Now ... Us!

Now ... Us!
Studio album by No Angels
Released June 24, 2002
Recorded 2002
Genre Pop, Europop
Length
  • 47:18 (original)
  • 56:58 (re-release)
Label Cheyenne/Polydor
Producer Tim Brettschneider, Thorsten Brötzmann, Fahrenheit & Kelvin, Leslie Mandoki, Mousse T., Nick Nice, Peter Ries, Royal Garden Sound, Pontus Söderqvist, Sandi S., Syndicate, Daniel Troha
No Angels chronology
Elle'ments
(2001)Elle'ments2001		 Now ... Us!
(2002)		 When the Angels Swing
(2002)When the Angels Swing2002
Singles from Now ... Us!
  1. "Something About Us"
    Released: May 6, 2002
  2. "Still in Love with You"
    Released: August 12, 2002
  3. "Let's Go to Bed"
    Released: November 4, 2002
  4. "All Cried Out"
    Released: December 2, 2002

Now ... Us! is the second studio album by German pop group No Angels, released by Polydor subsidiary Cheyenne Records on June 24, 2002 (see 2002 in music) in German speaking Europe. It was primarily produced by Thorsten Brötzmann, with additional production from Peter Ries, Pontus Söderqvist, Fahrenheit & Kelvin, Leslie Mandoki, Mousse T., and band member Lucy Diakovska among others.

The album received a mixed reception from professional music critics, but was generally praised for the inclusion of more personal content that appeared in form of five self-penned solo songs on Now ... Us!. Upon its release, the album opened on top of the German Media Control albums chart, and at number 2 and 4 on the Austrian and Swiss albums chart respectively. It ranked twelfth on the year-end charts in Germany.

Now ... Us! spawned three singles, including the band's third non-consecutive number-one "Something About Us", summer-lite "Still in Love with You" and funk-unfluenced "Let's Go to Bed." A fourth single, the Alison Moyet cover "All Cried Out," was included on a Special Winter Edition of the album, released on November 18, 2002.

Production

Writing and recording process

After a short break from public at the turn of the year 2001 the No Angels members reunited in February 2002 to begin working on their second album in Munich and Hamburg.[1] Asked to contribute own ideas and skills to guarantee a more personal album after fast-recorded debut Elle'ments (2001),[1] each member of the group focused on writing lyrics and melodies on her own - assisted by a wide range of different musicians and songwriters, including Thorsten Brötzmann, Alexander Geringas, Nik Hafemann, Thomas Anders and Christian Geller. In the end five self-written songs made it to the final track list, four of them lead sung by a different member, and Vanessa Petruo-penned "Something about Us" emerging as the album's lead single. While another eleven songs were included on the album, primarily produced by Peter Ries, Mousse T, and Leslie Mandoki, Now ... Us! was eventually named as a reference to the band's own musical input into the album.[1]

The album cut "2 Get Over U" was originally recorded as a duet with UK popstars Hear'Say, and was scheduled to be released as a special Christmas single in December 2001.[2] However, due to Hear'Say's limited fame in Germany (their debut single "Pure and Simple" peaked at number 83 only) Polydor and Cheyenne Records decided to exclude the band's vocals from the song and moved it back to a spring 2002 launch.[3] Although the No Angels premiered the song on the The Dome 21 in Stuttgart on March 1, 2003 and a release date was set on March 18, 2002, "2 Get Over You" was eventually shelved as the lead single from Now ... Us! - in favour of self-written "Something about Us" and its b-side "Like Ice in the Sunshine."[1]

Release and reception

Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
CDStarts[4]
laut.de[5]

Media reception for Now ... Us! was generally mixed. Although most professional reviewers praised the band for the inclusion of self-written material and a "less conventional" and more mature pop sound with "major influences of contemporary R&B and soul,"[5] laut.de declared the album as "teen-pop" on "average level."[5] Matthias Eisen from CDStarts cited the album "dissembling ... cheesy and cliched", sharply criticizing the cover songs on Now ... Us!.[4] However, the No Angels' second album became a major success: It debuted on top of the German albums chart, and at number 2 and 4 on the Austrian and Swiss albums chart respectively. Now ... Us! ranked twelfth on the German Media Control year-end charts.[6]

Although "2 Get Over U" was still considered to be released as a single at times,[2] Now ... Us! spawned three singles only: The album's lead single, "Something about Us"/"Like Ice in the Sunshine", became the band's third non-consecutive number-one hit on the German and Austrian Singles Chart within a period of sixteen month, but failed to enter the Siwss top ten with a peak position of 11. The second single, "Still in Love with You", reached the top 5 in Germany and Austria, and became the band's first top ten hit since 2001's "When the Angels Sing/Atlantis". By contrast, the single edit of "Let's Go to Bed" ended the run of the No Angels' consecutive top 10 songs in Germany, and charted outside the Swiss 100. A previously unreleased fourth single, "All Cried Out" was included on a November 2002 released Special Winter Edition of the album.

Track listing

Credits adapted from the liner notes of Now ... Us!.[7]

Now ... Us! – Standard edition
No.TitleWriter(s)Producer(s)Length
1."Anchor Your Love"
  • Oliver Dommaschk
  • Marco Quast
  • Kaidy-Ann Morgan
Royal Garden Sound3:38
2."Something About Us"
  • Brötzmann
  • Jeo[A]
3:26
3."Still in Love with You"
3:31
4."Push Me to the Limit"
Mándoki3:23
5."Say Goodbye"
Peter Ries3:37
6."Like Ice in the Sunshine"
  • Holger Julian Copp
  • Hanno Harders
  • N-Dee
  • Frank Lio
  • D. Fact
2:57
7."Lovestory"
  • Brötzmann
  • Jeo[A]
3:35
8."Shield Against My Sorrow"
Mándoki3:29
9."Autumn Breeze"D. Dowlut
  • Söderqvist
  • Nice
3:32
10."Now That We Found Love"
  • Ulrich Wehner
  • Brötzmann
Brötzmann3:34
11."Stay"
  • Oliver Fahrenheit
  • Christian Kelvin
4:09
12."Let's Go to Bed"
Mousse T.3:32
13."2 Get Over U"
  • Sandi S.
  • Tim Brettschneider
  • Alan Glass
  • Sandi S.
  • Brettschneider
3:24
14."Lost in You"
  • Sandi S.
  • Brettschneider
  • Glass
  • Sandi S.
  • Brettschneider
3:28
15."Come Back"
Troha4:02
16."Atlantis 2002" (with Donovan)
Mándoki4:01
Total length:47:18
Notes

Credits and personnel

Production

Leftover tracks

Charts

Sales and certifications

Region Certification
Austria (IFPI Austria)[18] Gold
Germany (BVMI)[19] 2× Platinum
Switzerland (IFPI Switzerland)[20] Gold

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 "Now... Us!". Austriancharts. Retrieved 2007-06-01.
  2. 1 2 "Duett der "Popstars"". Netzeitung. Retrieved 2007-04-04.
  3. ↑ "Hear'Say Ditch X'Mas Duet". MTV Asia News. Archived from the original on 2007-09-29. Retrieved 2007-04-04.
  4. 1 2 Eisen, Matthias. "Now... Us! review". CDstarts (in German). CDstarts.de GbR. Retrieved 2007-02-15.
  5. 1 2 3 Gauger, Joachim. "Es ist die Stunde der Wahrheit für Vanessa, Sandy, Nadja, Jessica und Lucy". laut.de (in German). Laut AG. Retrieved 2007-02-15.
  6. ↑ "Album-Charts des Jahres 2002". FOCUS Online (in German). Archived from the original on 2011-05-20. Retrieved 2008-11-01.
  7. ↑ Now ... Us! (Media notes). No Angels. Polydor Records. 2002.
  8. ↑ "Three Words". Swisscharts. Retrieved 2007-10-06.
  9. ↑ "Since I Found You". GEMA Search. Retrieved 2007-10-06.
  10. ↑ "Austriancharts.at – No Angels – Now... Us!" (in German). Hung Medien.
  11. ↑ "Oasis Has The Right Chemistry At No. 1". Billboard. Rovi Corporation. Retrieved 2008-01-11.
  12. ↑ "Officialcharts.de – No Angels – Now... Us!". GfK Entertainment Charts.
  13. ↑ "Top 40 album DVD és válogatáslemez-lista – 2002. 26. hét" (in Hungarian). MAHASZ.
  14. ↑ "Swisscharts.com – No Angels – Now... Us!". Hung Medien.
  15. ↑ "Jahreshitparade Alben 2002". Austriancharts.com. Hung Medien. Retrieved 2015-10-22.
  16. ↑ "Top 100 Album-Jahrescharts (2002)". Offiziellecharts.de. Retrieved 2015-11-22.
  17. ↑ "Jahrescharts 2002". Swisscharts.com. Hung Medien. Retrieved 2015-10-10.
  18. ↑ "Austrian album certifications – No Angels – Now ... Us!" (in German). IFPI Austria. Retrieved 2012-10-25. Enter No Angels in the field Interpret. Enter Now ... Us! in the field Titel. Select album in the field Format. Click Suchen
  19. ↑ "Gold-/Platin-Datenbank (No Angels; 'Now... Us!')" (in German). Bundesverband Musikindustrie. Retrieved 2012-10-25.
  20. ↑ "The Official Swiss Charts and Music Community: Awards ('No Angels')". IFPI Switzerland. Hung Medien. Retrieved 2012-10-25.
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