| Live It Up | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | ||||
| Studio album by | ||||
| Released | November 16, 2010 | |||
| Recorded | June–October 2010 | |||
| Genre | ||||
| Label | ||||
| Producer |
| |||
| Lee DeWyze chronology | ||||
| ||||
| Singles from Live It Up | ||||
| ||||
Live It Up is the major-label debut studio album, and third overall, by American Idol season nine winner, Lee DeWyze. The album was released on November 16, 2010, in the United States by RCA Records.
After winning the ninth season of American Idol on May 27, 2010, DeWyze signed a recording contract with 19 Entertainment and RCA Records. He started recording soon after and continued during the American Idols LIVE! Tour and completed in early October 2010. He worked with Toby Gad, John Shanks, Espionage, and other producers. DeWyze co-wrote ten of the eleven songs on Live It Up. He explained about the album and work:
"To see my name listed in the credits on each song was really important to me because I’m a songwriter. I also loved working with such talented writers. They all brought so much to the table and really helped me flesh out my sound. I grew up listening to Simon & Garfunkel, The Mamas & the Papas, Cat Stevens, and Kris Kristofferson. I love hard-edged vocals over pretty melodies — that’s what I’m about.″ [1]
The first single, "Sweet Serendipity," premiered on On Air with Ryan Seacrest on October 13, 2010. [2] The song went for adds on hot adult contemporary radio stations on October 25, 2010 [3] and became available for download at digital music vendors on October 26, 2010. [4] DeWyze performed "Beautiful Like You", the second single from the album, on the American Idol Season 10 Top 12 Results show on March 17, 2011. [5]
| Review scores | |
|---|---|
| Source | Rating |
| Allmusic |   [6] |
| New York Times | [7] |
| Entertainment Weekly | C [8] |
| Chicago Tribune | [9] |
| IGN |   [10] |
| The Dallas Morning News | C− [11] |
| US Magazine | Poor [12] |
| JS Online | Mixed [13] |
Upon its release, Live It Up received generally mixed reviews from most music critics. [14] At Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, the album received an average score of 45, based on 4 reviews, which indicates "mixed or average reviews". [14]
Stephen Thomas Erlewine of Allmusic gave the album a mixed review saying, "DeWyze can wrangle a pleasant melody, particularly when he’s favoring sunswept SoCal folk-pop, but he can’t resist sabotaging his slight charms with a studied hamminess, adopting a gravelly growl whenever he wants to appear soulful and leaning so hard in his phrasing that he stumbles instead of shuffles." [6]
Live It Up sold 39,000 copies in its first week, debuting at number nineteen on the Billboard 200. [15] The album spent 10 consecutive weeks on the Billboard 200 [16] and, after an eight-week absence, returned to the chart at number 96 following DeWyze's performance on the American Idol Season 10 Top 12 Results show. As of August 12, 2013, the album has sold 153,000 copies in the United States. [17] DeWyze's album is also the second album of an American Idol winner (after Kris Allen's self-titled debut, which premiered and peaked at number eleven) to not debut in the top ten of the Billboard 200.
| No. | Title | Writer(s) | Producer(s) | Length |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Live It Up" | Gad | 3:16 | |
| 2. | "Sweet Serendipity" |
| Glass | 3:19 |
| 3. | "It's Gotta Be Love" |
| Espionage | 3:36 |
| 4. | "Dear Isabelle" |
| Gad | 2:48 |
| 5. | "Beautiful Like You" |
| Chris DeStefano | 4:53 |
| 6. | "Stay Here" |
| Espionage | 3:42 |
| 7. | "Me and My Jealousy" |
| Shanks | 3:34 |
| 8. | "Brooklyn Bridge" |
| Gad | 3:45 |
| 9. | "Weightless" |
| Shanks | 3:10 |
| 10. | "Earth Stood Still" |
| Gad | 3:18 |
| 11. | "A Song About Love" |
| Hodges | 2:56 |
| 12. | "Say It All Over Again" (Bonus track, iTunes album pre-order only) |
| 4:03 | |
| 13. | "Only Dreaming" (Bonus track, American Idol Store Deluxe Version) |
| 3:21 |
Vocals
Musicians
Production
Imagery
| Chart | Peak position |
|---|---|
| US Billboard 200 [16] | 19 |
| Country | Sales |
|---|---|
| United States [19] (171,000) | 149,000 |
Measure of a Man is the debut album by American singer Clay Aiken. It was released on October 14, 2003 through RCA Records, five months after the conclusion of the second season of American Idol.
Hotel Paper is the second studio album by American singer-songwriter Michelle Branch. It was released on June 24, 2003 through Maverick. The production on the album was handled by a variety of record producers such as Josh Abraham, Rick DePofi, John Leventhal, John Shanks & Greg Wells.
Just Whitney is the fifth studio album by American singer and actress Whitney Houston, released on November 27, 2002, by Arista Records. It was her first studio album to be released after her greatest hits compilation, Whitney: The Greatest Hits (2000), and the follow-up to her multi-platinum fourth studio album, My Love is Your Love (1998). Just Whitney was also Houston's first to be released after re-signing her contract with Arista in 2001 for $100 million - the largest recording contract for a female artist at the time.
Wildflower is the fifth studio album by American singer-songwriter Sheryl Crow, first released September 27, 2005. Although the album debuted at No. 2 on the Billboard 200, it received mixed reviews and was not as commercially successful as previous albums, having also peaked at No. 25 on the UK Album Chart.
True Beauty is the Grammy-nominated and debut studio album by American Idol contestant Mandisa. The first single, "Only the World", was released on May 22, 2007, and the full album was released on July 31, 2007. The album covers a remake of gospel duo Mary Mary's hit song "Shackles ".
Welcome to the Dollhouse is the second studio album by American girl group Danity Kane. It was released by Bad Boy Records and Atlantic Records on March 18, 2008 in the US and March 25, 2008 in Canada. Danity Kane recorded the album in under five weeks, while filming the second season of Making the Band 4 with fellow label mates Day26 and Donnie Klang first in New York City, New York, then in Miami, Florida. As with their self-titled debut album, Bad Boy consulted a wide range of producers to work with the band on the album, including The Stereotypes, The Runners and Flex & Hated as well as previous collaborators such as Bryan Michael Cox, Danja, and inhouse producer Mario Winans.
Do You Know is the sixth studio album by American singer Jessica Simpson. The album was first released digitally on September 5, 2008 for the US iTunes Store and physically on September 9, 2008 in the United States, Canada and Russia through a joint-venture between Columbia Nashville and Epic Records. The album was her first effort in an attempt to cross over with country music. Songwriter Brett James produced the album along with John Shanks. The album debuted at number one on the US Billboard Country Albums and at number four on the US Billboard 200 with sales of 65,000. It received mixed reviews from music critics.
David Archuleta is the debut album by American singer David Archuleta. It was released first released in the US on November 11, 2008, by Jive Records. The album was certified gold by the RIAA on January 29, 2009. The first single, "Crush", was released to radio on August 1. The album was released in the UK on May 11, 2009. The UK album release was set to coincide with his UK tour with Rock/Pop band McFly in April/May 2009.
Freedom is the third studio album by American Idol contestant Mandisa. The album was released on March 24, 2009. On April 2, 2009, the album debuted at number 83 on the Billboard 200 selling over 7,000 copies in its first week. In 2010, the album was Nominated for Grammy Award for Best Pop/Contemporary Gospel Album of the Year. After just over two years of her album "Freedom" being off the Billboard 200, it re-entered at 178.
Kris Allen is the major-label album debut from American Idol eighth season winner Kris Allen. The album was released on November 17, 2009, through Jive Records.
Leon James "Lee" DeWyze Jr. is an American singer-songwriter and the winner of the ninth season of American Idol.
Back to Me is the third studio album by American singer Fantasia. It was released by J Records on August 24, 2010. Her first project in four years, much of the album was conceived after Fantasia had ventured into musical acting, starring as Celie in the Broadway musical The Color Purple, with production provided by Chuck Harmony, Jim Jonsin, Los Da Mystro, Pop & Oak and others. The album's title was suggested to her by comedian Steve Harvey, when Barrino visited his morning radio program.
"Sweet Serendipity" is Lee DeWyze's first single from his post-American Idol debut album Live It Up. The song debuted on radio on October 13, 2010 and was released for sale at digital music vendors on October 25, 2010.
Farmer's Daughter is the debut album of American Idol season nine runner-up Crystal Bowersox. It was released on December 14, 2010, through Jive Records.
The Truth Is... is the fourth studio album by rock band Theory of a Deadman, released on July 12, 2011. The first single, "Lowlife", was released to radio stations on May 17, 2011. It went to number 1 on the US rock charts. It was co-written by Christine Danielle Connolly. It is their first album with drummer Joey Dandeneau.
Under the Mistletoe is the first Christmas album and second studio album by Canadian singer Justin Bieber. The album was released on November 1, 2011.
Break the Spell is the third studio album by American rock band Daughtry, released on November 21, 2011, by RCA Records. It is a follow-up to their platinum selling album Leave This Town in 2009. On December 15, the album was officially certified Gold.
This Is... Icona Pop is the second studio album and debut international album by Swedish duo Icona Pop, released on 24 September 2013 by Swedish independent record label TEN Music Group and Atlantic Records subsidiary Big Beat Records in the US. "Girlfriend" was released on 4 June 2013 as the first single, followed by "All Night" on 23 July 2013. The album also includes the hit single "I Love It" which was also included on the band's Swedish-only self-titled debut album Icona Pop. On 16 September 2013, the album was made available to stream in full on the Pitchfork Media website. The album debuted at no. 36 on the Billboard 200 and fell to no. 136 in its second week.
Frames is the fifth studio album by Lee DeWyze and the second album that DeWyze has released since he won the ninth season of American Idol. Thirteen tracks are included on the standard release, while acoustic versions of each song are available on the deluxe edition. DeWyze has six solo writing credits on the album and was a co-writer on all of the other songs, collaborating with Drew Pearson, Julian Emery, Justin Irvin, Shelly Fairchild, Rick Seibold, Matthew Wilder and Toby Gad. DeWyze also served as one of the album's producers, along with Pearson, Emery, Seibold, Wilder, Gad, Phil Allen and Dr Zero.
Cry Pretty is the sixth studio album by American singer and songwriter Carrie Underwood. The album was released on September 14, 2018, as Underwood's first album with Capitol Records Nashville after signing a global deal with Universal Music Group at the start of 2017. The album marked the first co-producing effort by Underwood, who partnered with David Garcia for the record.