Be Not Nobody | ||||
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Studio album by | ||||
Released | April 30, 2002 | |||
Studio |
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Genre | ||||
Length | 45:57 | |||
Label | A&M | |||
Producer | Ron Fair | |||
Vanessa Carlton chronology | ||||
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Singles from Be Not Nobody | ||||
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Be Not Nobody is the debut studio album by American singer-songwriter Vanessa Carlton, released on April 30, 2002, through A&M Records. As of late 2004 the album had sold 1.38 million copies in the US according to Nielsen SoundScan, [4] and Variety magazine reported in July 2003 that it had sold 2.3 million worldwide. [5] Billboard magazine placed Carlton at number twenty-one on its year-end "Top Pop Artists" list for 2002. [6]
"A Thousand Miles" was released as the lead single from the album and reached the top five on the US Billboard Hot 100, number one in Australia and the top ten in the United Kingdom. Be Not Nobody was certified gold by the RIAA in June 2002, and platinum in October 2002. [7] "Ordinary Day" charted inside the top forty on the US Hot 100. "Pretty Baby" was remixed and released as the album's third and final single in early 2003. After the single's release, subsequent pressings of the album contained the remixed single version of the song in place of its original album version. "Pretty Baby" did not appear on the Hot 100 or the UK top seventy-five, but was nominated for a 2003 Teen Choice Award for "Choice Love Song". [8]
Review scores | |
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Source | Rating |
AllMusic | ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() |
Entertainment Weekly | C [10] |
Rolling Stone | ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() |
Slant Magazine | ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() |
AllMusic's Stephen Thomas Erlewine praised the album for being "charmingly ambitious" with using "soaring strings, intimate pianos, crooned vocals, and pretty melodies" that showcase Carlton's potential as an emotive songwriter, concluding that: "Be Not Nobody is naïve, but much of it's well crafted and nearly all of it is endearing; it's a rare debut that is quite enjoyable in its own right yet is almost more enticing because of what it suggests that she could do next." [9] Sal Cinquemani of Slant Magazine felt that the record's "youthful sincerity" saves Carlton from "career-damaging parallels" to Fiona Apple and Tori Amos, but was critical of her vocals rarely reaching the "sonic heights" of said predecessors. [12] Chris Willman of Entertainment Weekly wrote, "She's almost got Tori's intricate keyboard figures and edgy vocal style down, but there'll be none of the famous Amos loopiness in these earnest self-help bromides." [10] Ernest Hardy of Rolling Stone commended the album's impeccable musicanship but felt it was in service of "overwrought victim-of-love material that's been done to death," and critiqued that Carlton's performance compared to her inspirations "seems to be playing dress-up in their emotions and themes." [11]
All songs were written by Vanessa Carlton, except where noted.
UK bonus track
Japanese bonus tracks
Asian Tour Edition bonus tracks
Reissues
Credits adapted from AllMusic and album's liner notes. [13] [14]
Musicians
Orchestra
| Technical personnel
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Weekly charts
| Year-end charts
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Region | Certification | Certified units/sales |
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Australia (ARIA) [42] | Gold | 35,000^ |
Canada (Music Canada) [43] | Gold | 50,000^ |
Japan (RIAJ) [44] | Platinum | 200,000 [45] |
New Zealand (RMNZ) [46] | Gold | 7,500‡ |
United Kingdom (BPI) [47] | Gold | 100,000^ |
United States (RIAA) [48] | Platinum | 1,380,000 [4] |
^ Shipments figures based on certification alone. |