Right Now (Atomic Kitten album)

Background

When Kerry Katona left the band she was replaced by Jenny Frost. At the same time "Whole Again" was climbing up the charts, so it was decided to shoot a new video. After the success of "Whole Again", the album was remastered and re-released with Jenny Frost. The album therefore made two appearances in the charts, with the first appearance being a moderate success and the second appearance going to number one with 47,000 copies sold in its first week of release. During every subsequently released single, the album re-entered the top 40 and even re-entered during the 2002 tour. Atomic Kitten had re-released Right Now to feature the vocals of Frost and add the new tracks "Eternal Flame", "You Are" and "Tomorrow and Tonight". "Cradle" and "Follow Me" kept the vocals of Katona, as did several other tracks including "See Ya" and "I Want Your Love", but the latter two were labeled bonus tracks and shifted to the end of the album. "Whole Again" and "Right Now" were re-recorded for the multi-platinum album.

There are three versions of the album—the original which peaked at number thirty-nine, the re-issue which topped the UK Albums Chart, and the rare original Japanese release.

Atomic Kitten embarked on an Asian tour early on in their career and the album was first released in Japan, where they had first number one hit with "Cradle". Due to this Asian success, Atomic Kitten rush-released the album there. Right Now was subsequently released in the United Kingdom on 23 October 2000 with a slightly modified track listing, but at first there were no plans to focus on the worldwide market. After the success of "Whole Again", the album and single were released globally except for the United States and it was decided to release the newly recorded cover song, "Eternal Flame", as well and make an additional single for the European, Australian, South African and New Zealand audiences, "You Are". A combination of their next album Feels So Good and Right Now was later released for the American audience and titled Atomic Kitten.

One of the early ideas for Atomic Kitten was that of a cartoon pop band influenced by Japanese manga comics. That is why many songs on the original version of Right Now are highly pop-oriented. Due to the success of "Whole Again", the re-issue of Right Now contained a more mature pop sound, as Atomic Kitten were leaving their old pop sound behind. Instead, ballad-based songs like "Eternal Flame", "Tomorrow and Tonight" and "You Are" were included on the album.

Chart performance

The original version of the album debuted at number thirty-nine, dropping to seventy-four in its second week. It spent a total of four weeks on the chart. It was re-issued due to the success of "Whole Again", where it topped the charts. It stayed in the top 100 for thirty-seven weeks. It was eventually certified double platinum. In Switzerland, the album debuted at number twenty-six. However, it wasn't until fourteen weeks later that the album reached its peak position of number four. This was around the time of the release of "Eternal Flame". It was certified gold. The album was also peaked at number four and was certified gold in Denmark. The album also reached the top ten in Germany, Austria, Belgium, and the Republic of Ireland. In New Zealand the album was certified platinum in and it peaked at number twelve, managing to spend twenty-five weeks on the chart. In Australia, the album peaked at number eighty-six, something the group was not expecting after "Whole Again" was certified double platinum. The album peaked at sixty-one in France.

Editions

There are three versions of the album: the original Japanese edition, the original UK edition (which were both released with the original line-up featuring Kerry Katona), and the re-issue (which was with the second line-up featuring Jenny Frost).

The original Japanese edition was released first and features rare versions of various tracks. The album features an exclusive song entitled "Real Life", the final mix version of "Holiday" (which was included as the B-side to the single "Whole Again" in demo form), a rare remix of "Cradle" and "Bye Now", the Japanese version of "I Want Your Love" titled "All the Right Things", the original version of "Whole Again" featuring Kerry Katona speaking all of the verses in the song (while all the Kittens sing the chorus), and an exclusive remix of "Right Now".

The original UK edition features a different track listing. Replacing "Holiday" and "Real Life" are "Get Real", "Turn Me On" and lead single (fourth overall) "Follow Me". Also included is a new mix of "I Want Your Love" (subtitled the "album version") that is closer to the single mix. This edition also features the version of "Whole Again" (where the verses are sung) that went to No. 1 on the UK Singles Chart when released as a single (concurrent with Kerry Katona leaving the band). The Japanese edition was re-released to be more like the UK edition and featured a bonus cover of "Daydream Believer".

Due to the fact "Whole Again" was such a success and that Kerry Katona was no longer in the group, a re-issue was released in the UK featuring a new track order and re-recordings of songs to incorporate replacement Jenny Frost. Songs which featured a solo for Kerry, such as "Whole Again", "Turn Me On", "Bye Now" and "Right Now", were all re-recorded. A new mix of "Cradle" and a few other tracks were also included. "Do What You Want", a song that prominently features the vocals of Kerry Katona, is not included on the re-issue while "See Ya" and "I Want Your Love" were not re-recorded and were relegated to bonus tracks at the end of the album. "Do What You Want" and the placement of "See Ya" and "I Want Your Love" on the main album were replaced by new songs "Tomorrow & Tonight", "You Are" and, lead single for the re-issue (sixth overall), "Eternal Flame". "Eternal Flame" would become another big hit for the group, becoming their second No. 1.

The UK re-issue is the only edition available through digital outlets like iTunes. However, this edition replaces the ballad-like album version of "Eternal Flame" with the commercial single version ("You Are" remains the album version).

Track listing

Notes:
¹ Features vocals by Jenny Frost
² Features vocals by Kerry Katona