Secret Symphony

Secret Symphony
Studio album by Katie Melua
Released 5 March 2012
Genre
Length 37:32
Label Dramatico
Producer Mike Batt
Katie Melua chronology
The House
(2010)
Secret Symphony
(2012)
Ketevan
(2013)
Singles from Secret Symphony
  1. "Gold in them Hills"
    Released: 11 November 2011
  2. "The Bit That I Don't Get"
    Released: 10 February 2012
  3. "Better Than a Dream"
    Released: 9 March 2012
  4. "Moonshine"
    Released: 4 June 2012
  5. "The Walls of the World"
    Released: 17 September 2012
  6. "Forgetting All My Troubles"
    Released: 3 December 2012
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating

Secret Symphony is the fifth studio album by singer-songwriter Katie Melua, and was released on 5 March 2012.[1] The album was recorded at Air Studios in London in collaboration with orchestrator and conductor Mike Batt.

Melua said in a statement: "This album was going to be my 'singer's album'. I had always wanted to do this one day; singing other people's songs brings something out of you and your voice that isn't perhaps where you would have gone vocally with your own material."

She added: "It stretches you. As it happened Mike and I did write a couple of new ones, but the general idea was to find songs by great writers such as Ron Sexsmith ('Gold In Them Hills') and a favourite song of mine, originally recorded by Bonnie Raitt ('Too Long At The Fair') plus some more well-known ones like Keeping The Dream Alive."

The lead single, "Better Than a Dream", and the track "Walls of the World" were both originally recorded by Melua's longtime collaborator Mike Batt, for the TV series The Dreamstone and his 1977 solo album Schizophonia[2] respectively.

The record serves as the follow-up to Melua's 2010 album The House, which reached number four on the UK album chart. Musicperk.com rated the album 9/10. [3]

A "Special Bonus Edition" of the album has also been released. It consists of the album, four extra track dubbed "The Secret Sessions" and a second cd containing a live album: "Live In Berlin".

Track listing

Standard listing[4]
No. TitleWriter(s) Length
1. "Gold in them Hills"  Ron Sexsmith 3:31
2. "Better Than a Dream"  Mike Batt 3:10
3. "The Bit That I Don't Get"  Batt 3:12
4. "Moonshine"  Francis Healy 2:41
5. "Forgetting All My Troubles"  Melua 3:22
6. "All Over the World"  Françoise Hardy 2:56
7. "Nobody Knows You When You're Down and Out"  Jimmy Cox 4:33
8. "The Cry of the Lone Wolf"  Melua, Batt 3:59
9. "Heartstrings"  Melua, Batt 2:53
10. "The Walls of the World"  Batt 3:25
11. "Secret Symphony"  Batt 3:51


Special Bonus Edition[5]
No. TitleWriter(s) Length
1. "Gold in them Hills"  Ron Sexsmith 3:31
2. "Better Than a Dream"  Mike Batt 3:10
3. "The Bit That I Don't Get"  Batt 3:12
4. "Moonshine"  Francis Healy 2:41
5. "Forgetting All My Troubles"  Melua 3:22
6. "All Over the World"  Françoise Hardy 2:56
7. "Nobody Knows You When You're Down and Out"  Jimmy Cox 4:33
8. "The Cry of the Lone Wolf"  Melua, Batt 3:59
9. "Heartstrings"  Melua, Batt 2:53
10. "The Walls of the World"  Batt 3:25
11. "Secret Symphony"  Batt 3:51
12. "Feels Like Home (The Secret Sessions)"  Randy Newman 4:50
13. "Too Long At The Fair (The Secret Sessions)"  Joel Zoss 3:06
14. "Love Me Tender (The Secret Sessions)"  Elvis Presley/Vera Matson 3:14
15. "It's Over (The Secret Sessions)"  Roy Orbison/Bill Dees 3:20
Cd 2: Live in Berlin

Chart performance

In the United Kingdom, the album debuted at #8 with 19,071 copies sold in its first week.[6]

Peak Positions

Chart (2012) Peak
position
Austrian Albums Chart[7] 3
Belgian (Flanders) Albums Chart[7] 10
Belgian (Wallonia) Albums Chart[7] 4
Canadian Albums Chart[8] 64
Danish Albums Chart[7] 4
Dutch Albums Chart[7] 6
Finnish Albums Chart[7] 6
French Albums Chart[7] 7
German Albums Chart[9] 2
Irish Albums Chart [9] 23
Norwegian Albums Chart[7] 6
Polish Albums Chart [10] 1
Portuguese Albums Chart[7] 13
Scottish Albums Chart[11] 10
Spanish Albums Chart[7] 46
Swedish Albums Chart[7] 22
Swiss Albums Chart[7] 2
Taiwan Western Albums Chart[12] 16
UK Albums Chart[13] 8

Year-end charts

Chart (2012) Position
Austrian Albums Chart[14] 70
Belgian Albums Chart (Flanders)[15] 77
Belgian Albums Chart (Wallonia)[16] 34
Dutch Albums Chart[17] 66
German Albums Chart[18] 35
Swiss Albums Chart[19] 24

Certifications

Region Certification Sales/shipments
Denmark (IFPI Denmark)[20] Gold 10,000
Germany (BVMI)[21] Gold 100,000
Poland (ZPAV)[22] Platinum 20,000
United Kingdom (BPI)[23] Silver 60,000

*sales figures based on certification alone
^shipments figures based on certification alone
xunspecified figures based on certification alone

References

  1. Published Thursday, Sep 8 2011, 16:41 BST (2011-09-08). "Katie Melua announces new album 'Secret Symphony' - Music News". Digital Spy. Retrieved 2012-03-09.
  2. http://www.allmusic.com/album/schizophonia-r30066
  3. http://www.musicperk.com/secret-symphony/
  4. "Secret Symphony: Katie Melua: Amazon.co.uk: Music". Amazon.co.uk. Retrieved 2012-03-09.
  5. "Secret Symphony (Special Bonus Edition): Katie Melua: Amazon.co.uk: Music". Amazon.co.uk. Retrieved 2012-03-09.
  6. http://www.musicweek.com/story.asp?sectioncode=1&storycode=1048801&c=1
  7. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 "Katie Melua - Secret Symphony". ultratop.be. Retrieved 2012-03-10.
  8. http://jam.canoe.ca/Music/Charts/ALBUMS.html
  9. 1 2 http://acharts.us/album/69142
  10. "Official Retail Sales Chart - sales for the period 05.03.2012 - 11.03.2012". OLiS. Retrieved 2013-09-20.
  11. http://www.officialcharts.com/archive-chart/_/23/2012-03-17/
  12. http://www.g-music.com.tw/GMusicBillboard2.aspx
  13. http://archive.is/20120723040230/http://www.chartstats.com/release.php?release=51029
  14. http://austriancharts.at/year.asp?id=2012&cat=a
  15. http://www.ultratop.be/fr/annual.asp?year=2012&cat=a
  16. http://www.ultratop.be/fr/annual.asp?year=2012&cat=a
  17. http://www.dutchcharts.nl/jaaroverzichten.asp?year=2012&cat=a
  18. http://www.viva.tv/charts/54-viva-jahrescharts-2012-album?page=4
  19. http://hitparade.ch/year.asp?key=2012
  20. "Danish album certifications – Katie Melua – Secret Symphony". IFPI Denmark. Click on næste to go to page if certification from official website
  21. "Gold-/Platin-Datenbank (Katie Melua; 'Secret Symphony')" (in German). Bundesverband Musikindustrie.
  22. "Polish album certifications – Katie Melua – Secret Symphony" (in Polish). Polish Society of the Phonographic Industry.
  23. "British album certifications – Katie Melua – Secret Symphony". British Phonographic Industry. Enter Secret Symphony in the field Keywords. Select Title in the field Search by. Select album in the field By Format. Select Silver in the field By Award. Click Search
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