The Boy Who Knew Too Much (album)

This article is about the Mika album. For other uses, see The Boy Who Knew Too Much (disambiguation).
The Boy Who Knew Too Much
Studio album by Mika
Released 21 September 2009
(see release history)
Recorded June 2008–2009[1]
Genre Pop rock, glam rock, power pop
Length 41:13[2]
Label

Casablanca, Polydor[3]

Producer Greg Wells, Imogen Heap, Mika, RedOne[1]
Mika chronology

Songs for Sorrow
(2009)		 The Boy Who Knew Too Much
(2009)		 The Origin of Love
(2012)
Singles from The Boy Who Knew Too Much
  1. "We Are Golden"
    Released: 7 September 2009
  2. "Rain"
    Released: 23 November 2009
  3. "Blame It on the Girls"
    Released: 15 February 2010

The Boy Who Knew Too Much[4] is the second studio album by singer Mika. It was released on 21 September 2009,[5] under Casablanca Records in the United States and Polydor in the United Kingdom.

Background

Mika worked with producer Greg Wells, who also produced his debut album Life in Cartoon Motion.[1] The album was written in Olympic Studios, London, which began in June 2008. In September 2008 he moved to Rocket Carousel Studios, Los Angeles, where the album was recorded.[1] Mika has described the album's themes as dealing with his teenage years, and "in a sense is kind of part two" of his first album.[6] In contrast to his first album, which "contained innocent fairytales", Mika pitches the new album's songs as "gothic Tim Burton-esque fantasies."[7]

The album was originally titled We Are Golden after the first single from the album, "We Are Golden". On 20 July 2009 in an on-air interview with DJ Jo Whiley on BBC Radio 1, Mika revealed he was considering renaming the album, because he wanted "something a little more ridiculous."[8] On 6 August 2009 it was confirmed that the album's title would change to The Boy Who Knew Too Much.[9] As with Mika's debut album Life in Cartoon Motion, the album artwork has been designed by Mika's sister (who works under the nom de plume DaWack), the Australian illustrator Sophie Blackall, Airside collaborator Richard Hogg and Mika himself. The artwork has been inspired by children's picture books from the 1940s to 1970s.[10]

Critical response

Professional ratings
Aggregate scores
Source Rating
Metacritic (70/100)[11]
Review scores
Source Rating
AllMusic [12]
The A.V. Club (A-)[13]
Entertainment Weekly (A)[14]
The Guardian [15]
Los Angeles Times [16]
The Observer [17]
PopMatters [18]
Rolling Stone [19]
Slant [20]
Spin [21]
The Times [22]

The album received generally positive reviews from music critics, based on an aggregate score of 70/100 from Metacritic.[23]

Singles

Track listing

No. TitleWriter(s) Length
1. "We Are Golden"  Mika 3:58
2. "Blame It on the Girls"  Mika 3:34
3. "Rain"  Mika, Jodi Marr 3:43
4. "Dr. John"  Mika 3:44
5. "I See You"  Mika, Walter Afanasieff 4:17
6. "Blue Eyes"  Mika 2:50
7. "Good Gone Girl"  Mika, Jodi Marr 3:02
8. "Touches You"  Mika 3:19
9. "By the Time"  Mika, Imogen Heap 3:21
10. "One Foot Boy"  Mika, Rob Davis 2:58
11. "Toy Boy"  Mika, Jodi Marr 2:56
12. "Pick Up Off the Floor"  Mika 3:24

Personnel

Additional musicians
  • Cherisse Osei – drums
  • Owen Pallett – violin
  • Tim Pierce – guitar
  • Fortune Penniman – background vocals
  • Paloma Penniman – background vocals, additional vocals
  • Zuleika Penniman – background vocals
  • Bill Reichenbach Jr. – horns
  • Dan Rothchild – bass, background vocals
  • Fabien Waltmann – keyboards
  • Martin Waugh – guitar, background vocals
  • Greg Wells – keyboards, drums, bass, percussion, guitar
  • Ida Falk Winland – background vocals
  • Lyle Workman – guitar

Chart performance

The album debuted at #4 on the UK Albums Chart and remained on the Top 40 for four weeks.[35] The album debuted at #1 on the French Albums Chart, becoming Mika's second consecutive album to reach the top of the French albums chart and the album is double platinum with more of 200,000 copies sold. In the USA, the album debuted at #19 on the Billboard 200. In Italy the album debuted at #10 on the Italian Albums Chart, and it has been certified Gold with more of 50,000 copies sold.[36]

Weekly charts

Chart (2009) Peak
position
Argentine Albums Chart[37] 6
Australian Albums Chart[38] 10
Austrian Albums Chart 9
Belgian Albums Chart (Flanders)[39] 3
Belgian Albums Chart (Wallonia)[40] 3
Canadian Albums Chart 19
Danish Albums Chart 24
Dutch Albums Chart[41] 5
French Albums Chart[42] 1
German Albums Chart[43] 6
Greek Albums Chart 45
Irish Albums Chart[44] 14
Italian Albums Chart[45] 10
Mexican Albums Chart[46] 29
New Zealand Albums Chart 30
Norwegian Albums Chart[47] 29
Portuguese Albums Chart[48] 17
Spanish Albums Chart 7
Swedish Albums Chart 14
Swiss Albums Chart 2
UK Albums Chart[49] 4
US Billboard 200 19
US Billboard Top Electronic Albums 5

Year-end charts

Chart (2009) Position
European Top 100 Albums[50] 49
French Albums Chart[51] 12
Swiss Albums Chart[52] 60

Certifications

Region Certification Sales/shipments
Canada (Music Canada)[53] Gold 40,000^
Belgium (BEA)[54] Platinum 30,000*
France (SNEP)[55] 3× Platinum 300,000*
Italy (FIMI)[56] Gold 30,000*
Switzerland (IFPI Switzerland)[57] Gold 15,000x

*sales figures based on certification alone
^shipments figures based on certification alone
xunspecified figures based on certification alone

Release history

Country Date
Hong Kong (Digital Version)[58] 5 September 2009
Netherlands 16 September 2009
France 18 September 2009
Australia
Germany
Italy
Ireland
United Kingdom 21 September 2009
Argentina[59]
Mexico
South Korea (Regular & Deluxe Edition)[60]
United States 22 September 2009
Brazil
Canada
South Korea (Korean Special Edition)[61] 27 May 2010
Hong Kong (Asia Tour Edition)[62] 2 June 2010

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 Allen, Matt (1 June 2009). "Exclusive: Mika's Second Coming", Q Magazine. Retrieved 2009-07-12.
  2. ↑ Phares, Heather (22 September 2009). "((( The Boy Who Knew Too Much > Overview )))". allmusic. Retrieved 2009-09-27.
  3. ↑ Business Wire (14 June 2009). "Global Pop Phenomenon, MIKA, Releases Sophomore Album, WE ARE GOLDEN, 22 September", Business Wire. Retrieved on 2009-07-14.
  4. ↑ "Mika | Official Store | Merchandise, T-shirts, Tickets, Albums, MP3 Downloads, Live Album, Posters, Bags, Mikasounds.com". Mikastore.sandbag.uk.com. Retrieved 2009-09-27.
  5. ↑ Medioni, Gilles (11 June 2009). "Exclu Mika: tout sur son nouveau CD... et sa playlist", L'Express. Retrieved on 2009-07-08.
  6. ↑ Mazumdar, Tulip (9 June 2009). "Mika pens 'teenage' second album", BBC Radio 1. Retrieved on 2009-07-08.
  7. ↑ Youngs, Ian (21 September 2009). "Entertainment | Mika conquers his growing pains". BBC News. Retrieved 2009-09-27.
  8. ↑ "BBC — Newsbeat — Music — Mika promises fans 'gig at home'". BBC News. 20 July 2009. Retrieved 2009-09-27.
  9. ↑ "MikaSounds / Latest News / The Boy Who Knew Too Much". Mikasounds.com. Retrieved 2009-09-27.
  10. ↑ "MikaSounds / Blog / YO YO! Enough marketing psychobable dish dash! Now I write". Mikasounds.com. 15 July 2009. Retrieved 2009-09-27.
  11. ↑ "Critic Reviews for The Boy Who Knew Too Much - Metacritic". Metacritic. Retrieved 10 April 2015.
  12. ↑ The Boy Who Knew Too Much (album) at AllMusic
  13. ↑ The A.V. Club review
  14. ↑ Entertainment Weekly review
  15. ↑ The Guardian review
  16. ↑ Los Angeles Times review
  17. ↑ The Observer review
  18. ↑ PopMatters review
  19. ↑ Rolling Stone review
  20. ↑ Slant Magazine review
  21. ↑ Spin (magazine) review
  22. ↑ The Times review
  23. ↑ "The Boy Who Knew Too Much reviews at". Metacritic.com. 22 September 2009. Retrieved 2012-09-11.
  24. ↑ iTunes releases Mika's second single "Rain"
  25. ↑ "Rain" Physical CD at Amazon.co.uk
  26. ↑ "MikaSounds / Latest News / Mika Set To 'Rain' Supreme". Mikasounds.com. Retrieved 2010-05-23.
  27. ↑
  28. ↑ 28.0 28.1 "MikaSounds / Latest News / Next Single - 'Blame It On The Girls' - Out February 15th". Mikasounds.com. Retrieved 2010-05-23.
  29. ↑ Shepherd, Fiona (2009-09-21). "CD review: Mika — The Boy Who Knew Too Much — Scotsman.com News". Edinburgh: News.scotsman.com. Retrieved 2009-09-27.
  30. ↑ UK TV listings schedule - What's on TV tonight? | Radio Times
  31. ↑ "Topul celor mai difuzate piese în România în 2010" (in Romanian). România Liberă. Retrieved 21 January 2011.
  32. ↑ Amazon.com: Boy Who Knew Too Much (Special ed): Mika: Music
  33. ↑ http://image.kyobobook.co.kr/newimages/music/large/6393/2393644.jpg
  34. ↑ YESASIA : Mika - The Boy Who Knew Too Much (2CD) (Korea Special Edition) (Korea Version) 鐳射唱片 - MIKA - 西方／世界音樂 - 郵費全免
  35. ↑ UK Albums Chart - Chart Run
  36. ↑ WorldWideAlbums: September 2010
  37. ↑ "Representando a la Industria Argentina de la Música". CAPIF. 31 January 2010. Retrieved 2010-05-23.
  38. ↑ "Australian Record Industry Association". Ariacharts.com.au. Retrieved 2009-09-27.
  39. ↑ "Ultratop Belgian Charts". ultratop.be. Retrieved 2009-09-27.
  40. ↑ "Ultratop Belgian Charts". ultratop.be. Retrieved 2009-09-27.
  41. ↑ Steffen Hung (6 March 2009). "Dutch charts portal". dutchcharts.nl. Retrieved 2009-09-27.
  42. ↑ "Lescharts". Lescharts. Retrieved 2009-09-27.
  43. ↑ "Madonnas Traumstart in den Album-Charts - media control". Media-control.de. 29 September 2009. Retrieved 2010-05-23.
  44. ↑ ">> IRMA << Irish Charts - Singles, Albums & Compilations >>". Irma.ie. Retrieved 2009-09-27.
  45. ↑ Steffen Hung. "Mika - The Boy Who Knew Too Much". italiancharts.com. Retrieved 2010-05-23.
  46. ↑ Steffen Hung. "Mika - The Boy Who Knew Too Much". mexicancharts.com. Retrieved 2010-05-23.
  47. ↑ Steffen Hung. "Mika - The Boy Who Knew Too Much". norwegiancharts.com. Retrieved 2010-05-23.
  48. ↑ Steffen Hung. "Mika - The Boy Who Knew Too Much". portuguesecharts.com. Retrieved 2010-05-23.
  49. ↑ "Radio 1 - The Official Chart with Reggie Yates - The Official UK Top 40 Albums Chart". BBC. 24 February 2007. Retrieved 2010-05-23.
  50. ↑ European Top 100 Albums : May 03, 2013 | Billboard Chart Archive
  51. ↑ "Le Top de l’année : Top Albums Fusionnés - Année 2009". SNEP. Retrieved 21 February 2015.
  52. ↑ "Swiss Year-End Charts 2009". Media Control. Hung Medien. Retrieved 6 February 2009.
  53. ↑ "Canadian album certifications – Mika – The Boy Who Knew Too Much". Music Canada. Retrieved 29 June 2012.
  54. ↑ "Ultratop − Goud en Platina – 2009". Ultratop & Hung Medien / hitparade.ch. Retrieved 29 June 2012.
  55. ↑ "French album certifications – Mika – The Boy Who Knew Too Much" (in French). Syndicat National de l'Édition Phonographique. Retrieved 29 June 2012.
  56. ↑ "Italian album certifications – Mika – The Boy Who Knew Too Much" (in Italian). Federation of the Italian Music Industry. Retrieved 29 June 2012. Select Album e Compilation in the field Sezione. Enter Mika in the field Filtra. The certification will load automatically
  57. ↑ "The Official Swiss Charts and Music Community: Awards (Mika; 'The Boy Who Knew Too Much')". Hung Medien. Retrieved 29 June 2012.
  58. ↑ http://moov.hk/moovnow/music/album/albumdetail.do?contributorid=&roleid=&albumid=VAUN00018142A
  59. ↑ ":: Universal Music Argentina :: Mika :: Noticia". Universalmusic.com.ar. Retrieved 2010-05-23.
  60. ↑ Hyang Music 향뮤직
  61. ↑ Hyang Music 향뮤직
  62. ↑ YESASIA : The Boy Who Knew Too Much (Asia Tour Edition) (2CD+Tofu) 鐳射唱片 - MIKA, 環球唱片 - 西方／世界音樂 - 郵費全免

External links