Now ... Us!

Now ... Us!
Studio album by No Angels
Released June 24, 2002
Recorded 2002
Genre
Length 47:18
Label
Producer
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. It was released by Polydor–Zeitgeist and Cheyenne Records on 24 June 24 2002 in German-speaking Europe. Recorded after the release of the band's majorly successful debut album Elle'ments (2001) and its accompanying Rivers of Joy Tour, the quinted consulted work by frequent collaborators Thorsten Brötzmann, Peter Ries, and Leslie Mándoki as well as international songwriters and producers such as Anders Bagge, Figge Boström, Dennis Dowlut, Mousse T., Pontus Söderqvist, and Quiz & Larossi, while taking a wider role in contributing own lyrics and melodies to the album.

Upon its release, Now ... Us! received a mixed reception from music critics, many of whom praised band for their vocal performances and the inclusion of self-penned solo songs but found the material too generic and cliché-addled. Commercially, it became the No Angels's second album to debut atop the German Albums Chart and was eventually certified double platinum by the Bundesverband Musikindustrie (BVMI), finishing twelfth on the national year-end chart in 2002. Now ... Us! also opened at number two and number four in Austria and Switzerland, where it reached gold status respectively.

The album spawned three singles, including the band's third non-consecutive number-one "Something About Us", summer-lite "Still in Love with You" and funk-influenced "Let's Go to Bed." A pop version of its fourth single, the Alison Moyet cover "All Cried Out," appeared on a Special Winter Edition reissue of the album, released in November 2002. To promote Now ... Us!, the No Angels embarked the Four Seasons Tour, covering Austria, Germany, and Switzerland, in fall 2002. It would remain the group's final album as a quintet after Jessica Wahls's departure in 2003 and their reformation as a quartet in 2007.

Background

In 2000, the No Angels beat 4,500 other hopefuls in the German version of the RTL II talent show Popstars. Recruited to join a girl pop band, the quintet signed a recording deal with Polydor–Zeitgeist and Cheyenne Records and became overnight hits, with their debut single "Daylight in Your Eyes" emerging as the biggest-selling single of the year 2001 in Germany.[1] For the production of their English language parent album, Cheyenne consulted a small group of German-based musicians to work on Elle'ments, including Thorsten Brötzmann, Peter Ries, Leslie Mándoki, and Peter Plate.[2] Selecting songs from the Universal Music Publishing Group catalogue, the producers would either take over production duties from Scandinavian musicians or submit self-written songs for recording.[3]

A pop record with different genres such as Europop, teen pop, electro, and dance, Elle'ments combined elements from pop rock, drum and bass, and contemporary R&B,[2] but while it became one of the fastest-selling German albums in music history,[4] the No Angels still struggled with the clichés and prejudices generally associated with their manufactured band image, which made them appear as externally controlled reality TV products rather than ambitious artists.[5][6] Frustrated by both the public perception and the group's A&R–dominated musical development, band member Vanessa Petruo asked for a release from her contract after her first year with the band,[7] but had her mind changed when Cheyenne Records decided on supporting her wish for more creative control and thus offered the band to contribute own songs to their next album.[7]

Production

In February 2002, after a short break from public, the No Angels began work on their second album in Munich and Hamburg.[8] Assisted by a wide range of different musicians and songwriters, including Brötzmann, Alexander Geringas, Nik Hafemann, Thomas Anders and Christian Geller, each member of the group focused on writing lyrics and melodies on her own. 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.[8]

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.[9] 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.[10] Although the No Angels premiered the song on 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."[8]

Release and reception

Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
CDStarts[11]
laut.de[12]

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,"[12] laut.de declared the album as "teen-pop" on "average level."[12] Matthias Eisen from CDStarts cited the album "dissembling ... cheesy and cliched", sharply criticizing the cover songs on Now ... Us!.[11] 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.[13]

Although "2 Get Over U" was still considered to be released as a single at times,[9] 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!.[14]

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
  • ^[A] denotes co-producer

Credits and personnel

Production

  • Vocal assistance: James Caldwell, Linda Freeland, Inez Haynes, Franca Morgano, Daniel Troha
  • Engineers: Felix Knöchel, Spok, Mike Streefkerk, Stephan Zeh
  • Mixing: Peter Boström, Jeo, Pit Floss, Nike Nice, Mike Streefkerk, Stephan Zeh
  • Artwork: Ronald Rensberg, Berlin
  • Photography: Benjamin Wolf, Sven Jacobsen

Leftover tracks

Charts

Sales and certifications

Region Certification
Austria (IFPI Austria)[25] Gold
Germany (BVMI)[26] 2× Platinum
Switzerland (IFPI Switzerland)[27] Gold

Release history

Region Date Edition Format Label
Austria 24 June 2002
  • Standard
 Digital download, CD
Germany
Switzerland
Austria 18 November 2002
  • Special winter
 Digital download, CD
Germany
Switzerland

References

  1. ↑ Moore, Tristana (2009-04-16). "In Germany, No Angels Star Faces HIV Charges". Time. Retrieved 2017-10-05.
  2. 1 2 Dobler, Eberhard (2001-03-12). "Keine Frage, wir befinden uns auf internationalem Pop-Niveau". laut.de. Retrieved 2015-04-16.
  3. ↑ Schaertl, Marika (2001-02-19). "Holger, der Engel-Macher". Focus (in German). Retrieved 2009-04-26.
  4. ↑ Feierabend, Peter; Zang, Karsten (2013-01-01). "DuMont Bildband 65 Jahre Bundesrepublik Deutschland: Eine Zeitreise in Bildern". DuMont. Retrieved 2016-12-03.
  5. ↑ "Work: Songs". VanessaPetruo.tv. Archived from the original on 2007-10-06. Retrieved 2007-07-28.
  6. ↑ "Trennungsgerüchte über No Angels". Der Spiegel. 2003-09-07. Retrieved 2017-10-05.
  7. 1 2 Schulte am Hülse, Jessica (2007-07-29). "Popstar sein ist ein Pakt mit dem Teufel". Die Welt. Retrieved 2017-10-05.
  8. 1 2 3 "Now... Us!". Austriancharts. Retrieved 2007-06-01.
  9. 1 2 "Duett der "Popstars"". Netzeitung. Retrieved 2007-04-04.
  10. ↑ "Hear'Say Ditch X'Mas Duet". MTV Asia News. Archived from the original on 2007-09-29. Retrieved 2007-04-04.
  11. 1 2 Eisen, Matthias. "Now... Us! review". CDstarts (in German). CDstarts.de GbR. Retrieved 2007-02-15.
  12. 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.
  13. ↑ "Album-Charts des Jahres 2002". FOCUS Online (in German). Archived from the original on 2011-05-20. Retrieved 2008-11-01.
  14. ↑ Now ... Us! (Media notes). No Angels. Polydor Records. 2002.
  15. ↑ "Three Words". Swisscharts. Retrieved 2007-10-06.
  16. ↑ "Since I Found You". GEMA Search. Retrieved 2007-10-06.
  17. ↑ "Austriancharts.at – No Angels – Now... Us!" (in German). Hung Medien.
  18. ↑ "Oasis Has The Right Chemistry At No. 1". Billboard. Rovi Corporation. Retrieved 2008-01-11.
  19. ↑ "Officialcharts.de – No Angels – Now... Us!". GfK Entertainment Charts.
  20. ↑ "Top 40 album DVD és válogatáslemez-lista – 2002. 26. hét" (in Hungarian). MAHASZ.
  21. ↑ "Swisscharts.com – No Angels – Now... Us!". Hung Medien.
  22. ↑ "Jahreshitparade Alben 2002". Austriancharts.com. Hung Medien. Retrieved 2015-10-22.
  23. ↑ "Top 100 Album-Jahrescharts (2002)". Offiziellecharts.de. Retrieved 2015-11-22.
  24. ↑ "Jahrescharts 2002". Swisscharts.com. Hung Medien. Retrieved 2015-10-10.
  25. ↑ "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. 
  26. ↑ "Gold-/Platin-Datenbank (No Angels; 'Now... Us!')" (in German). Bundesverband Musikindustrie. Retrieved 2012-10-25.
  27. ↑ "The Official Swiss Charts and Music Community: Awards ('No Angels')". IFPI Switzerland. Hung Medien. Retrieved 2012-10-25.
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