Mandy Moore (album)

Mandy Moore
Studio album by Mandy Moore
Released	June 19, 2001
Recorded	2000–01
Genre	Dance, pop, adult contemporary
Length	50:11
Label	Epic
Producer	Randall Barlow, Todd Chapman, Scott Cutler, Alexis Dufresne, Matthew Hager, Tim Mitchell, Ken Ross, David McPherson (executive)
Mandy Moore chronology
I Wanna Be with You (2000)I Wanna Be with You2000 Mandy Moore (2001) Coverage (2003)Coverage2003
Singles from Mandy Moore
"In My Pocket" Released: May 29, 2001 "Crush" Released: August 28, 2001 "Cry" Released: November 4, 2001

Mandy Moore is the self-titled third studio album by the American pop singer of the same name. It was released by Epic Records when she was 17 years old on June 19, 2001. Mandy Moore is notable for Moore beginning to have creative control of her music, and moving away from her bubblegum pop sound and teen pop image from her previous two albums, and including dance, techno, R&B, pop rock, hip hop and Middle Eastern music, and more sexual references.

Background

After releasing her second album, I Wanna Be with You (2000), Moore said "All of the music has started to look and sound the same"^[1] and that she decided that it was time for her to move away from that. She also said in a Billboard interview that she wanted "no more dancers, no more singing to tracks. I got tired of that in a big way".^[2]

Composition

The opening track "In My Pocket" is a dance-pop song mixed with techno and R&B beats with a Middle Eastern sound; the song was slightly more mature than Moore's previous songs and was an entirely different approach for her as an artist at the time. "You Remind Me" is a dance-pop song; it was written by Enrico Cremonesi, P. Aaron and R. Safinia.^[3] "Saturate Me" is a hip hop ballad with an Arabic sound that lasts 4 minutes and 2 seconds.^[4] According to the digital sheet music published at Musicnotes.com, the song is composed in the key of D♭ major and is set in the time signature of common time (4/4) with a moderate tempo of 96 beats per minute. "One Sided Love" is a dance-pop song with a Middle Eastern sound that lasts for four minutes and five seconds,^[5] is composed in the key of E♭ major and is set in time signature of common time, with a moderate tempo of 96 beats per minute. "17" is a teen dance-pop song that lasts for 4 minutes. The song is composed in the key of D major and is set in time signature of common time.^[6] "Cry" is a pop ballad that tells the story of a girl who thought her boyfriend was insensitive at first, until one day she saw him cry. "You were all by yourself, staring up at the dark gray sky, I was changed...". The song was co-written by former Sky frontman James Renald and Dominic Riccitello and co-produced by Renald and Peter Mokran.^[7] "Crush" is a teen dance-pop song with a heavy dance beat, and lasts 3 minutes and 43 seconds. According to the digital music sheet published at Musicnotes.com, the song is composed in the key of B major and has a common time signature with a tempo of 108 beats per minute.^[8] "It Only Took a Minute" is a romantic teen pop and R&B song with a length of 3 minutes and 40 seconds. The song is composed in the key of B♭ major, has a common time signature and a moderately slow tempo of 96 beats per minute.^[9] "Turn the Clock Around" is a teen dance-pop song that lasts for three minutes and thirty seconds. The song is composed in the key of C harmonic minor and is set in the time signature of 4/4 common time with a moderate tempo of 96 beats per minute. Moore's vocal range spans over two octaves from Eb3 to G5.^[10] "Yo-Yo" is a teen dance-pop song that lasts for 4 minutes and 17 seconds. According to the sheet music published at musicnotes.com by Universal Music Publishing Group, the song is composed in the key of F major and is set in time signature of common time with a tempo of 112 beats per minute.^[11] "From Loving You" is a teen pop ballad that lasts for 3 minutes and 34 seconds.^[12] "Split Chick" is a teen dance-pop song that lasts for 3 minutes and 44 seconds.^[13] "When I Talk to You" is a romantic teen pop song and final track on the album.^[14] Moore said that the song had been written while her and Matthew Hager were waiting to do a soundcheck.^[15] The song was also the first co-written by Moore to be included on one of her albums and it would not happen until Moore's fifth studio album Wild Hope (2007), that was entirely co-written by Moore. Moore's fourth studio album Coverage (2003) only had covers.

Critical reception

Professional ratings
Aggregate scores
Source	Rating
Metacritic	56/100[16]
Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic	[17]
Entertainment Weekly	B−[18]
Rolling Stone	[19]
Slant Magazine	[20]

The album received a score of 56 out of 100 at review aggregator Metacritic, indicating "mixed or average reviews".^[16]

AllMusic gave the album a very positive review, saying, "Mandy Moore manages to pack more hooks, melody, beats, clever production flourishes, and fun into its 13 tracks than nearly all of its peers – remarkably, it's a stronger album, through and through, than either of Britney's first two albums or Christina's record..immaculately crafted, precisely polished, & exactly what a teen pop album should be."^[17]

Entertainment Weekly gave the album a mostly positive review and a B−, saying that Moore "tries out new sounds -- Eastern rhythms, jangly percussives -- that help separate her from the pack. Best of all, she spares us 'Look at Me!' vocal gyrations in favor of a breathy Natalie Imbruglia vibe. [...] [A]s teen pop goes, it could be a lot worse."^[18]

Rolling Stone also gave the album a positive review, saying, "It's so rare and refreshing when a teen star takes the high road...[Mandy's] CD offers the most startlingly liberated teen pop since Eighties mall-rat icon Tiffany euphemistically declared herself 'New Inside'."^[19]

Slant Magazine also gave the album a positive review, saying, "Mandy Moore is a refreshingly modest pop/rock excursion that gives Moore the opportunity to differentiate herself from the competition and further solidifies a promising musical future." It was given an honorable mention in the magazine's top music picks of 2001.^[20]

The album was chosen as one of Amazon.com's Best of 2001.

Commercial performance

The album debuted in the top 10 on the ACRpop charts and number 35 the U.S. Billboard 200. The album was certified gold. Four singles reached the Top 40 Mainstream chart in the US, including "In My Pocket", "Crush", "Cry", and "17" was released in Asia, but none reached the Billboard Hot 100. The album had sold 462,000 copies in the U.S., according to Nielsen SoundScan.^[21] The Japanese release of the album also featured an additional song called "It's Gonna Be Love". This song can also be found on the soundtrack of Moore's film A Walk to Remember (2002).^[22]

The album also achieved moderate success worldwide, with Epic deciding that they would release the album where the first one did well. Mandy Moore performed well in Asia, being certified 4× Platinum in Philippines and 33rd Best Selling Album of All Times in the Philippines which sold 200,000 copies. In New Zealand it became her second album to hit the top 40, peaking at No. 39. It reached No. 37 on the Australian ARIA Charts, her highest to date.

Promotion

Moore had her first headlined show, called "Mandy Moore Live @ ShoutBack", where she performed the songs:

• "In My Pocket"
• "One Sided Love"
• "Turn the Clock Around"
• "Cry"
• "I Wanna Be with You"
• "When I Talk to You"
• "Candy"

Moore also performed a number of songs live on TV shows, such as on TRL ("In My Pocket" and "Crush"), MTV Asia Sessions ("In My Pocket", "I Wanna Be with You" and "When I Talk to You"), The Rosie O'Donnell Show ("In My Pocket"), Miss Teen USA ("Crush"), Live with Regis and Kelly ("Cry"), The Tonight Show with Jay Leno ("Crush"), Channel V ("Crush"), and at the MTV Asia Awards ("Cry" as a duet with Regine Velasquez), among others. None of the songs from the record were performed at any of Moore's shows after promotion of the album ended.

Singles

The first single released from the album was "In My Pocket", on May 29, 2001. The song did not become a huge hit, but it provided Moore a bit more of a unique sound and image, helping her to break through the stereotypical pop princesses such as Britney Spears, Christina Aguilera and Jessica Simpson, all of whom she had spent much of her early career being compared to. "In My Pocket" missed the Billboard Hot 100 but charted on the Bubbling Under Hot 100 Singles chart at number two (equivalent to number 102) on June 12, 2001. It performed modestly on CHR radio (the format in which Moore received most of her airplay), peaking at number twenty in Radio & Records. The song also peaked at number twenty-one on the Pop 100 chart, where it stayed for nine weeks.^[23] However, the song performed fairly well outside of the United States in countries like Australia, where it reached number eleven. The music video was directed by Matthew Rolston and was shot in a nightclub that was given a Middle Eastern look to match the similar feel of the song itself, including belly dancers and fire blowers. Moore sat on a throne and watched almost as if she were royalty. In other scenes, Moore is seen dancing and almost flirting with one of the dancers.

The second single, "Crush", became an even more disappointing single with charts. The "Crush" music video was directed by Chris Applebaum and edited by Nabil Mechi. On September 10, 2001, it became Moore's first video to reach the number-one spot on MTV's countdown show Total Request Live. In the video, Moore sits in her crush's room and tries to wake him up. She performs with her band in another room. The video ends with Moore wearing a replica of the jacket Michael Jackson wears in the "Thriller" music video.

The third and final single, "Cry", was given a limited release to promote Moore's romantic drama A Walk to Remember and was also available on its soundtrack. The song was a favorite of Moore's, but it only did a little better than "Crush"; it did not become a huge U.S. hit and unlike previous singles, "Cry" was not released in Australia. Meanwhile, it did become a number one hit in the Philippines. It became the first ever Song of the Year of myx, and a number of other radio stations.

"17" and "Saturate Me" was also released as a double single in Asia where it had minor success.

According to her manager, there were plans to release more singles from the album, but "Mandy's whole world isn't riding on this project. We're building a long-term career, not simply working a record. This project has already done a good job of establishing that she's not a cookie-cutter teen artist."

Track listing

Personnel

Credits for Mandy Moore adapted from AllMusic.^[24]

Charts

Certifications

References