The album received generally mixed reviews, with critics praising his voice but also criticizing the album's material as safe or bland. It launched at number two on the US Billboard 200 with 183,000 first-week sales and was certified gold in January 2009. By January 2011, the album had sold a total of 764,000 copies domestically. "Crush," released in August 2008, debuted at number two on the US Billboard Hot 100 and sold nearly 2 million copies, while the second single "A Little Too Not Over You" hit radio in January 2009. David Archuleta's release coincided with his United Kingdom tour with McFly in April and May 2009.
Background
Archuleta auditioned for American Idol during the San Diego tryouts at Qualcomm Stadium in July 2007, earning a ticket to Hollywood after performing John Mayer's "Waiting on the World to Change."[1] Sixteen at the time, he continued attending school while competing on the show and, as a minor, was required to have a parent or guardian present.[2] During the competition, Archuleta gained attention for his stylistic and interpretive choices and ultimately advanced to the finale, where he received 44 percent of the vote, finishing in second place.[2] After the finale, Archuleta made his first appearances on the US music charts with the three songs he performed on American Idol finale: "Don't Let the Sun Go Down on Me", "In This Moment", and "Imagine" debuted on the BillboardHot 100 chart the week of June 7, 2008. "Imagine" entered at number 36, giving Archuleta his first top-forty hit, "Don't Let the Sun Go Down on Me" at 58, and "In This Moment" at 60.[3][4] In June 2008, Archuleta signed with Jive Records and 19 Recordings and began work on his debut album.[5]
Promotion
The first single, "Crush", was released to radio on August 1, 2008, and was commercially released on August 12, 2008. Its first week it debuted at number two on the Billboard Hot 100 with 166,000 units sold.[6][7] The single has sold almost 2 million copies in the United States.[8] The second single, "A Little Too Not Over You", a song which he co-wrote, was released to radio on January 6, 2009.[9]
On March 13, 2009, Archuleta released a couple of songs from David Archuleta on iTunes that were previously not available as single downloads. "Works for Me" came as a bonus track on the Walmart version of David Archuleta, and "Somebody Out There" was exclusive to those who pre-ordered the album on iTunes. Both songs were also included in a four-track EP titled Four for the Fans, released in 2010 exclusively on iTunes, before the release of Archuleta's single, "Something 'Bout Love", from his third studio album, The Other Side of Down (2010).
David Archuleta received generally mixed reviews from music critics, averaging a 58 out of a 100 among averaged reviews on Metacritic.[10] Kerri Mason from Billboard praised David Archuleta, calling it "charming" and filled with performances "meant for arenas." Mason also credited Archuleta as having a "once-in-a-decade pop voice: A silky tenor with a natural melancholy."[17] Ken Barnes of USA Today gave the album a positive review saying, "On American Idol runner-up David Archuleta's first, self-titled album, the 17-year-old singer delivers a non-stop succession of polite pop songs swathed in gauzy cotton-candy textures and catchy choruses. And that's exactly what he should be doing."[16]The New York Times critic Ben Ratliff remarked that Archuleta "has a lovely, foggy R&B voice out of scale with his small body" and further wrote: "The music, made by many producers and songwriters, averages out different forms of radio-format blandness, with tinges of Coldplay and Shania Twain, and a few dollops of good writing."[18]
Writing for The Boston Globe, Joan Anderman determined that "someone smart decided to stick with tasteful, understated production. Archuleta's delivery is likewise low-key and attractive, if predictably generic. We do get a glimpse of previously unheard heft and depth, respectively, on vaguely edgy "Desperate" and the winsome ballad "To Be With You." But it's never more than a short step back to the safe, unscintillating center where Archuleta belongs."[19] Caryn Ganz from Rolling Stone noted that "on the most recent season of American Idol, Archuleta was a golden-voiced koala, too sweet to be sexy. His debut is similarly flavorless: Beautifully sung but snoozy tunes like "My Hands" never achieve takeoff, and his chaste voice is a poor match for lovey-dovey lyrics."[15] August Brown, writing for The Los Angeles Times, felt that "the record is larded with awkward modernist R&B, Christian semaphore ballads like "You Can" and warm-milk mewling that makes David Cook, Archuleta's Idol foe, sound like Robert Plant".[14]Entertainment Weekly's Chris Willman found that "on American Idol's seventh season, David Archuleta had some personality — something you’ll struggle to remember while taking in this bland, amnesia-inducing collection."[13]
Commercial performance
David Archuleta debuted at number two on the US Billboard 200 chart in the week of November 29, 2008, with sales of 183,000 copies.[20] On January 29, 2009, the album was certified gold by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA).[21] By January 2011, it had sold 764,000 copies domestically, according to USA Today[2]
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