This Is the Life | ||||
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Studio album by Amy Macdonald | ||||
Released | 30 July 2007 (UK) 9 May 2008 (Europe) August 19, 2008 (USA) |
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Genre | Soft rock, Indie Rock, Indie folk | |||
Length | 44:15 | |||
Label | Melodramatic, Vertigo | |||
Producer | Pete Wilkinson | |||
Amy Macdonald chronology | ||||
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Singles from This Is the Life | ||||
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Professional ratings | |
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Review scores | |
Source | Rating |
Allmusic | [1] |
BBC | (favourable) [2] |
Blender | [3] |
Insiders' Guides | (8/10) [4] |
Los Angeles Times | [5] |
The Epoch Times | (positive) [6] |
The Guardian | [7] |
The Independent | [8] |
TimesOnline | [9] |
This Is the Life is the debut album by Scottish singer-songwriter Amy Macdonald, released on 30 July 2007. It was highly successful, reaching the number one in the UK albums chart on 13 January 2008,[10] and as of 14 March 2008, over 700,000 copies have been sold in the UK, certifying it 2x Platinum.[11] Later in the year at 15 December 2008, her debut album reached over 2,000,000 copies sold. It has now sold over 3,000,000 worldwide.[12]
Contents |
The first single from the album was "Poison Prince", a limited online release, while the debut first full single was the successful "Mr Rock & Roll" which debuted at #12. The following singles "L.A." and "This Is the Life" were considerably less successful in the UK, although "This Is the Life" is considered her most successful song in the rest of Europe, where it peaked at #1 in the Belgian Top 50 and Dutch Top 40, #3 in the Spanish Top 50, it's also reached #6 on the Norway Top 20 Singles, #2 on the Swiss Top 100 and #8 in the Danish Top 40. It peaked at a disappointing #28 in the UK spending 17 weeks in the UK's Top 75 Singles. After fifth single Run, the sixth release from the album was a re-release of "Poison Prince" on 19 May 2008.[13]
Three songs of the album are cover versions: "Caledonia", originally recorded in 1979 by Dougie MacLean, "Fairytale of New York", first performed in 1987 by The Pogues and Kirsty MacColl, written by Jem Finer and Shane MacGowan, and "Mr. Brightside", cover version of a 2004 song by The Killers, written by Brandon Flowers and Dave Keuning.
The album has spent 57 weeks in the German Top 20 Albums Chart, 36 weeks in the German Top 10 Albums Chart and a total of 100 weeks on the entire chart;[14] it has been certified 9x Gold (February 2011) for over 900,000 copies sold in Germany.[15] It has also spent 57 weeks in the Netherlands album chart and 53 weeks in the Swiss album chart so far.
It has also been certified Gold in Sweden. It has been certified Platinum in France for over 220,000 copies sold.[16] The album was released in the U.S. on August 19, 2008.[17]
It has now sold over three million worldwide.[12]
All tracks were written by Amy Macdonald except where shown.
This Is The Life – Standard Edition | |||||||||
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No. | Title | Length | |||||||
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. | "L.A." (written by Amy Macdonald and Pete Wilkinson) | 4:06 | |||||||
9. | "A Wish for Something More" | 3:46 | |||||||
10. | "Footballer's Wife" | 5:06 |
International Bonus Tracks | |||||||||
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No. | Title | Length | |||||||
11. | "The Road to Home" | 2:20 | |||||||
12. | "Caledonia" (hidden track, written by Dougie MacLean) | 2:00 |
French and Japanese Bonus Tracks | |||||||||
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No. | Title | Length | |||||||
11. | "The Road to Home" | 2:20 | |||||||
12. | "Caledonia" (hidden track, written by Dougie MacLean) | 2:00 | |||||||
13. | "Mr. Brightside" (Live From King Tuts) | 4:14 | |||||||
14. | "Mr Rock & Roll" (Live From King Tuts) | 3:28 | |||||||
15. | "Rock Bottom" | 3:45 |
After the major success of "This Is the Life" across Europe, in the end of 2008 a deluxe version of the album was released. The 2-disc-set include the standard version of the album and a bonus-CD with several bonus tracks, live and acoustic versions.
Deluxe Edition CD 1 | |||||||||
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No. | Title | Length | |||||||
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. | "L.A." (written by Amy Macdonald and Pete Wilkinson) | 4:06 | |||||||
9. | "A Wish for Something More" | 3:46 | |||||||
10. | "Footballer's Wife" | 5:06 |
Deluxe Edition CD 2 | |||||||||
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No. | Title | Length | |||||||
1. | "This Is the Life" (Acoustic live version) | 3:19 | |||||||
2. | "This Much Is True" | 2:44 | |||||||
3. | "Somebody New" | 3:29 | |||||||
4. | "Footballer's Wife" (Live from Glasgow Barrowlands) | 5:02 | |||||||
5. | "Fairy Tale Of New York" (Live from Glasgow Barrowlands, written by The Pogues & Kirsty MacColl) | 5:50 | |||||||
6. | "Mr. Brightside" (Live from Glasgow Barrowlands, written by The Killers) | 4:05 | |||||||
7. | "Mr Rock & Roll" (Live from Glasgow Barrowlands) | 3:28 | |||||||
8. | "Rock Bottom" | 3:46 | |||||||
9. | "The Road to Home" | 2:21 | |||||||
10. | "Caledonia" (hidden track) | 2:06 |
Digital Release[18] | |||||||||
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No. | Title | Length | |||||||
11. | "What Is Love" | 3:42 |
Charts |
Certifications
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Chart (2008) | Position |
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German Albums Chart[36] | 8 |
Chart (2009) | Position |
German Albums Chart[37] | 10 |
Swiss Albums Chart[38] | 18 |
Preceded by In Rainbows by Radiohead |
UK Albums Chart number-one album 13 January 2008 - 20 January 2008 |
Succeeded by Scouting for Girls by Scouting for Girls |
Preceded by Melankolia / XXXCouture by L.O.C. |
Danish Albums Chart number-one album 25 April 2008 - 2 May 2008 |
Succeeded by Hard Candy by Madonna |
Preceded by Rockferry by Duffy Tättoo - Best Of Bärndütsch / So Damn Sexy by Gölä Flavors of Entanglement by Alanis Morissette Viva la Vida or Death and All His Friends by Coldplay |
Swiss Albums Chart number-one album 27 April 2008 - 4 May 2008 (2 weeks) 8 June 2008 (1 week) 22 June 2008 (1 week) 3 August 2008 (1 week) |
Succeeded by Hard Candy by Madonna Flavors of Entanglement by Alanis Morissette Viva la Vida or Death and All His Friends by Coldplay Viva la Vida or Death and All His Friends by Coldplay |
Preceded by Everything You Want by Kane |
Dutch Albums Chart number-one album 31 May 2008 - 14 June 2008 |
Succeeded by Viva la Vida or Death and All His Friends by Coldplay |
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