The album received mixed reviews from critics,with some praising its catchy pop sound and infectious hooks,while others criticized its production and songwriting as thin or overly commercial. Right Now initially charted modestly in the UK,putting the group at risk of being dropped by their record label,but its 2001 reissue,featuring vocals from new member Jenny Frost,topped the UK Albums Chart,remained in the top 100 for thirty-seven weeks,earned double platinum certification,and also achieved strong international chart success and certifications across Europe,New Zealand,and South Africa.
After a series of early singles and moderate success with the album’s title track,"See Ya",and "I Want Your Love," Atomic Kitten achieved a major breakthrough with a re-recorded version of their song "Whole Again",which topped the UK Singles Chart for four weeks and became an international hit. This success led to several additional hit singles such as the Bangles cover "Eternal Flame",also a UK number-one,and "You Are",both of which charted strongly in multiple countries. To further promote the album,the band embarked on the Right Here,Right Now Tour from 2001 to 2002.
Background
Atomic Kitten were formed in 1998 by English musician Andy McCluskey,frontman of the new wave band OMD. Following OMD's hiatus in 1996,Karl Bartos of Kraftwerk suggested that McCluskey create a new group to serve as a vehicle for his songwriting,as OMD's style had become less commercially prominent during the rise of grunge and indie rock.[10] Bartos specifically recommended forming a three-member girl band.[10] McCluskey co-founded the group with fellow OMD member Stuart Kershaw,and both served as the primary songwriters for the band's studio recordings in the late 1990s and early 2000s.[11][12] The original lineup consisted of Liz McClarnon,Kerry Katona,and Heidi Range,though the group initially had no official name,before selecting Atomic Kitten,inspired by the name of a fashion label.[13]
While McCluskey and Kershaw wrote and produced the majority of the material on Atomic Kitten's debut album Right Now under the production pseudonym Engine,[14] they also consulted Damien Mendis,Stuart Bradbury,Pete Craigie,Simon Franglen,Cutfather &Joe,and production team Absolute to work the girls.[14] Although much of the album had already been completed,Range departed the group after eight months following the offer of a separate record deal.[15] In May 1999,after auditions were held to fill the vacancy,Natasha Hamilton joined the band as the new third member.[16] Following Hamilton’s addition,the group was required to re-record songs on Right Now that had already been recorded with Range.[16] In the meantime,McCluskey and Kershaw secured the band a record deal with Innocent Records.[16]
Promotion
With Right Now already completed,the album's release was fast-tracked after Atomic Kitten signed with Innocent Records.[16] The group's debut single,"Right Now",produced by Absolute,was released in late November 1999 and reached number ten on the UK Singles Chart.[17] "See Ya," produced by Engine and Pete Craigie and co-written by McClarnon,followed in March 2000 and reached number six.[17] Following this initial success,Atomic Kitten performed an Asian tour and achieved their first number-one hit in Asia with "Cradle."[17] With "I Want Your Love," helmed by Damien Mendis and Stuart Bradbury,and "Follow Me," a Trevor Steel contribution,two further singles followed between the March 2000 release of Right Now in Japan and the album's October 2000 release in the United Kingdom,[16] with the former emgering as the band's third consecutive UK top ten single.[17] In Japan,a cover of The Monkees' 1967 hit "Daydream Believer" also received a promotional release in July 2000.[5]
After "Follow Me" peaked in the top 20,Innocent Records pushed for Atomic Kitten to be dropped from the label.[18] In a last-ditch attempt to save the band's record deal,McCluskey and Kershaw persuaded the executives to release "Whole Again" as a single.[19] A&R manager Hugh Goldsmith then requested Jem Godfrey and Bill Padley to rework the album version of the song,which he felt was only half-finished,[19] prompting the songwriters to replace the all-spoken verses with a sung melody.[19] Released in January 2001,the re-recorded version marked a major turning point for Atomic Kitten:It debuted at number one in the UK,remaining atop the chart for four weeks,while becoming one of the best-selling girl group singles of all time.[20] The single also served as the group's international breakthrough,topping charts in Germany,New Zealand,Austria,Ireland,and the Netherlands,and entering the top 20 in several other countries,earning multiple platinum certifications.[20]
During promotion for the single,Katona announced her pregnancy and her subsequent decision to leave the group. As "Whole Again" began to gain momentum,the remaining members chose to recruit Jenny Frost,formerly of fellow British girl group Precious,as her replacement and continued their promotional campaign.[21] Frost's first official release with Atomic Kitten was a cover of the Bangles song "Eternal Flame," recorded for the 2001 reissue of Right Now and released in July 2001.[18] Another commercial success,the single became the group's second UK number-one hit,while also topping the charts in Belgium and New Zealand and reaching the top ten in most other territories where it charted.[20] "You Are," another single from the album's reissue,was released in November 2001. Originally written for Westlife and featuring slightly different vocals from the album version,[22] the Steve Mac-produced pop track peaked at number 13 in New Zealand and reached the top 40 in several European countries. In the UK,it was released only as a promotional single due to the band’s overseas touring commitments.[23]
Release
Right Now was first released in Japan by Virgin Records on 16 March 2000.[24] The edition includes several tracks and versions that were not re-used on subsequent incarnations of the album,including the exclusive song "Real Life",demo versions of "Cradle" and "I Want Your Love," an early version of "Whole Again" primarily featuring Katona on all verses,the final mix of "Whole Again" b-side "Holiday," and an exclusive remix of "Right Now."[24] On 23 October 2000 Right Now was released in the United Kingdom with a modified track listing.[14] In this version,"Holiday" and "Real Life" were replaced by "Get Real," "Turn Me On," and fourth single "Follow Me."[14] Several tracks were also updated:new versions of "I Want Your Love," "Cradle," and "Whole Again" were recorded,with verses sung by Hamilton and McClarnon.[14] The Japanese edition was subsequently re-released to match the UK track listing,with the addition of a bonus cover of the Monkees' hit song "Daydream Believer."[24]
Following Katona's departure and Frost's addition to the lineup,Innocent Records commissioned a reissue of Right Now after the success of "Whole Again."[18] The re-release was marketed worldwide and served as the band's international debut,except in Japan.[18] Released in August 2001,this version featured a revised track order and re-recordings of songs to include Frost performing Katona's solo parts,such as on "Right Now" and "Whole Again."[25] Some tracks such as "See Ya" and "I Want Your Love" were not re-recorded but included as bonus tracks only,while "Do What You Want" was replaced with several new songs,including "Tomorrow &Tonight," "You Are," and the re-issue's lead single "Eternal Flame."[18] Additionally,"Bye Now" was re-recorded with new vocals from Frost,and "Cradle" received a slight remix for the reissue.[25] A selection of tracks from Right Now and their follow-up album Feels So Good (2002) was later compiled for a 2003 United States release titled Atomic Kitten.[26]
Right Now received generally mixed reviews from music critics. AllMusic rated the album four out of five stars.[27] Andrew Wagstaff from British music website NME called Right Now "a fizzing pop album;unashamedly fun,funky and shot through with class. Really. It’s a belter." He found that "instead of padding out the [latter] half an hour or so with boring,boring ballads and ill-conceived cover versions,there are at least four or five [more] songs on Right Now that would make great singles [...] Atomic Kitten have scored a brilliant victory for pure pop."[28]Yahoo! Music UK critic Chris Heath described the album as "souless pap at it's worst" and wrote:"The production and overall feel of the songs is wafer thin and it sounds like a synth demo."[31]
In a less enthusiastic review of the 2001 re-release of Right Now,Wagstaff's NME colleague Steven Wells wrote that "the fact is that Atomic Kitten have conquered the ickle girl,camp gay and dirty ole man markets and,for this week (and this week only),they are the cock-a-hoop,lustily crowing ding-dong King Kongs of Britpop. Which leaves only one (hugely irrelevant) question:is the rest of the album any frikkin’good? And the answer is (of course):No,don’t be daft. It’s shite."[29] John Raftery,writing for RTÉ,found that "the album is a 14-track wade through the most risible,sugary mess you could ever find yourself in [...] The fact that three young women are performing it does not excuse the excruciating boredom and,frankly,disquiet,that listening to the orgasmic pleadings of these three creates [...] This album may be the first sign of the decline of Western civilisation as we know it –or just the worst record of the new millennium."[30]
Commercial performance
The original version of the album debuted at number thirty-nine on the UK Albums Chart in the week of 4 November 2000,before falling to number seventy-four in its second week.[17] It later re-entered the chart in February 2001 for two additional weeks,bringing its total original chart run to four weeks.[17] In August 2001,the reissue of Right Now debuted at number one on the UK Albums Chart.[17] It spent four weeks in the top ten and continued to re-enter the chart intermittently until 2003,remaining in the UK top 100 for thirty-seven weeks.[17] It was eventually certified platinum by the British Phonographic Industry (BPI) and has since reached double platinum status,denoting shipments of 600,000 units.[32]
The re-issued album also performed strongly across Europe. It peaked at number four in both Denmark and Switzerland,[33][34] and reached the top ten in Austria,Belgium,Ireland,and Germany.[35][36][37][38]Right Now also reached number six on Billboard's European Top 100 Albums chart and topped the chart in Iceland.[39][40] The album was certified gold in Denmark and Switzerland,[41][42] while it also received a gold certification in Germany,indicating shipments of 150,000 units.[43] Elsewhere,the album peaked at number twelve in New Zealand,[44] where it was certified platinum for shipments of 15,000 units.[45]Right Now was additionally certified gold in South Africa,representing sales of 25,000 units.[46]
This page is based on this Wikipedia article Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply. Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.
