200 Po Vstrechnoy

200 Po Vstrechnoy / 200 По Встречной
2001 (Original Release)
Studio album by t.A.T.u.
Released	21 May 2001
Recorded	1999-2000
Genre	Eurodance, pop rock, dance-pop, electropop, electronica
Length	43:04
Language	Russian
Label	Neformat
Producer	Ivan Shapovalov (executive)
t.A.T.u. chronology
200 Po Vstrechnoy (2001) 200 km/h in the Wrong Lane (2002)
Singles from 200 Po Vstrechnoy
"Ya Soshla s Uma" Released: December 2000 "Nas Ne Dogonyat" Released: March 2001 "30 Minut" Released: September 2001
Alternative cover
2002 (Reissued Release)

200 Po Vstrechnoy (Cyrillic: 200 По Встречной; translation: 200 [km/h] Against the Traffic) is the debut album by Russian recording duo t.A.T.u., which was released on 21 May 2001. The album is also known mostly as the Russian alternative album to their debut English-language album 200 km/h in the Wrong Lane (2002). The album only had one important producer, Ivan Shapovalov, who also directed and wrote the album. The album's composition is very different from their English version, which this album produced more eurodance and very strong bubblegum, yet electro music. In February 2002 the album was reissued in Russia, features a new song "Klouny", two new remixes for "30 Minut" and "Mal'chik-Gey", multimedia track and photo gallery.

The album was very successful through Russia and Poland, where it achieved platinum status. Due to the sales of this album, t.A.T.u. became the first Eastern European act to receive an IFPI Europe Platinum Award. The English version of this album, 200 km/h in the Wrong Lane, won the award as well, making t.A.T.u. the first group ever to receive an IFPI Europe Platinum Award for the same album in two different languages.

Background

After leaving Neposedi, the group decided to record a Russian album, when they were signed to Neformat and Interscope Russia. Ivan Shapovalov had produced and written majority of the album. Ivan also produced their then-future album 200 km/h in the Wrong Lane, which was released one year later. Through its composition, the album is very different from the English, where it features more electronica and europop style music. Even with "Ya Soshla s Uma" and "Nas Ne Dogonyat", the music is more electro-pop styles, then its original pop rock music.

While in production with the album, several audio files were leaked of the girls singing each song on the album. The demos consisted many recordings from 200 Po Vstrechnoy, including the singles "Ya Soshla S Uma".^[1] With this, demos of different songs were also recorded by each member of the band.

In the spring of 2012, over a decade after the album was first released, demos of the band's songs "Mal'chik-Gey", "30 Minut", "Ya Soshla S Uma" and "Nas Ne Dogonyat", were leaked online.^[2][3][4]

Release

200 Po Vstrechnoy was released on 21 May 2001 in Russia and in other European countries. It was later re-released in the same countries. In September 2003, the album was released in Asia and Japan where it sold +4,600 copies. The album was not released digitally in Japan.^[5] The re-release album, however, was the only Russian album to be released on the iTunes Store worldwide and the 2001 version was not released worldwide, although the original version's artwork was used.

The album was released in New Zealand and the United Kingdom on 24 March 2003.^[6][7] This album, along with Vesyoyle Ulybki, are the only Russian albums to be released in New Zealand.

Singles

• "Ya Soshla S Uma" was released as t.A.T.u.'s debut single on December 2000. The Ivan Shapovalov-directed music video, which showed Yulia and Lena in Catholic school uniforms kissing under the rain behind a chain fence, was highly controversial throughout Europe. The clip contributed to the song's success, not only in Russia, but in other countries as well such as Poland, Czech Republic and Latvia.

• "Nas Ne Dogonyat" was the second single off the album. It was released on March 2001. No physical single was issued; instead, a promotional music video was released and the song was made available digitally. It managed to reach the number one position in Russia, Poland and Romania.

• "30 Minut" was released as the album's third and final single in mid-2001. It did not match the success of the previous singles and failed to chart in most countries. Due to the fact that the song did not receive a proper release, it was later labeled as only a promotional single. A music video, using the English version of the song, was later released.

Track listing

Charts

References