Amanda Leigh
Encyclopedia
Amanda Leigh is the sixth studio album by American singer and songwriter Mandy Moore
, released on May 26, 2009 through Storefront Recordings and RED Distribution
. The album is named after the singer's full name, Amanda Leigh Moore.
. It was at first expected to a be a duo album between the two, but then in January 2009, it was revealed it would be a solo album with a collaboration with him, slated for release in May 2009.
Recording sessions for the album took place around December 2008 in Boston
, Massachusetts
.
It was announced in February 2009 that the new album was to be released in May on the label Storefront Recordings. This label was founded by Moore's long time manager John Leshay. Confirmed tracks for the album are "Everblue", "Nothing/Everything", "Love To Love Me Back", "I Could Break Your Heart Any Day of the Week", and "Song About Home". Moore worked with Lori McKenna
on the album once again.
The album's music variously channels Todd Rundgren
, Joni Mitchell
, and Paul McCartney
. According to Moore, "The music is all a reflection of me now, not somebody else's choices."
's official site. The town that has the most stories placed on the website wins the competition and gets the concert hosted there.
Moore visited many talk shows including The Ellen DeGeneres Show
and The Tonight Show with Jay Leno. On both shows she performed her new single "I Could Break Your Heart Any Day of the Week
" to promote the album. On May 26, 2009, she performed her new songs at Amoeba Music
in Hollywood
, together with Mike Viola
, the day her new album set to be released under her new label Storefront Records.
On March 17, 2009, her first single for the record "I Could Break Your Heart Any Day of the Week
" was released for digital download on iTunes
. This was the date of the pre-ordering for the album.
On March 17, Moore's official website shared clips from all the songs off the standard edition of the album. New songs, "Fern Dell" and "Love To Love Me Back," were made available for streaming at her Myspace page a few days after.
According to a post in her blogpost in her website , it will be released digitally globally on September 29, a little more than four months after its initial release.
The album was released in Brazil on June 28, 2010.
The album was released in Argentina on November, 2011.
Entertainment Weekly gave the album a B+, stating that it was "much more fun" than Wild Hope and praised the songs "Merrimack River", "Pocket Philosopher", and "Song About Home." The album topped the website's Must List the week it was released.
Stephen Thomas Erlewine
of Allmusic wrote the album is a "clean, classy collection of AAA pop."
IGN wrote, "With Amanda Leigh, Moore has succeeded in crafting a personal record that is entertaining, even compelling at times, but isn't weighed down by heavy themes, misguided irony, or complex arrangements."
The Dallas Morning News noted that "Amanda Leigh turns more compelling with each listen...How great that she left the Britney Spears
factory behind."
and Mike Viola
, except where noted.
The album was released in Brazil and has sold more than 1,000 so far, though it has not charted in any official chart of the country.
Mandy Moore
Amanda Leigh "Mandy" Moore is an American singer-songwriter, actress and fashion designer. Moore became famous as a teenager in the late 1990s, after the release of her teen pop albums So Real, I Wanna Be with You, and Mandy Moore. In 2007, she took an adult pop-folk direction with the release of...
, released on May 26, 2009 through Storefront Recordings and RED Distribution
RED Distribution
RED - An Artist Development Company is a Sony Music Entertainment-owned sales and marketing division that handles releases for over sixty independent record labels....
. The album is named after the singer's full name, Amanda Leigh Moore.
Background and music
In October 2008, Moore posted on her website blog live videos of three new songs she had been working on, along with singer-songwriter, pianist and guitarist Mike ViolaMike Viola
Michael "Mike" Viola is an American singer-songwriter best known as singer, songwriter and "musical architect" of a team he called the "Candy Butchers", a pop-rock band from New York City that recorded three critically acclaimed albums for Sony. A native of Stoughton, Massachusetts, Mike began his...
. It was at first expected to a be a duo album between the two, but then in January 2009, it was revealed it would be a solo album with a collaboration with him, slated for release in May 2009.
Recording sessions for the album took place around December 2008 in Boston
Boston
Boston is the capital of and largest city in Massachusetts, and is one of the oldest cities in the United States. The largest city in New England, Boston is regarded as the unofficial "Capital of New England" for its economic and cultural impact on the entire New England region. The city proper had...
, Massachusetts
Massachusetts
The Commonwealth of Massachusetts is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States of America. It is bordered by Rhode Island and Connecticut to the south, New York to the west, and Vermont and New Hampshire to the north; at its east lies the Atlantic Ocean. As of the 2010...
.
It was announced in February 2009 that the new album was to be released in May on the label Storefront Recordings. This label was founded by Moore's long time manager John Leshay. Confirmed tracks for the album are "Everblue", "Nothing/Everything", "Love To Love Me Back", "I Could Break Your Heart Any Day of the Week", and "Song About Home". Moore worked with Lori McKenna
Lori McKenna
Lori McKenna is an American folk singer/songwriter. She lives in Stoughton, Massachusetts with her husband and five children.-Early work:...
on the album once again.
The album's music variously channels Todd Rundgren
Todd Rundgren
Todd Harry Rundgren is an American multi-instrumentalist, songwriter and record producer. Hailed in the early stage of his career as a new pop-wunderkind, supported by the certified gold solo double LP Something/Anything? in 1972, Todd Rundgren's career has produced a diverse range of recordings...
, Joni Mitchell
Joni Mitchell
Joni Mitchell, CC is a Canadian musician, singer songwriter, and painter. Mitchell began singing in small nightclubs in her native Saskatchewan and Western Canada and then busking in the streets and dives of Toronto...
, and Paul McCartney
Paul McCartney
Sir James Paul McCartney, MBE, Hon RAM, FRCM is an English musician, singer-songwriter and composer. Formerly of The Beatles and Wings , McCartney is listed in Guinness World Records as the "most successful musician and composer in popular music history", with 60 gold discs and sales of 100...
. According to Moore, "The music is all a reflection of me now, not somebody else's choices."
Promotion and release
For the promotion of the album, Moore will be performing an exclusive concert for the winning town of the "Love at First Sniff" competition on GainGain
In electronics, gain is a measure of the ability of a circuit to increase the power or amplitude of a signal from the input to the output. It is usually defined as the mean ratio of the signal output of a system to the signal input of the same system. It may also be defined on a logarithmic scale,...
's official site. The town that has the most stories placed on the website wins the competition and gets the concert hosted there.
Moore visited many talk shows including The Ellen DeGeneres Show
The Ellen DeGeneres Show
The Ellen DeGeneres Show, often shortened to Ellen, is an American television talk show hosted by comedian/actress Ellen DeGeneres. Debuting on September 8, 2003, it is produced by Telepictures and airs in syndication, including stations owned by NBC Universal. For its first five seasons, the show...
and The Tonight Show with Jay Leno. On both shows she performed her new single "I Could Break Your Heart Any Day of the Week
I Could Break Your Heart Any Day of the Week
"I Could Break Your Heart Any Day Of The Week" is a song recorded by American Pop singer-songwriter Mandy Moore and is the first single released from her 2009 album Amanda Leigh, it is the third track on the album...
" to promote the album. On May 26, 2009, she performed her new songs at Amoeba Music
Amoeba Music
Amoeba Music is an independent music chain with stores in Berkeley, San Francisco, and Hollywood, Los Angeles, California. Founded by former employees of nearby Rasputin Records, it opened on Telegraph Avenue in Berkeley in 1990. The stores are unusually large given their independent status...
in Hollywood
Hollywood, Los Angeles, California
Hollywood is a famous district in Los Angeles, California, United States situated west-northwest of downtown Los Angeles. Due to its fame and cultural identity as the historical center of movie studios and movie stars, the word Hollywood is often used as a metonym of American cinema...
, together with Mike Viola
Mike Viola
Michael "Mike" Viola is an American singer-songwriter best known as singer, songwriter and "musical architect" of a team he called the "Candy Butchers", a pop-rock band from New York City that recorded three critically acclaimed albums for Sony. A native of Stoughton, Massachusetts, Mike began his...
, the day her new album set to be released under her new label Storefront Records.
On March 17, 2009, her first single for the record "I Could Break Your Heart Any Day of the Week
I Could Break Your Heart Any Day of the Week
"I Could Break Your Heart Any Day Of The Week" is a song recorded by American Pop singer-songwriter Mandy Moore and is the first single released from her 2009 album Amanda Leigh, it is the third track on the album...
" was released for digital download on iTunes
ITunes
iTunes is a media player computer program, used for playing, downloading, and organizing digital music and video files on desktop computers. It can also manage contents on iPod, iPhone, iPod Touch and iPad....
. This was the date of the pre-ordering for the album.
On March 17, Moore's official website shared clips from all the songs off the standard edition of the album. New songs, "Fern Dell" and "Love To Love Me Back," were made available for streaming at her Myspace page a few days after.
According to a post in her blogpost in her website , it will be released digitally globally on September 29, a little more than four months after its initial release.
The album was released in Brazil on June 28, 2010.
The album was released in Argentina on November, 2011.
Reception
At Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, the album has received a score of 70, indicating "generally favorable reviews".[26]Entertainment Weekly gave the album a B+, stating that it was "much more fun" than Wild Hope and praised the songs "Merrimack River", "Pocket Philosopher", and "Song About Home." The album topped the website's Must List the week it was released.
Stephen Thomas Erlewine
Stephen Thomas Erlewine
Stephen Thomas Erlewine is a senior editor for Allmusic. He is the author of many artist biographies and record reviews for Allmusic, as well as a freelance writer, occasionally contributing liner notes. He is also frontman and guitarist for the Ann Arbor-based band Who Dat?Erlewine is the nephew...
of Allmusic wrote the album is a "clean, classy collection of AAA pop."
IGN wrote, "With Amanda Leigh, Moore has succeeded in crafting a personal record that is entertaining, even compelling at times, but isn't weighed down by heavy themes, misguided irony, or complex arrangements."
The Dallas Morning News noted that "Amanda Leigh turns more compelling with each listen...How great that she left the Britney Spears
Britney Spears
Britney Jean Spears is an American recording artist and entertainer. Born in McComb, Mississippi, and raised in Kentwood, Louisiana, Spears began performing as a child, landing acting roles in stage productions and television shows. She signed with Jive Records in 1997 and released her debut album...
factory behind."
Tracklisting
All songs written by Mandy MooreMandy Moore
Amanda Leigh "Mandy" Moore is an American singer-songwriter, actress and fashion designer. Moore became famous as a teenager in the late 1990s, after the release of her teen pop albums So Real, I Wanna Be with You, and Mandy Moore. In 2007, she took an adult pop-folk direction with the release of...
and Mike Viola
Mike Viola
Michael "Mike" Viola is an American singer-songwriter best known as singer, songwriter and "musical architect" of a team he called the "Candy Butchers", a pop-rock band from New York City that recorded three critically acclaimed albums for Sony. A native of Stoughton, Massachusetts, Mike began his...
, except where noted.
Commercial
Amanda Leigh debuted at number 25 in Billboard 200 selling 15,657 copies in its first week of release. This is her third highest peaking album to date. It quickly fell to #121 the week after.The album was released in Brazil and has sold more than 1,000 so far, though it has not charted in any official chart of the country.
Charts
| Chart (2009) | Peak position |
Copies sold |
|---|---|---|
| US Billboard 200 Billboard 200 The Billboard 200 is a ranking of the 200 highest-selling music albums and EPs in the United States, published weekly by Billboard magazine. It is frequently used to convey the popularity of an artist or groups of artists... |
25 | 30,000+ |
| U.S. Billboard Top Independent Albums | 4 | |
| U.S. Billboard Top Digital Albums | 12 | 5,000+ |