Red Book (album)

Last updated

Red Book
Red book.JPG
Studio album by
Texas
Released7 November 2005
Recorded2004–2005
Studio Abbey Road Studios, London
Genre Alternative rock
Length44:17
Label Mercury
Producer Johnny McElhone, Brian Higgins, Dallas Austin, Rick Nowels
Texas chronology
I Don't Want a Lover: The Collection
(2004)		Red Book
(2005)		 The BBC Sessions
(2007)
Singles from Red Book
  1. "Getaway"
    Released: 1 August 2005
  2. "Can't Resist"
    Released: 31 October 2005
  3. "Sleep"
    Released: 9 January 2006
  4. "What About Us"
    Released: 21 February 2006
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar half.svgStar empty.svg [1]
PopMatters (8/10) [2]
BBC Online (positive) [3]
musicOMH (positive) [4]

Red Book is the seventh album from Scottish rock band Texas. It was released on 7 November 2005 and entered the UK Albums Chart at #16. It is named after the little red book that singer Sharleen Spiteri used to write the album songs. The album yielded two UK Top Ten singles, "Getaway" and "Sleep" and the UK Top 20 single, "Can't Resist". Four of the album's tracks were co-written with Brian Higgins of Xenomania — "Can't Resist", "Cry", "Get Down Tonight" and "Bad Weather".

Contents

Red Book was the group's last studio album before their hiatus which they embarked on after the Red Book tour. Lead singer Spiteri would go on to release her debut solo album, Melody in 2008.

Background

The bands previous album, Careful What You Wish For (2003), was considered somewhat of a disappointment commercially. [5] Whilst it charted strongly across European albums charts, and achieved Gold certifications in both Switzerland and the United Kingdom, it failed to match the success of the bands previous studio albums White on Blonde (1997) and The Hush . In 2000, the band released their first compilation album, The Greatest Hits , which went onto sell over four million copies internationally. [6] Following the release of "I'll See It Through" as the second single from Careful What You Wish For, record label Mercury Records decided not to release a third single from the album due to its lack of success, only reaching number forty in the United Kingdom, thus, the band began work on their next album. [7]

Red Book was credited as returning the band "with what amounts to a near-perfect blend of their strongest effort", with PopMatters suggesting that "Red Book contains both the hits and heart-felt songwriting that defines their sophisticated adult-pop". [8] The album was described as "a pretty pastel solvent to Careful What You Wish For", further described as being "far from a disaster". Described as "another stylishly coiffed transitional offering", Texas would begin a hiatus following the release of the album, as it had been suggested by critics that "the group had exhausted themselves" with the release of Red Book. [9] [10]

Critical reception

Writing in All Music, William Ruhlmann said of the album "across seven studio albums released at regular intervals over 16 years, Texas has maintained a focus on accessible pop/rock music that serves as a foundation for lead singer Sharleen Spiteri's evocative vocals. Within that focus, however, the band has tacked around considerably, and anyone comparing Red Book with 1989's debut, Southside, would hear considerable change". He further commented on the album "the human element, of course, is Spiteri, but on many tracks her vocals are doubled, filtered, or otherwise altered, reducing the soulful and individual characteristic that has tended to make Texas identifiable no matter what style it was dabbling in at any given moment. The vocals get clearer as the album goes on, a turning point coming with the sixth track (and third single), "Sleep," a duet with Paul Buchanan of the Blue Nile. The sentiments are simple enough -- "Let me sleep so I can dream of you," Spiteri and Buchanan coo to each other -- but then, Spiteri's lyrics rarely stray far from the good love/bad love dichotomy of most pop music. And at least here some personality emerges from the drum and keyboard programming, as it also does, to at least some extent, on a few of the other later songs". [11]

Trevor Lord, writing for the BBC, commented on the album "it's hard to see Texas as a band nowadays. In the same way that Simply Red is Mick Hucknall, Texas have become the Sharleen Spiteri show. There's very little which is distinctive about this album other than her voice, which carries the show along quite nicely, thank you. Red Book clearly aims to appeal to the Adult Orientated Pop market. Sharing producers with Gwen Stefani and Girls Aloud helps to achieve a suitably slick backdrop to Sharleen's musings on love's fickle ways. Stand out tracks? "Sleep", a duet with The Blue Nile's Paul Buchanan, would move any but the most hard hearted. But to be honest, this isn't an album of stand out moments it's more something to wallow in; the aural equivalent of a long soak in a hot tub". [12]

Commercial performance

Released as the follow up to Careful What You Wish For (2003), which had been considered as a commercial disappointment due to its failure to match the previous success the band achieved with their albums White on Blonde (1997) and The Hush (1999), Red Book looked in a strong position for the band. The lead single from the album, "Getaway", was a commercial success for the band, reaching the top ten in the United Kingdom, Denmark and the Ultratip Bubbling Under Wallonia Charts in Belgium. [13] In their native Scotland, it reached number two on the Scottish Singles Charts. [14]

On week ending 19 November 2005, Red Book debuted at number sixteen on the UK Albums Charts. [15] During its initial chart run following its release, it spent seven weeks within the UK Top 100. Following the release of the albums third single "Sleep" in January 2006, the album returned to the UK Albums Charts at number fifty-seven on 21 January 2006, spending a further seven weeks within the UK Top 100. [16] In their native Scotland, it debuted at number six on the Scottish Albums Charts. [17] In France, it peaked within the Top 10 of the French Albums Charts at number nine, spending a total of sixteen weeks within the French charts. [18] It spent only one week on the album charts in Germany, Sweden, Ireland and the Netherlands, following debut appearances at number forty-three, sixty, seventy-four and ninety-nine respectively. [19]

It was certified Gold in the United Kingdom in December 2005, indicating sales in excess of 100,000 copies. [20]

Track listing

No.TitleWriter(s)Producer(s)Length
1."036"Johnny McElhone, Sharleen SpiteriMcElhone0:36
2."Getaway"McElhone, Spiteri, Robert HodgensMcElhone3:51
3."Can't Resist"McElhone, Spiteri, Brian Higgins Higgins, McElhone3:47
4."What About Us" Dallas Austin, McElhone, SpiteriAustin4:16
5."Cry"McElhone, Spiteri, HigginsHiggins, McElhone4:27
6."Sleep" (featuring Paul Buchanan)McElhone, SpiteriMcElhone4:06
7."Get Down Tonight"McElhone, Spiteri, HigginsHiggins, McElhone3:45
8."Nevermind"McElhone, Spiteri, HodgensMcElhone4:32
9."Bad Weather"McElhone, Spiteri, HigginsHiggins, McElhone3:59
10."Masterthief"McElhone, SpiteriMcElhone3:18
11."Just Hold On"McElhone, Spiteri, Rick Nowels Nowels, McElhone3:27
12."Red Book"McElhone, Spiteri, Hodgens, Michael BannisterMcElhone4:13
13."Say" (iTunes Bonus track)McElhone, SpiteriMcElhone3:42
Total length:47:59

Personnel

Chart positions

Chart (2005)Peak
position
Scottish Albums Charts [21] 6
UK Albums Chart [22] 16
Irish Albums Chart [22] 74
Belgium Albums Chart [22] 22
France Albums Chart [22] 9
Dutch Albums Chart [22] 99
German Albums Chart [22] 43
Spain Albums Chart [22] 27
Sweden Albums Chart [22] 60
Swiss Albums Chart [22] 10

Certifications

RegionCertification Certified units/sales
United Kingdom (BPI) [23] Gold100,000^

^ Shipments figures based on certification alone.

Related Research Articles

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Texas is a Scottish rock band from Glasgow, founded in 1986 by Johnny McElhone, Ally McErlaine, and Sharleen Spiteri. Texas made their performing debut in March 1988 at the University of Dundee. They took their name from the 1984 Wim Wenders movie Paris, Texas. The band released their debut album Southside in 1989, along with the debut single "I Don't Want a Lover", which was a top-ten hit on the UK Singles Chart and peaked within the top ten of the charts in many other European countries. Southside entered at number three on the UK Albums Chart and number 88 on the Billboard 200 album chart in the United States, and sold over two million copies worldwide. Despite the success of Southside, the follow-up albums Mothers Heaven (1991) and Ricks Road (1993) were less successful, peaking at number 32 and number 18 on the UK Albums Chart respectively, but achieved moderate success on various European markets.

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sharleen Spiteri</span> Scottish singer (born 1967)

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References

  1. ↑ Allmusic review
  2. ↑ PopMatters review
  3. ↑ BBC Online review
  4. ↑ review
  5. ↑ "Texas: Red Book, PopMatters". www.popmatters.com. 28 November 2005. Retrieved 30 March 2024.
  6. ↑ "Texas: Careful What You Wish for". Tower Records. Retrieved 30 March 2024.
  7. ↑ "I'll See It Through - Texas". Official Charts. Retrieved 31 March 2024.
  8. ↑ "Texas: Red Book, PopMatters". www.popmatters.com. 28 November 2005. Retrieved 31 March 2024.
  9. ↑ "Texas: 25 Years of Pop". theqhblend. 16 February 2015. Retrieved 31 March 2024.
  10. ↑ "Texas Return to Peak, Proficient Form with 'Jump On Board' | Album Review". Albumism. 24 May 2017. Retrieved 31 March 2024.
  11. ↑ "Red Book - Texas | Album | AllMusic". AllMusic.com. Retrieved 31 March 2024.
  12. ↑ Lord, Trevor. "BBC - Music - Review of Texas - Red Book". www.bbc.co.uk. Retrieved 31 March 2024.
  13. ↑ "Texas - Getaway - ultratop.be". www.ultratop.be. Retrieved 31 March 2024.
  14. ↑ "Official Scottish Singles Sales Chart on 7/8/2005". Official Charts. Retrieved 31 March 2024.
  15. ↑ "Red Book - Texas". Official Charts. Retrieved 31 March 2024.
  16. ↑ "Red Book - Texas". Official Charts. Retrieved 31 March 2024.
  17. ↑ "Official Scottish Albums Chart on 13/11/2005". Official Charts. Retrieved 31 March 2024.
  18. ↑ "Red Book by Texas". Music Charts. Retrieved 31 March 2024.
  19. ↑ "Red Book by Texas". Music Charts. Retrieved 31 March 2024.
  20. ↑ "Stone Temple Pilots, Core, Album". BPI. Retrieved 31 March 2024.
  21. ↑ "Official Scottish Albums Chart on 13/11/2005". Official Charts. Retrieved 31 March 2024.
  22. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 "Texas - Red Book - Music Charts". Acharts.us. Retrieved 21 May 2009.
  23. ↑ "British album certifications – Texas – Careful What You Wish For". British Phonographic Industry.
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