Insomniac (Enrique Iglesias album)

Insomniac
Studio album by Enrique Iglesias
Released 11 June 2007
Recorded 2006–07
Genre Pop, R&B, Latin pop, synthpop
Length 58:01
Label Interscope
Producer Arnthor Birgisson, Sean Garrett, Enrique Iglesias (also exec.), Jimmy Iovine (exec.), Brian Kidd, Martin Kierszenbaum (exec.), Kristian Lundin, Mark Taylor, Steve Morales, Carlos Paucar, John Shanks, Stargate, Brodie Stewart, Scott Thomas, Rami Yacoub
Enrique Iglesias chronology
7
(2003)		 Insomniac
(2007)		 Enrique Iglesias: 95/08 Exitos
(2008)
Singles from Insomniac
  1. "Do You Know? (The Ping Pong Song) / Dímelo"
    Released: 15 May 2007
  2. "Somebody's Me / Alguien Soy Yo"
    Released: 8 August 2007
  3. "Tired Of Being Sorry"
    Released: 14 September 2007
  4. "Push"
    Released: 14 February 2008

Insomniac is the eighth studio album, and fourth English-language album, released by Spanish singer Enrique Iglesias. The album was produced by John Shanks, Kristian Lundin, Sean Garrett, Anders Bagge, Jesper Andersen, Mark Taylor, Stargate, and Maratone. It also contains his first collaboration with a rapper, Lil Wayne, as well as a cover of indie band Ringside's "Tired of Being Sorry". This album is said to be different from his prior albums, incorporating a more contemporary pop style. As well as the aforementioned hip hop collaboration, the album also includes elements of R&B and Latin pop. It was released worldwide on 11 June 2007 and in the USA on 12 June 2007.[1]

Background and composition

"Sometimes I take a pill to sleep, or two or six. But I guess that is the way it goes - when you put three years into making an album, you also become a bit of an insomniac. I have always been more of a night person. I never lay vocals onto any song before eight or nine at night. I always work at night. I go to the studio at six or seven in the evening and leave again at six in the morning. So in a way the album was done by night."

—Enrique Iglesias told to The Insider about recording the album.[2]

The album is his first for four years since 7, which failed to match the staggering sales of 2001's Escape.[3] "Insomniac" is not just the title of the album, it is also a fact of Iglesias's life, who says he often takes sleeping pills to get a good night's rest.[2] Iglesias recorded most of the album in the evening and early hours of the morning. He wrote more than 50 songs before settling on 12 that he felt were strong enough to put on the album.[2]

Insomniac runs the gamut of emotional anxiety, moody pining, enduring love and a constant sexual pulse. He says he wrote hundreds of songs for the album. "The more songs I wrote, the best chance that I could pick 12, 15 great ones. It's not that I wanted to make a musical change, I just wanted to write good songs."[3] The album is said to be Iglesias' most diverse to date. It features a song titled "Miss You", which he has dedicated to his girlfriend, former tennis star Anna Kournikova, as well as a track, "Push", which he performs with rapper Lil' Wayne -- a big departure from his usual material.[2] The first single, "Do You Know", has become known as the "ping pong song" because of its stand-out beat. There is also a cover of indie pop band Ringside's "Tired of Being Sorry".[2]

"I wanted to write about love because it is the one thing that we all identify with. Everyone knows what it feels like to be with someone you love, and to fall out of love. You suffer because of love and then love makes you happy."[3]

Critical reception

Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
Allmusic[4]
BBC Musicpositive[5]
Entertainment.ie[6]
Entertainment WeeklyC[7]
Houston Chronicle[8]
Slant Magazine[9]

Allmusic reviewer Stephen Thomas Erlewine gave to the album 2.5 out of 5 stars, writing: "'Insomniac' is pushed to a younger audience. But Enrique is too much of a crossover guy to spend the entire album doing the nasty. Sometimes, he pushes too hard in either direction, but sometimes Iglesias strikes the right balance between crossover pop and stylish retro-new wave production. What works on this slick, snazzy makeover is what always works for him: the ballads and the middle-of-the-road pop tunes. They may not be hip, but they're part of the family tradition, and when he sticks to them, he's as good as ever."[4] Lauren Murphy from Entertainment.ie criticized the songs, writing: "Every track here is either a sombre, mumbled, slow-moving number that sounds dated and cumbersome, cheesy radio-friendly dirges that have been done a million times before and better or are just so amateur-sounding that they're embarrassing."[6] Jonathan Bernstein from Entertainment Weekly wrote "Insomniac sees Iglesias possessed by the vengeful spirit of Toad the Wet Sprocket ("Stay Here Tonight"), outshone by Lil Wayne on the plodding club banger Push, and, yes, upstaged by a sampled Ping-Pong ball on Do You Know? (The Ping Pong Song)."[7]

Jerome Blakeney from BBC Music gave to the album a positive review, stating that "He remains the king of latin-tinged heart-tugging and at least half of this album keeps him firmly on top."[5] Joey Guerra from Houston Chronicle also gave to the album a positive review, writing: "Insomniac's secret weapons, however, are its ballads, which cast Iglesias as — of course — a sensitive, soulful Spanish lover."[8] Scott Shelter wrote for Slant Magazine that "The ballads are disappointing because the rest of Insomniac isn't half bad, and if all of the ballads were like the acoustic 'Don't You Forget About Me", Insomniac would've been worthwhile effort; instead, it's a case study in ironic album titles."[9]

Commercial performance

The album debuted at number 17 on the Billboard 200 chart, with 45,000 copies sold.[10] However, the previous album, 2003's 7, began at number 31, but with 77,000 copies.[10] It entered the UK charts at number 3 and went on to be certified Gold. The album went Platinum (or multiplatinum) in countries such as Ireland, Russia and Poland.

Track listing

Credits adapted from the liner notes of Insomniac.

Insomniac — North American standard version
No. TitleWriter(s)Producer(s) Length
1. "Ring My Bells"  Enrique Iglesias, Kristian Lundin, Savan KotechaLundin 3:55
2. "Push" (featuring Lil Wayne)Iglesias, Steve Morales, Adonis, Lil WayneMorales, Carlos Paucar[a], Iglesias[a] 3:52
3. "Do You Know? (The Ping Pong Song)"  Sean Garrett, Brian Kidd, IglesiasGarrett, Kidd, Paucar[a], Iglesias[a] 3:38
4. "Somebody's Me"  Iglesias, John Shanks, Kara DioGuardiShanks 3:58
5. "On Top of You"  Johnta Austin, Mikkel Storleer Eriksen, Tor Erik Hermansen, Iglesias, Hallgeir RustanStarGate 3:39
6. "Tired of Being Sorry"  Scott ThomasThomas, Paucar[a], Iglesias[a] 4:01
7. "Miss You"  Iglesias, Rami Yacoub, Arnthor BirgissonRami, Arnthor 3:21
8. "Wish I Was Your Lover"  Iglesias, Yacoub, BirgissonRami, Arnthor 3:25
9. "Little Girl"  Iglesias, Paul Barry, Mark TaylorTaylor 3:46
10. "Stay Here Tonight"  Iglesias, Shanks, DioGuardiShanks 4:13
11. "Sweet Isabel"  Brodie StewartStewart, Paucar[a], Iglesias[a] 3:13
12. "Don't You Forget About Me"  Iglesias, Barry, TaylorTaylor 3:11
13. "Dímelo" (Spanish version of "Do You Know?")Garrett, Kidd, Iglesias, Luis Gómez-EscolarPaucar, Iglesias 3:38
14. "Alguien Soy Yo" (Spanish version of "Somebody's Me")Iglesias, Shanks, DioGuardi, Gómez-EscolarPaucar, Iglesias 3:59
15. "Amigo Vulnerable" (Spanish version of "Tired of Being Sorry")Thomas, Gómez-EscolarPaucar, Iglesias 4:01
Total length:
 55:50
Notes

Charts

Chart (2007) Peak
position		 Certification Sales
Australian Albums Top 50[11] 44
Austrian Albums Top 75[11] 14
Belgian (Flanders) Albums Chart[11] 38
Belgian (Wallonia) Albums Chart[11] 47
Danish Albums Top 40[12] 5
Dutch Top 100 Albums Charts[12] 6
Finnish Albums Top 40[11] 16
French Albums Top 150[11] 36 40,000
German Albums Top 50 14
Hungarian Albums Top 40[13] 31
Irish Albums Top 75 16 Platinum[14] 20,000+
Italian Top 100 Albums Chart[15] 43
Mexican Top 100 Albums Chart[16] 4 Gold 50,000
Mexican International Top 20 Albums[17] 1 Gold 50,000
Polish ZPAV/OLiS Albums Chart 13 Platinum 20,000+
Russian Albums Chart - 6x Platinum[18] 120,000
Spanish Top 100 Albums Chart[11] 8 30,000
Swedish Top 60 Albums Charts[12] 24
Swiss Albums Top 100[12] 8
UK Top 200 Albums Chart[12] 3 Gold 273,000[19]
U.S. Billboard Top 200 Albums[12] 17 230,000

Release history

Region Date Version
United Kingdom 11 June 2007 Original
United States 12 June 2007
Japan 16 June 2007
France July 8, 2008 Nouvelle Edition
Europe Reissue
United Kingdom 11 July 2008

References

  1. ↑ "Amazon.com: Insomniac: Enrique Iglesias: MP3 Downloads". Amazon.com. Retrieved 2 February 2011.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 Moran, Jonathon (11 June 2007). "Enrique Iglesias talks insomnia | thetelegraph.com.au". The Daily Telegraph. Retrieved 27 April 2012.
  3. 1 2 3 Iley, Chrissey (1 June 2007). "Enrique Iglesias: Why he's different to his lothario father Julio | Mail Online". Daily Mail. Retrieved 27 April 2012.
  4. 1 2 Erlewine, Stephen Thomas (12 June 2007). "Insomniac - Enrique Iglesias | Allmusic". Allmusic. Rovi Corporation. Retrieved 27 April 2012.
  5. 1 2 Blakeney, Jerome (15 June 2007). "BBC - Music - Review of Enrique Iglesias - Insomniac". BBC Music. Retrieved 27 April 2012.
  6. 1 2 Murphy, Lauren (3 July 2007). "Enrique Iglesias - Insmniac. Review by Lauren Murphy | Entertainment.ie - Ireland | Music, CD Review". entertainment.ie. Retrieved 28 April 2012.
  7. 1 2 Bernstein, Jonathan (15 June 2007). "Insomniac Review | Music Reviews and News | EW.com". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved 27 April 2012.
  8. 1 2 Guerra, Joey (12 June 2007). "Enrique Iglesias ups the swoon factor - Houston Chronicle". Houston Chronicle. Retrieved 27 April 2012.
  9. 1 2 Shelter, Scott (26 June 2007). "Enrique Iglesias: Insomniac | Music Review | Slant Magazine". Slant Magazine. Retrieved 28 April 2012.
  10. 1 2 Caulfield, Keith (20 June 2007). "Toby Keith's the 'Big Dog' of the Charts". Billboard Biz. Retrieved 28 April 2012.
  11. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Enrique Iglesias - Insomniac - Music Charts
  12. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Enrique Iglesias - Insomniac - Music Charts
  13. ↑ Mahasz
  14. ↑ http://www.irishcharts.ie/awards/platinum07.htm
  15. ↑ Enrique Iglesias - Insomniac Top Chart Positions in Spain
  16. ↑ Mexican Top 100 Albums Chart - June 20th 2007
  17. ↑ International Albums Chart - June 20th 2007
  18. ↑ Russian Album Chart
  19. ↑ http://www.buzzjack.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=114092
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