Mandy Moore (album)

Background

After releasing her sophomore album, I Wanna Be with You, Moore noted that "All of the music has started to look and sound the same" and that she decided that it was time for her to move away from that. She stated in a Billboard interview that she wanted "no more dancer, no more singing to tracks. I got tired of that in a big way".

Composition

The opening track, "In My Pocket" is a mix of techno/R&B beats with a Middle Eastern sound; the song was slightly more mature than other Moore songs and was an entirely different approach for her as an artist at the time. "You Remind Me" is a dance-pop song; it was written by Enrico Cremonesi, P. Aaron and R. Safinia. "Saturate Me" is an Arabic-flavored hip hop ballad song that lasts 4 minutes and 2 seconds. According to the digital sheet music published at Musicnotes.com, the song is composed in the key of D♭ major and is set in the time signature of common time (4/4) with a moderate tempo of 96 beats per minute. "One Sided Love" is a dance-pop song with middle eastern influences that lasts for four minutes and five seconds, is composed in the key of E♭ major and is set in time signature of common time, with a moderate tempo of 96 beats per minute. "17" is also a teen pop and dance-pop song that lasts for 4 minutes. The song is composed in the key of D major and is set in time signature of common time. "Cry" details the story of a girl who first thought her lover to be insensitive, until one day she saw him cry. "You were all by yourself, staring up at the dark gray sky, I was changed...". The song was written and produced by James Renald. "Crush" is a teen pop and dance-pop song that features a heavy dance beat, and lasts 3 minutes and 43 seconds. According to the digital music sheet published at Musicnotes.com, the song is composed in the key of B major and has a common time signature with a tempo of 108 beats per minute. "It Only Took a Minute" is a romantic teen pop song that draws influences from R&B, with a length of 3 minutes and 40 seconds. The song is composed in the key of B♭ major, has a common time signature and a moderately slow tempo of 96 beats per minute. "Turn the Clock Around" is a teen pop and dance-pop song that lasts for three minutes and thirty seconds. The song is composed in the key of C harmonic minor and is set in the time signature of 4/4 common time with a moderate tempo of 96 beats per minute. Moore's vocal range spans over two octaves from Eb3 to G5. "Yo-Yo" is a teen pop and dance-pop that lasts for 4 minutes and 17 seconds. According to the sheet music published at musicnotes.com by Universal Music Publishing Group, the song is composed in the key of F major and is set in time signature of common time with a tempo of 112 beats per minute. "From Loving You" is a teen pop ballad that lasts for 3 minutes and 34 seconds. "Split Chick" is a teen pop and dance-pop song that lasts for 3 minutes and 44 seconds. "When I Talk to You" is a romantic teen pop song and final track on the album. Moore stated that the song had been written while her and Matthew Hager were waiting to do a soundcheck. The song was also the first co-written by Moore to be included on one of her albums and it would not happen until 2007's Wild Hope, entirely co-written by Moore (Coverage consisted solely of covers).

Critical reception

The album received a score of 56 out of 100 at review aggregator Metacritic, indicating "mixed or average reviews".

AllMusic was very positive in its review, stating, "Mandy Moore manages to pack more hooks, melody, beats, clever production flourishes, and fun into its 13 tracks than nearly all of its peers – remarkably, it's a stronger album, through and through, than either of Britney's first two albums or Christina's record...immaculately crafted, precisely polished, & exactly what a teen pop album should be."

Entertainment Weekly gave the album a B−, saying that Moore "tries out new sounds -- Eastern rhythms, jangly percussives -- that help separate her from the pack. Best of all, she spares us 'Look at Me!' vocal gyrations in favor of a breathy Natalie Imbruglia vibe. [...] [A]s teen pop goes, it could be a lot worse."

Rolling Stone also gave the album praise, commenting, "It's so rare and refreshing when a teen star takes the high road...[Mandy's] CD offers the most startlingly liberated teen pop since Eighties mall-rat icon Tiffany euphemistically declared herself 'New Inside'."

Slant Magazine noted that "Mandy Moore is a refreshingly modest pop/rock excursion that gives Moore the opportunity to differentiate herself from the competition and further solidifies a promising musical future." It was given an honorable mention in the magazine's top music picks of 2001.

The album was chosen as one of Amazon.com's Best of 2001.

Commercial performance

The album debuted in the top 10 on the ACRpop charts and number 35 the U.S. Billboard 200. The album was certified gold. Four singles reached the Top 40 Mainstream chart in the US, including "In My Pocket", "Crush", "Cry", and "17" was released in Asia, but none reached the Billboard Hot 100. The album had sold 462,000 copies in the US, according to Nielsen SoundScan. The Japanese release of the album also featured an additional song entitled "It's Gonna Be Love". This song can also be found on the A Walk to Remember soundtrack.

The album also achieved moderate success worldwide, with Epic deciding that they would release the album where the first one did well. Mandy Moore performed well in Asia, being certified 4× Platinum in Philippines and 33rd Best Selling Album of All Times in the Philippines which sold 200,000 copies. In New Zealand it became her second album to hit the top 40, peaking at #39. It reached No. 37 on the Australian ARIA Charts, her highest to date.

Promotion

Moore had her first headlined show, called "Mandy Moore Live @ ShoutBack", where she performed the songs:

In addition, Moore performed several songs live on TV shows, such as on TRL ("In My Pocket" and "Crush"), MTV Asia Sessions ("In My Pocket", "I Wanna Be with You" and "When I Talk to You"), The Rosie O'Donnell Show ("In My Pocket"), Miss Teen USA ("Crush"), Live with Regis and Kelly ("Cry"), The Tonight Show with Jay Leno ("Crush"), Channel V ("Crush"), and at the MTV Asia Awards ("Cry" as a duet with Regine Velasquez), amongst others. None of the songs from the record were performed at any of Moore's shows after promotion of the album had ceased.

Singles

The first single released from the album was "In My Pocket", which was released on May 29, 2001. Though the song did not become a huge hit, it provided Moore a bit more of a unique sound and image, helping her to break through the stereotypical pop princesses such as Britney Spears, Christina Aguilera and Jessica Simpson, all of whom she had spent much of her career previous to this song being compared to. "In My Pocket" missed the Billboard Hot 100 but charted on the Bubbling Under Hot 100 Singles chart at number two (equivalent to #102) on June 12, 2001. It performed modestly on CHR radio (the format in which Moore received most of her airplay), peaking at number twenty in Radio & Records. The song also peaked at number twenty-one on the Pop 100 chart, where it stayed for nine weeks. However, the song performed fairly well outside of the United States in countries like Australia, where it reached number eleven. The music video was directed by Matthew Rolston and was shot in a nightclub that was given a Middle Eastern look to match the similar feel of the song itself, including belly dancers and fire blowers. Mandy sat on a throne and watched almost as if she were royalty. In other scenes, Mandy is seen dancing and almost flirting with one of the dancers.

The follow-up single, "Crush", became an even more disappointing single in regards to chart success. The "Crush" music video was directed by Chris Applebaum and edited by Nabil Mechi. On September 10, 2001, it became Moore's first video to reach the number-one spot on MTV's countdown show Total Request Live. In the video, Moore sits in her crush's room and tries to wake him up. She performs with her band in another room. The video ends with Moore wearing a replica of the jacket Michael Jackson wears in the "Thriller" music video.

The final single from the album, "Cry", was given a limited release and was also available on the A Walk to Remember soundtrack. Though the song was a favorite of Moore's, the single only faired a little better than "Crush"; it did not become a huge US hit and unlike previous singles, "Cry" was not released in Australia. It did, meanwhile, become a number one hit in the Philippines. It became the first ever Song of the Year of myx, and several other radio stations.

"17" and "Saturate Me" was also released as a double single in Asia where it gained minor success.

According to her manager, there were plans to release more singles from the album. However, "Mandy's whole world isn't riding on this project. We're building a long-term career, not simply working a record. This project has already done a good job of establishing that she's not a cookie-cutter teen artist."

Personnel

Credits for Mandy Moore adapted from AllMusic.