2 (94 weeks) CH	UK28 (18 weeks) UK	-
2008	run	DE36 (9 weeks) DE	-	-	UK75 (1 week) UK	-

Awards

• Swiss Music Award
  • 2009: in the category "Best Album Pop / Rock International"

Awards for music sales

Country / Region	Award	Sales
Awards for music sales (country / region, Award, Sales)
Belgium (BEA)	2 × platinum	60,000
Denmark (IFPI)	platinum	40,000
Germany (BVMI)	5 × platinum	1,000,000
Europe (IFPI)	2 × platinum	(2,000,000)
France (SNEP)	gold	75,000
Ireland (IRMA)	gold	7,500
Netherlands (NVPI)	2 × platinum	140,000
Norway (IFPI)	gold	15,000
Austria (IFPI)	2 × platinum	40,000
Poland (ZPAV)	gold	10,000
Russia (NFPF)	gold	10,000
Sweden (IFPI)	gold	20,000
Switzerland (IFPI)	4 × platinum	120,000
Spain (Promusicae)	gold	30,000
United Kingdom (BPI)	3 × platinum	900,000
All in all	7 × gold 21 × platinum	2,467,500

Individual evidence

1. ↑ http://hitparade.ch/showperson.asp?name=Pete+Wilkinson
2. ↑ ^{a b c} allmusic.com This Is The Life - Amy MacDonald
3. ↑ amymacdonald.co.uk ( Memento of the original from March 18, 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. What A Week !!! 
4. ↑ n-tv.de: "A Curious Thing": Amy Macdonald's new album , January 29, 2010, accessed on May 6, 2010
5. ↑ Biography. Amy Macdonald. In: amymacdonald.co.uk. Mercury Music Group, archived from the original on April 27, 2011 ; accessed on April 27, 2011 (English).  
6. ↑ ^{a b c} Booklet for This Is the Life
7. ↑ timesonline.co.uk Amy Macdonald: This Is the Life, Mike Pattenden
8. ↑ bbc.co.uk Amy MacDonald - This Is the Life, by Elle J Small
9. ↑ "This Is The Life" by Amy MacDonald album. Criticism. In: laut.de . Archived from the original on April 27, 2011 ; Retrieved April 27, 2011 .  
10. ↑ SWR3 Poplexikon: Amy MacDonald: Poison prince ( Memento from February 28, 2009 in the Internet Archive )
11. ↑ songwriters.de: Amy Macdonald | Biography , accessed October 7, 2008
12. ↑ ^{a b c d e f} acharts.us Amy Macdonald - This Is the Life (Album)
13. ↑ bbc.co.uk MacDonald tops the UK album chart, Sunday 13 January 2008
14. ↑ dailymail.co.uk Why Amy Macdonald's a reluctant wag
15. ↑ ^{a b} musikindustrie.de gold / platinum database
16. ↑ ^{a b} Chart sources: DE AT CH is the life / UK US
17. ↑ Swiss Music Awards 2009 - successful second edition
18. ^ Belgian record awards
19. ↑ Danish Record Awards
20. ^ German record awards
21. ↑ European Record Awards
22. ↑ Certifications Albums Or - année 2008 (German: French record awards ) ( Memento from September 13, 2012 in the Internet Archive )
23. ↑ Irish Record Awards
24. ↑ Dutch record awards
25. ↑ Norwegian Record Awards ( Memento from November 5, 2012 in the Internet Archive )
26. ^ Austrian record awards
27. ↑ Polish Record Awards
28. ↑ Russian Record Awards ( Memento from July 24, 2011 in the Internet Archive )
29. ↑ Swedish Record Awards
30. ↑ Swiss record awards
31. ^ Spanish record awards
32. ↑ British Record Awards