Justin Guarini (album)

Background

In a radio interview, American Idol host Ryan Seacrest, remarked of Guarini, "Following his season, there was a huge hype surrounding Justin and no one could believe the hysteria. But, everything was new and they weren't quite sure what to do. With a show like American Idol the window of opportunity is very, very small. Also, Justin had creative conflicts with his record company as far as the direction of the album that additionally aided in putting him past that window of opportunity. After the first season, they learned to capitalize on the window of opportunity for non-winners keeping them in the public eye with singles, videos, rushed CDs, etc., something that didn't happen for Justin".

In an interview with MTV, Guarini spoke of the experience saying, "It really has been just Music Industry Education 101. I learned a lot from it ... And it's not a finger-pointing issue to me; I take as much responsibility as I can."

Originally the song "Sorry" was planned as the first single release from the album, but later it was decided that there would be two "first" singles. "Sorry" was released to MTV and pop radio, while his cover version of "Unchained Melody" was sent to R&B and adult contemporary stations.

Subsequently, Guarini went on to co-produce and independently release a second album, a Jazz album titled Stranger Things Have Happened, and is working on a third album, planned to be a fusion of musical genres, in collaboration with upstart label 3AM Music. Guarini also composed lyrics and/or music for songs he performed for other projects such as the documentary Project Everlasting, as well as collaborated with Jazz bassist David Hughes as a featured vocalist on his album Foreign Shores.

Personnel

Adapted from AllMusic.

Chart positions

Justin Guarini debuted at number twenty on the Billboard 200 with first week sales of 57,000 units. As of December 2, 2003 it has sold 143,000 copies in the United States.