In This Skin is the third studio album by American recording artist Jessica Simpson. The album was released on August 19, 2003 by Columbia Records. It was reissued on March 2, 2004 with three new songs. Simpson began taking more creative control of her music with the album, both musically and lyrically, co-writing 10 out of 14 tracks on the album, thus moving away from the teen pop styles of her previous two albums, Sweet Kisses (1999) and Irresistible (2001), as well as including elements of Middle Eastern music, dance, acoustic, and pop rock, while also lyrically talking about more mature subject matters. The album was a huge success in North America, reaching number two on the US Billboard 200 and being certified triple platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA). In This Skin went on to become the thirty-fifth best selling album of 2004 and has sold over five million copies worldwide. The album was ranked number 153 on the list of the top-selling albums of the 2000s by Billboard magazine.
"Pieces of Me" is the debut single by American pop/rock singer Ashlee Simpson and the first single from her debut album, Autobiography (2004). The song, which was jointly written and composed by Simpson, Kara DioGuardi and John Shanks, and produced by Shanks, is a blend of pop and rock with lyrics about finding comfort and happiness in a relationship with a new boyfriend.
Speak is the debut studio album by American actress and singer-songwriter Lindsay Lohan. It was released on December 7, 2004, by Casablanca Records. Speak was the first high-seller from Casablanca in several years, selling 1,000,000 copies in the United States. Speak received mixed reviews from music critics, with the most sympathetic critics commenting that Lohan "isn't a bad singer, but not an extraordinary singer either." In the United States, Speak peaked at number four on the Billboard 200 and was certified Platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA). In Germany, Speak debuted at number 53 and took four weeks to complete its chart run.
Mistaken Identity is the second studio album by Australian singer Delta Goodrem, released in Australia on 8 November 2004, a day before Goodrem's twentieth birthday, by Epic and Daylight Records. Goodrem co-wrote some of the album with Guy Chambers, who also produced the album with Richard Flack and Steve Power. Mistaken Identity debuted at number-one on the Australian Albums Chart making it her second number-one album but the sales did not match up to her previous album Innocent Eyes (2003) which sold 4.5 million copies worldwide. The album produced Goodrem two more number-one singles with "Out of the Blue" and "Almost Here", and the rest of the album's singles; "Mistaken Identity" and "A Little Too Late", became top twenty hits. The album features Goodrem's first duet, "Almost Here".
"Speed of Sound" is a song by British rock band Coldplay. It was written by all members of the band for their third studio album, X&Y (2005). Constructed around a piano and guitar riff, the song builds into a huge, synthesiser-heavy chorus. It was released by Parlophone Records as the lead single from the album. "Speed of Sound" was released in the US and UK on 18 April 2005, and then made its radio premiere on BBC Radio 1 with Lamacq on the day of the release on 19 April. The single was pressed with two B-sides "Things I Don't Understand" and "Proof". The song premiered in the UK on 23 May.
Marion Elise Ravn, better known abroad as Marion Raven, is a Norwegian singer and songwriter. Raven formed the pop duo M2M with Marit Larsen, though they ceased performing together in 2002. Raven was later signed as a solo artist by Atlantic Records with the release of her solo debut album, Here I Am in 2005. In 2006, Raven was signed to the indie record label, Eleven Seven, and in 2007 re-released the songs on her debut album along with a few new songs on an album titled Set Me Free. In 2012, Raven began production of her second album, Songs from a Blackbird, which was released in Norway on 8 April 2013.
"Fix You" is a song by British rock band Coldplay. It was written by all four members of the band for their third studio album, X&Y (2005). It was released on 5 September 2005 as the second single from X&Y and reached number 4 on the UK Singles Chart. The song reached number 18 in the United States Billboard Hot Modern Rock Tracks. Promo singles were released for the UK and US.
"Beat of My Heart" is a song by American actress and singer Hilary Duff from her first compilation album Most Wanted (2005). It was written by Duff and the Dead Executives, a record production team consisting of Jason Epperson, Joel and Benji Madden. Along with the three other new songs on Most Wanted, "Beat of My Heart" was crafted with the intention of having a "totally different sound" from Duff's previous material. It is an up-tempo new wave-inspired electropop song that incorporates elements of bubblegum pop in its production. Lyrically, "Beat of My Heart" can be interpreted in many ways. For Duff, it tells the story of a woman "com[ing] out of her shell again" after a bad break-up.
"Born to Try" is a song by Australian singer-songwriter Delta Goodrem, written by Goodrem and Audius Mtawarira and produced by Ric Wake for Goodrem's debut studio album, Innocent Eyes (2003). The song was released as the first single off the studio album on 11 November 2002 by Epic Records. It was later featured on her first Japanese compilation album Innocent Eyes (2006). The song was co-written by her while she was staying at her home in Sydney, Australia for the production of the studio album, as well as written and producing four other songs together. Though many of the public consider this as Goodrem's breakthrough single, it is not her debut single.
Here I Am is the debut solo album by M2M member, Marion Raven, released in mid-2005. Raven co-wrote all of the songs, with several well-known musicians. She played both acoustic and electric guitars as well as the piano and provided background vocals on a number of songs. The album showed her transition from her past M2M pop sound to a dark hard-rock sound. Her musical transition was well received by critics internationally.
"It's All Coming Back to Me Now" is a power ballad written by Jim Steinman. According to Steinman, the song was inspired by Wuthering Heights, and was an attempt to write "the most passionate, romantic song" he could ever create. The Sunday Times posits that "Steinman protects his songs as if they were his children". Meat Loaf had wanted to record the song for years, but Steinman saw it as a "woman's song". Steinman won a court movement preventing Meat Loaf from recording it. Girl group Pandora's Box went on to record it and it was subsequently made famous through a cover by Celine Dion, which upset Meat Loaf because he was going to use it for a planned album with the working title Bat Out of Hell III. Alternately, Meat Loaf has said the song was intended for Bat Out of Hell II and given to the singer in 1986, but that they both decided to use "I'd Do Anything for Love " for Bat II, and save this song for Bat III.
“Your Love” is a song by the English rock band the Outfield, taken from their debut album Play Deep (1985), and written by guitarist John Spinks.
The Best Damn Thing is the third studio album by Canadian singer Avril Lavigne. It was released on 11 April 2007, by RCA Records. The album represents a musical departure from her earlier studio album Under My Skin (2004), which incorporates more elements of post-grunge music. The Best Damn Thing is seen by critics as Lavigne's most commercial effort. The album was noted as her first effort to feature a wide range of producers, including Matt Beckley, Rob Cavallo, Dr. Luke and Lavigne herself, who was credited as the executive producer.
Set Me Free is Marion Raven's North American and European debut album released under indie label Eleven Seven Music. The album incorporates a mixture of fresh tracks and previously released tracks, with some revised versions, from her Asian and Scandinavian debut album, Here I Am. She also played the piano, acoustic and electric guitars on the record. Set Me Free headlines Raven's inclination to harder rocking songs and a darker lyrical scope. The album has been released in Germany and the U.K. with a digital release on the Dutch and US versions of iTunes. Interscope released the album in Canada, where Raven performed in ten Canadian cities as the opening act on Meat Loaf's March 2007 Arena tour.
Heads Will Roll EP is Marion Raven's first EP that was released on October 31, 2006. All of the songs were written by Raven in collaboration with numerous artists including Nikki Sixx, Scott Stevens and Freddy Herrera, Keith Nelson and Xavier Muriel (Buckcherry), and Raine Maida. The EP was made available for downloading from iTunes while the hard copy was exclusively released in the US. In Raven's own words, the tracks on the EP are fun rock songs that are meant for jumping around to.
"Break You" is a pop rock song recorded by Marion Raven and written and produced by Max Martin and Lukasz Gottwald, a.k.a. "Dr. Luke", for Raven's international debut studio album Here I Am (2005). The track was released as the lead single in Japan and Norway and was the second single from the album that was released in Southeast Asia in 2005. The single was highly successful and was well received by critics. The single was released after Raven left Atlantic Records, due to "artistic differences" and joined Eleven Seven Music.
Unbreakable is the Backstreet Boys' sixth studio album. It was released on October 24, 2007, in Japan and October 30 in the United States by Jive Records.
"My Favourite Game" is an alternative rock song written by Peter Svensson and Nina Persson for Swedish band the Cardigans' fourth studio album, Gran Turismo (1998). The song is the album's eighth track and was released as its first single on 14 September 1998. Lyrically, it's about a failing relationship and the attempt made to better the significant other or save people from themselves. "My Favourite Game" found minor international success, reaching number three in Sweden and number 14 in the UK. It also charted within the top 40 in several European countries and New Zealand. While it failed to chart on the US Billboard Hot 100 and its radio counterpart, it peaked at number 16 on the Billboard Modern Rock Tracks chart.
"Countdown" is a song recorded by American singer Beyoncé Knowles for her fourth studio album, 4 (2011). The song was written by Knowles, Terius Nash, Shea Taylor, Ester Dean, Cainon Lamb, Julie Frost, Michael Bivins, Nathan Morris and Wanya Morris, and produced by Beyoncé, Taylor and Lamb. The song's conception was brought about by Knowles desiring to mix musical styles of the 1990s with the 1970s. It was sent to radio on October 4, 2011 as the fifth single from 4.
"Jesse" is a song written and performed by Carly Simon and produced by Mike Mainieri. The song was the lead single from Simon's ninth studio album, Come Upstairs (1980).
