| Instant Karma: The Amnesty International Campaign to Save Darfur | ||
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| Compilation album by Various artists | ||
| Released | June 12, 2007 | |
| Genre | Rock, pop | |
| Label | Warner Bros./Amnesty International/Art for Amnesty | |
| Producer | Jeff Ayeroff, Larry Cox & Bill Shipsey (Executive Producers) Helen Garrett, Vanessa Moss, Robin Raj, Karen Schneider & Julie Yannatta (Co-Executive Producers) Individual Song Production Credits Listed Below |
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| Singles from Instant Karma: The Amnesty International Campaign to Save Darfur | ||
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| Professional ratings | |
|---|---|
| Review scores | |
| Source | Rating |
| Allmusic | [2] |
| Rolling Stone | [3] |
Instant Karma: The Amnesty International Campaign to Save Darfur is a compilation album of various artists covering songs of John Lennon to benefit Amnesty International's campaign to alleviate the crisis in Darfur. The album and campaign is part of Amnesty International's global "Make Some Noise" project.
Contents |
The rights to Lennon's songs and music publishing royalties were donated to Amnesty International by Yoko Ono. Amnesty International utilized the songs to start the "Make Some Noise" project, which later led to the subsidiary campaign "Instant Karma." Eventually, enough momentum was achieved through the project to amount to an album.
This album will be used to harness the power of Lennon's music to inspire a new generation of activists to stand up for human rights.[4]
"It's wonderful that, through this campaign, music that is so familiar to many people of my era will now be embraced by a whole new generation," Ono says. "John's music set out to inspire change, and in standing up for human rights, and selling more records, we really can make the world a better place."[4]
Larry Cox, executive director of Amnesty International U.S.A., added, "We know music's power to unite and inspire people. With hundreds of thousands dead, millions driven from their burned out villages and rape being used as a tactic in the Darfur conflict, the world needs a mass mobilization demanding action and justice. The "Instant Karma" campaign combines John Lennon's passionate desire for us to imagine a more peaceful world with Amnesty International's expertise in achieving justice. "Instant Karma" allows ordinary people to lend their hand in saving lives—a notion we think would make John proud."[4]
"John Lennon was not just a famous Beatle, he was the social conscience of his generation," says Jeff Ayeroff, one of the album's executive producers. "By reinterpreting his music and reintroducing it to a new generation, we shine a light on the darkness that is Darfur. Yoko Ono's gift of John's music to Amnesty International, whose work points out the pain and injustice in the world, is a true beacon of light. Give peace a chance is all we are saying." [4]
Proceeds from CD and digital sales will support Amnesty International and its campaign to focus attention and mobilize activism around the urgent catastrophe in Darfur, and other human rights crises.[4] It was released in the U.S. on June 12 and the U.K. on June 25, 2007.
The digital version of the album made it to #1 on iTunes in Portugal, Ireland, Greece, Denmark and Luxembourg. The physical album made it to #1 in Ireland and Mexico. As of July 13, 2007 it had certified Gold Status in Italy and Ireland. As of July 11, 2007, the album has sold 107,689 copies in the US.
| # | Title | Performer(s) | Producer(s) | Time |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | "Instant Karma!" | U2 | Larry Mullen Jr and Tal Herzberg | 3:14 |
| 2 | "#9 Dream" | R.E.M. | David Barbe & R.E.M. | 4:38 |
| 3 | "Mother" | Christina Aguilera (featuring Bigelf) | Linda Perry | 4:48 |
| 4 | "Give Peace a Chance" | Aerosmith featuring Sierra Leone's Refugee All Stars | Marti Frederiksen | 4:35 |
| 5 | "Cold Turkey" | Lenny Kravitz | Lenny Kravitz | 4:43 |
| 6 | "Whatever Gets You Thru the Night" | Los Lonely Boys | Los Lonely Boys | 3:35 |
| 7 | "I'm Losing You" | Corinne Bailey Rae | Steve Chrisanthou | 4:01 |
| 8 | "Gimme Some Truth" | Jakob Dylan featuring Dhani Harrison | Tony Berg | 3:53 |
| 9 | "Oh, My Love" | Jackson Browne | Jackson Browne | 2:39 |
| 10 | "Imagine" | Avril Lavigne | Butch Walker | 3:12 |
| 11 | "Nobody Told Me" | Big & Rich | Adam Shoenfeld | 3:30 |
| 12 | "Jealous Guy" | Youssou N'Dour | Prince N'Dour | 3:59 |
| # | Title | Performer(s) | Producer(s) | Time |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | "Working Class Hero" | Green Day | Samuel Bayer | 4:25 |
| 2 | "Power to the People" | Black Eyed Peas | Will.I.Am | 3:35 |
| 3 | "Imagine" | Jack Johnson | Jack Johnson & Robert Carranza | 3:40 |
| 4 | "Beautiful Boy (Darling Boy)" | Ben Harper | Ben Harper | 3:48 |
| 5 | "Isolation" | Snow Patrol | Garrett "Jacknife" Lee | 2:36 |
| 6 | "Watching the Wheels" | Matisyahu | David Kahne | 3:19 |
| 7 | "Grow Old With Me" | The Postal Service | Jimmy Tamborello & Benjamin Gibbard | 2:30 |
| 8 | "Gimme Some Truth" | Jaguares | Saúl Hernández, Alfonso André & Adrian Belew | 3:08 |
| 9 | "(Just Like) Starting Over" | The Flaming Lips | The Flaming Lips | 3:36 |
| 10 | "God" | Jack's Mannequin featuring Mick Fleetwood | Jim Wirt, Andrew McMahon & Robert "Raw" Anderson | 4:20 |
| 11 | "Real Love" | Regina Spektor | Regina Spektor & Joe Mendelson | 3:57 |
(Only available on the special edition of the album courtesy of Borders on Disc Two)
| # | Title | Performer(s) | Time |
|---|---|---|---|
| 12 | "Imagine" | Willie Nelson | 3:33 |
| 13 | "Happy Xmas (War Is Over)" | Angelique Kidjo | 3:04 |
(Only available for download on the expanded iTunes edition of the album)
| # | Title | Performer(s) | Time |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | "Instant Karma!" | Duran Duran | 3:56 |
| 2 | "Jealous Guy" | Deftones | 4:07 |
| 3 | "Mind Games" | Gavin Rossdale | 4:13 |
| 4 | "Oh, My Love" | Yellowcard | 3:20 |
| 5 | "Crippled Inside" | Widespread Panic | 4:06 |
| 6 | "Borrowed Time" | O.A.R. | 5:55 |
| 7 | "Woman" | Ben Jelen | 3:41 |
| 8 | "Imagine" | Me'Shell NdegéOcello | 3:16 |
| 9 | "Well Well Well" | Rocky Dawuni | 5:00 |
| 10 | "Mother" | Emmanuel Jal | 6:03 |
| 11 | "I Don't Wanna Face It" | The Fab Faux | 2:49 |
All songs written by Lennon except "Oh, My Love" & "Happy Xmas (War Is Over)" written by Lennon/Ono
| # | Title | Performer(s) | Producer(s) | Time |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | "Instant Karma!" | U2 | Tal Herzberg; additional production by Larry Mullen Jr. & The Edge | 3:14 |
| 2 | "#9 Dream" | R.E.M. | David Barbe & R.E.M. | 4:38 |
| 3 | "Mother" | Christina Aguilera (featuring Bigelf) | Linda Perry | 4:48 |
| 4 | "Give Peace a Chance" | Aerosmith featuring Sierra Leone's Refugee All Stars | Marti Frederiksen | 4:35 |
| 5 | "Cold Turkey" | Lenny Kravitz | Lenny Kravitz | 4:43 |
| 6 | "Love" | The Cure | The Cure | 3:16 |
| 7 | "I'm Losing You" | Corinne Bailey Rae | Steve Chrisanthou | 4:01 |
| 8 | "Gimme Some Truth" | Jakob Dylan featuring Dhani Harrison | Tony Berg | 3:53 |
| 9 | "Oh, My Love" | Jackson Browne | Jackson Browne | 2:39 |
| 10 | "One Day At A Time" | The Raveonettes | Richard Gottehrer | 3:22 |
| 11 | "Imagine" | Avril Lavigne | Butch Walker | 3:12 |
| 12 | "Nobody Told Me" | Big & Rich | Adam Shoenfeld | 3:30 |
| 13 | "Mind Games" | Eskimo Joe | Matt Lovell, Eskimo Joe | 4:04 |
| 14 | "Jealous Guy" | Youssou N'Dour | Prince N'Dour | 3:59 |
| # | Title | Performer(s) | Producer(s) | Time |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | "Working Class Hero" | Green Day | Green Day | 4:24 |
| 2 | "Power to the People" | Black Eyed Peas | Will.I.Am | 3:35 |
| 3 | "Imagine" | Jack Johnson | Jack Johnson & Robert Carranza | 3:40 |
| 4 | "Beautiful Boy (Darling Boy)" | Ben Harper | Ben Harper | 3:48 |
| 5 | "Isolation" | Snow Patrol | Garrett "Jacknife" Lee | 2:36 |
| 6 | "Watching the Wheels" | Matisyahu | David Kahne | 3:19 |
| 7 | "Grow Old With Me" | The Postal Service | Jimmy Tamborello & Benjamin Gibbard | 2:30 |
| 8 | "Gimme Some Truth" | Jaguares | Saúl Hernández, Alfonso André & Adrian Belew | 3:08 |
| 9 | "(Just Like) Starting Over" | The Flaming Lips | The Flaming Lips | 3:36 |
| 10 | "God" | Jack's Mannequin featuring Mick Fleetwood | Jim Wirt, Andrew McMahon & Robert "Raw" Anderson | 4:20 |
| 11 | "Instant Karma!" | Duran Duran | Duran Duran and Paul Logus | 3:55 |
| 12 | "#9 Dream" | a-ha | a-ha | 4:06 |
| 13 | "Instant Karma!" | Tokio Hotel | Dave Roth, Peter Hoffman, Pat Benzer & David Jost | 3:09 |
| 14 | "Real Love" | Regina Spektor | Regina Spektor & Joe Mendelson | 3:57 |
On October 8, 2007,[5] iTunes released 'Instant Karma: The Amnesty International Campaign to Save Darfur (The Complete Recordings).
Over 50 artists participated in the "Instant Karma" campaign for the "Make Some Noise" campaign around the world. Some of these covers are available for download on the international Make Some Noise website, but will not be featured on the album.
These covers include (in release date order):