Elle'ments

Background

The members of No Angels were formed through on the RTL2 channel's first series of Popstars, a reality talent show which set about producing a five-piece girl group. After several elimination rounds, Nadja Benaissa, Lucy Diakovska, Sandy Mölling, Vanessa Petruo and Jessica Wahls were chosen, and signed a recording contract with Polydor. With the final members of the group in place, the program followed the group during its recording sessions, photo and music video shoots and other promotional commitments such as showcases and instores. For their English language debut album, the band worked a small group of German-based music producers, including Thorsten Brötzmann, Peter Ries, Leslie Mándoki, and Rosenstolz member Peter Plate, many who later became frequent collaborators.

Style and lyrics

Elle'ments takes influence from a number of different genres, such as Europop, teen pop, electro, and dance, and combines elements from pop rock, drum and bass, and contemporary R&B. The album received comparisons to artists such as Britney Spears, Destiny's Child, and the Spice Girls.

Chart performance

In March 2001, No Angels released Elle'ments in German-speaking Europe where it became an unprecedented success due to the sheer volume of interest in the group. The album debuted at number one on the Austrian, German, and Swiss Albums Charts, making the band's the first act ever to simultaneously top the albums, singles, and airplay charts – along with "Daylight in Your Eyes" – in all three territories. In Germany, Elle'ments peaked at number one for three consecutive weeks in which it passed the sales mark of 500,000 units. By August 2001, it had reached double platinum status, indicating sales in excess of 600,000 copies. Following the release of its Special Winter Edition in October, Elle'ments re-entered the top ten at number seven. In total, the album spent 74 consecutive weeks within the top 100 of the German Albums Chart and was eventually certified tripe platinum and 7× Gold by the Bundesverband Musikindustrie (BVMI) for domestic sales in excess of 1.05 million copies. It was the highest-selling album of 2001 in Germany.

In Austria, Elle'ments charted four non-consecutive weeks at the top of the Ö3 Austria Top 40 Longplay chart. It was certified platinum by IFPI Austria, indicating sales in excess of 40,000 units, and became the fifth highest-selling album that year. In Switzerland, the album sold further 40,000 copies and also was awarded a platinum certification by IFPI Switzerland. It spent four non-consecutive weeks at number-one on the Swiss Hitparade and was ranked ninth on the Swiss year-end albums chart. Elle'ments also debuted at number six on Billboard's European Top 100 Albums chart, and peaked at number five in its third week of release. Altogether, the album became the 41st biggest-selling album of 2001 in Europe – the only entry for any international Popstars winner that year – and was certified platinum by the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry (IFPI) for shipments of one million copies. In total, the album sold 1.1 million copies worldwide, becoming the most successful girl group album in German music history as well as the biggest-selling product to emerge from the Popstars reality television franchise. In 2013, Elle'ments was ranked among the twenty best-selling German albums of all time.

Track listing

Credits adapted from the liner notes of Elle'ments.

Credits and personnel

Production

Leftover tracks