Schizophrenic | ||||
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Studio album by | ||||
Released | February 24, 2004 (U.S.) | |||
Recorded | 2002–2003 | |||
Genre | ||||
Length | 76:01 | |||
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Producer |
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JC Chasez chronology | ||||
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Singles from Schizophrenic | ||||
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Schizophrenic is the only released studio album by American recording artist JC Chasez. It was released on February 24, 2004, by Jive Records. The album spanned various musical genres, including New Wave, electronica, rock, disco, soul and reggae. Chasez served as a primary producer, co-writing fifteen of the album's tracks. Two singles were released from the album: "Some Girls (Dance with Women)" and "All Day Long I Dream About Sex".
Though the album had minimal promotion at its time of release and was not met with large commercial success, it has since been retroactively praised by critics for its musical breadth, vocals, production, and electropop sound. [1] [2]
After his group NSYNC went on hiatus following the Celebrity Tour in 2002, Chasez teamed up with producer Dallas Austin to record the song "Blowin' Me Up (With Her Love)" for the soundtrack to the film Drumline . Following the song's success as a single, Chasez began working on a record that he intended to be different from NSYNC's music. [3] Chasez had not intended on embarking on a solo career until Austin convinced him to make an album. Of Austin's encouragement, Chasez said, "He's like, 'You've got too much to say. You know, there's no reason why you shouldn't. You're writing songs anyway.’" [4]
Chasez said the album title is derived "from [its] different styles and attitudes that are on this album. It's gritty, it's noisy, and it is definitely not like anything I've done before." [5] Austin described the album as a throwback "to George Michael and Prince and that '80s era, where even though you had up-tempos, they still had songs to them, they had a lot of attitude.'" [6] [4] Aside from Chasez and Austin, the album features productions from Robb Boldt and Riprock 'n' Alex G, the latter having worked with Chasez on No Strings Attached and Celebrity . Basement Jaxx wrote and produced the song "Shake It" after Chasez lent his vocals to the duo's single "Plug It In." [7] [8]
The release of Schizophrenic was delayed repeatedly, with a planned release date in the summer of 2003 bumped to that fall, and again bumped to January in the following year. [9] When the album was released on February 24, 2004, promotion was further affected by the Super Bowl XXXVIII halftime show controversy which had occurred earlier that month. Chasez was scheduled to perform "Some Girls (Dance with Women)" at the Pro Bowl in Hawaii a week after the Super Bowl, but due to the NFL's crackdown on what they perceived to be indecent content in the song, organizers demanded Chasez sing "Blowin' Me Up (With Her Love)" instead. Chasez was again asked to make changes to the song, particularly the line: "She was leaning on me/ Getting horny/ Maybe we'll get naughty". Ultimately, Chasez's Pro Bowl appearance was nixed. [2] [10] [11] In addition, radio stations declined to play the single "All Day Long I Dream About Sex" for fear of FCC fines, preventing the song and music video from gaining exposure. [12]
To promote Schizophrenic, Chasez began a mini club tour in December 2003, earning positive reviews from The New York Times [13] and San Francisco Chronicle. [14] Marketing for the album fared better in the United Kingdom, [15] [16] [17] [18] where Chasez was an opening act on several dates for Britney Spears' Onyx Hotel tour. Prior to and after his opening dates for Spears, Chasez toured venues in the U.S accompanied by a five-piece band. In a review of his show at New York's Roseland Ballroom, Chasez was described as "a fine singer who performed every song during the brief but explosive 75-minute set. Still, as good as his voice was (especially on the ballad 'Dear Goodbye'), his dancing stole the show." [19]
Devon Powers of PopMatters noted that "Chasez's years of performing multiple nights to crowds ten times as large were put to good use. Complete with dancers, costume changes, lights, and props, Chasez crossed the line from sheer musician to pure entertainer...If the music business is a circus, Chasez set out to produce The Greatest Show on Earth." [20] Powers also praised his vocal talents: "His voice is, without question, a miracle: elastic and tough, it can move from curdling to coddling in an instant, pushing the limits of what one would think is humanely possible." [20]
Jon Pareles ( The New York Times ) commented "Mr. Chasez is most retro in his rock; like a promising apprentice, he directly mimicked Robert Plant and Prince (singing Prince's 'Let's Go Crazy'), and whipped up a fervor to rival early Sting in his Police imitation, 'Everything You Want.'" [13] Patrick Berkery ( The Philadelphia Inquirer ) wrote, "Chasez was a bumping and grinding, locking and popping dancing machine as he sang carnally minded jams from his debut solo outing...in a voice that alternated between achy tenor and fluttery falsetto." [21]
In addition to touring, Chasez appeared and performed on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno , On Air with Ryan Seacrest , and The Ellen DeGeneres Show . [22] He performed the ballad "Build My World" at the Miss Teen USA pageant.
The title and cover art for Schizophrenic attracted criticism from mental health groups for misappropriating schizophrenia, the brain disorder. Chasez issued an apology, clarifying that his album title and cover art was not in reference to the clinical definition of the term, but to the album's varied musical styles. [23]
Aggregate scores | |
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Source | Rating |
Metacritic | 57/100 [24] |
Review scores | |
Source | Rating |
AllMusic | ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() |
Entertainment Weekly | B− [26] |
Rolling Stone | ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() |
Slant Magazine | ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() |
Stylus Magazine | D+ [29] |
The Independent | ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() |
Upon release, Schizophrenic garnered mixed to positive reviews from contemporary music critics. At Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, the album received an average score of 57 based on 16 reviews. [31] Critics lauded the album for its adventurous range of musical styles. [32] James Hunter of Rolling Stone admired JC for going through different genres throughout the album, concluding with "No doubt about it, Schizophrenic is a lot. It's also cool." [27] P.E. Nelson called the album "an immensely listenable collection of well-crafted pop tunes" that shows Chasez wears "his influences on his sleeve," [33] and Aidin Vaziri of the San Francisco Chronicle wrote Schizophrenic "[proves] that dance music is fun and technological and dirty." [34] Peter Robinson of The Guardian wrote although the album wasn’t a commercial success, “Chasez has still come up trumps, creatively and artistically at least, with a dark and unusually adventurous collection of 1980s electro and Prince-type funk”. [35]
In another positive review of the album, Joan Anderman of The Boston Globe likened the first single "Some Girls (Dance with Women)" to "a jungly clutch of rhythms iced with an itchy-sweet melody, part conga line, part pop tune. It's sexy and silly and funky in a George Michael sort of way." [36] Critic William Jefferson praised the "fast and furious wordplay" of "Some Girls" as well as its "tightly woven harmonies as alluring as silk and satin." [37] Doug Rule of Metro Weekly wrote, "Chasez exudes confidence in creating pop music -- and especially playful pop music of a hot-blooded, dance orientation," and said the single "All Day Long I Dream About Sex" has a "fascinating acoustic meets electronica sound and an extended instrumental bridge that glistens with updated '80s synth-pop." [38]
Critics also had praise for the album's ballads, [39] particularly "Dear Goodbye and Build My World", Chasez's vocals, and the album's production. [32] Stephen Thomas Erlewine of AllMusic praised the producers for taking risks with different genres, concluding "Chasez may not be able to eclipse Timberlake's star, but in his favor, he does have an album that on a strictly musical level tries harder and achieves more than Justified ". [25] Tom Moon of The Philadelphia Inquirer noted how Chasez "avoided the just-add-water hooks of teen pop in favor of more elaborate chord sequences and compositional schemes." [40]
Other critics were divided about the album's refusal to stick to one uniform sound, as well as the album's length. [41] [38] [25] Neil Drumming of Entertainment Weekly noticed the '80s influenced production by Riprock and Alex G. but found Chasez's attempt at a new sound to be "a tad misguided." [26] Much attention was given to the album's more overtly sexual lyrics, which some critics saw as distracting and as an excessive attempt by Chasez to shed his boy band image. [25] Others saw these lyrics as tongue-in-cheek humor, noting how Chasez knowingly "[pokes] fun at himself in the comical 'One Night Stand.’" [42] Many reviews were also focused on comparing Schizophrenic to Timberlake’s Justified , which had debuted about a year prior to Chasez’s album.
In more recent reviews, critics have noted that Schizophrenic was ahead of its time in its "dance-pop and electronic-driven style." [43] A lack of support from Jive Records, [44] as well as bad timing, have been seen as factors in preventing Schizophrenic from gaining wider appreciation during its release. [2] In a piece for Shondaland.com discussing Chasez's work on Schizophrenic, writer Britt Julious wrote:
"Schizophrenic" showed the sort of promise rarely seen from post-pop stardom musicians. From the smart wordplay of "Some Girls (Dance With Women)" to the progressive, percussion-heavy production of "Blowing Me Up (With Her Love)," "Schizophrenic" was an original album from an artist’s artist. Chasez’s appreciation for a variety of different genres of music was on full display in the album’s production. In the first three tracks alone, Chasez bounces between sensual R&B, comforting pop-rock, and progressive rock. It didn’t sound like any other pop released in its era. [1]
Schizophrenic debuted at number 17 on the US Billboard 200 selling 52,000 copies in its first week. [45] [46] In its second week the album dropped 65 positions to number 82 with sales of 15,000. [47] As of 2013, the album has sold 121,000 copies in total. [48]
No. | Title | Writer(s) | Producer(s) | Length |
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1. | "Some Girls (Dance with Women)" |
|
| 4:32 |
2. | "She Got Me" |
|
| 3:27 |
3. | "100 Ways" |
|
| 4:14 |
4. | "Mercy" |
|
| 4:24 |
5. | "Build My World" |
|
| 4:15 |
6. | "Something Special" |
|
| 3:52 |
7. | "If You Were My Girl" |
|
| 5:24 |
8. | "Shake It" |
| Basement Jaxx | 4:33 |
9. | "All Day Long I Dream About Sex" |
|
| 6:04 |
10. | "One Night Stand" |
|
| 3:23 |
11. | "Come To Me" |
|
| 5:58 |
12. | "Dear Goodbye" |
|
| 5:01 |
13. | "Everything You Want" |
|
| 4:29 |
14. | "Lose Myself" |
|
| 4:58 |
15. | "Right Here (By Your Side)" |
|
| 2:43 |
16. | "Blowin' Me Up (With Her Love)" (bonus track) |
|
| 4:50 |
17. | "Some Girls (Dance With Women)" (featuring Dirt McGirt) (bonus track) |
|
| 3:54 |
Notes:
Chart (2004) | Peak position |
---|---|
Canadian Albums (Nielsen SoundScan) [49] | 59 |
UK Albums (OCC) [50] | 46 |
US Billboard 200 [51] | 17 |
Joshua Scott "JC" Chasez is an American singer, songwriter, record producer, and actor. He started his career as a singer on The Mickey Mouse Club (1991–1994) before rising to stardom as a member of the 1990s boy band NSYNC. The band has sold over 70 million records, becoming one of the best-selling boy bands of all time. Chasez released his debut single "Blowin' Me Up " in 2002, following NSYNC's decision to go on a hiatus earlier that year. Schizophrenic, his debut solo album, was released in 2004. Chasez has written and produced for a wide variety of music acts such as Liam Payne, Diplo, Backstreet Boys, McFly, Sugababes, Victoria Duffield, and Matthew Morrison. He also served as a judge on the first seven seasons of America's Best Dance Crew.
No Strings Attached is the third studio album by American boy band NSYNC. It was released by Jive Records on March 21, 2000. Looking to distinguish their music from that of their labelmates, NSYNC chose to incorporate pop and R&B styles. Prior to the release of the album, the band separated from their management Trans Continental and their label RCA Records; its title is a play on the idea of independence from corporate control. Contributions to the album's production came from a wide range of producers, including NSYNC members Justin Timberlake and JC Chasez, and collaborators including Kristian Lundin, Jake Schulze, Rami, Teddy Riley, Kevin "She'kspere" Briggs, Richard Marx, Veit Renn, Babyface, and Guy Roche.
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Home for Christmas is the first Christmas album and second studio album by American boy band NSYNC. The album was released, exclusively in the United States, on November 10, 1998, by RCA Records following the success of their self-titled debut album. On October 27, 1999, Home for Christmas was certified Double Platinum by the RIAA for shipment of two million copies in the United States. Home for Christmas was released on September 30, 2002 in the United Kingdom as The Meaning of Christmas on Ariola Express with an altered track listing.
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"Somnambulist (Simply Being Loved)" is a song by American musician BT, which contains vocals from American singer JC Chasez. It was released through Nettwerk in August 2003, as the lead single from BT's fourth studio album, Emotional Technology (2003). The techno-pop song was written and produced by BT. It consists of a bass drum, snare drum and Roland JP-8000, and contains 6,178 stutter edits. The lyrics were influenced by American writer Henry Miller and use a recurring mantra.
"Blowin' Me Up (With Her Love)" is the debut single by American recording artist JC Chasez. The song was released as a single from the soundtrack to the 2002 film Drumline and was included on Chasez's debut studio album Schizophrenic. In the United Kingdom, the single was released as a double A-side with Chasez' following single, "Some Girls (Dance with Women)" in February 2004.
"Some Girls (Dance with Women)" is a song by American recording artist JC Chasez from his debut studio album, Schizophrenic. It was released as the lead single from the album in November 2003 in the United States. In the United Kingdom, it was released as a double A-side single with "Blowin' Me Up (With Her Love)". The radio and music video version of the song included a feature from rapper Dirt McGirt (Ol' Dirty Bastard), a remix which is included on Schizophrenic.
"All Day Long I Dream About Sex" is a song by American recording artist JC Chasez, who rose to stardom as a member of the 1990s boy band NSYNC. It was released as the second and final single from his debut studio album, Schizophrenic. The uptempo track was a homage to 80's synth-rock pop music. The single was released in Europe and Australia in August 2004, and in the United States in October 2004.
"Pop" is a song by American boy band *NSYNC. It was released to U.S. radio on May 14, 2001, as the first single from their fourth studio album, Celebrity. The song was written by Wade Robson and Justin Timberlake and produced by BT. It won four MTV Video Music Awards, for Best Group Video, Best Pop Video, Best Dance Video, and Viewers Choice, as well as a Teen Choice Award for Choice Single.
"Gone" is a song by American boy band NSYNC. It was released as the second single from their fourth studio album, Celebrity (2001). The band first performed the song on PopOdyssey during mid-2001, and it was sent to US radio on August 21, 2001. The physical release of the single did not occur until October 15, 2001, when a CD single was issued in Australia. It is the first NSYNC single where Justin Timberlake sings all lead vocals.
"Tearin' Up My Heart" is a song by American boy band NSYNC, from their eponymous debut studio album, 'N Sync (1997). The song was written by Max Martin and the producer Kristian Lundin. It was released by BMG Ariola in Germany on February 10, 1997, and by RCA Records in the United States on June 30, 1998, as the second single from the album. A dance-pop and teen pop song, it contains a pop-sounding melody, a strong beat, and a funk-styled pre-verse breakdown, with vocal harmonies performed during the refrain. The lyrics depict the ambiguous future of a romantic relationship.
PopOdyssey was the fourth concert tour by American boy band NSYNC. Sponsored by Verizon Wireless and Chili's, the tour promoted the band's fourth studio album, Celebrity. The tour's name is defined as "an adventurous journey towards popularity, beginning as just a dream and ending in reality". The tour became the biggest production in pop music, beating U2's PopMart Tour. The tour, which visited stadiums, was NSYNC's first to include backup dancers, and is known for its elaborate audio and visual effects which included lasers, fireworks, animation, and suspension wires.
NSYNC are an American vocal group and boy band formed by Chris Kirkpatrick in Orlando, Florida, in 1995 and launched in Germany by BMG Ariola Munich. The group consists of Kirkpatrick, Justin Timberlake, Joey Fatone, Lance Bass, and JC Chasez. Their self-titled debut album was successfully released to European countries in 1997, and later debuted in the U.S. market with the single "I Want You Back".
Have It All is the first solo album by the American singer-songwriter AJ McLean of the Backstreet Boys. The album was released on January 20, 2010.
"Plug It In" is a song by British electronic music duo Basement Jaxx featuring American singer JC Chasez, formerly of NSYNC. It was released on 29 March 2004 as the third single from their album third studio album, Kish Kash (2003), and debuted at its peak of number 22 in the United Kingdom the following month. The song also charted in Australia and Ireland, reaching numbers 43 and 45 respectively. There are various versions of the song, including a radio edit which was featured on the duo's first greatest-hits album, The Singles (2005).
The Celebrity Tour was the fifth and most recent concert tour by the American boy band NSYNC. Promoting their fourth studio album, Celebrity (2001), this is the second tour to showcase the album. The group stated that the tour would go "back to their roots", as they would be performing obscure songs from all three of their albums. The tour earned nearly $30 million.
The Essential *NSYNC is the fourth compilation album by American boy band NSYNC. It was released on July 29, 2014, four years after their third compilation The Collection (2010). It is also the second overall album under RCA Records following their self-titled album in 1998. The album contains a total of thirty-four tracks, including hit singles, album tracks, B-sides, rare recordings and soundtrack features. Despite only being a compilation release, the album received wide press coverage as it was revealed none of the band members were told about its release.
The discography of American pop recording artist JC Chasez consists of one studio album, one unreleased album, five singles, as well as various guest appearances and music videos. As a member of NSYNC, Chasez co-wrote and produced songs for the band, with four songs including the title track on the group's sophomore album No Strings Attached, as well as four songs on the final album Celebrity.