Room on the 3rd Floor

This article is about the album. For the song, see Room on the 3rd Floor (song).
Room on the 3rd Floor
Studio album by McFly
Released 5 July 2004
Recorded December 2003 - April 2004 (London, England)
Genre Pop rock, pop punk,[1] surf rock
Length 43:44
Label Universal Island
Producer Craig Hardy, Hugh Padgham, Tim 'Spag' Speight, Jay Renolds
McFly chronology

Room on the 3rd Floor
(2004)
Wonderland
(2005)
Singles from Room on the 3rd Floor
  1. "5 Colours in Her Hair"
    Released: 29 March 2004
  2. "Obviously"
    Released: 21 June 2004
  3. "That Girl"
    Released: 6 September 2004
  4. "Room on the 3rd Floor"
    Released: 15 November 2004
Professional ratings
Review scores
Source Rating
AllMusic link
Planet Sound 6/10

Room on the 3rd Floor is the debut studio album by English pop rock band McFly. It was released on 5 July 2004 in the United Kingdom via Island Records, and was later issued in the United States by Island Def Jam Records via the iTunes Store.

The album debuted at number one on the UK Albums Chart, breaking the world record for the youngest ever band with a number-one album, a record previously held by The Beatles. It reached the top of the charts after selling over 61,000 copies in its first week. The album has been certified 2× Platinum in the UK for sales of over 600,000 copies. The album won Best Album at the 2004 Smash Hits Awards. As of 2014, the album has sold over 2 million copies worldwide.

Background

The album's main songwriters include band members Tom Fletcher and Danny Jones, as well as contributions from James Bourne from the band Busted, as well as some of Busted's main producers. The album is directly influenced by three things: modern pop punk, 1960s surfer pop, and tales of unrequited love.[2] The track "Get Over You" is hidden, and does not appear on the track listing. It can be accessed by rewinding into the pre-gap, prior to the first track, "Five Colours in Her Hair". The track cannot be accessed if the album is played in a computer. Four singles were released from the album: "Five Colours in Her Hair" and "Obviously", which both went to number one, "That Girl", which reached number three, and the title track, "Room on the Third Floor", which peaked at five. A demo version of the track "Saturday Night" was previously released as "Saturday Nite" on the B-side of the "Five Colours in Her Hair" single. The international version of the album removes the songs "Broccoli" and "Surfer Babe" for contractual reasons. This version also features alternate artwork - the colour of the band logo is altered from yellow to red.[3]

Critical reception

Sharon Mawer of AllMusic said of the album: "When a vacancy appears in pop music, it doesn't take long to fill it. As Busted moved out of pure pop into more serious material, the way was left open for McFly to capture teenage girls' hearts with their debut album, Room on the 3rd Floor. Named after the character in the Back to the Future trilogy and sounding like an updated 2000s garage band with close harmonies and raw guitars, McFly opened their album with two number one singles, "5 Colours in Her Hair" and "Obviously," so Room on the 3rd Floor really couldn't fail—and it didn't, hitting the top on its first week of release. "That Girl," the third single released, could have sat easily on a Beach Boys album from the 1960s, or possibly even the early Beatles with the count of "one two three four" before a guitar crashes in. "Surfer Babe" (fairly predictably) and "Down by the Lake" were also Beach Boys-sounding tracks. It's not that good, however—just a fun summery mid-2000s pop album from four lads who sound as if they were enjoying themselves singing mostly about girls. "Met This Girl" also took its influences from the Rolling Stones of the 1960s with a touch of Manfred Mann's fast-paced blues. "Everybody likes to party on a Saturday night," claim the lads on the track "Saturday Night," and if you were about thirteen years old and female, this was the album of summer 2004."[1]

Track listing

Standard international edition
No. TitleWriter(s)Producer(s) Length
1. "Get Over You" (hidden track)Fletcher, Jones, Bourne  2:24
2. "Five Colours in Her Hair"  Fletcher, Jones, BourneCraig Hardy 2:58
3. "Obviously"  Fletcher, Jones, BourneHugh Padgham, Craig Hardy 3:18
4. "Room on the Third Floor"  Fletcher, JonesJason Perry 3:16
5. "That Girl"  Fletcher, Bourne, JonesHugh Padgham, Craig Hardy 3:17
6. "Hypnotised"  Fletcher, Jones, Poynter, Judd  3:02
7. "Saturday Night"  Fletcher, Jones, Poynter, Judd  2:47
8. "Met This Girl"  Fletcher, Jones, Poynter, Judd  2:46
9. "She Left Me"  Fletcher, Bourne  3:25
10. "Down By the Lake"  Fletcher, Bourne  2:37
11. "Unsaid Things"  Fletcher, Jones, Poynter, Judd, Bourne  3:25
12. "Not Alone"  Jones  4:18
Total length:
37:42
UK special edition bonus tracks
No. TitleWriter(s) Length
12. "Surfer Babe"  Fletcher, Bourne 2:33
13. "Not Alone"  Jones 4:18
14. "Broccoli"  Fletcher, Jones, Bourne 3:31
Total length:
43:44

Theatre tour

After a minor supporting slot with Busted, the band announced their very first headline tour in 2004. They started the tour just sixteen days after the release of the album's third single, "That Girl". The tour began on 22 September 2004, and ended on 13 October, with a total of fifteen sell-out dates.

  1. 22 September - Civic Hall, Wolverhampton
  2. 24 September - Dome, Doncaster
  3. 26 September - Royal Centre, Nottingham
  4. 27 September - Clyde Auditorium, Glasgow
  5. 28 September - Clyde Auditorium, Glasgow^
  6. 30 September - City Hall, Newcastle
  7. 1 October - Apollo, Manchester
  8. 4 October - Colston Hall, Bristol
  9. 5 October - Pavilions, Plymouth
  10. 7 October - Newport Centre, Newport
  11. 8 October - Guildhall, Portsmouth
  12. 9 October - Regent, Ipswich
  13. 12 October - Hammersmith Apollo, London
  14. 13 October - Hammersmith Apollo, London^

^ - Extra Dates

  1. "Saturday Night"
  2. "Down by the Lake"
  3. "Obviously"
  4. "Surfer Babe"
  5. "That Girl"
  6. "Met This Girl"
  7. "Not Alone"
  8. "She Left Me"
  9. "Hypnotised"
  10. "She Loves You"
  11. "Room on The Third Floor"
  12. "Broccoli"
  13. "Five Colours in Her Hair"

Charts and certifications

Weekly charts

Chart (2004) Peak
position
European Top 100 Albums[4]
9
Irish Albums (IRMA)
19
Japanese Albums (Oricon)[5]
26
UK Albums (OCC)[6] 1

Year-end charts

Chart (2004) Peak
position
UK Albums Chart 29

Certifications

Region Certification Sales/shipments
United Kingdom (BPI)[7] 2× Platinum 600,000^

Release history

Region Date Label Format
United Kingdom 5 July 2004 Universal CD, digital download
Ireland
Brazil[8] 10 May 2007

References

  1. 1.0 1.1 Sharon Mawer (2004-07-05). "Room on the 3rd Floor - McFly | Songs, Reviews, Credits, Awards". AllMusic. Retrieved 2014-02-19.
  2. "Music - Review of McFly - Room On The Third Floor". BBC. 2004-07-05. Retrieved 2014-02-19.
  3. "Mcfly New Album - 'Room On The Third Floor'". Femalefirst.co.uk. Retrieved 2014-02-19.
  4. Billboard - Google Books. Books.google.ca. 2004-07-24. Retrieved 2014-02-19.
  5. マクフライのCDアルバムランキング、マクフライのプロフィールならオリコン芸能人事典-ORICON STYLE
  6. "McFly | Artist | Official Charts". UK Albums Chart
  7. "British album certifications – McFly – Room on the 3rd Floor". British Phonographic Industry. Retrieved 25 July 2012. Enter Room on the 3rd Floor in the field Keywords. Select Title in the field Search by. Select album in the field By Format. Select Platinum in the field By Award. Click Search

External links

Preceded by
Scissor Sisters by Scissor Sisters
UK number one album
17 July 2004 – 23 July 2004
Succeeded by
Scissor Sisters by Scissor Sisters