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Unfabulous and More

 
Album Review: Unfabulous and More

  • Artist: Emma Roberts
  • Rating: StarStarStarHalf Star
  • Release Date: September 27, 2005
  • Type: Lyrics are included with the album
  • Genre: Rock

Review

Half soundtrack, half teen pop debut album, Emma Roberts' Unfabulous and More features songs from the Nickelodeon series Unfabulous -- in which Roberts plays Addie Singer, a sensitive but sassy 13 year old who writes songs to cope with the ups and downs of adolescence -- as well as a few new tracks. Much like Hilary Duff's first forays into pop during Lizzie McGuire, Roberts is fresh and genuine, and the album is filled with sweet, idealistic songs sung by a young girl who sounds like a young girl instead of a pop tart. Unfabulous and More is just as musically eclectic, if not more so, than many of the albums by established teen divas: it spans the big, shiny pop of "I Wanna Be," the spunky rock of "Punch Rocker," and "Say Goodbye to Jr. High," a detailed look into the inner workings of the junior-high caste system set to bittersweet synth pop, in just the first three tracks. Like many other teen pop albums, there's a small army of writers, producers, and musicians responsible for these songs, but Unfabulous and More actually manages to sound like the voice of one girl. Many of the best songs were written by Jill Sobule, whose work has always had a sometimes-sweet, sometimes-sharp insight into young women's thoughts. "New Shoes" captures the giddy delight of getting a new pair of kicks, while "94 Weeks (Metal Mouth Freak)" nails the prison-like feeling of putting your teeth in a cage. Though the song is more than a little self-pitying, and much like having braces, goes on a little too long, it's still kind of remarkable that this teenage rite of passage and the worries surrounding it (will you still like me if I have braces?) hasn't had a song dedicated to it before. Songs like "Mexican Wrestler" and "Dummy" -- a kiss-off song dedicated to a friend who's becoming a poser -- also add some quirky but perceptive twists to teen angst. Unfabulous and More may be too earnest and innocent for fans of glossier, more glamorous teen pop, but based on these songs, it's easy to hear why Unfabulous, and Roberts, strike a chord with teenage girls. ~ Heather Phares, All Music Guide

Tracks

Track TitleComposersPerformersTime
I Wanna Be Daniel Holter Emma Roberts (3:14)
Punch Rocker (Lyrics) Jill Sobule Emma Roberts (2:33)
Say Goodbye to Jr. High (Lyrics) Anjulie Persaud Emma Roberts (3:39)
I Have Arrived Jeannie Lurie, Lindsay Sorensen Emma Roberts (3:23)
94 Weeks (Metal Mouth Freak) Jill Sobule Emma Roberts (3:49)
This Is Me (Lyrics) Marshall Altman, Emma Roberts, Erin Workman Emma Roberts (3:40)
Dummy (Lyrics) Franne Golde, Kasia Livingston Emma Roberts (3:08)
Mexican Wrestler (Lyrics) Jill Sobule, Robin Eaton Emma Roberts (5:02)
We Are Gonna Happen (Lyrics) Emma Roberts (3:35)
New Shoes (Lyrics) Jill Sobule Emma Roberts (2:15)

Credits

Denton Whited (Drums), Paul Bushnell (Group Member), Aaron Sterling (Group Member), Brian Malouf (Engineer), John Levine (Piano), Dino Meneghin (Group Member), Gabriel Mann (Keyboards), Lindsay Sorensen (Vocals (Background)), George Fullan (Engineer), Pablo Arraya (Digital Editing), Matthew Smith (Engineer), Jon Levine (Piano), Dorian Crozier (Group Member), Anjulie Persaud (Group Member), Keeley Hawkes (Vocals (Background)), Gabriel Mann (Group Member), Jill Sobule (Guitar (Acoustic)), Mark Rogers (Group Member), Julian Coryell (Group Member), Marshall Altman (Vocal Producer), Paul Bushnell (Bass), Dean Drouillard (Guitar), Jill Sobule (Vocals (Background)), John Hampson (Guitar), Tim Devine (A&R), Marshall Altman (Programming), Lee Nadel (Bass), Brian Malouf (Mixing), Nick DiMichino (Group Member), Dino Meneghin (Guitar), Big Stu (Drum Programming), Mike Standal (Guitar (Electric)), Stephen Marcussen (Mastering), John Hapmson (Group Member), Aaron Sterling (Drums), Marshall Altman (Group Member), Mark Rogers (Bass), John Hampson (Leader), Anjulie Persaud (Vocals (Background)), Jill Sobule (Group Member), Lee Nadel (Group Member), Marcia Rogers (Bass), Aimee MacAuley (Art Direction), Marshall Altman (Engineer), David Robert Sweeney (Management), Marshall Altman (String Programming), Julian Coryell (Guitar), Nick DiMichino (Bass), David Sweeny (Management), Jason Angel (Engineer), Daniel Holter (Keyboards), Erin Workman (Vocals (Background)), Marshall Altman (Digital Editing), Vincent Tattanelli (Drums), Michael Kotch (String Programming), John Levine (Group Member), John Hapmson (Guitar), Jason Angel (Digital Editing), Joe Zook (Engineer), Marshall Altman (Editing), Marshall Altman (A&R), Doug Tyo (Engineer), John Levine (Keyboards), Anjulie Persaud (Percussion), Jim McGorman (Keyboards), Denton Whited (Group Member), Brian Malouf (Producer), Zach Danziger (Percussion), Jon Levine (Keyboards), Jim McGorman (Group Member), Big Stu (Programming), James "Big Jim" Wright (Photography), Yurko Mychaluk (Guitar), Christine Fiene (Production Coordination), Sean Hurley (Bass), Sean Hurley (Group Member), Brian Scheuble (Engineer), Jon Levine (Leader), Samantha Murphy (Vocals (Background)), Yurko Mychaluk (Group Member), Vincent Tattanelli (Group Member), Marshall Altman (Producer), Dean Drouillard (Group Member), Dorian Crozier (Drums), Greg Kolchinsky (Engineer), Dan Gross (Engineer), Daniel Holter (Programming)
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Wikipedia: Unfabulous and More
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Unfabulous and More
Soundtrack companion album by Emma Roberts
Released September 27, 2005
Recorded at Phase One Studios (Toronto, Canada), Pie Studios (Glen Cove, New York), House Of Blues (Encino, California), and Unpronounceable Symbol (Encino, California)
Genre Pop, Teen pop, Pop Rock
Length 36:01
Label Columbia Records
Nick Records
Producer Brian Malouf, Marshall Altman
Professional reviews
Emma Roberts chronology
- Unfabulous and More
(2005)
TBA
(2010)
Singles from Unfabulous and More
  1. "I Wanna Be"
    Released: September
  2. "Dummy"
    Released: December

Unfabulous and More is the soundtrack for the TV series Unfabulous. It also serves as Emma Roberts's debut album, released on September 27, 2005 by Columbia Records and Nick Records.

The album contains songs from the show's first season, as well as several new songs, including I Wanna Be and "Dummy, both of which also have music videos.

The song Mexican Wrestler, which was sung by Emma in the episode The 66th Day, was originally on Jill Sobule's 2000 album Pink Pearl.

It is also one of Sony BMG's albums using the controversial Extended Copy Protection, a rootkit (a hidden program similar to a trojan horse or a computer virus), which installs itself when the CD is inserted into a Microsoft Windows computer, and prevents any external media player or ripper software to access the data on the CD.[1] As of 2006, new copies of the album are being made without the Extended Copy Protection program.

Contents

Track listing

  1. "I Wanna Be" (Daniel Holter, Michael Standal) – 3:11
  2. "Punch Rocker" (Jill Sobule) – 2:33
  3. "Say Goodbye to Jr. High" (Anjulie Persaud) – 3:39
  4. "I Have Arrived" (Jeannie Lurie, Holly Mathis, Lindsay Sorensen, Christopher Sorensen) – 3:23
  5. "94 Weeks (Metal Mouth Freak)" (Sobule) – 3:49
  6. "This Is Me" (Marshall Altman, Emma Roberts, Erin Workman) – 3:40
  7. "Dummy" (Franne Golde, Kasia Livingston, Andrew Williams) – 3:08
  8. "Mexican Wrestler" (Robin Eaton, Sobule) – 5:02
  9. "We Are Gonna Happen" (Dave Derby, Colleen Fitzpatrick, Michael Kotch) – 3:35
  10. "New Shoes" (Sue Rose, Sobule) – 2:16

Reception

Although not a commercial success, the soundtrack was warmly received by music critics and fans of the show. Heather Phares from allmusic gave the album a 4 star rating, praising Emma's fresh and genuine voice, and claiming the album is "filled with sweet, idealistic songs sung by a young girl who sounds like a young girl instead of a pop tart."[citation needed] Common Sense Media gave the album a 3 star rating.[citation needed]

Chart performance

The album was not a success but it did manage to peak at #46 on Billboard's Top Heatseekers album chart. None of the singles managed to peak on any chart of the Billboard Magazine. "I Wanna Be" was the lead single released from the album in early September. Dummy was released to coincide with the release of the album in September 2005.

Notes

A video that appeared on the Internet in August 2006 featuring an interview with Emma, featured a demo version of "I Wanna Be" along with an alternate tracklisting for the album, referenced as "Unfabulous: The Soundtrack." This version included alternate names for songs (besides listing "94 Weeks (Metal Mouth Freak)" as two different tracks), an extra track, "Mirror," and the omission of "Say Goodbye to Jr. High." This tracklisting follows:

  1. "I Have Arrived"
  2. "I Wanna Be"
  3. "Dummy"
  4. "Mexican Wrestler"
  5. "94 Weeks"
  6. "Mirror"
  7. "New Shoes"
  8. "Punch Rock"
  9. "We R Gonna"
  10. "Metal Mouth"
  11. "This Is Me"

- "I Wanna Be" and "Dummy," respectevily were both released as singles. "I Wanna Be" was released to radio in September and "Dummy" was released in early December. Both songs had promotional videos that received heavy rotation on Nickelodeon during the summer of 2006.

- For a limited period of time this album was being sold at Sony Music Store with an exclusive poster and a bonus booklet signed by Emma Roberts. This version is no longer being sold, although some copies of the signed booklet may still be found on Ebay.

Credits

  • Paul Bushnell – bass
  • Julian Coryell – guitar
  • Dorian Crozier – drums
  • Zach Danziger – percussions
  • Nick Dimichino – bass
  • Dean Drouilliard – guitars
  • John Hampson – guitars
  • Keely Hawkes-Pressly – background vocals
  • Daniel Holter – keys
  • Sean Hurley – bass
  • Jon Levine – piano, keyboards
  • Gabriel Mann – keyboards
  • Jim McGorman – keys
  • Dino Meneghin – guitar
  • Samantha Murphy – background vocals
  • Yurko Mychaluk – guitars
  • Lee Nadel – bass
  • Anjulie Persaud – background vocals, percussion
  • Marc Rogers – bass
  • Jill Sobuleacoustic guitar, background vocals
  • Lindsay Sorensen – background vocals
  • Michael Standal – electric guitar
  • Aaron Sterling – drums
  • Vince Tattanelli – drums
  • Denton Whited – drums
  • Erin Wirkman – background vocals

Chart performance

Chart Peak
position
US Billboard Top Heatseekers 46

External links

This album has been released with the Copy Control protection system in some regions.


 
 

 

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Album Review. Copyright © 2009 All Media Guide, LLC. Content provided by All Music Guide ®, a trademark of All Media Guide, LLC. All rights reserved.  Read more
Wikipedia. This article is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article "Unfabulous and More" Read more