Unbroken (Katharine McPhee album)

Last updated
Unbroken
Katmcpheeunbroken.jpg
Studio album by
Katharine McPhee
ReleasedJanuary 5, 2010 (2010-01-05)
Recorded2008–2009
Studio The Village Recorder (Los Angeles, California); The Bank (Burbank, California); Cookie Jar Recording (Studio City, California); JHL Sound (Pacific Palisades, California).
Genre Pop
Length47:15
Label Verve Forecast
Producer John Alagía, Martin Bishop, Daniel Lloyd, Katherine McPhee, Boots Ottested
Katharine McPhee chronology
Katharine McPhee
(2007)		Unbroken
(2010)		 Christmas Is the Time to Say I Love You
(2010)
Singles from Unbroken
  1. "Had It All"
    Released: August 25, 2009

Unbroken is the second studio album from American Idol season five runner-up Katharine McPhee. The album was released on January 5, 2010, by Verve Forecast Records, her first album on the label. [1] It debuted at number 27 on the Billboard 200, selling 15,000 copies in its first week. [2] As of January 2011, the album has sold 45,000 copies in the US. [3]

Contents

Background

After McPhee was dropped from RCA Records, she was signed to Verve Forecast Records, part of the Verve Music Group under Universal Music Group. [4] Verve Music Group president/CEO Bruce Resnikoff told Billboard , "The album she is working on will show many new sides to her talents as an interpreter and a songwriter, and show everyone just how special she is."

For her debut album, McPhee co-wrote three songs. She has had much more involvement in the writing process of this album, with writing credits on six of the songs. [5]

After months of recording, the album process was completed on August 21. [6] When asked to describe the album, McPhee has been quoted as saying that an "organic," "edgy," and more "adult" sound will be prominent on the album. [7] [8]

Inspired by the new label and new album, McPhee traded in her long brunette hair for a short blonde do and made it part of the promotion for the album, with an exclusive "First Look" in People Magazine. [9]

Behind the scenes videos from recording at the Village have been posted on McPhee's MySpace.

The album was set for release on October 6, 2009, but in September, it got pushed back to January 5, 2010, due to scheduling conflicts (McPhee confirmed the new date and explanation in a video on her website). [10]

Singles

"Had It All" was released as the first and only radio single from the album. It was released on McPhee's MySpace page and to iTunes for purchase on August 25, 2009, and to AC and Hot AC radio on September 21. It peaked at number 22 on Billboard's Adult Contemporary chart. The official music video premiered on the music video site Vevo on October 13, 2009. "Had It All" has sold 29,000 downloads to date in the United States. [11]

Promotional singles

Appearance in media

Track listing

No.TitleWriter(s)Producer(s)Length
1."It's Not Right" Lucie Silvas, Gary Go John Alagia 3:54
2."Had It All" Kara DioGuardi, Mitch Allan, David Hodges Alagia3:06
3."Keep Drivin" Katharine McPhee, Chris Tompkins, Rachael Yamagata Alagia3:57
4."Last Letter"McPhee, Barry Dean, Luke Laird McPhee, Martin, Bishop, Daniel Lloyd3:20
5."Surrender"McPhee, Ingrid Michaelson, Marshall Altman Alagia3:42
6."Terrified" (featuring Jason Reeves)DioGuardi, Jason ReevesAlagia3:56
7."How"Silvas, busbee, Alex James Alagia3:32
8."Say Goodbye" Troy Verges, Aimee Mayo, Chris Lindsey, Hillary Lindsey Alagia3:46
9."Faultline"Silvas, Shridhar Solanki, Rachel ThibodeauAlagia4:14
10."Anybody's Heart"McPhee, Dean, LairdAlagia3:21
11."Lifetime"McPhee, Boots OttestadOttestad3:11
12."Unbroken"McPhee, Paula Cole Alagia4:17
13."Brand New Key" Melanie Safka Alagia2:59
Total length:48:17
iTunes bonus tracks [17]
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
14."Takes a Lot of Love"Richard Harris4:15
15."Help Me" Joni Mitchell 3:28
16."I'll Be Home for Christmas"Kim Gannon, Walter Kent3:18
17."Had It All music video"  
Deluxe edition DVD
No.TitleLength
1."Had It All music video" 
2."Making of album" 
3."Making of HIA Music Video" 
4."Behind the scenes of album photoshoot" 
5."Photo Gallery/Montage" 
6."Track by Track commentary by McPhee" 

Personnel

Production and Technical

Critical reception

Professional ratings
Aggregate scores
SourceRating
Metacritic 58/100 [18]
Review scores
SourceRating
Allmusic Star full.svgStar full.svgStar half.svgStar empty.svgStar empty.svg [19]
Billboard Magazine (favorable) [20]
The Boston Globe (favorable) [21]
Entertainment Weekly C+ [22]
People Star full.svgStar full.svgStar half.svgStar empty.svg
Times Union (favorable) [23]
Philadelphia Inquirer Star full.svgStar full.svgStar half.svgStar empty.svg
Tampa Bay Times C [24]

Unbroken received generally mixed reviews. At Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, the album has received a score of 58, indicating "mixed or average reviews". [18]

Charts

Chart performance for Unbroken
Chart (2010)Peak
position
US Billboard 200 [25] 27

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References

  1. ↑ "Verve press release announcing January release date, September 16, 2009". Reuters.com. 2009-09-16. Archived from the original on 2009-10-16. Retrieved 2012-06-04.
  2. ↑ "Idol Chatter 01-13-2010 "Album Sales: Carrie Underwood plays on; Katharine McPhee debuts"". Content.usatoday.com. 2010-01-13. Retrieved 2012-06-04.
  3. ↑ "Idol Chatter 01-19-2011 (9th comment in comments section by IC staffer Brian Mansfield) "Plenty of room for new Idols on the sales chart"". Content.usatoday.com. 2011-01-19. Retrieved 2012-06-04.
  4. ↑ "Information Not Found". Billboard.com. Retrieved 2012-03-12.
  5. ↑ "New Katharine McPhee Album On the Way...and She Is a Blonde". Top40.about.com. 2009-08-05. Archived from the original on 2012-02-23. Retrieved 2012-03-12.
  6. ↑ "Twitter / Katharine McPhee : Great News! MY NEW ALBUM I". Twitter.com. 2009-08-21. Retrieved 2012-03-12.
  7. ↑ Archived August 17, 2009, at the Wayback Machine
  8. ↑ "Exclusive Video: Inside Katharine McPhee's 'Had It All' Video Shoot". PopEater.com. Retrieved 2012-03-12.
  9. ↑ "Exclusive First Look: Katharine McPhee Goes Blonde for Her New Album". Stylenews.peoplestylewatch.com. 2009-08-05. Retrieved 2012-06-04.
  10. ↑ "McPhee confirms release date change to January 2010". Kyte.tv. Retrieved 2012-06-04.
  11. 1 2 3 Yahoo Music Blogs, Paul Grein's Chart Watch: Week Ending Aug 8, 2010: Taylor Swift Returns; Comments section, Comment #24 (by Paul Grein) Archived August 16, 2010, at the Wayback Machine
  12. ↑ "Idol Chatter USAToday.com 09-23-2009 "Already Gone, Leave This Town Chart High for Idol Sales"". Content.usatoday.com. 2009-09-23. Retrieved 2012-06-04.
  13. ↑ Kaufman, Gil (2010-02-11). "Andrew Garcia, Crystal Bowersox Emerge As 'American Idol' Front-Runners In Hollywood". Mtv.com. Archived from the original on February 14, 2010. Retrieved 2012-06-04.
  14. ↑ "Track sales: 'We Are the World' and the power of Didi Benami". Content.usatoday.com. 2010-02-17. Retrieved 2012-06-04.
  15. ↑ "Idol Chatter 03-03-2010 USAToday.com "Kris Allen's Let It Be debuts with 46k downloads"". Content.usatoday.com. 2010-03-03. Retrieved 2012-06-04.
  16. ↑ "Maranatha! Music Releases "I Am Official Motion Picture Soundtrack"". Maranathamusic.com. Retrieved 2012-06-04.
  17. ↑ "iTunes - Music - Unbroken (Bonus Track Version) by Katharine McPhee". iTunes Store . Retrieved June 16, 2015.
  18. 1 2 "Katharine McPhee: Unbroken (2009): Reviews". Metacritic. 2010-01-05. Retrieved 2012-06-04.
  19. ↑ Thomas, Stephen (2010-01-05). "Unbroken - Katharine McPhee : Songs, Reviews, Credits, Awards". AllMusic. Retrieved 2012-06-04.
  20. ↑ Billboard CD Reviews: Susan Boyle, Adam Lambert, Kris Allen
  21. ↑ "The Boston Globe review: Katharine McPhee 'Unbroken'". Boston.com. 2010-01-04. Retrieved 2012-06-04.
  22. ↑ "Entertainment Weekly review: Unbroken". Ew.com. 2010-01-04. Archived from the original on 2012-10-16. Retrieved 2012-06-04.
  23. ↑ "Times Union Review - New CDs: Katharine McPhee, Unbroken". Timesunion.com. 2010-01-07. Retrieved 2012-06-04.
  24. ↑ "Tampa Bay Times Album Review". Tampabay.com. 2009-12-30. Archived from the original on 2012-06-20. Retrieved 2012-06-04.
  25. ↑ "Katharine McPhee Chart History (Billboard 200)". Billboard. Retrieved April 27, 2021.
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