Released November 24, 1997 Length 55:52 Release date 24 November 1997 | Recorded 1997 Artist Natalie Imbruglia Label RCA Records | |
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Producer Matt Bronleewe, Mark Goldenberg, Phil Thornalley, Andy Wright, Gareth Parton, Nigel Godrich Left of the Middle
(1997) White Lilies Island
(2001) Genres Pop music, Rock music, Pop rock, Acoustic music, Trip hop, Post-grunge, Dream pop Nominations Grammy Award for Best Pop Vocal Album Similar Natalie Imbruglia albums, Rock music albums | ||
Left of the Middle is the debut studio album by Australian singer Natalie Imbruglia. Released in 1997, the album was a worldwide hit. Spurred by the success of lead single "Torn", the album reached number one in her home country and the top 10 in both the UK and US. It won the 1998 ARIA Music Award for Best Pop Release. The album went on to secure Imbruglia three Grammy nominations, Best Pop Vocal Album, Best Female Pop Vocal Performance for the lead single "Torn", and Best New Artist.
Contents
RCA released Left of the Middle in the United Kingdom on December 8, 1997. The album’s first single, “Torn” quickly topped the British charts, even nudging out Elton John’s “Candle in the Wind” in October of 1997 for the No. 1 spot. Although the record and single were not released in the United States until spring 1998, Imbruglia was already gaining attention with the American alternative/pop audience. KROQ radio station is the first radio station that gave "Torn" its first spin in the US, for which many radio stations soon followed due to overwhelming on-air requests. Radio stations began playing “Torn” as import single weeks before the album’s official debut in the United States.
Imbruglia performed live on MTV for the debut of her “Torn” video on March 6, 1998, followed the next night by an appearance on the television comedy show Saturday Night Live. On March 10, 1998, Left of the Middle entered store shelves in the United States and entered the Billboard chart at No. 10, selling more than 84,000 copies. The album went certified platinum just five weeks after its release date, making it the fastest album to break that mark in RCA history. By March 18, 1998, Imbruglia’s first album became the largest debut for a new, alternative pop–rock female artist in history, selling more in its first week than records by Alanis Morissette, Meredith Brooks, and Fiona Apple combined. The album sold over 7 million copies worldwide by 2002, making it the best-selling debut album ever by a female Australian singer. The single "Identify", which Imbruglia recorded for the soundtrack of the 1999 film Stigmata, only appears on the Taiwanese edition of the album.
Natalie imbruglia torn
Critical reception
Billboard 200 (March 1998):
Set up by the runaway success of the alterna-pop single "Torn", debut album by Australian child actress-turned-songwriter Natalie Imbruglia exploded onto The Billboard 200 at No. 10 last issue and stays impressively high this issue. The photogenic, UK-based singer--whose career path is not too different from that of Canadian contemporary Alanis Morissette--stands to follow the success of "Torn" with such other viable pop and rock cuts as "Leave Me Alone", "Don't You Think", "Impressed" and "Wishing I Was There". An album with ample possibilities at modern AC, modern rock, mainstream rock, and pop stations.
Songs
1Torn4:19
2One More Addiction3:31
3Big Mistake4:33