Awake (Josh Groban album)

Awake
Studio album by Josh Groban
Released November 7, 2006
Genre Operatic pop, Classical, Classical crossover, Pop rock
Label Reprise
143
Producer David Foster
Josh Groban chronology
Closer
(2003)		 Awake
(2006)		 Noël
(2007)
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
Allmusic [1]

Awake is the third studio album by American singer-songwriter Josh Groban. Announced on September 13, 2006, it is his third studio album, and a follow-up to his multi-platinum album Closer. Awake was released on November 7, 2006.

The album was certified 2x platinum in the US by the RIAA on January 31, 2008, and has sold 2.3 million albums as of October 2015.[2] It is the third top selling classical album of the 2000s in the US, according to Nielsen SoundScan.[3]

Album information

The album's first single is "You Are Loved (Don't Give Up)". The album features producers Imogen Heap, Marius De Vries, Guy Sigsworth, Eric Mouquet, Glen Ballard, and David Foster (who also worked on previous Groban works). As with all Josh Groban albums, songs on Awake are performed in English, Italian and Spanish. The album offered a more modern vibe to his voice by using more instruments aside from the occasional classic piano accompaniment in his previous albums. The album also featured Groban's head voice technique as evident in most of the tracks in the album.

Awake additionally features tracks that credit Groban's recent movements in South Africa. "Lullaby" and "Weeping" (album tracks 11 and 12) are sung by him in conjunction with the renowned South African musical group Ladysmith Black Mambazo, with further contributions from Vusi Mahlasela and Dave Matthews. "Weeping", a pop song originally composed in South Africa, is thematically oriented with the country's history of Apartheid.[4] "Lullaby" is a track included in the album as a supplement to "Weeping", considered one of the album's major highlights. "Lullaby" is meant to flow gaplessly into "Weeping", but the rest of the album uses gaps. The song "Now or Never" was produced and co-written with English singer/songwriter Imogen Heap.

"You Are Loved (Don't Give Up)" peaked at #9 on the Hot Adult Contemporary Tracks chart, while "February Song" and "Awake" each peaked at #13 on the same chart.

Track listing

  1. "Mai" (Leo Z., Andrew Sandri, Marco Marinangeli) - 4:35
  2. "You Are Loved (Don't Give Up)" (Thomas Salter) - 4:49
  3. "Un Día Llegará" (Oksana Grigorieva, Claudia Brant) - 4:18
  4. "February Song" (Josh Groban, Marius de Vries, John Ondrasik) - 5:12
  5. "L'ultima Notte" (Marinangeli) - 4:22
  6. "So She Dances" (Asher Lenz, Adam Crossley) - 4:54
  7. "In Her Eyes" (Michael Hunter Ochs, Jeff Cohen, Andy Selby) - 4:54
  8. "Solo por ti" (Mark Hammond, Marinangeli) - 3:59
  9. "Now or Never" (Groban, Imogen Heap) - 3:38
  10. "Un Giorno per Noi" (Nino Rota, Lawrence Kusik, Edward A. Snyder, Alfredo Rapetti) - 5:11
  11. "Lullaby" (featuring Ladysmith Black Mambazo) (Groban, Dave Matthews, Jochem Van Der Saag) - 2:32
  12. "Weeping" (featuring Ladysmith Black Mambazo and Vusi Mahlasela) (Dan Heymann) - 4:45
  13. "Machine" (featuring Herbie Hancock) (Groban, Eric Mouquet, Dave Bassett) - 4:54

Bonus track listing

  1. "You Raise Me Up" (Brendan Graham, Rolf Løvland) (European bonus track) – 4:50
  2. "Verità" (Richard Page, Per Magnusson, David Kreuger) (Special edition bonus track) - 4:01
  3. "Awake" (Groban, Mouquet, Salter) (Special edition bonus track) - 5:11
  4. "Smile" (Charlie Chaplin, Geoffrey Parsons, John Turner) (Website exclusive[5]) - 3:43

Certifications

Region Certification Certified units/Sales
Australia (ARIA)[6] Gold 35,000^
Canada (Music Canada)[7] 2× Platinum 200,000^
France (SNEP)[8] Gold 75,000*
Ireland (IRMA)[9] Gold 7,500^
New Zealand (RMNZ)[10] Gold 7,500^
United Kingdom (BPI)[11] Gold 100,000^
United States (RIAA)[12] 2× Platinum 2,300,000[2]

^shipments figures based on certification alone

References

General references
Specific references
  1. ↑ Awake at AllMusic
  2. 1 2 Caulfield, Keith (October 23, 2015). "Josh Groban's 'Stages' Hits Half-Million in U.S. Sales". Billboard. Prometheus Global Media. Retrieved October 25, 2015.
  3. ↑ "Classical Albums | Billboard.com". billboard.com. Retrieved 17 January 2012.
  4. ↑ Heymann, Dan. "Weeping Lyrics". Weeping, The South African Anti-Apartheid Protest Song. Archived from the original on 10 July 2007. Retrieved 2007-07-14. External link in |publisher= (help)
  5. ↑ Awake Exclusive Edition in the Internet Archive
  6. ↑ "ARIA Charts – Accreditations – 2007 Albums". Australian Recording Industry Association.
  7. ↑ "Canadian album certifications – Josh Groban – Awake". Music Canada.
  8. ↑ "French album certifications – Josh Groban – Awake" (in French). Syndicat National de l'Édition Phonographique.
  9. ↑ "Irish album certifications – Josh Groban – Awake". Irish Recorded Music Association.
  10. ↑ "New Zealand album certifications – Josh Groban – Awake". Recorded Music NZ.
  11. ↑ "British album certifications – Josh Groban – Awake". British Phonographic Industry. Enter Awake in the field Keywords. Select Title in the field Search by. Select album in the field By Format. Select Gold in the field By Award. Click Search
  12. ↑ "American album certifications – Josh Groban – Awake". Recording Industry Association of America. If necessary, click Advanced, then click Format, then select Album, then click SEARCH

External links

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