A Girl Like Me (Emma Bunton album)

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A Girl Like Me
BuntonAGirlLikeMe.jpg
Studio album by Emma Bunton
Released April 16, 2001
Recorded July 1999–October 2000
Biffco Studios
(Dublin, Ireland)
Boundary Row Studios, Olympic Studios, Rokstone Studios, Sarm West Studios
(London, England)
The Loft Recording Studios
(Bronxville, New York)
Sound Gallery Studios
(Los Angeles, California)
Genre
Length 45:40
Label Virgin
Producer
Emma Bunton chronology
A Girl Like Me
(2001)		 Free Me
(2004)Free Me2004
Alternative cover
Japanese cover
Japanese cover
Singles from A Girl Like Me
  1. "What I Am"
    Released: 1 November 1999
  2. "What Took You So Long?"
    Released: 2 April 2001
  3. "Take My Breath Away"
    Released: 27 August 2001
  4. "We're Not Gonna Sleep Tonight"
    Released: 10 December 2001

A Girl Like Me is the debut solo album by English recording artist Emma Bunton, released in the United Kingdom on 16 April 2001 by Virgin Records. The album debuted and peaked at number four on the UK Albums Chart, with 21,500 copies sold in its first week. Although initial success was promising, A Girl Like Me fell down the chart quickly. However, singles "What I Am", "What Took You So Long?", "Take My Breath Away" and "We're Not Gonna Sleep Tonight" helped the album stay on the UK Albums Chart for several weeks. On 7 September 2001, A Girl Like Me was certified gold by the British Phonographic Industry for shipments in excess of 100,000 copies.[1]

Critical reception

Professional ratings
Review scores
Source Rating
AllMusic 3/5 stars[2]
CHARTattack (2.5/5)[3]
Hot Press unfavourable[4]
NME (6/10)[5]

A Girl Like Me received mixed to positive reviews from music critics. Stewart Mason of AllMusic felt that Emma's singing voice lacked depth but that it worked well with the well-crafted and addicting pop songs, concluding that "A Girl Like Me isn't an album for the ages, but it's better than 'not bad.'"[2] Timothy Park of NME said that there were great tracks and Emma performs them adequately but felt the album lacked ambition or honesty, concluding that "'A Girl Like Me', like Emma, is very sweet but, like Emma also, it has no balls."[5] Erik Missio of CHARTattack said he saw promise in the album but felt disappointed by its attempts to resemble the Spice Girls' sound.[3] Stephen Robinson of Hot Press criticized the tracks for being overly sweet and borrowing from other genres but being unoriginal with them, calling it "another album to chuck aboard the pop blandwagon."[4]

Track listing

Credits adapted from the liner notes of A Girl Like Me.[6]

No. Title Length
1. "What Took You So Long?"   3:59
2. "Take My Breath Away"   3:34
3. "A World Without You"   4:53
4. "High on Love"   3:49
5. "A Girl Like Me"   4:01
6. "Spell It O.U.T."   3:12
7. "Sunshine on a Rainy Day"   4:17
8. "Been There, Done That"   3:05
9. "Better Be Careful"   3:19
10. "We're Not Gonna Sleep Tonight"   3:23
11. "She Was a Friend of Mine"   3:34
12. "What I Am" (with Tin Tin Out) 4:34
Total length:
 45:40

Personnel

  • Emma Bunton – vocals
  • Tom Bender – mixing assistant (track 3)
  • Stefan Boman – string engineer (track 3)
  • Jason Bonilla – engineer (track 10)
  • Chris Braide – arranger (tracks 6, 8)
  • Will Catterson – engineer (track 10)
  • Dylan "3D" Dresdow – mixing (track 10)
  • Matt Fields – mixing assistant (track 1)
  • Andrew Frampton – producer, arranger (tracks 6, 8); string arrangements (track 6)
  • Daniel Frampton – engineer (tracks 6, 8)
  • Ulf Forsberg – string concertmaster (track 3)
  • Julian Gallagher – producer (tracks 1, 4, 9)
  • Brad Gilderman – mixing (tracks 6, 8, 11)
  • Mick Guzauski – mixing (track 3)
  • Simon Hale – string arrangements (track 4, 9); brass arrangements (track 9)
  • Al Hemberger – engineer (tracks 3, 5, 11)
  • Ash Howes – engineer (tracks 1, 4, 9); programming (tracks 1, 4); mixing (track 4)
  • Nick Ingman – string arrangements (track 6)
  • Henrik Janson – string arrangements, string conductor (track 3)
  • Ulf Janson – string arrangements, string conductor (track 3)
  • Lawrence Johnson – additional vocal arrangement (track 7)
  • Jan "Stan" Kybert – mix engineer, Pro Tools (track 1)
  • Rhett Lawrence – producer, arranger, programming, engineer, mixing, guitar (track 10)
  • Chris Laws – engineer (track 2)
  • Evan Lloyd – assistant engineer (track 10)
  • Steve Mac – producer, arranger, mixing (track 2)
  • Dave "Hard Drive" Pensado – mixing (track 10)
  • Steve Price – string engineer (track 6)
  • Terry Richardson – photography
  • Evan Rogers – producer (tracks 3, 5, 11)
  • Ian Ross – design
  • Ruth Rowland – lettering
  • Ramon Stagnaro – guitar (track 10)
  • Richard "Biff" Stannard – producer (tracks 1, 4, 9)
  • Mark "Spike" Stent – mixing (track 1)
  • StoneBridge – additional producer, mixing, keyboards (track 5)
  • Carl Sturken – producer (tracks 3, 5, 11)
  • Alvin Sweeney – additional engineer (track 1, 4, 9); Pro Tools (track 1)
  • Tin Tin Out – producer, mixing (tracks 7, 12)

B-sides

Title Single B-side Producer(s) Length
"(Hey You) Free Up Your Mind" What Took You So Long? CD Single Rhett Lawrence 3:21
"Merry-Go Round" Carl Sturken, Evan Rogers 3:54
"Close Encounter" Take My Breath Away CD Single Andrew Frampton 3:32
"Invincible" Take My Breath Away DVD Single Bryan Adams, Phil Thornalley 3:01
"Let Your Baby Show You How To Move" We're Not Gonna Sleep Tonight CD Single Rhett Lawrence 3:07

Known Outtakes

  • "To Have To Let Go" - 4:18
  • "That's Why It Hurts" - 3:35
    • Leaked online on 22 May 2016.

Charts

Chart (2001) Peak
position
Australian Albums Chart[7] 86
Austrian Albums Chart[8] 75
Danish Albums Chart[9] 23
Finnish Albums Chart[10] 38
French Albums Chart[11] 79
German Albums Chart[12] 67
Irish Albums Chart[13] 55
New Zealand Albums Chart[14] 21
Scottish Albums Chart[15] 6
UK Albums Chart[16] 4

Certifications

Country Certification
United Kingdom Gold[1]

Release history

Country Date Label
United Kingdom 16 April 2001 Virgin Records
Australia 14 May 2001 EMI

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
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  15. ↑ http://www.officialcharts.com/charts/scottish-albums-chart/20010422/40
  16. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
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