Obsession is the third studio album by English singer Shayne Ward. It was released by Syco Music and Sony Music Entertainment on 15 November 2010 in the United Kingdom, and on 8 February 2011 in the United States. While he reteamed with Cutfather, Arnthor Birgisson, Savan Kotecha and Rami Yacoub to record for the album, Ward consulted a wider range of producers to work with him on new material, including Ray Hedges, Lucas Secon, Wayne Hector, Tony Nilsson, and Quiz & Larossi.
| Obsession | ||||
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| Studio album by | ||||
| Released | 15 November 2010 | |||
| Length | 35:14 | |||
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| Producer |
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| Shayne Ward chronology | ||||
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| Singles from Obsession | ||||
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The album received average reviews from music critics, who noticed Ward's vocalist qualities, but felt it misses good songs and blamed Simon Cowell and Syco Music for it. Obsession debuted at number 15 on the UK Albums Chart and number 11 on the Irish Albums Chart, reaching Silver status in the United Kingdom. While lead single "Gotta Be Somebody," a cover of Canadian rock band Nickelback's 2008 song, became a top ten hit, Obsession marked Ward's final single with Syco.
Background
editIt was announced in January 2010 that Ward had begun writing his third studio album, with help from American producers RedOne and Taio Cruz.[2] Ward actually worked on the album for about two and a half years, working in several locations in the United States with around 50 producers, as he wanted the album to be different from his first two.[3] Several songs were recorded, including "Oxygen", which was due to be the lead single, "Elevator", a demo of which appears on Ward's official YouTube account, and "Tonight", a duet with Sugababes singer Heidi Range.[2] "Oxygen" was co-written with Danish songwriters Remee and Thomas Troelsen, and was later recorded by Danish pop group Alien Beat Club for their debut album, Diversity (2009). Work continued on the album during the year, with Ward recording further material penned by Savan Kotecha, Quiz & Larossi and Lucas Secon.[3]
Work on the album was completed in September 2010, when Ward announced that none of the songs produced by RedOne and Taio Cruz would be included.[3] He later said of the decision: "I needed the right songs to come in. I've recorded about seven albums' worth of tracks, some of which were with Taio Cruz, RedOne and Darkchild which didn't even make the album. They're still in the pipeline."[4] The album's lead single, "Gotta Be Somebody", is a cover of a Nickelback song, first released by them in 2008.[5] The album was originally scheduled to be released in 2009 but the release date was pushed back by the record label.[3] A track called "King of My Castle" featuring American singer Britney Spears was meant to be on the album but was scrapped for unknown reasons. The track leaked on the internet on 25 June 2021.[6][7]
Singles
editThe album was preceded by the lead single "Gotta Be Somebody", a cover version of Nickelback's 2008 song, on 7 November 2010.[5] The album's second single, Obsession, was only released promotionally, being released on the week of 14 February 2011. Ward performed the song on The Alan Titchmarsh Show and The Graham Norton Show on the week of release. "Gotta Be Somebody was also released to radio, and a promotional CD single was issued. The album's third and final single was a remixed version of "Must Be a Reason Why", which was released on 3 October 2011.[1]
Critical reception
edit| Review scores | |
|---|---|
| Source | Rating |
| 4Music |   [8] |
| AllMusic | [9] |
| Funky.co.uk |  [10] |
| Newsround | [11] |
| OK! Magazine | [12] |
Upon its release, the album received generally mixed reviews from music critics. Jon O'Brien from AllMusic gave the album a rating of three out of five stars, saying: "After a three-year absence, Ward really needed to step up his game to re-establish his pop star credentials. But despite being labelled the UK Justin Timberlake early in his career, Obsession's dated sound and consistent mediocrity are more likely to see him dubbed as the U. Peter Andre."[9] Similarly, David Griffiths from 4Music stated: "Sadly Shayne's early promise as the British Timberlake has yet to be fully realised and he's a far better vocalist than much of the material gives him credit for. We're particularly curious to hear what happened to the rumoured collaborations with RedOne, Darkchild and Taio Cruz, as they could well have bolstered some of the weaker songs on offer here. Still, it's great to have him back after all this time."[8]
The OK! Magazine observed that Obsession was "more polished than Simon Cowell's veneers. The title track – inspired by Prince's legendary "Purple Rain" – is a swooping belter, while "Close to Close" is a hook-laden ballad that wouldn't sound out of place on JLS's latest offering."[12] Entertainment-Focus was more negative, saying "Obsession is a record that serves to frustrate rather than impress. We can only lay the blame for this patchy effort on the record label. After a three-year wait Obsession doesn't deliver on the anticipation it has built. For the record we absolutely love Shayne but he needs, and deserves, stronger material than this."[13] The Guardian described the single "Must Be a Reason Why" as "music for evil stumpy Russian men to dance to while wearing budgie smugglers and pretending they're being fellated."[14]
Commercial performance
editObsession debuted at number 15 on the UK Albums Chart and number 11 on the Irish Albums Chart. In the UK, its first week sales were 22,452.[15] Due to lackluster sales, Ward was dropped by Syco Records in April 2011.[16] Two years later, on 22 July 2013, the album was certified Silver by the British Phonographic Industry (BPI).[17]
Track listing
edit| No. | Title | Writer(s) | Producer(s) | Length |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Gotta Be Somebody" |
| 3:41 | |
| 2. | "Obsession" | Yacoub | 3:34 | |
| 3. | "Must Be a Reason Why..." (featuring J. Pearl) |
| Secon | 3:20 |
| 4. | "Close to Close" | Birgisson | 3:33 | |
| 5. | "Waiting in the Wings" |
| Quiz & Larossi | 4:03 |
| 6. | "Foolish" |
| 3:18 | |
| 7. | "Someone Like You" | Secon | 3:01 | |
| 8. | "Human" |
| Jim & Jack | 4:11 |
| 9. | "Crash" |
| Quiz & Larossi | 3:52 |
| 10. | "Nobody Knows" |
| CD | 4:47 |
| Total length: | 35:14 | |||
Sample credits
- "Must Be a Reason Why..." samples "King of My Castle" as performed by Wamdue Project and written by Chris Brann. Initially a collaboration with Britney Spears was thought, she came to record the demo of the song
- "Someone Like You" samples "Two Princes" as performed by Spin Doctors and written by Mark White, Spin Doctors, Eric Schenkman, Chris Barron and Aaron Comess.
- "Nobody Knows" is a cover version of the song of the same title as performed by The Tony Rich Project and written by Joe Rich and Don DuBose.
Charts
edit| Chart (2010) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| European Top 100 Albums (Billboard)[18] | 39 |
| Irish Albums (IRMA)[19] | 11 |
| UK Albums (OCC)[20] | 15 |
Certifications
edit| Region | Certification | Certified units/sales |
|---|---|---|
| United Kingdom (BPI)[17] | Silver | 60,000^ |
|
^ Shipments figures based on certification alone. | ||
Release history
edit| Region | Date | Ref(s) |
|---|---|---|
| United Kingdom | 15 November 2010 | [21] |
| United States | 2 February 2008 | [22][23][24] |
References
edit- ^ a b "Must Be A Reason Why at Juno Records". Juno.co.uk. Archived from the original on 13 September 2012. Retrieved 9 January 2014.
- ^ a b Fletcher, Alex (27 January 2010). "Shayne Ward records Haiti message". Digital Spy. Retrieved 19 October 2010.
- ^ a b c d Levine, Nick (24 September 2010). "Music – Interview – Shayne Ward". Digital Spy. Retrieved 19 October 2010.
- ^ Copsey, Robert (28 October 2010). "Music – News – Shayne Ward confirms five album tracks – Digital Spy". Digital Spy. Retrieved 30 October 2010.
- ^ a b Nick Levine, Tom Mansell (24 September 2010). "Exclusive: Listen to the new Shayne Ward single". Digital Spy. Retrieved 19 October 2010.
- ^ ""King of My Castle": Compositor revela nome de faixa não lançada feita com Britney".
- ^ "[Demo Leak] Britney explores taking control of her life in scrapped "King of my Castle" cover".
- ^ a b Griffiths, David (11 November 2010). "Shayne Ward – Obsession – 4Music". 4Music. Archived from the original on 5 December 2010. Retrieved 26 November 2010.
- ^ a b O'Brien, Jon. "Obsession – Shayne Ward | AllMusic". AllMusic. Retrieved 4 October 2024.
- ^ "Shayne Ward – Obsession album – Music News & Reviews – Funky". Funky.co.uk. Archived from the original on 18 July 2011. Retrieved 26 November 2010.
- ^ "CBBC – Newsround – Album: Shayne Ward – Obsession". Newsround. 24 November 2010. Retrieved 26 November 2010.
- ^ a b "OK! Magazine: First For Celebrity News :: Music Reviews :: Review: Shayne Ward – Obsession". OK!. 16 November 2010. Archived from the original on 22 March 2012. Retrieved 26 November 2010.
- ^ Pip (12 November 2010). "Shayne Ward – Obsession | Entertainment Focus". Entertainment-Focus. Archived from the original on 22 November 2010. Retrieved 26 November 2010.
- ^ Dury, Baxter (8 November 2011). "This week's new singles". The Guardian. Retrieved 11 August 2011.
- ^ "Official Charts Analysis: Jahmene Douglas needs just 19k to hit No.1". Music Week (Subscription Required). 29 July 2013. Retrieved 4 August 2013.
- ^ "Shayne Ward 'dropped by label'". independent.ie. 19 April 2011. Retrieved 4 October 2024.
- ^ a b "British album certifications – Shayne Ward – Obsession". British Phonographic Industry.
- ^ "Billboard - Music Charts, News, Photos & Video". Billboard.
- ^ "Irish-charts.com – Discography Shayne Ward". Hung Medien. Retrieved 4 October 2024.
- ^ "Official Albums Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 4 October 2024.
- ^ "SHAYNE WARD • NEWS • SHAYNE'S OBSESSION". Shayneward.com. 16 September 2010. Archived from the original on 23 September 2010. Retrieved 19 October 2010.
- ^ "Shayne Ward • News • Calling America!". Archived from the original on 13 February 2011. Retrieved 8 February 2011.
- ^ "live it". hmv. 15 December 2005. Retrieved 4 March 2012.
- ^ "Buy Shayne Ward – Obsession (Exclusive Signed Copies) online at Play.com and read reviews. Free delivery to UK and Europe!". Play.com. Retrieved 9 January 2014.