A Girl Like Me (Emma Bunton album)
| A Girl Like Me | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | ||||
| Studio album by Emma Bunton | ||||
| Released | 16 April 2001 | |||
| Recorded |
July 1999-October 2000 Biffco Studios(Dublin, Ireland) Boundary Row Studios, Olympic Studios, Rokstone Studios, Sarm West Studios (London, England) The Loft Recording Studios (Bronxville, New York) Sound Gallery Studios (Los Angeles, California) | |||
| Genre | ||||
| Length | 45:40 | |||
| Label | Virgin | |||
| Producer | ||||
| Emma Bunton chronology | ||||
| ||||
| Alternative cover | ||||
 Japanese cover |
||||
| Singles from A Girl Like Me | ||||
|
||||
A Girl Like Me is the debut solo album by English recording artist Emma Bunton, released in the United Kingdom on 16 April 2001 by Virgin Records. The album debuted and peaked at number four on the UK Albums Chart, with 21,500 copies sold in its first week. Although initial success was promising, A Girl Like Me fell down the chart quickly. However, singles "What I Am", "What Took You So Long?", "Take My Breath Away" and "We're Not Gonna Sleep Tonight" helped the album stay on the UK Albums Chart for several weeks. On 7 September 2001, A Girl Like Me was certified gold by the British Phonographic Industry for shipments in excess of 100,000 copies.[1]
Critical reception
| Professional ratings | |
|---|---|
| Review scores | |
| Source | Rating |
| AllMusic |   [2] |
| CHARTattack | (2.5/5)[3] |
| Hot Press | unfavourable[4] |
| NME | (6/10)[5] |
A Girl Like Me received mixed to positive reviews from music critics. Stewart Mason of AllMusic felt that Emma's singing voice lacked depth but that it worked well with the well-crafted and addicting pop songs, concluding that "A Girl Like Me isn't an album for the ages, but it's better than 'not bad.'"[2] Timothy Park of NME said that there were great tracks and Emma performs them adequately but felt the album lacked ambition or honesty, concluding that "'A Girl Like Me', like Emma, is very sweet but, like Emma also, it has no balls."[5] Erik Missio of CHARTattack said he saw promise in the album but felt disappointed by its attempts to resemble the Spice Girls' sound.[3] Stephen Robinson of Hot Press criticized the tracks for being overly sweet and borrowing from other genres but being unoriginal with them, calling it "another album to chuck aboard the pop blandwagon."[4]
Track listing
Credits adapted from the liner notes of A Girl Like Me.[6]
| No. | Title | Length |
|---|---|---|
| 1. | "What Took You So Long?" | 3:59 |
| 2. | "Take My Breath Away" | 3:34 |
| 3. | "A World Without You" | 4:53 |
| 4. | "High on Love" | 3:49 |
| 5. | "A Girl Like Me" | 4:01 |
| 6. | "Spell It O.U.T." | 3:12 |
| 7. | "Sunshine on a Rainy Day" | 4:17 |
| 8. | "Been There, Done That" | 3:05 |
| 9. | "Better Be Careful" | 3:19 |
| 10. | "We're Not Gonna Sleep Tonight" | 3:23 |
| 11. | "She Was a Friend of Mine" | 3:34 |
| 12. | "What I Am" (with Tin Tin Out) | 4:34 |
Total length: |
45:40 | |
Personnel
- Emma Bunton – vocals
- Tom Bender – mixing assistant (track 3)
- Stefan Boman – string engineer (track 3)
- Jason Bonilla – engineer (track 10)
- Chris Braide – arranger (tracks 6, 8)
- Will Catterson – engineer (track 10)
- Dylan "3D" Dresdow – mixing (track 10)
- Matt Fields – mixing assistant (track 1)
- Andrew Frampton – producer, arranger (tracks 6, 8); string arrangements (track 6)
- Daniel Frampton – engineer (tracks 6, 8)
- Ulf Forsberg – string concertmaster (track 3)
- Julian Gallagher – producer (tracks 1, 4, 9)
- Brad Gilderman – mixing (tracks 6, 8, 11)
- Mick Guzauski – mixing (track 3)
- Simon Hale – string arrangements (track 4, 9); brass arrangements (track 9)
- Al Hemberger – engineer (tracks 3, 5, 11)
- Ash Howes – engineer (tracks 1, 4, 9); programming (tracks 1, 4); mixing (track 4)
- Nick Ingman – string arrangements (track 6)
- Henrik Janson – string arrangements, string conductor (track 3)
- Ulf Janson – string arrangements, string conductor (track 3)
- Lawrence Johnson – additional vocal arrangement (track 7)
- Jan "Stan" Kybert – mix engineer, Pro Tools (track 1)
- Rhett Lawrence – producer, arranger, programming, engineer, mixing, guitar (track 10)
- Chris Laws – engineer (track 2)
- Evan Lloyd – assistant engineer (track 10)
- Steve Mac – producer, arranger, mixing (track 2)
- Dave "Hard Drive" Pensado – mixing (track 10)
- Steve Price – string engineer (track 6)
- Terry Richardson – photography
- Evan Rogers – producer (tracks 3, 5, 11)
- Ian Ross – design
- Ruth Rowland – lettering
- Ramon Stagnaro – guitar (track 10)
- Richard "Biff" Stannard – producer (tracks 1, 4, 9)
- Mark "Spike" Stent – mixing (track 1)
- StoneBridge – additional producer, mixing, keyboards (track 5)
- Carl Sturken – producer (tracks 3, 5, 11)
- Alvin Sweeney – additional engineer (track 1, 4, 9); Pro Tools (track 1)
- Tin Tin Out – producer, mixing (tracks 7, 12)
Charts
| Chart (2001) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| Australian Albums Chart[7] | 86 |
| Austrian Albums Chart[8] | 75 |
| Danish Albums Chart[9] | 23 |
| Finnish Albums Chart[10] | 38 |
| French Albums Chart[11] | 79 |
| German Albums Chart[12] | 67 |
| Irish Albums Chart[13] | 55 |
| New Zealand Albums Chart[14] | 21 |
| Scottish Albums Chart[15] | 6 |
| UK Albums Chart[16] | 4 |
Certifications
| Country | Certification |
|---|---|
| United Kingdom | Gold[1] |
Release history
| Country | Date | Label |
|---|---|---|
| United Kingdom | 16 April 2001 | Virgin Records |
| Australia | 14 May 2001 | EMI |
References
- 1 2 "Certified Awards Search". British Phonographic Industry. 7 September 2001. Archived from the original on 11 January 2013. Retrieved 27 December 2010.
- 1 2 Mason, Stewart. "A Girl Like Me – Emma Bunton – Review". AllMusic. All Media Network. Retrieved 4 July 2005.
- 1 2 Missio, Erik (16 April 2001). "Emma Bunton – A Girl Like Me". CHARTattack. Channel Zero. Retrieved 28 September 2015.
- 1 2 Robinson, Stephen (26 April 2001). "A Girl Like Me". Hot Press. Archived from the original on 22 March 2012. Retrieved 25 September 2011.
- 1 2 Mark, Timothy (18 April 2001). "Emma Bunton : A Girl Like Me". NME. IPC Media. Archived from the original on 22 October 2012. Retrieved 25 September 2011.
- ↑ A Girl Like Me (CD liner notes). Emma Bunton. Virgin Records. 2001. LC03098.
- ↑ "ARIA Top 100 Albums – Week Commencing 21st May 2001" (PDF). Australian Recording Industry Association. Pandora Archive. Retrieved 31 August 2008.
- ↑ "Emma Bunton – A Girl Like Me" (in German). IFPI Austria. Hung Medien. Archived from the original on 6 November 2012. Retrieved 25 September 2011.
- ↑ "Emma Bunton – A Girl Like Me". IFPI Denmark. Hung Medien. Archived from the original on 1 May 2013. Retrieved 25 September 2011.
- ↑ "Emma Bunton – A Girl Like Me". IFPI Finland. Hung Medien. Archived from the original on 23 October 2012. Retrieved 25 September 2011.
- ↑ "Emma Bunton – A Girl Like Me" (in French). Syndicat National de l'Édition Phonographique. Hung Medien. Archived from the original on 3 November 2012. Retrieved 25 September 2011.
- ↑ "Chartverfolgung / Bunton,Emma / Longplay" (in German). Media Control. PhonoNet GmbH. Archived from the original on 13 February 2012. Retrieved 4 December 2008.
- ↑ "Top 75 Artist Album, Week Ending 26 April 2001". Irish Recorded Music Association. Chart-Track. Archived from the original on 10 February 2012. Retrieved 12 October 2008.
- ↑ "Emma Bunton – A Girl Like Me". Recording Industry Association of New Zealand. Hung Medien. Archived from the original on 2 May 2014. Retrieved 25 September 2011.
- ↑ http://www.officialcharts.com/charts/scottish-albums-chart/20010422/40
- ↑ "Emma Bunton – A Girl Like Me". The Official Charts Company. Chart Stats. Archived from the original on 23 October 2012. Retrieved 31 August 2008.
| ||||||||||||||||||||||