Some People Have Real Problems (sometimes stylised as Some People Have REAL Problems[2][3]) is the fourth studio album by Australian singer Sia. Released in 2008,the album features five singles:"Day Too Soon","The Girl You Lost to Cocaine","Soon We'll Be Found",and "Academia". In live performances of "Soon We'll Be Found",Sia used sign language to accompany her singing. The album displays a more upbeat pop-style than Sia's previous downbeat albums,whilst show-casing Sia's vocals on a number of big ballads.
The fourth single,"Buttons",received attention due to its video in which Sia's face is distorted by pegs,string,net,condoms and many other things.[4] The album debuted at number 26 on the US Billboard 200 chart,which became Sia's first album to chart on the Billboard 200 in her career.
Background
Sia,talking about the inspiration for the album's name,said:"During recording people would come in and complain about traffic,and I'd say,'Some people have real problems.' Like,they're waiting for a lung or they don't have a mum," she says. "I thought it would be a funny name for an album. And then I thought if I were to get rich and successful I would remember to not turn into an asshole. But I am one,so it didn't work."[5]
Singles
The first single "Day Too Soon" was released on 12 November 2007 in the UK,[6] and it was followed by "The Girl You Lost to Cocaine" on 21 April 2008.[7] Later "The Girl You Lost to Cocaine" was followed by "Soon We'll Be Found",which was released on 13 October 2008 as third single of the album. "Buttons" was released as the fourth single in November 2008.[8] In 1 January 2009,"Academia" was released as the fifth and final single from the album.[9][10]
Some People Have Real Problems received generally favourable reviews from music critics. At Metacritic,which assigns a normalised rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics,the album received an average score of 64,based on 20 reviews.[11]
Reviewers such as Rolling Stone[3] and The Guardian,[1] both of whom awarded the album 2 out of 5 stars,and Robert Christgau who gave it a "dud" score were highly critical.[18] Other reviewers,however,such as AllMusic and Slant both of whom awarded the album 4.5 out of 5 stars and Entertainment Weekly who gave the album an "A−" were highly positive towards the album.[19][16]
Chart performance
Following its release,the album debuted at number 26 on the US Billboard 200 chart,selling about 20,000 copies in its first week.[20] The album was also chosen as iTunes' Top Pop Album of 2008. The album was certified Gold by the Australian Recording Industry Association in 2011.[21]
Some People Have Real Problems– physical CD Bonus Tracks
No.
Title
Length
14.
"Blame It On the Radio"
2:32
15.
"Bring It To Me"
3:33
16.
"Buttons"
3:20
Notes
"Buttons" is a hidden track after "Lullaby" on the international edition of the album, but it is a normal track on the Australian edition, in which it was the first single. "Buttons" was written by Freescha and Sia.
"Blame It On the Radio" and "Bring It to Me" were b-sides for "The Girl You Lost to Cocaine" and "Soon We'll Be Found".
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.
