Speak (Lindsay Lohan album)

Speak
Studio album by Lindsay Lohan
Released	December 7, 2004 (2004-12-07)
Recorded	2004
Genre	Pop rock teen pop dance-pop
Length	40:18
Label	Casablanca
Producer	Andreas Carlsson Kara DioGuardi Kalle Engstrom David Eriksen Jimmy Harry Kristian Lundin Tommy Mottola Cory Rooney John Shanks Peter Wade Keusch
Lindsay Lohan chronology
Speak (2004) A Little More Personal (Raw) (2005)
Singles from Speak
"Rumors" Released: September 21, 2004 "Over" Released: December 13, 2004 "First" Released: May 8, 2005

Speak is the debut studio album by American actress and singer-songwriter Lindsay Lohan. It was released in the United States on December 7, 2004 by Casablanca Records. The album was the first high-seller from Casablanca Records in several years, selling 1,000,000 units in the United States.

The album received mostly mixed reviews, with critics commenting that Lohan "isn't a bad singer, but not an extraordinary singer either."^[1] In the United States the album peaked at number four on the Billboard 200, selling 261,762 copies in its first week.^[2] In Germany the album debuted at the #53 position and took four weeks to complete its chart run.

The first two singles from Speak, "Rumors" and "Over", were both successes, with "Over" topping the Bubbling Under Hot 100 Singles where it stayed for three weeks. The song also did well internationally in countries such as Australia, Ireland, and the United Kingdom. "Rumors" peaked at #6 on the Bubbling Under Hot 100 Singles chart and also did well in Australia and Germany, where it reached #14. The music video for "Rumors" was nominated for "Best Pop Video" at the 2005 MTV Video Music Awards. Both songs received heavy airplay on MTV's Total Request Live. The final single, "First", was released to help promote Lohan's film, Herbie: Fully Loaded. The song earned small success in Australia and Germany. Lohan promoted the album by performing the songs in a number of live appearances. Plans for a tour in Taiwan were planned, but were later scrapped.^[3]

Background

Lohan planned on releasing an album in the summer of 2001, according to her official website, llrocks.com.^[4] No album was released in 2001, but Lohan had begun recording demo tracks with Emilio Estefan, Jr.. He and his wife, Gloria Estefan, signed Lohan a five-album production deal in September 2002. "I am extremely excited to be working with Emilio. I am surrounded by a group of very talented people whom have made me feel like part of their family," Lohan said to the press.^[5] Also in September, Lohan landed the role as the daughter in Disney's remake, Freaky Friday, which required her to learn how to play the guitar and to sing. Lohan recorded a song for the film, "Ultimate", which was released to Radio Disney to help promote the film. The song peaked at #18 on Radio Disney's Top 30. Lohan announced that the song was separate from her singing career, since many teen idols such as Hilary Duff and Raven-Symoné were expanding their careers from acting to singing.

In 2003, Lohan recorded four songs including a Radio Disney hit, "Drama Queen (That Girl)", that were released for the soundtrack to Lohan's film, Confessions of a Teenage Drama Queen. Lohan began writing the tracks on her album in April 2004. "I write a lot of lyrics and I'm involved in the producing process, because it's like, if I'm singing it, I want it to be something that I can relate to," Lohan said. "I'm just trying to feel it out and see where it goes. I'm playing guitar and I also love to dance, so [the music will be] somewhere along the lines of hip-hop and rock."^[6] She had begun working with Diane Warren and Randy Jackson, who were going to help write and produce her album. Diane Warren wrote the song, "I Decide", for Lohan which was originally going to be on her album.^[7] When Lohan decided not to collaborate with Warren and Jackson, "I Decide" was instead released on the soundtrack to the film, The Princess Diaries 2: Royal Engagement and on to Radio Disney.

By 2004, Lohan's deal with Emilio Estefan, Jr., had been cancelled and Lohan began looking for producers for her album. When asked by MTV about what label she would be working with, Lohan said, "I met with Jive, Universal and I spoke to someone at Bad Boy the other day, which would be kind of cool, but we'll see what happens." In the summer, Lohan revealed that she had signed a deal with Casablanca Records, whose parent company is Universal Music Group.^[8] Music producers Kara DioGuardi and John Shanks both wrote and produced ten of the tracks, six with Lohan. Cory Rooney produced her first single, "Rumors," with Taryll and TJ Jackson, sons of Tito Jackson.

Production

Production on the album began in July 2004, while Lohan was getting ready to film her next Disney film, Herbie: Fully Loaded. When filming for Herbie began on August 4, Lohan had to write and record six of the twelve tracks in her trailer on the set of Herbie, since she had a deadline so the album could take in good sales in December during the Christmas period. Lohan would film from 5:00 AM to 12:30 AM and begin recording in her trailer from 12:30 AM to 2:00 AM, giving her only three hours of sleep.

Production on the album and the film were halted on October 21 when Lohan was rushed to Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, reportedly for exhaustion and a high fever of 103 degrees. Lohan ended up having a kidney infection and was also in the middle of a family crisis when her father was arrested earlier that year. After staying in the hospital for six days, Lohan was released and returned to set to finish filming the film and recording her album. "I was over-scheduling myself," Lohan said in her appearance on The Ellen DeGeneres Show, "It's important to say no."^[9] Her album's original release date was in November, but was pushed back to December 7 to let Lohan finish recording her album after her hospital stay.^[10]

According to Rodney Jerkins, Lohan recorded a track written by him titled "Extraordinary." The song, which is a rock song, never made it to the final track listing of the album. "We're just waiting to get into the studio and cut it. I know her schedule is crazy hectic as well as mine. So we're going to find that day where we can get it and cut it, probably out here in L.A. or whatever. It should be fun, because she's got this whole thing about, you know, this little bad-girl image that everyone's trying to put on her, you know what I mean? Basically, the record that we did is basically saying, you know, 'I'm not ordinary. Bottom line, I'm different.'"^[11]

Style and themes

The album features different styles of music such as pop rock, dance-pop, teen pop, electropop and soft rock ballads. "I wanted to have a mixture like that because I love those kinds of club tracks that you can listen to before you go out at night with all your friends. And I also wanted stuff that was a little bit more rock that you could get into if you were like angry or depressed or sad or that. I wanted to be able to touch upon all those feelings and I wanted to speak about all different things, too, which is why I titled the album Speak," Lohan said in an interview with IGN.^[12] The lead single, "Rumors", has been called a "bass-heavy, angry club anthem" by Rolling Stone.^[13]

A main theme of the album deals with the paparazzi and the rumors in the tabloids that surround her life. "Rumors" is about the troubles that Lohan has to deal with including the rumors that have invaded her life. In the song, Lohan sings, "I would love it if you take the cameras off of me / Cause I just need a little room to breathe / Can you please respect my privacy?"

An electropop song, "To Know Your Name" deals with Lohan receiving no privacy when with her now ex-boyfriend, Wilmer Valderrama. "Everybody means to criticize / And none of them are even in our lives," is one of the verses from the song. "Anything But Me", which has a more is more of a rock song, deals with trying to find who she is and not being able to fulfill other people's aspirations for her. "Anything But Me" also has a verse about the paparazzi when she sings, "So much confusion circling inside my head / What this one and that one said." Lohan also sings another rock song, titled "Disconnected."

In the opening tracks on the album, Lohan goes for a more pop rock feel in songs such as "First" and "Nobody 'Til You", both songs about her relationship with her boyfriend, possibly Valderrama. In tracks such as the title track and "Magnet", she goes for an urban pop sound. The Madonna-esque^[14] title track is about communicating with her boyfriend while "Magnet" states that she keeps coming back for more from him, comparing him to a magnet. IGN said that "Over", the second single, "begins like a Cure track, complete with mournful acoustic guitar and haunting piano-tuned synth." ^[1][14] The song is about how her boyfriend won't commit and that their relationship feels "on again, off again."

The rest of the tracks on the album are soft rock ballads, including "Very Last Moment in Time", which is about living life to the fullest. "Something I Never Had" is about how her feelings of love towards her ex-boyfriend are still there, but he does not feel the same way. In the second verse, Lohan sings, "I keep telling myself...things will turn around with time / And if I wait it out...you could always change your mind." Kelly Clarkson co-wrote this track from the album. "Symptoms of You" features Vanessa Carlton-esque piano melody and finishes off as a soft rock ballad.

Critical reception

Professional ratings
Aggregate scores
Source	Rating
Metacritic	47/100
Review scores
Source	Rating
Allmusic	[15]
Entertainment Weekly	C[16]
Rolling Stone	[17]
Slant Magazine	[18]
Stylus Magazine	D+[19]

Speak received mostly mixed reviews from critics. CD Universe says "'Speak' proves that Lohan has the mettle and talent necessary to compete with other young pop superstars."^[20] "[W]ith just two hit films under her belt, Lohan decided it was time to turn [herself] into a multimedia, cross-platform star," wrote Stephen Thomas Erlewine of Allmusic, "and so Speak was recorded quickly and rushed into the stores". He called her music "a blend of old-fashioned, Britney-styled dance-pop and the anthemic, arena rock sound pioneered by fellow tween stars Hilary Duff and Ashlee Simpson. [However,] Lohan stands apart from the pack with her party-ready attitude and her husky voice."^[15]

IGN gave the album a mixed review, stating, "As with her contemporaries—Britney, Christina, Ashlee, Avril, Hilary—it remains to be seen if she will transcend the generic pop princess model and grow into a mature, insightful artist. For now, Speak offers up sugar coated, prefab pop that is easily digested, but just as easily forgotten."^[1] Entertainment Weekly also gave the album a C, stating "The Mean Girls star's debut album has some guilty pleasures: "Rumors" dramatically slams the very stalkerazzi who made her a household name, while the tween-slumber-party-friendly "Over" is perfect for singing into your curling iron in front of the mirror. But somewhere, Avril Lavigne — whose influence is clearly at work here — is rolling her eyes."^[16] People Magazine music critic Chuck Arnold gave the album a "promising" review, stating that the album is a "competent collection of teen pop."^[21]

Chart performance

The album entered the Billboard 200 at #4, its peaking place, and it stayed on the chart for twenty weeks.

Promotion

To promote the album, Lohan did several performances in the United States. Lohan appeared on Sessions@AOL on December 2, where she performed her songs "Rumors", "Over", and "Speak." Her first televised appearance was on Good Morning America on December 6, as a part of the Women Rule Concert Series.^[22] While she sung "Over" with no problems, her mouth wasn't moving for a second during the performance of her first single, "Rumors.^[23] Lohan denied that she was lip synching, claiming that there was a background track because she had fallen ill recently and that the song had to be enhanced from an electric-pop song to an acoustic version. Kim Jakwerth, of Casablanca Records, supported this statement by saying, "She did not lip-synch. Lindsay sang 100 percent live. Her band played 100 percent live. The background singers were 100 percent live. Yes, on the first song there were background tracks, which were not on the second song."^[24] Lohan also performed "Over" on The Ellen DeGeneres Show on December 16. She co-hosted and performed "Rumors" at MTV's Iced Out New Year's Eve 2005, on December 31.

In January 2005, Lohan performed "Over" and "Speak" at Yahoo's Live@Launch, where she also shared an interview. On May 14, Lohan performed at KIIS-FM's Wango Tango. She performed "First" and "Speak", and shared the bill with other popular performers such as Kelly Clarkson, The Black Eyed Peas, and Gwen Stefani. In between songs, Lohan mentioned that this was a rare live performance. In an interview, Lohan mentioned the possibility of touring in Japan: "I start shooting my next movie “Lady Luck” which will come out 2005 as well probably just a little bit later. Then hopefully more singles to come. I’ll be recording another album by then. Maybe touring in Japan and everywhere. That’ll be nice."^[25] While she didn't tour in Japan, Lohan was scheduled to tour in Taiwan after learning that her album had been certified Gold. "I would love to (tour Taiwan). I haven't toured at all at this point, but I would really love to do that. It's a great feeling to know that people in other places and other countries are aware of my music and what I do", Lohan told to reporters.^[3] The tour was later canceled when Lohan began filming her films, Bobby, Chapter 27, and Georgia Rule.

Singles

"Rumors" was released as the album's first single on September 21, 2004. It peaked at number six on Billboard's Bubbling Under Hot 100 Singles. Its sexually suggestive music video received heavy airplay on MTV's Total Request Live. "Rumors" was certified gold by the RIAA due to strong digital downloads. The song was nominated for Best Pop Video at the 2005 VMA Awards. "Over" was released as the second single on December 14, 2004. The song spent three weeks at number one on Billboard's Bubbling Under Hot 100 Singles, but was less successful than "Rumors." The song was the first and only single that was released in the United Kingdom. The music video was also played substantially on TRL, before having to be retired. Both received substantial radio airplay.^[26]

The title track off the album, "Speak", was supposed to be released as the third single to the album. Lohan even promoted the song by playing it at AOL Sessions. Francis Lawrence was supposed to direct the video.^[27] "First" was released instead on May 10, 2005. It was also the single from the Herbie: Fully Loaded soundtrack, in which Lohan starred in. "Speak" was later going to be released as the fourth single, but it was shelved as Lohan was making her second album. "First" became a hit in Latin America and parts of Europe, but was unsuccessful on U.S. charts.

Track listing

Personnel

Charts

Certifications

Release history

References