Wonderland | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|
Studio album by | ||||
Released | 29 August 2005 | |||
Recorded | September 2004–July 2005, London, England, United Kingdom | |||
Genre | ||||
Length | 43:29 | |||
Label | Island | |||
Producer | Hugh Padgham, Steve Power | |||
McFly chronology | ||||
| ||||
Singles from Wonderland | ||||
|
Review scores | |
---|---|
Source | Rating |
AllMusic | link |
Channel 4 | link |
Wonderland is the second studio album by English pop rock band McFly. It was released in the United Kingdom on 29 August 2005, and was a success, being certified platinum, selling over 300,000 copies in the UK peaking at number 1 in the UK Albums Chart breaking the world record for the youngest band to top the album chart twice. [1] Despite being less of a success in the UK, the album went on to match the worldwide sales of McFly's debut album Room on the 3rd Floor , selling over one million copies.
The album contains production from early collaborator Hugh Padgham, who co-produced the majority of the band's debut album, as well as production from former Busted producer Steve Power. The album follows more of a story-like narrative than the band's first album, and adopts a slightly more advanced style of pop. Unlike the band's first album, there is no hidden track on the album. Four singles were released from the album: "All About You", which was released as the official Comic Relief single for 2005, "I'll Be OK", "I Wanna Hold You" and the double A-side of "Ultraviolet and The Ballad of Paul K". A deluxe version of the album was released in special gatefold packagaing, with fold-out photos of the band as well as an extended booklet. [2] The Japanese edition of the album contains two additional tracks plus two music videos.
Sharon Mawer of AllMusic said of the album: "The often difficult second album was made to look easy by McFly, the four lads from London who saw Busted, their main rivals for the affections of pre-teenage hearts, split up in 2005, leaving them the only guitar-based pop band in town, and McFly did not disappoint their army of fans with Wonderland. At the time of release, it already contained two number one singles, "I'll Be OK" and the Comic Relief charity hit "All About You," although the Carly Simon/James Taylor B-side, track two on the CD single, "You've Got a Friend" was not included. The same mixture of good, fun 1960s-influenced pop songs and mid-tempo ballads is here, as on the debut album Room on the 3rd Floor , the opening track, "I'll Be OK," being a good example of a boy band trying to sound as little like a boy band as possible with real instruments, mainly guitars that, if you really stretched your imagination, on the intro could be compared to the Who's "Won't Get Fooled Again," although it only lasted about fifteen seconds. The boys even felt confident enough to include a sitar on the song "Ultraviolet," which became their least successful single release to date. The turning point of the album came about halfway through - on vinyl it would have been side two - with the "All About You" track, which opened with an orchestral piece and then continued throughout the song with a strummed acoustic guitar and even had a woodwind instrumental break. And of course, there was quite a memorable song in there as well. This theme was expanded even further on the two-part track "She Falls Asleep"—part one a dreamy instrumental heavy on the orchestral string section; part two a sophisticated ballad, quite dramatic in its production—and the album concluded as it began, with more guitar-led harmony pop with the songs "Nothing" and "Memory Lane". One might sneer, but Wonderland was a good album from an obviously talented group of young lads." [3]
No. | Title | Writer(s) | Producer(s) | Length |
---|---|---|---|---|
1. | "I'll Be OK" | Hugh Padgham | 3:24 | |
2. | "I've Got You" |
| Hugh Padgham, Graham Gouldman | 3:18 |
3. | "Ultraviolet" |
| Steve Power | 3:56 |
4. | "The Ballad of Paul K" |
| Hugh Padgham | 3:17 |
5. | "I Wanna Hold You" |
| Hugh Padgham | 2:59 |
6. | "Too Close for Comfort" |
| Hugh Padgham | 4:37 |
7. | "All About You" |
| Hugh Padgham | 3:06 |
8. | "She Falls Asleep - Part 1" |
| Hugh Padgham | 1:43 |
9. | "She Falls Asleep - Part 2" |
| Hugh Padgham | 4:11 |
10. | "Don't Know Why" |
| Steve Power | 4:20 |
11. | "Nothing" |
| Steve Power | 3:50 |
12. | "Memory Lane" |
| Hugh Padgham | 4:40 |
Total length: | 43:29 |
No. | Title | Writer(s) | Producer(s) | Length |
---|---|---|---|---|
13. | "Easy Way Out" | Fletcher, Jones, Poynter | Hugh Padgham | 3:15 |
14. | "I'll Be OK" (Tom and Danny's Acoustic version) | Fletcher, Jones, Poynter | Fletcher, Jones | 3:37 |
15. | "Ultraviolet" (music video) | 3:56 | ||
16. | "I'll Be OK" (music video) | 3:24 |
No. | Title | Length |
---|---|---|
1. | "You've Got a Friend" | 4:27 |
2. | "Room on the Third Floor" (Orchestral version) | 3:16 |
3. | "All About You" (Orchestral version) | 3:05 |
4. | "No Worries" | 4:10 |
5. | "Nothing" (demo) | 3:05 |
6. | "Pinball Wizard" | 3:27 |
7. | "Mr. Brightside" | 3:14 |
8. | "I Wanna Hold You" (instrumental) | 2:59 |
9. | "The Ballad of Paul K" (orchestral version) | 3:15 |
10. | "Ultraviolet" (live version) | 4:24 |
11. | "I Predict a Riot" (BBC Radio 1 Live Lounge) | 3:30 |
12. | "My Generation" (with Roger Daltrey) | 3:42 |
Chart (2005) | Peak Position |
---|---|
European Top 100 Albums [4] | 9 |
Irish Albums (IRMA) | 11 |
Japanese Albums (Oricon) [5] | 61 |
Scottish Albums (OCC) [6] | 1 |
South Korea Albums (GAON) [7] | 70 |
UK Albums (OCC) | 1 |
Region | Certification | Certified units/sales |
---|---|---|
United Kingdom (BPI) [8] | Platinum | 300,000^ |
^ Shipments figures based on certification alone. |
Busted are an English pop punk band from Southend-on-Sea, Essex, consisting of James Bourne, Matt Willis and Charlie Simpson. Formed in 2000, the band had four UK number-one singles, won two Brit awards, released four studio albums and sold over 5 million records. The band released Busted in 2002 and A Present for Everyone in 2003 before disbanding in January 2005. Following the split, all three members pursued separate musical careers: Simpson as the frontman for the post-hardcore band Fightstar, Bourne as the lead singer of pop punk band Son of Dork and Willis as a solo artist. The band reunited in 2015, embarking on the Pigs Can Fly arena tour in May 2016 and released their third studio album, Night Driver, on 25 November 2016. On 26 October 2018, Busted announced their fourth album Half Way There, released on 1 February 2019, as well as a UK arena tour. At the end of 2019, the band embarked on a hiatus to pursue solo projects. In 2023, Busted announced their return for their 20 year anniversary, consisting of an upcoming album and tour.
McFly are an English pop band formed in London in 2003. The band took their name from the Back to the Future character Marty McFly. The band consists of Tom Fletcher, Danny Jones, Dougie Poynter and Harry Judd (drums). They were signed to Island Records from their 2004 launch until December 2007, before creating their own label, Super Records.
Dougie Lee Poynter is an English musician, songwriter, fashion model, aspiring clothing designer, children's author and actor. He is the bassist of the pop rock band McFly.
Room on the 3rd Floor is the debut studio album by English pop rock band McFly. It was released on 5 July 2004 in the United Kingdom via Island Records, and was later issued in the United States by Island Def Jam Records via the iTunes Store.
Daniel Alan David Jones is an English singer-songwriter and musician who is one of the lead vocalists and the lead guitarist for pop-rock band McFly. Jones's fellow band members are Tom Fletcher, Dougie Poynter, and Harry Judd (drums). Jones is married to former Miss England, Georgia Horsley.
"I'll Be OK" is a song by English pop rock band McFly. It was released on 15 August 2005 as the second single from their second studio album, Wonderland (2005). The single became the group's fourth number-one single on the UK Singles Chart. Despite its initial popularity, it plunged to number eight during its second week on the chart and spent only a month inside the UK top 40.
"All About You" / "You've Got a Friend" is a double A-side single by English pop rock band McFly. The former song is an original McFly track while the latter is a cover of the 1971 song written by Carole King. The band's first double A-side single, it was released on 7 March 2005 as the lead single from their second studio album, Wonderland (2005). The single was the official Comic Relief charity single for 2005, with all royalties being donated to the charity. The single was also used to promote Make Poverty History.
A Present for Everyone is the second studio album by British pop punk band Busted. It was released on 17 November 2003 by Universal Island Records and features a sound mixing pop punk and power pop material with traditional pop rock. Five singles were released from the album, including the number-one hits "Crashed the Wedding", "Who's David" and "Thunderbirds / 3AM".
"I Wanna Hold You" is a song by English pop rock band McFly. It was released on 17 October 2005 as the third single from their second studio album, Wonderland (2005). It was written by band members Tom Fletcher, Danny Jones, and Dougie Poynter. The song peaked at number three in the UK Singles Chart and number 13 in Ireland.
Busted is the debut studio album by English pop punk band Busted. It was released in the UK in September 2002 and peaked at number 2 the following January after the success of second single "Year 3000", which reached number 2 on the UK Singles Chart. Five singles were released from the album: "What I Go to School For", "Year 3000", "You Said No", "Hurra Hurra Die Schule Brennt" and "Sleeping with the Light On".
"Ultraviolet" / "The Ballad of Paul K" is the fourth and final single from British pop rock band McFly's second studio album, Wonderland (2005). It is a double A-side single and was released on 12 December 2005. The single peaked at No. 9 on the UK Singles Chart and No. 25 on the Irish Singles Chart
Busted is the eleventh studio album released by Cheap Trick, which was released in 1990 and peaked at number 44 on the US album charts. After the success of "The Flame" from the previous album Lap of Luxury, the band recorded Busted with a similar format, especially on the single "Can't Stop Fallin' into Love." The single peaked at number 12 on the US charts. The album failed to be as successful as the label had hoped, and about a year after the release of Busted, Epic Records dropped the band.
The Wonderland Tour 2005 is a concert DVD by the pop/rock band McFly. The DVD was filmed during their first arena tour, Wonderland. The majority of concert footage was filmed at the Manchester Arena concert.
The discography of English pop rock band McFly consists of 24 singles, 25 music videos, six studio albums, three compilation albums, four live albums and one soundtrack.
The Greatest Bits: B-Sides & Rarities is the second compilation album released by the British pop rock band McFly. The album was released on 3 December 2007, and was only available at Woolworths stores in the UK. The album has a range of B-sides and covers from the group's singles, as well as a new recording of "Santa Claus Is Coming To Town". Physical copies of the album have become quite sought after since the collapse of Woolworths in 2008 although it has since been released on downloads. The cover version of "Pinball Wizard" is a new live version, previously released only as a studio version and a music video.
"You Were..." is a song recorded by Japanese recording artist Ayumi Hamasaki, taken from her tenth studio album, Rock 'n' Roll Circus (2010). It was written by Hamasaki with production being done by long-time collaborator Max Matsuura. The song premiered on December 29, 2009 as the album's second a-side single with the album track, "Ballad". Four formats were released for the single; a CD format, a CD and DVD bundle, a limited edition box set, and a digital download. The first three artworks feature Hamasaki laying in snow, whilst the limited edition box set has a long-shot of Hamasaki in a dress.
Above the Noise is the fifth studio album from English pop rock band McFly. The album was released on 15 November 2010. The album spawned three singles: "Party Girl", which was released on 6 September; "Shine a Light", which was released on 8 November; and "That's the Truth", which was released on 6 March 2011.
McBusted is the self-titled debut and only studio album by the English pop punk supergroup McBusted. It was released through Island Records on 1 December 2014. The album was preceded by the release of lead single "Air Guitar", which peaked at number 12 in the United Kingdom.
Half Way There is the fourth studio album by English pop punk band Busted. It was released on 1 February 2019 and it received positive reviews from critics.