Badlands (Halsey album)

Badlands
Studio album by Halsey
Released August 28, 2015 (2015-08-28)
Recorded 2014–15
Genre
Length 40:03
Label
Producer
Halsey chronology
Room 93
(2014)		 Badlands
(2015)
Singles from Badlands
  1. "Ghost"
    Released: October 27, 2014
  2. "New Americana"
    Released: July 10, 2015
  3. "Colors"
    Released: February 9, 2016

Badlands is the debut studio album by American singer and songwriter Halsey, released on August 28, 2015 by Astralwerks and Capitol.[1][2] Badlands debuted at number two on the Billboard 200 chart with first-week sales of 97,000 copies. The album was preceded by the digital release of two singles, "Ghost" and "New Americana". The third single from the album "Colors" was released on the February 9, 2016.

Title and music

The name "Badlands" is a reference to Halsey's state of mind while writing the album, to give a physical place as a metaphor for a desolate and lonely mind.[3] Musically, the album is mainly rooted in electropop,[4][5][6] alternative pop,[7] and synthpop.[8]

Production

According to Halsey, Badlands is a concept album that focuses on the fictional dystopian society known as The Badlands. The city is surrounded by a desert wasteland, keeping the inhabitants of The Badlands captive.[9] The album was inspired by post-apocalyptic movies such as Blade Runner and The Fifth Element. After writing the first few songs, Halsey came to the realization that the entire concept was a metaphor for her mental state. Halsey states that she created the Badlands as an escape from her real life struggles. In her opinion, the metaphor was that even with no escape, there is still optimism that there is somewhere else to go.[9] The album was executive produced by Lido.[10]

Singles

"Ghost" was released as Halsey's debut single on October 27, 2014, with an accompanying music video filmed in Tokyo, which was directed by Malia James and Ryan Witt.[11] Halsey announced "New Americana" as the second single from the album, which was officially released on July 10, 2015.[12]The official music video for "New Americana" came out on September 25, 2015.[13] "New Americana" peaked at number 60 on the Billboard Hot 100. [14] "Colors" serves as the official third single. It was released to alternative radio on February 9, 2016.[15]

Reception and commercial performance

Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[16]
Alternative Addiction[17]
Charleston Gazette-MailFavorable[18]
NoiseyA–[19]
Pitchfork Media4.9/10[20]
Rolling Stone[21]
The State Journal-RegisterFavorable[7]

Signposted by its prominent chart visibility on iTunes, Badlands amassed a healthy number of preorder sales ahead of its release. Per a Hits Daily Double report, nearly 40,000 by August.[22] The album debuted at number two on the Billboard 200 with a total of 115,000 units (97,000 in pure album sales) which marked the second highest debut for a female in 2015 on the Billboard 200 so far (August) as well as the highest charting album released by the Astralwerks record company so far.[23]

Elsewhere, the album debuted at number two in Australia, number three in New Zealand and Ireland, number five in the Netherlands and reached the top 10 in both the United Kingdom and Belgium (Ultratop Flanders).

In a review for Pitchfork, Nathan Reese wrote "Reading interviews with Halsey you get the sense of a canny and talented performer, one who legitimately wants to connect with fans. But the public persona only comes through on Badlands in fits and starts, and there isn't a single subversive or original second on the album." About the chorus on "New Americana", he commented "Like most of Badlands, it's calculated, defiant, and, ultimately, hollow."[20] In a short review, Rolling Stone's Joe Levy called Halsey a "new popstar with a knack for sticky imagery".[21] The album was included at number 6 on Rock Sound's top 50 releases of 2015 list.[24]

Track listing

Badlands – Standard edition[25]
No. TitleWriter(s)Producer(s) Length
1. "Castle"  
Lido 4:37
2. "Hold Me Down"  
 3:24
3. "New Americana"  
  • Lido
 3:03
4. "Drive"  
  • Anderson
  • Aron Forbes[a]
  • Chris Spilfogel[a]
 4:18
5. "Roman Holiday"  
Captain Cuts 3:21
6. "Colors"  
  • Frangipane
  • Dylan Bauld
Dylan William 4:09
7. "Coming Down"  
  • Frangipane
  • Justyn Pilbrow
Pilbrow 3:43
8. "Haunting"  
  • Charlie Hugall
  • Heavy Mellow[a]
 4:20
9. "Control"  
  • Lido
 3:34
10. "Young God"  
  • Frangipane
  • Lido
  • William[a]
  • Heavy Mellow[a]
 3:00
11. "Ghost"  
  • Frangipane
  • Dylan Scott
Scott 2:33
Total length:
 40:03
Notes

Charts

Weekly charts

Chart (2015) Peak
position
Australian Albums (ARIA)[28] 2
Austrian Albums (Ö3 Austria)[29] 18
Belgian Albums (Ultratop Flanders)[30] 10
Belgian Albums (Ultratop Wallonia)[31] 28
Canadian Albums (Billboard)[32] 3
Danish Albums (Hitlisten)[33] 19
Dutch Albums (MegaCharts)[34] 5
Finnish Albums (Suomen virallinen lista)[35] 36
French Albums (SNEP)[36] 75
German Albums (Offizielle Top 100)[37] 37
Greek Albums (IFPI)[38] 43
Irish Albums (IRMA)[39] 3
Italian Albums (FIMI)[40] 34
New Zealand Albums (RMNZ)[41] 3
Norwegian Albums (VG-lista)[42] 22
Portuguese Albums (AFP)[43] 10
Scottish Albums (OCC)[44] 7
Spanish Albums (PROMUSICAE)[45] 53
Swedish Albums (Sverigetopplistan)[46] 13
Swiss Albums (Schweizer Hitparade)[47] 26
UK Albums (OCC)[48] 9
US Billboard 200[49] 2
US Top Alternative Albums (Billboard)[50] 1

Year-end charts

Chart (2015) Position
Australian Albums (ARIA)[51] 88
US Billboard 200[52] 98

Certifications

Region Certification Sales/shipments
United States (RIAA)[53] Gold 199,000[54]

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

Release history

Region Date Format Label
Worldwide August 28, 2015[55]
Astralwerks

References

Citations
  1. ↑ "Halsey Announces New Album BadlJAands For August 2015 Release | mxdwn.com". Music.mxdwn.com. Retrieved 2015-08-29.
  2. ↑ "Halsey ‘Badlands’ Out Now". Capitol.
  3. ↑ Morris, Jessie (2015-07-10). "Halsey Talks Her New Album, 'Badlands'". Complex. Retrieved 2015-08-29.
  4. ↑ Coscarelli, Joe (August 5, 2015). "Halsey, With ‘Badlands,’ Is Moving Fast to Share a Secret Language". The New York Times. Retrieved September 29, 2015.
  5. ↑ "Disc review: Halsey - Badlands". Buffalo.com.
  6. ↑ "ALBUM: Halsey-‘Badlands’". CaliberTV.
  7. 1 2 Donelan, Michael (October 14, 2015). "Album review: Halsey's debut 'Badlands' shows promise of a new star". The State Journal-Register. Retrieved January 17, 2016.
  8. ↑ Sperounes, Sandra (August 31, 2015). "Album Review: Halsey, Badlands". Edmonton Journal. Retrieved September 30, 2015.
  9. 1 2 Halsey (September 9, 2015). Halsey Interview With Shelley Rome. Interview with Shelley Rome. WHTZ. New York City, New York.
  10. ↑ http://www.billboard.com/articles/news/6671107/halsey-the-weeknd-drugs-badlands-billboard-feature
  11. ↑ Gracie, Bianca (October 27, 2014). "Halsey’s “Ghost” Video Is A Hazardous Affair: Idolator Premiere". Idolator.com. Retrieved December 26, 2015.
  12. ↑ Szubiak, Ali (July 10, 2015). "Halsey Name-Checks Biggie and Nirvana in ‘New Americana’". PopCrush.com. Retrieved December 26, 2015.
  13. ↑ Adams, Chanel (September 25, 2015). "Halsey releases music video for New Americana". Inquistir.com. Retrieved December 26, 2015.
  14. ↑ "Halsey Chart History". Billboard.com.
  15. ↑ Cantor, Brian. "“COLORS” SET AS HALSEY’S NEXT SINGLE; ALTERNATIVE RADIO IMPACT DATE ANNOUNCED". Headline Planet.
  16. ↑ Collar, Matt. "Badlands – Halsey". AllMusic. Retrieved September 29, 2015.
  17. ↑ "Album Review of Badlands by Halsey | Alternative Addiction". Alternative Addiction. Retrieved September 30, 2015.
  18. ↑ Woody, Ali (October 1, 2015). "REVIEW: Nothing bad about Halsey’s “Badlands” album". Charleston Gazette-Mail. Retrieved January 17, 2016.
  19. ↑ Christgau, Robert (January 1, 2016). "Ladies First: Expert Witness with Robert Christgau". Noisey. Retrieved January 2, 2016.
  20. 1 2 Reese, Nathan (September 2, 2015). "Halsey: Badlands". Pitchfork Media. Retrieved January 17, 2016.
  21. 1 2 Levy, Joe (August 28, 2015). "Badlands". Rolling Stone. Retrieved September 29, 2015.
  22. ↑ Cantor, Brian (2015-08-21). "Halsey's "Badlands" Preorder Sales Total Nears 40K Mark". Headlineplanet.com. Retrieved 2015-08-29.
  23. ↑ "Halsey’s "Badlands" Debuts at #2 on the Billboard 200 Albums Chart". billboard.com. Retrieved 2015-09-07.
  24. ↑ Bird, ed. 2016, p. 28
  25. ↑ "iTunes - Music - Badlands by Halsey". Itunes.apple.com. Retrieved 2015-06-02.
  26. ↑ "iTunes - Music - BADLANDS (Deluxe) by Halsey". Itunes.apple.com. Retrieved 2015-06-02.
  27. ↑ "Halsey Online Store". Virgin EMI Store.
  28. ↑ "Australiancharts.com – Halsey – Badlands". Hung Medien. Retrieved September 5, 2015.
  29. ↑ "Austriancharts.at – Halsey – Badlands" (in German). Hung Medien. Retrieved September 9, 2015.
  30. ↑ "Ultratop.be – Halsey – Badlands" (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved September 4, 2015.
  31. ↑ "Ultratop.be – Halsey – Badlands" (in French). Hung Medien. Retrieved September 4, 2015.
  32. ↑ "Halsey – Chart history" Billboard Canadian Albums Chart for Halsey. Retrieved September 9, 2015.
  33. ↑ "Danishcharts.com – Halsey – Badlands". Hung Medien. Retrieved September 10, 2015.
  34. ↑ "Dutchcharts.nl – Halsey – Badlands" (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved September 4, 2015.
  35. ↑ "Halsey: Badlands" (in Finnish). Musiikkituottajat – IFPI Finland. Retrieved September 10, 2015.
  36. ↑ "Lescharts.com – Halsey – Badlands". Hung Medien. Retrieved September 7, 2015.
  37. ↑ "Offiziellecharts.de – Halsey – Badlands" (in German). GfK Entertainment. Retrieved December 19, 2015.
  38. ↑ "Official IFPI Charts – Top-75 Albums Sales Chart (Week: 41/2015)". IFPI Greece. Archived from the original on October 22, 2015. Retrieved December 19, 2015.
  39. ↑ "GFK Chart-Track Albums: Week 36, 2015". Chart-Track. IRMA. Retrieved September 4, 2015.
  40. ↑ "Italiancharts.com – Halsey – Badlands". Hung Medien. Retrieved September 5, 2015.
  41. ↑ "Charts.org.nz – Halsey – Badlands". Hung Medien. Retrieved September 4, 2015.
  42. ↑ "Norwegiancharts.com – Halsey – Badlands". Hung Medien. Retrieved September 20, 2015.
  43. ↑ "Portuguesecharts.com – Halsey – Badlands". Hung Medien. Retrieved September 10, 2015.
  44. ↑ "2015-09-04 Top 40 Scottish Albums Archive". Official Charts Company. Retrieved December 19, 2015.
  45. ↑ "Spanishcharts.com – Halsey – Badlands". Hung Medien. Retrieved December 19, 2015.
  46. ↑ "Swedishcharts.com – Halsey – Badlands". Hung Medien. Retrieved September 4, 2015.
  47. ↑ "Swisscharts.com – Halsey – Badlands". Hung Medien. Retrieved September 9, 2015.
  48. ↑ "2015-09-04 Top 40 UK Albums Archive". Official Charts Company. Retrieved September 4, 2015.
  49. ↑ "Halsey – Chart history" Billboard 200 for Halsey. Retrieved September 29, 2015.
  50. ↑ "Halsey – Chart history" Billboard Top Alternative Albums for Halsey. Retrieved December 19, 2015.
  51. ↑ "ARIA Charts - End of Year Charts - Top 100 Albums 2015". Australian Recording Industry Association. Retrieved January 6, 2016.
  52. ↑ "Top Billboard 200 Albums : Dec 31, 2015 | Billboard Chart Archive". Billboard. Retrieved January 3, 2016.
  53. ↑ "American album certifications – Halsey – Badlands". Recording Industry Association of America. If necessary, click Advanced, then click Format, then select Album, then click SEARCH
  54. ↑ "Halsey's 'New Americana' Finds Acceptance at Adult Radio". billboard.com. 2015-11-17. Retrieved January 11, 2016.
  55. ↑ "BADLANDS (Deluxe) by Halsey". iTunes Store (US). Apple. Retrieved 2015-06-26.
Sources
  • Bird, Ryan, ed. (January 2016). "Top 50 Releases of the Year". Rock Sound (London: Freeway Press Inc.) (208). ISSN 1465-0185. 
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