The Big Room

The Big Room
Studio album by M2M
Released November 2001 (Asia)
26 February 2002 (US)
Recorded 2001
Genre Pop, pop rock
Length 36:51
Label Atlantic
Producer Jimmy Brolower[1]
M2M chronology
Shades of Purple
(2000)		 The Big Room
(2002)		 The Day You Went Away
(2003)

The Big Room is the second and final studio album by Norwegian pop music duo M2M. It was released in Asia in November 2001 and in the rest of the world in early 2002. It reached No. 16 in Norway and No. 61 in Australia. Two singles were released worldwide from the album, Everything and What You Do About Me. A further two promotional singles, Don't and Wanna Be Where You Are, were released in the US and Philippines only respectively. Despite critical acclaim, sales were disappointing in comparison to their previous album, Shades of Purple. Facing mounting pressure from their record company, M2M disbanded in late 2002.

Background and composition

In April 2000 M2M said that while they were already writing songs for a new album, they had no plans to start recording yet.[2] M2M either wrote or co-wrote all the songs on the album.[1] It was recorded over six days[3] at the Bearsville Studios in New York City. The album takes its title from the main space at the recording facility. M2M dubbed their style "organic pop", as the album featured all real instruments, as opposed to most pop albums which use computerised instruments.[4]

The Big Room took a different musical direction compared to their first album Shades of Purple, replacing their bubblegum pop image with a more mature sound.[5] Karen Tye from the Herald Sun said M2M had "ditched the cutesy voices and effervescent ditties" and replaced it with acoustic pop and rock, "which on occasion borders on country".[6]

The song Everything is aimed at Zac Hanson, who Marion Raven dated briefly while M2M were on tour with Hanson. According to Raven, once the tour ended he never contacted her, effectively ending the relationship.[7] The song Miss Popular is about "that one popular girl in school who goes around bad-mouthing everyone and treating everybody like crap. In the end it all comes back to her", while Jennifer is about "the girl your boyfriend is constantly comparing you to. You really want to dislike her, but you can’t, because she’s actually really nice although the situation bothers you." Raven wrote the song Leave Me Alone about a guy who dumped her then wanted her back, and wrote the song Sometimes when she was having a really bad day and wanted just "get it out".[8]

In an interview Marion Raven said "The songs are always about things we experience and think about. This album is mostly about love, but there's also songs about jealousy, about how we see the world."[9] She also spoke about how they approached the album, saying "On the first album we were all about finding who we were. Everything was new to us, songwriting, traveling, and the producers. Everything! On this album we knew exactly what we wanted. We wanted to make a 'real' album. With a live band in the studio, with our songs and a producer we knew would listen to our ideas. It's a lot different then the first record. You change a lot from 14 to 17."[8]

Release and promotion

The album was released in Asia in November 2001 and M2M toured the Philippines in December to promote the album.[1] It was released in the US on 26 February 2002. M2M arrived in the US on March 3 to promote the album and it's lead single, Everything, however they were told by Atlantic Records that promotion of the album had been put on hold until their filmed appearance on the TV show Dawson's Creek had aired. Frustrated, M2M returned to Norway after only one week in the US. They spent three days promoting the album in Norway, four days in Spain, one day in the UK, three days in Italy, two days in Germany, two days in Sweden, one day in Denmark and one a day in Finland. The time spent promoting the album around Europe was considered below expectations, as ideally M2M would have spent two weeks promoting the album in the UK alone.[7] Verdens Gang attributed the lacklustre promotion to Atlantic Records decision to save money following the drop in record sales in the wake of the September 11 attacks. While M2M did survived a large cull of artists by Atlantic Records in an attempt to save money, the company put little money into promoting the album.[10] The Dawson's Creek episode, "100 Light Years from Home", aired on April 17 in the US, and M2M were scheduled to recommence promoting the single and album in the US in May, before moving onto Mexico, Australia and Japan.[11] They arrived in Australia in mid May.[12] They were selected as the opening act for Jewel's US "This Way" tour, which commenced on 14 June.[13] In mid July, M2M were removed as the opening act by Atlantic Records, who cited disappointing sales of The Big Room, which at that time had only sold around 100,000 units in the US. Shocked and disappointed by the decision, M2M returned to Norway.[14] The duo broke up later that year,[15] with both Raven and Larsen pursuing solo careers.

Singles

Everything was the first single from the album. It was released in Asia in October 2001 and the US on 26 February 2002. It reached No. 6 in Norway,[16] No. 27 in Australia[17] and No. 44 in New Zealand.[18] The music video was directed by Chris Applebaum. The second single was What You Do About Me. It reached No. 46 in Australia. The music video was filmed in Krabi, Thailand and was directed by Tryan George, and was to be M2M's last music video. The track Don't was released in the US-only as a promo single.[19]

Critical response

Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
Allmusic
Entertainment WeeklyB-
Groove.no
USA Today
Herald SunFavourable
The Village VoiceFavourable
Chuck TaylorFavourable
The Philippine StarFavourable

James Hunter of The Village Voice reviewed the album, saying, "This is a pop masterpiece." Hunter adds, "Given how much ornery old teenpop has long eaten into the happiness of rock fans and commentators, it's understandable that 'The Big Room' seeks to reposition M2M toward the real."[20] Chuck Taylor from Billboard said the album featured "a decidedly mature acoustic pop/rock signature, belying the tender age of the act's two singers",[21] and also gave favourable reviews of both the singles Everything[22] and Don't.[19] Groove.no gave the album five out of seven stars.[23] Entertainment Weekly gave the album a B-, concluding "The best uptempo tracks – ”Everything,” ”Miss Popular” – recall the acoustic pop of Hanson (that’s a compliment). But the gals’ wispy vocals can’t carry the ballads. A set of hits and misses, with little in between."[24] USA Today gave the album two and a half stars out of four, concluding "Larsen and Raven clearly have a flair for catchy hooks and creamy harmonies, but tunes such as Miss Popular and Wanna Be Where You Are are marred by post-adolescent melodrama and the kind of musical bombast that can get older artists into a lot of trouble. Still, M2M's relative precociousness and prowess suggest that these young women should be counted among the members of their pop class most likely to succeed in the long run."[25] The Philippine Star said the album "retain[ed] the same young, sparkling kind of effervescene that made the group such a huge success".[1]

Karen Tye spoke favourable of the album, praising M2M for using "down-to-earhtunes and thoughtful lyrics" instead of revealing outfits to propel them into the limelight, unlike many of their pop counterparts.[6] Conversely, Stephen Thomas Erlewine from AllMusic was critical of M2M's new image in the album artwork. Erlewine said they had ditched their sweet and innocent look from Shades of Purple, for "lots of makeup, crimped hair [and] fairly low-cut tops", adding "Neither are as trampy as Willa Ford, but after the deliberately sweet charms of the debut, the marketing feels nearly as shameless." He gave the album four and a half stars out of five, concluding "If M2M needs to play up their good looks to sell an album this pleasing, so be it. This is an album that deserves to find its audience, even through tactics as blatant as that."[26]

Track listing

  1. "Everything" (Marit Larsen/Marion Raven/Peter Zizzo/Jimmy Bralower) 4:11
  2. "Jennifer" (Marion Raven/Marit Larsen) 3:08
  3. "Don't" (Marit Larsen/Marion Raven) 3:27
  4. "Payphone" (Marit Larsen/Marion Raven) 3:16
  5. "What You Do About Me" (Marit Larsen/Marion Raven/Peter Zizzo/Jimmy Bralower) 3:05
  6. "Love Left For Me" (Marion Raven) 4:15
  7. "Miss Popular" (Marit Larsen/Marion Raven/Peter Zizzo) 3:06
  8. "Wanna Be Where You Are" (Marion Raven) 3:26
  9. "Leave Me Alone" (Marion Raven) 3:08
  10. "Sometimes" (Marion Raven/Marit Larsen) 2:53
  11. "Eventually" (Marion Raven/Marit Larsen) 3:01

Charts and certifications

Chart (2002) Peak
position
Australian Albums Chart[27] 61
Norwegian Albums Chart[28] 16
Country Certification Sales
Philippines 5x Platinum 110,000
Thailand 5x Platinum 300,000
Indonesia 2x Platinum 50,000

Release history

Region Date Label Format Catalog
Australia[29] 21 April 2002 Warner Music CD 7567931152

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 "M2M back with The Big Room". The Philippine Star. 8 December 2001. Retrieved 4 October 2015.
  2. ↑ "M2M chats with fans on AllPop". Canoe.com. 3 April 2000. Retrieved 29 September 2015.
  3. ↑ "Singles for M2M pair". Herald Sun (Melbourne). 16 May 2002. p. 36.
  4. ↑ "M2M makes real music". Herald Sun. 9 June 2002. p. F03.
  5. ↑ "Fremdeles uforløst". Verdens Gang (in Norwegian). 6 March 2002. Retrieved 29 September 2015.
  6. 1 2 Tye, Karen (28 April 2002). "Pop". Herald Sun (Melbourne).
  7. 1 2 "Her bryter Marion sammen i tårer over M2M-dagboken". Verdens Gang. 9 February 2013. Retrieved 1 October 2015.
  8. 1 2 Craine, Charlie (22 April 2002). "M2M – Interview". HipOnline. Retrieved 30 September 2015.
  9. ↑ "M2M - The Big Room". Girl.com.au. Retrieved 30 September 2015.
  10. ↑ "Går det mot oppløsning?". Verdens Gang. 23 July 2002. Retrieved 1 October 2015.
  11. ↑ "M2M frustrert over manglende USA-satsing". Verdens Gang. 17 April 2002. Retrieved 1 October 2015.
  12. ↑ "Singles for M2M pair". Herald Sun (Melbourne). 16 May 2002. p. 36.
  13. ↑ Barry A. Jeckell (1 March 2002). "Jewel Takes Labelmate M2M On The Road". Billboard. Retrieved 27 September 2015.
  14. ↑ "Sendt hjem fra USA". Verdens Gang. 21 July 2002. Retrieved 1 October 2015.
  15. ↑ "Her bryter Marion sammen i tårer over M2M-dagboken". Verdens Gang. 9 February 2013. Retrieved 1 October 2015.
  16. ↑ "M2M". norwegiancharts.com. Hung Medien. Retrieved 30 September 2015.
  17. ↑ "M2M". australian-charts.com. Hung Medien. Retrieved 30 September 2015.
  18. ↑ "M2M". charts.org.nz. Hung Medien. Retrieved 30 September 2015.
  19. 1 2 Taylor, Chuck (8 June 2002). "M2M Everyday". Billboard: 36. Retrieved 1 October 2015.
  20. ↑ Hunter, James (16 April 2002). "Everyone Hates Miss Popular". The Village Voice (New York City).
  21. ↑ Taylor, Chuck (4 May 2002). "M2M Resuscitation". Billboard: 70. Retrieved 1 October 2015.
  22. ↑ Taylor, Chuck (23 February 2002). "M2M Everyday". Billboard: 22. Retrieved 1 October 2015.
  23. ↑ Berge, John (12 May 2002). "The Big Room". Groove.no. Retrieved 2 October 2015.
  24. ↑ "The Big Room". Entertainment Weekly. 15 March 2002. Retrieved 2 October 2015.
  25. ↑ Jones, Steve; Gardner, Elysa; Mansfield, Brian (12 March 2002). "'Full Moon' puts Brandy into orbit ; Bobby McFerrin, M2M, Killa Beez also blast off". USA Today. Retrieved 2 October 2015.
  26. ↑ Erlewine, Stephen Thomas. "AllMusic Review by Stephen Thomas Erlewine". AllMusic. Retrieved 2 October 2015.
  27. ↑ "ARIA Top 100 Albums - Week Commencing 20th May 2002" (PDF). ARIA Charts (Australian Recording Industry Association Ltd.). 15 April 2002. Retrieved 1 October 2015.
  28. ↑ "M2M - THE BIG ROOM (ALBUM)". Norwegiancharts.com (IFPI Norway). Retrieved 4 October 2015.
  29. ↑ "ARIA New Releases Albums - Week Commencing 29th April 2002" (PDF). ARIA Charts (Australian Recording Industry Association Ltd.). 2002-04-29. Retrieved 4 October 2015.
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