Girish Mahajan (Editor)

Flyleaf (album)

Updated on
Edit
Like
Comment
Share on FacebookTweet on TwitterShare on LinkedInShare on Reddit
Released
  
October 4, 2005

Length
  
33:42

Release date
  
4 October 2005

Label
  
A&M Octone Records

Recorded
  
2005

Artist
  
Flyleaf

Producer
  
Howard Benson

Flyleaf (album) httpsuploadwikimediaorgwikipediaenthumb8

Genres
  
Alternative rock, Christian rock, Alternative metal, Hard rock, Post-grunge, Nu metal

Similar
  
Memento Mori, Between the Stars, New Horizons, 20th Century Masters, Emotive

Flyleaf is the debut studio album by American rock band Flyleaf. It was released on October 4, 2005 through Octone Records. A re-packaged CD/DVD special edition was released on October 30, 2007, which included additional acoustic tracks and music videos. The album was re-released on January 14, 2008 through Polydor Records in the United Kingdom, which included three additional acoustic tracks.

Contents

While the band's then frontwoman Lacey Sturm prominently sings, her unclean vocals are frequent throughout the album. Lyrically, the album deals with topics such as Christianity, love and death. Flyleaf received mixed reviews from music critics. It debuted at No. 88 on the Billboard 200, selling more than 13,000 copies within its first week. Due to the band's growing exposure to fame in 2007, it eventually reached its peak of No. 57 on the week of September 17, 2007, and spent more than 133 weeks on the chart. It also topped the Billboard Christian Albums chart, and has since become the ninth best-selling Christian album of the 2000s. It has sold more than 1 million copies to date, and was certified Platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA).

Background

The album was released October 4, 2005. October 30, 2007 the band re-released this album repackaged as a CD/DVD Special Edition version. The Special Edition re-release has the same tracks as the original release, with the addition of acoustic versions of "Cassie", "Fully Alive", "I'm So Sick", "All Around Me", and Red Sam (which is the only acoustic song not released as a single). The DVD has exclusive interviews with Flyleaf and music videos of "All Around Me", "I'm So Sick" and "Fully Alive". The re-release also came packaged with a free ringtone of "All Around Me" and a "locker" poster. The album was re-released January 14, 2008 in the UK on Polydor Records but with only three additional acoustic tracks.

When A&M Records teamed with Octone Records, the album was re-printed to show the new joint-venture label arrangement. This re-printed version had "Fully Alive" at a length of 2:34, replacing the original 2:48 version, and a different back cover artwork.

The single "Cassie" was written in honor of Cassie Bernall, who was killed in the Columbine High School massacre in 1999.

Promotion

The album was hugely publicized on the website Purevolume. "I'm So Sick" appears in the game Rock Band, and "Perfect" appears in the PC/Mac video game Guitar Praise. According to Rolling Stone Magazine, the band is among the 2008 breakout bands, along with Paramore.

Singles

  • Their first single released was "I'm So Sick".
  • Their second single, "Fully Alive", hit radio stations on June 6, 2006.
  • Their third and highest charting single is "All Around Me", reaching No. 40 on the Billboard Hot 100.
  • Their fourth and fifth singles, "Perfect", and "Sorrow", were then released.
  • Their sixth and final seventh singles were "Cassie", and "There for You", in which the latter of the two did not garner much attention.

    • Commercial performance

    Flyleaf sold over 13,000 copies of the Special Edition CD/DVD in the first week. They jumped 59 spots on the Billboard Top 200 chart up to No. 62. In the second week of sales for the Special Edition CD/DVD, Flyleaf sold over 10,100 copies. To date, it has sold over 1,000,000 copies in the U.S. certifying it as platinum.

    According to Billboard, the album was the ninth best-selling Christian album between the years 2000 and 2009.

    Original release

    All tracks written by Flyleaf, except "Perfect" by Flyleaf and Mark Lewis and "Red Sam", "Breathe Today" and "So I Thought" by Flyleaf and Will Hoffman.

    US Re-release

    This release included all of the standard edition tracks plus acoustic versions of 5 songs from the album.

    The album was released as a two-Disc CD/DVD package.

    It also included a bonus ringtone of the track "All Around Me" and an exclusive full-color "locker" poster.

    UK Re-release

    This release included all of the standard edition tracks plus acoustic versions of three songs from the album.

    Personnel

  • Lacey Mosley – lead vocals
  • Pat Seals – bass guitar
  • Sameer Bhattacharya – lead guitar
  • Jared Hartmann – rhythm guitar
  • James Culpepper – drums, percussion
  • Dave Navarro – additional guitar on "There For You"
  • Ryan White of Resident Hero – background vocals on "Cassie," "So I Thought," and "Red Sam"
  • Howard Benson – producer, keyboards and programming
  • Mike Plotnikoff – mixing
  • Leon Zervos & Chris Athens – Mastering at Sterling Sound, NY
  • James Diener & Ben Berkman – A&R
  • Mike Plotnikoff – recording

    • Songs

    1I'm So Sick2:56
    2Fully Alive2:47
    3Perfect2:49

    References

    Flyleaf (album) Wikipedia
    (Text) CC BY-SA