Just Like You (Allison Iraheta album)
Encyclopedia
Just Like You is the debut album from American Idol
s eighth season
contestant Allison Iraheta
. It was released on December 1, 2009 through Jive Records
and 19 Recordings
. The lead single, "Friday I'll Be Over U
", produced by Max Martin
, debuted on AOL's Popeater on October 5, 2009, and was made available through digital distribution on November 3, 2009.
, Iraheta began writing and recording with pop and rock hit makers such as Kevin Rudolf
, Howard Benson
, Max Martin
and David Hodges
. Fellow Idol alumnus Chris Daughtry
also contributed a track for the deluxe version of the album.
Idol judge Kara DioGuardi
, who co-wrote "No One Else" with Pink
and producer/songwriter Greg Wells
, explained that "No One Else" ended up on the album after "Pink's A&R person ... played (the song) for Allison as well as the producer" and that she "wrote another song for (Just Like You)," called "Spring Cleaning," which did not make the album. "No One Else" has been around for five years, but Dioguardi wanted to "hold on to it" because in the past, she had given a song out just to release it, without considering whether the artist could convey the emotion she wanted the song to convey.
On November 4, Michael Slezak of Entertainment Weekly
published the list of writer and producer credits, which reveals that Iraheta will cover "Holiday
", a punk rock song written and performed by Rock Star: Supernova finalist Dilana.
and Entertainment Weekly
.
Iraheta also hosted an eight minute block prior to the showing of New Moon
in 1,200 theaters across the U.S. Iraheta talked about the upcoming album, playing some tracks, including "Friday I'll Be Over U
", "Pieces", and "Trouble Is".
MySpace Music
and AOL Listening Party
both featured streams of "Just Like You" in the days leading up to the album's release, December 1, 2009, although only AOL Listening Party features all 13 tracks.
She appeared on Good Morning America
on the album's release date, December 1 and also appeared on Jimmy Kimmel Live! on December 17 after Adam Lambert was cancelled as well as The Ellen Degeneres Show
on December 7. In addition she was a special guest at Z100's Jingle Ball.
Iraheta also toured with Adam Lambert
and Orianthi
on the Glam Nation Tour in the summer of 2010. She was scheduled to tour for only half of the tour, but due to popular demand was extended.
writer Michael Slezak gave the album an A-, writing that "the muscular, instantly recognizable growl that carried her to a fourth-place finish on American Idol's eighth season is all she needs to seamlessly wed a collection of first-rate ditties...."
Brian Mansfield from USA Today
gave the album three out of four stars, writing "Iraheta's album may not be the best from an American Idol Season 8 alum...but it's definitely the most fun, grounded in a tradition of teen pop that goes back decades. ...Iraheta rocks out with vengeful edge she rarely displayed on the show."
Sarah Rodman of the Boston Globe stated, "The boys got most of the attention on American Idol last season, but fourth-place finisher Allison Iraheta has the last laugh with the most consistent debut album thus far." While the review states that the album is "a fresh and sassy debut mixing catchy girl-power pop with rock flourishes, perfect for Top 40 radio," it also states that "there are a couple of lyrical duds - including the musically arresting but cringe-inducing 'Robot Love,' a rant against a boyfriend’s technology addiction."
In a mixed review, New York Times described Just Like You as "a workmanlike pop album with shrewdly punky touches, like a ready-made outfit from the mall chain Hot Topic."
AllMusic critic Stephen Thomas Erlewine gave the album three out of five stars, writing that there are a handful of good songs "and if the rest is blandly cookie cutter, at least Iraheta tries hard to give it life and succeeds somewhat."
L.A. Times critic Margaret Wappler gave the album two out of four stars, writing, "To her credit, Iraheta is ever-present, ever-willing on every song," but the album was "too derivative of the Pat Benatar, Pink, Kelly Clarkson trifecta" and "Iraheta doesn't emerge with enough of a singular identity."
The songs Friday I'll Be Over U
and Scars were featured on the Monster High
30 minute television special on Nickelodeon
.
and number 14 on the Bilboard Digital Album Chart.
American Idol
American Idol, titled American Idol: The Search for a Superstar for the first season, is a reality television singing competition created by Simon Fuller and produced by FremantleMedia North America and 19 Entertainment...
s eighth season
American Idol (season 8)
The eighth season of American Idol premiered on January 13, 2009, and concluded on May 20, 2009. Judges Simon Cowell, Paula Abdul, and Randy Jackson continued to judge the show's contestants, along with Ryan Seacrest as host. The season introduced Kara DioGuardi as the fourth judge on the Idol...
contestant Allison Iraheta
Allison Iraheta
Allison Iraheta is an American singer from Los Angeles, California, who was the fourth place finalist on the eighth season of American Idol. Prior to Idol, Iraheta won the Telemundo competition Quinceañera: Mamá Quiero Ser Artista. Following the conclusion of Idol, Iraheta was signed to a record...
. It was released on December 1, 2009 through Jive Records
Jive Records
Jive Records was a record label based in New York City, operating under RCA Music Group. Jive was primarily known for a string of successes with hip hop artists in the 1980s, and in teen pop and boy bands in the late 1990s. The word "jive" was inspired by Township Jive, a form of South African...
and 19 Recordings
19 Entertainment
19 Entertainment, based in Los Angeles, United States, is a creator and producer of entertainment properties based around the areas of Music and Television / Film, including American Idol in the United States, Pop Idol in the United Kingdom as well as versions of the Idol series in more than...
. The lead single, "Friday I'll Be Over U
Friday I'll Be Over U
"Friday I'll Be Over U" is a song by American recording artist and American Idol season eight finalist Allison Iraheta from her debut album, Just Like You. The song was written by Max Martin, Shellback, Savan Kotecha and Tiffany Amber...
", produced by Max Martin
Max Martin
Martin Karl Sandberg, known professionally as Max Martin, is a Swedish music producer and songwriter. Raised in Stenhamra, a suburb of Stockholm, Sweden, he broke through as a producer and songwriter in the mid to late 1990s after crafting a string of hits for pop artists like the Backstreet Boys,...
, debuted on AOL's Popeater on October 5, 2009, and was made available through digital distribution on November 3, 2009.
Development
While on the American Idols LIVE! Tour 2009American Idols LIVE! Tour 2009
The American Idols LIVE! Tour 2009 was a summer concert tour in the United States and Canada that featured the top 10 contestants of the eighth season of American Idol...
, Iraheta began writing and recording with pop and rock hit makers such as Kevin Rudolf
Kevin Rudolf
Kevin Rudolf is an American singer-songwriter and record producer signed to Cash Money Records. Rudolf is mostly known for singing and producing rock/pop music...
, Howard Benson
Howard Benson
Howard Benson is a two-time Grammy-nominated music producer and aerospace engineer.-Biography:Howard Benson has a degree in materials engineering from Drexel University and studied composition at the Philadelphia College for Performing Arts. Later he worked for Garrett AiResearch, where he worked...
, Max Martin
Max Martin
Martin Karl Sandberg, known professionally as Max Martin, is a Swedish music producer and songwriter. Raised in Stenhamra, a suburb of Stockholm, Sweden, he broke through as a producer and songwriter in the mid to late 1990s after crafting a string of hits for pop artists like the Backstreet Boys,...
and David Hodges
David Hodges
David Hodges is a songwriter, producer, composer, keyboardist and vocalist from Little Rock, Arkansas. He is best known for his work with the band Evanescence, which he left in 2002. He has also been part of the bands Trading Yesterday, The Age of Information, Avox, and David Hodges solo...
. Fellow Idol alumnus Chris Daughtry
Chris Daughtry
Christopher Adam "Chris" Daughtry is an American musician best known as the lead vocalist and rhythm guitarist for the rock band Daughtry and as the fourth-place finalist on the fifth season of American Idol, from which he was eliminated on May 10, 2006...
also contributed a track for the deluxe version of the album.
Idol judge Kara DioGuardi
Kara DioGuardi
Kara Elizabeth DioGuardi is an American singer-songwriter, record producer, music publisher, A&R executive, composer and TV personality. She writes music primarily in the light pop-rock, dance, and R&B genres. DioGuardi has worked with many popular artists; her songs have appeared on more than 159...
, who co-wrote "No One Else" with Pink
Pink (singer)
Alecia Beth Moore , better known by her stage name Pink , is an American singer-songwriter, musician and actress....
and producer/songwriter Greg Wells
Greg Wells
Greg Wells is a multiple Grammy nominated musician, record producer and songwriter based in Los Angeles. Wells has produced and written hits with Adele, Weezer, Pink, Theophilus London, Deftones, Katy Perry, Rufus Wainwright, The All American Rejects, OneRepublic, Mika, Aerosmith, Burt Bacharach,...
, explained that "No One Else" ended up on the album after "Pink's A&R person ... played (the song) for Allison as well as the producer" and that she "wrote another song for (Just Like You)," called "Spring Cleaning," which did not make the album. "No One Else" has been around for five years, but Dioguardi wanted to "hold on to it" because in the past, she had given a song out just to release it, without considering whether the artist could convey the emotion she wanted the song to convey.
On November 4, Michael Slezak of Entertainment Weekly
Entertainment Weekly
Entertainment Weekly is an American magazine, published by the Time division of Time Warner, that covers film, television, music, broadway theatre, books and popular culture...
published the list of writer and producer credits, which reveals that Iraheta will cover "Holiday
Holiday (Dilana song)
"Holiday" is an original song written by Dilana, about how her life has changed after appearing on Rock Star: Supernova. On February 20, it was released with "Ring of Fire" as a B-side track, exclusively on digital download websites such as iTunes and MySpace , where fans can also listen to the...
", a punk rock song written and performed by Rock Star: Supernova finalist Dilana.
Promotion
Following the tour, Iraheta began promoting Just Like You, conducting interviews with Walmart.com soundcheck, KIIS-FMKIIS-FM
KIIS-FM is a Los Angeles, California, USA-based radio station with a partial Top 40 musical format. It is owned by Clear Channel Communications. KIIS is also simulcasted on KVVS in Rosamond, at 105.5 MHz...
and Entertainment Weekly
Entertainment Weekly
Entertainment Weekly is an American magazine, published by the Time division of Time Warner, that covers film, television, music, broadway theatre, books and popular culture...
.
Iraheta also hosted an eight minute block prior to the showing of New Moon
New Moon (2009 film)
The Twilight Saga: New Moon, commonly referred to as New Moon, is a 2009 American romance fantasy-vampire film based on Stephenie Meyer's 2006 novel New Moon. It is the second film in The Twilight Saga film series and is the sequel to 2008's Twilight. Summit Entertainment greenlit the sequel in...
in 1,200 theaters across the U.S. Iraheta talked about the upcoming album, playing some tracks, including "Friday I'll Be Over U
Friday I'll Be Over U
"Friday I'll Be Over U" is a song by American recording artist and American Idol season eight finalist Allison Iraheta from her debut album, Just Like You. The song was written by Max Martin, Shellback, Savan Kotecha and Tiffany Amber...
", "Pieces", and "Trouble Is".
MySpace Music
MySpace
Myspace is a social networking service owned by Specific Media LLC and pop star Justin Timberlake. Myspace launched in August 2003 and is headquartered in Beverly Hills, California. In August 2011, Myspace had 33.1 million unique U.S. visitors....
and AOL Listening Party
AOL
AOL Inc. is an American global Internet services and media company. AOL is headquartered at 770 Broadway in New York. Founded in 1983 as Control Video Corporation, it has franchised its services to companies in several nations around the world or set up international versions of its services...
both featured streams of "Just Like You" in the days leading up to the album's release, December 1, 2009, although only AOL Listening Party features all 13 tracks.
She appeared on Good Morning America
Good Morning America
Good Morning America is an American morning news and talk show that is broadcast on the ABC television network; it debuted on November 3, 1975. The weekday program airs for two hours; a third hour aired between 2007 and 2008 exclusively on ABC News Now...
on the album's release date, December 1 and also appeared on Jimmy Kimmel Live! on December 17 after Adam Lambert was cancelled as well as 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...
on December 7. In addition she was a special guest at Z100's Jingle Ball.
Iraheta also toured with Adam Lambert
Adam Lambert
Adam Mitchel Lambert is an American singer, songwriter, and actor from San Diego, California. In May 2009, he finished as the runner-up on the eighth season of American Idol...
and Orianthi
Orianthi
Orianthi Panagaris , better known simply as Orianthi, is an Australian musician, singer-songwriter and guitarist. She is perhaps best known for being Michael Jackson's lead guitarist for his ill-fated This Is It concert series. Her debut single "According to You" has peaked at No. 3 in Japan, No. 8...
on the Glam Nation Tour in the summer of 2010. She was scheduled to tour for only half of the tour, but due to popular demand was extended.
Critical reception
Just Like You received generally favorable reviews. Entertainment WeeklyEntertainment Weekly
Entertainment Weekly is an American magazine, published by the Time division of Time Warner, that covers film, television, music, broadway theatre, books and popular culture...
writer Michael Slezak gave the album an A-, writing that "the muscular, instantly recognizable growl that carried her to a fourth-place finish on American Idol's eighth season is all she needs to seamlessly wed a collection of first-rate ditties...."
Brian Mansfield from USA Today
USA Today
USA Today is a national American daily newspaper published by the Gannett Company. It was founded by Al Neuharth. The newspaper vies with The Wall Street Journal for the position of having the widest circulation of any newspaper in the United States, something it previously held since 2003...
gave the album three out of four stars, writing "Iraheta's album may not be the best from an American Idol Season 8 alum...but it's definitely the most fun, grounded in a tradition of teen pop that goes back decades. ...Iraheta rocks out with vengeful edge she rarely displayed on the show."
Sarah Rodman of the Boston Globe stated, "The boys got most of the attention on American Idol last season, but fourth-place finisher Allison Iraheta has the last laugh with the most consistent debut album thus far." While the review states that the album is "a fresh and sassy debut mixing catchy girl-power pop with rock flourishes, perfect for Top 40 radio," it also states that "there are a couple of lyrical duds - including the musically arresting but cringe-inducing 'Robot Love,' a rant against a boyfriend’s technology addiction."
In a mixed review, New York Times described Just Like You as "a workmanlike pop album with shrewdly punky touches, like a ready-made outfit from the mall chain Hot Topic."
AllMusic critic Stephen Thomas Erlewine gave the album three out of five stars, writing that there are a handful of good songs "and if the rest is blandly cookie cutter, at least Iraheta tries hard to give it life and succeeds somewhat."
L.A. Times critic Margaret Wappler gave the album two out of four stars, writing, "To her credit, Iraheta is ever-present, ever-willing on every song," but the album was "too derivative of the Pat Benatar, Pink, Kelly Clarkson trifecta" and "Iraheta doesn't emerge with enough of a singular identity."
The songs Friday I'll Be Over U
Friday I'll Be Over U
"Friday I'll Be Over U" is a song by American recording artist and American Idol season eight finalist Allison Iraheta from her debut album, Just Like You. The song was written by Max Martin, Shellback, Savan Kotecha and Tiffany Amber...
and Scars were featured on the Monster High
Monster High
Monster High is an American line of fashion dolls created by Garrett Sander with the illustrations done by Kellee Riley. They were officially released in July 2010 but made in 2007....
30 minute television special on Nickelodeon
Nickelodeon (TV channel)
Nickelodeon, often simply called Nick and originally named Pinwheel, is an American children's channel owned by MTV Networks, a subsidiary of Viacom International. The channel is primarily aimed at children ages 7–17, with the exception of their weekday morning program block aimed at preschoolers...
.
Chart performance
Just Like You sold approximately 32,000 copies in its first week, debuting at number 35 on the Billboard 200 album chartBillboard 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...
and number 14 on the Bilboard Digital Album Chart.
| Chart (2009) | Peak position |
Sales/Certification |
|---|---|---|
| U.S. 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... |
35 | 103,000 |
Singles
| Year | Title | Sales |
|---|---|---|
| 2009 | "Friday I'll Be Over U" | 54,000 |
| 2010 | "Scars" | 20,000 |
| 2010 | "Don't Waste the Pretty" (feat. Orianthi Orianthi Orianthi Panagaris , better known simply as Orianthi, is an Australian musician, singer-songwriter and guitarist. She is perhaps best known for being Michael Jackson's lead guitarist for his ill-fated This Is It concert series. Her debut single "According to You" has peaked at No. 3 in Japan, No. 8... ) |
4,000 |