Into the Rush

Into the Rush
Studio album by Aly & AJ
Released	August 16, 2005 (2005-08-16) (see release history)
Recorded	2004—2005
Genre	Teen pop, dance-pop[1]
Length	46:09 55:53 (Deluxe edition)
Label	Hollywood Records
Producer	Antonina Armato, Andy Dodd, Matthew Gerrard, Leah Haywood, Daniel James, Tim James, Jon Lind (exec.), Adam Watts
Professional reviews
About.com link Allmusic link Christianity Today link Common Sense Media link Jesus Freak Hideout link Kidz World link
Aly & AJ chronology
Into the Rush (2005) Acoustic Hearts of Winter (2006)
Alternate covers
Japanese cover
Deluxe Edition cover
Singles from Into the Rush
"Do You Believe in Magic" Released: February 15, 2005 "No One" Released: March 18, 2005 (Radio Disney) "Walking on Sunshine" Released: June 22, 2005 (Radio Disney) "Rush" Released: October 14, 2005 "Never Far Behind" Released: March 1, 2006 "On the Ride" Released: March 7, 2006 (Radio Disney) "Chemicals React" Released: June 15, 2006 "Shine" Released: October 11, 2005 "Something More" Released: March, 2007 (Radio Disney)

Into the Rush is the debut album from teen pop duo Aly & AJ. The original version was released on August 16, 2005. It featured 14 tracks including the singles "Rush", "No One", "On the Ride", "Do You Believe in Magic" and "Walking on Sunshine". A deluxe edition was released on August 8, 2006, featuring three all new songs, two new mixes of previous songs and a bonus music video DVD.

The album had sold nearly 800,000 copies by July 8, 2007^[2] and was certified gold on March 20, 2006.

Track listing

1. "Rush" – 3:11
2. "No One" – 2:58
3. "Collapsed" – 2:53
4. "Something More" – 3:36
5. "On the Ride" – 3:31
6. "Speak for Myself" – 3:10
7. "Out of the Blue" – 2:58
8. "In a Second" – 3:35
9. "I Am One of Them" – 3:25
10. "Sticks and Stones" – 3:47
11. "Protecting Me" – 2:59
12. "Slow Down" – 3:55
13. "Do You Believe in Magic" – 2:14
14. "Walking on Sunshine" – 3:54

Christian Re-release:

15. "Never Far Behind" – 3:19 (edition bonus track released October 4, 2005)

Japan Edition:

15. "Never Far Behind" – 3:19 (bonus tracks edition released February 8, 2006)
16. "Rush" (live show mix) (bonus tracks edition released February 8, 2006)
17. "No One" (live show mix) (bonus tracks edition released February 8, 2006)

Deluxe Edition

• Disc 1

1. "Chemicals React" – 2:55
2. "Shine" – 3:25
3. "Never Far Behind" – 3:19
4. "Something More" – 3:36
5. "Collapsed" – 2:53
6. "Rush" – 3:11
7. "No One" – 2:58
8. "On the Ride" – 3:31
9. "In a Second" – 3:35
10. "Speak for Myself" – 3:10
11. "Out of the Blue" – 2:58
12. "I Am One of Them" – 3:25
13. "Sticks and Stones" – 3:47
14. "Protecting Me" – 2:59
15. "Slow Down" – 3:55
16. "Do You Believe in Magic" – 2:14
17. "Walking on Sunshine" – 3:54

• Disc 2 - DVD

1. "Chemicals React"
2. "Chemicals React" [Animated Simlish Version]
3. "Rush"
4. "On the Ride" (Target special bonus only)

Critical reception

The album received mixed reviews from critics. Fran Grauman from about.com gave the album a 4 star rating, praising Aly and AJ's "ton of talent" and "experience."^[3] Allmusic gave the album a mixed review, saying it "doesn't venture further than offering a few empowering ballads", to hand them 2.5 stars after. AMG does praise them for having a real singing ability, citing "Aly & AJ can actually sing — their vocals have more way personality than prefab Disney hopefuls like Hayden Panettiere or Caleigh Peters — and the arrangements are slick without resorting to flashily empty pap". The review finishes with "Into the Rush is listenable, likeable, and more about being memorable than being Disney product."^[4]

The album, combined with the sales of the Deluxe Edition, became the 112th best-selling album in the United States in 2006.^[5]

Singles

Two main singles were released from the album, one from the original edition ("Rush") and one from the Deluxe Edition ("Chemicals React"). Aside from these two, seven other songs were chosen to promote the album throughout the album run, but did not receive nation-wide release. Many of them were Disney releases, some tracks were also released to Christian radio stations and some served as download-only singles:

• "Do You Believe in Magic" was the first single, prior to the release of "Rush", their first mainstream single. The song was sent to Radio Disney stations first, and to iTunes soon afterwards to become a digital single. A music video is also present for the song, the girls are shown entering a room and covering the song using their guitars with additional scenes of them playing around.
• "No One" also was a Radio Disney single with a music video. The music video features scenes from the Ice Princess movie, along with the girls in a house, looking through the window, going through letters and playing the guitar again.
• "Walking on Sunshine", a cover of the Katrina and the Waves' song, was the third and last Disney Radio-only single prior to the release of "Rush". The song also has a music video, shortened to 1:31 though, viewing them arriving at a set and performing the song in front of the shooting crew. Along with those scenes, they're shown singing the song in front of a tropical and sunset background, also being carried away on surfboards.
• "Rush" was the first official mainstream-released single from the duo. The song was first released to Disney radios in October 2005, but got real success when it got a full release in February 2006. Therefore, the song has two music videos, one for Disney and one for main television, which was directed by Marc Webb. The song finally reached number fifty-nine (#59) on the Billboard Hot 100.
• "Never Far Behind" was their first non-Disney release, but a Christian (Rock) radio release in March 2006. It also was their first single without a music video. The song also appears on the Christian release of the original album, and was later featured on the re-release. The song reached number twenty-eight (#28) on the Billboard Hot Christian Songs.
• "On the Ride" was their fourth Disney-only single, released at the same time "Never Far Behind" was also released. It also got digital release. "On the Ride" was released with Cow Belles, a Disney Channel movie in which the girls play the lead role. Its music video has scenes from the movie merged in it.
• "Chemicals React" is the second main single, and the first serving and promoting the Deluxe Edition of Into the Rush. Its music video was directed by Chris Applebaum and features Aly & AJ performing the song on a set-up stage. The song became their second Hot 100 entry, reaching the top 50 reaching number fifty (#50). Its moderate success in the U.S. led to an international (European) release, but failed to generate success there.
• "Shine" was recorded to be featured on the re-release of the album. It became their second and last Christian release in December 2006, but did not match the success "Never Far Behind" brought on the Christian radios.
• A new version of "Something More", which is featured on the Deluxe Edition, was the last song from the album that was released to Radio Disney.^{[citation needed]} It also is their first Disney-released single without a video.

Further track information

In popular culture

Many songs from Into the Rush have been featured on television and in movies.

• "Protecting Me" (an alternate version was featured in an episode of Phil of the Future)
• "On the Ride" (featured in the Disney Channel Original Movie Cow Belles)
• "No One" (featured on the Ice Princess soundtrack)
• "Rush" (featured in Disney Girlz Rock, as a Bratz Rock Angelz video game background track, and in the Disney Channel Original Movie Twitches)

The cover songs from the album have also made their way into popular media, such as:

• "Walking on Sunshine" (Herbie: Fully Loaded soundtrack)
• "Do You Believe in Magic" (featured in Now You See It..., and the 2007 movie, The Game Plan)

The whole album has been made available for airplay on last.fm.^[6]

• Note: The Japanese version of the album features three bonus tracks: "Never Far Behind", "Rush" (Live Show Mix) and "No One" (Live Show Mix). "Never Far Behind" was also available as a bonus track in Christian stores in the US.
• Note: The iTunes special edition features "No One" (Live Show Mix) and "Do You Believe in Magic" (Single Version).

The Simlish version of Chemicals React can be downloaded on iTunes.

Charts

Into the Rush debuted at #36, selling 25,000 copies in its first week. The album spent 40 weeks on the U.S. Billboard 200. The album's last position was 123 before falling off the next week. The album sold nearly 800,000 copies total. The album was selling more than 25,000 copies a week for nearly 30 weeks.

Release history

References