Recorded 1996–97 | ||
Released December 1, 1997 (1997-12-01) (Europe)
June 16, 1998 (1998-06-16) (US) Genre Teen pop, pop rap, dance-pop Length 46:23
52:18 (1998 release) Label Edel America, Trans Continental Records Producer Veit Renn, Gary Carolla, Johnny Wright | ||
Aaron Carter is the self-titled debut studio album by American pop singer Aaron Carter, brother of Backstreet Boys member Nick Carter. It was originally released in December 1997 in Europe and re-released the next year with a new song and a remix, as well as being released in the United States in the summer of 1998. The original version of the album was also available as a limited edition including a poster and a pen that had written on the side, "I Love Aaron", available in red, yellow, green or blue.
Contents
The album reached the top 10 in some European countries, and reached number 12 in the United Kingdom. While it did not chart on the US Billboard 200, it did manage to reach number 17 on the US Top Heatseekers chart, and sold more than 100,000 copies in the United States.
Three singles were released from the album; "Crush on You", a cover of The Jets' 1985 song, "Crazy Little Party Girl", and "I'm Gonna Miss You Forever". Other songs were released as limited edition singles in some regions. "Crush on You" and "Crazy Little Party Girl" went top 10 and 20 respectively in Australia, while both went top 10 in the UK. All three singles went top 20 in Germany and Sweden, with "I'm Gonna Miss You Forever" peaking at number 24 on the UK Singles Chart.
"Surfin' U.S.A.", a cover of the 1963 song by The Beach Boys, was later included on the re-release edition of the album, and released separately as an EP, and went top 20 in the UK and Germany.
When the album was first made available to purchase on iTunes, it strangely featured a Parental Advisory label next to the songs. This was changed to a "clean" label at a later date; however, no "explicit" version exists, as none of the songs actually feature any profanity or suggestive themes, partly due to Carter's age at the time (he became ten years old six days after the album's release); and intended audience.
The album sold more than 1 million copies worldwide.
Track listing
- "Intro" – 1:09 (only on some releases)
- "I Will Be Yours" (Carolla) – 3:34
- "Crazy Little Party Girl" (Applegate) – 3:26
- "One Bad Apple" (George Jackson) – 3:14
- "I'm Gonna Miss You Forever" (Carolla) – 3:48
- "Tell Me How to Make You Smile" (Carolla, Granati, Granati, Sparacino) – 3:47
- "Shake It" featuring 95 South (Carolla, Smith) – 3:22
- "Please Don't Go Girl" (Starr) – 4:23
- "Get Wild" (Carolla, Jordan, McGuffey) – 4:44
- "I'd Do Anything" (Carolla) – 4:11
- "Ain't That Cute" (Carolla, N. Carter, Littrell) – 3:14
- "Crush on You" (Knight, Zigman) – 3:27
- "Swing It Out" (Renn, Skinner) – 3:56
Other versions
The Japanese version of the album includes stickers and bonus tracks:
The Canadian version has a different cover and includes a poster (different from the one that came with the German version) and has the same track listing but without the Intro.
There was also a limited edition bonus CD pack available, and with it came cards, stickers and a bonus CD featuring:
Singles
- "Crush on You" (1997)
- "Crazy Little Party Girl" (1997)
- "I'm Gonna Miss You Forever" (1998)
- "Surfin' USA" (1998; released as a single/EP and included on the US edition and later on the re-release)
"Shake It" (featuring 95 South) was also released as a single in Australia and New Zealand, charting in both; at number 44 in New Zealand, and below the top 50 at number 66 in Australia.