Victorious: Music from the Hit TV Show is the debut soundtrack album for the Nickelodeon television series Victorious. It was released on August 2, 2011, by Columbia and Nickelodeon Records. Most of the album was sung by the lead actress of the television series, Victoria Justice. The other singers featured on the album include Ariana Grande, Elizabeth Gillies, Leon Thomas III, Miranda Cosgrove, and Matt Bennett. It is a pop and teen pop album that includes songs with lyrical themes about love, friendship, and self-worth. Critical commentary for the album was generally mixed, with praise towards its vocals and commercial appeal, but received criticism as unoriginal and overly polished.
In an April 2010 interview with ClevverTV, Victorious actress Victoria Justice stated that she had been recording music for the show's soundtrack and confirmed that it would be released following the conclusion of the first season of Victorious.[1] In an interview with Teen Vogue in August 2011, Justice explained that the Victorious cast hardly ever recorded together in the studio when working on the soundtrack.[2] Each member would go in individually to record their parts when they weren't filming. If they didn't have time, they would record during the weekend. Justice stated that she and the cast were proud of the soundtrack.[2]Victorious: Music from the Hit TV Show was officially released for digital download and streaming by Columbia Records and Nickelodeon Records on August 2, 2011.[3][4][5]
"Song 2 You" features Justice and Leon Thomas III singing about falling in love and finding that it doesn't depend on material possessions like designer clothes.[6][9][34][35] "Tell Me That You Love Me" also features Justice and Thomas on vocals.[15][36] The lyrics are about a couple continuing to be in love despite all the tough times they have together.[9] "Finally Falling" is a pop rock ballad that has Justice singing about her and her boyfriend choosing love over material possessions.[9][15][37] The album ends with "Leave It All to Shine", a teen pop track that is a mashup of the theme songs from Victorious ("Make It Shine") and iCarly ("Leave It All to Me"), featuring vocals from Justice and Miranda Cosgrove.[6][7][38][39] The iTunes version of the album concludes with "Broken Glass" that has Matt Bennett on vocals.[4][40]
Nickelodeon partnered with Walmart to promote a concert for Victorious, and a one night only concert was held on May 26, 2011, at Avalon Hollywood in Hollywood, California.[41][42][43] It featured Justice and the Victorious cast performing various songs from the show to promote the soundtrack.[42][44][45] Nickelodeon would later partner again with Walmart to promote the concert and soundtrack, with Victorious related merchandise being sold exclusively in Walmart stores from July to September 2011 throughout the United States and Canada.[45][46][47]Walmart Soundcheck had financed and filmed the concert, and they would later air the whole concert on the Walmart Soundcheck website and Walmart stores on August 6, 2011.[42][45]
Singles
"Make It Shine" was released as the lead single on April 13, 2010.[48][49] It peaked at number 16 on the US BillboardBubbling Under Hot 100 chart.[50] "Freak the Freak Out" was released as the second single from the soundtrack on November 22, 2010.[51][52] The song received a music video which was released in November 2010, and features Justice and the Victorious cast dancing with other people.[53][54] The song peaked at number 50 on the US Billboard Hot 100 and number 176 on the UK Singles Chart.[55][56][57] "Beggin' on Your Knees" was released as the third single on April 1, 2011.[58][59] A music video was released on March 12, 2011, and features Justice and the Victorious cast hanging out at a carnival.[60][61][62] The song peaked at number 58 on the Billboard Hot 100.[63]
"Best Friend's Brother" was issued as the fourth single from the album on May 20, 2011.[64][65] A music video was released in May 2011 and features Justice dreaming about her friend's older brother.[66][67] It peaked at number 86 on the Billboard Hot 100.[63] "Leave It All to Shine" was released on June 10, 2011, as the fifth single.[68][69] The song debuted and peaked at number 24 on the US Bubbling Under Hot 100 chart.[50] "You're the Reason" was released as the sixth and final single on December 3, 2011.[27][70] An acoustic rendition of the song was released on the same day as the single's release.[71] A music video for the acoustic version of "You're the Reason" was released in December 2011. It features Justice playing the piano on a beach.[72][73][74] The song peaked at number 24 on the Bubbling Under Hot 100 chart.[50]
Other songs
"I Want You Back" and "Give It Up" also charted on the Bubbling Under Hot 100 chart, with "I Want You Back" peaking at number eight and "Give It Up" reaching number 23.[50][75] A music video for "All I Want Is Everything" was released in September 2011 and has Justice attempting to impress her crush.[76][77]
Maggie of Twist magazine praised the album, stating "we're super stoked to hear it".[78] The joint website of Bop and Tiger Beat described the album as "awesome" and declared that it did the show "justice", mentioning that the "songs on this album are so catchy", while opining that "they will almost definitely get stuck in your head for hours".[79] Bob Hoose and Steven Isaac for Plugged In stated that Victorious: Music from the Hit TV Show has a "collection of ditties" that have "well-rehearsed, clean-sounding vocals, backdropped by catchy tunes".[9] They thought that the songs in the album sounded like a "well-produced derivatives of other songs you may have heard resting at the top of the charts lately".[9]
Joe DeAndrea of AbsolutePunk gave the album a 72 percent rating, opining the songs in it "aren't even all that bad". He stated that the songs featuring Justice "could work perfectly as Katy Perry or Pink material" and could be a "staple of your summer".[7] In a more negative review, AllMusic's William Ruhlmann rated the album three stars out of five, saying that "what really matters is what Justice and her earnest fellow cast members look like, not what they sound like, especially given the cookie-cutter nature of this music".[6] Kyle Anderson for Entertainment Weekly gave the album a B− rating.[8] He remarked that Justice and the Victorious cast "dress-up with a closetful of song and personality styles, but never find the right fit".[8] Anderson noted that Justice is "best as the prom queen scorned", but felt she "otherwise gets lost in a mirror maze of impeccably dull tween popcraft".[8]
Commercial performance
Victorious: Music from the Hit TV Show debuted and peaked at number five on the US Billboard 200 with 41,000 copies sold.[80][81][82][83] The album peaked at number five on the US Digital Albums chart and US Top Current Album Sales chart.[84][85] It also charted at number one on the US Kid Albums chart and US Soundtrack Albums chart.[86][87] Outside the United States, the album peaked at number 35 in Austria,[88] number 36 in Spain,[89] number 69 in Switzerland,[90] and number 100 in Germany.[91] It further charted at number 66 on the UK Album Downloads chart,[92] number 13 on the UK Soundtrack Albums chart,[93] and number ten on the UK Compilation Albums chart.[94]Victorious: Music from the Hit TV Show was certified silver in the United Kingdom by the British Phonographic Industry (BPI) for selling 60,000 units.[95]
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