Fairytales (Alexander Rybak album)

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Fairytales
Alexander Rybak - Fairytales (album, cover2).jpg
Studio album by Alexander Rybak
Released 29 May 2009
15 June 2009 (UK)
(see release history)
Recorded 2009 at Kitchen Studio in Oslo, Norway, Yla Studios and Lionheart Studio 2 in Malmö, Sweden
Label EMI (NOR, FIN, DEN, GER, AUT)
Universal (RUS, GRE, CYP)
Producer Kim Edward Bergseth, Henrik Wikström, Amir Aly
Alexander Rybak chronology
"Fairytales"
(2009)		 "No Boundaries"
(2010)String Module Error: Match not found2010
Singles from Fairytales
  1. "Fairytale"
    Released: 12 January 2009
  2. "Funny Little World"
    Released: 13 May 2009
  3. "Roll With the Wind"
    Released: 2 June 2009

Fairytales is the debut studio album by the Belarusian-Norwegian artist Alexander Rybak. It was released in Norway and most of Europe on 29 May 2009 (see release history). Most of the songs on the album are written and/or composed by Rybak himself.

The first single of this album is Rybak's "Fairytale", the winning song from the Eurovision Song Contest 2009. His entry broke the previous record of 292 in the festival and achieved a total of 387 points. All the participating countries (naturally excluding Norway) voted for the song.

Rybak wrote English lyrics for one Russian and one Norwegian song, for the album. The chorus in the song "Abandoned" (track #7), uses music by Kirill Moltchanov, from the theme from the 1968 Russian film Доживем до понедельника (en. We'll Live Till Monday).[1] The song "If You Were Gone" (track #6), is an English version of the Norwegian song "Vårsøg", with music by Henning Sommerro.

Track listing

No. Title Writer Length
1. "Roll With the Wind"   Mårten Eriksson, Lina Eriksson 3:34
2. "Fairytale"   Alexander Rybak 3:05
3. "Dolphin"   Rybak 4:16
4. "Kiss and Tell"   Alexander Rybak, Kim Bergseth, Piotr Andrej 3:20
5. "Funny Little World"   Alexander Rybak 3:46
6. "If You Were Gone"   Henning Sommerro, Alexander Rybak 4:31
7. "Abandoned"   Alexander Rybak, Kirill Moltchanov, Andrej 4:09
8. "13 Horses"   Alexander Rybak 5:42
9. "Song from a Secret Garden"   Rolf Løvland 3:30

Bonus track

No. Title Writer Length
10. "500 Miles"   The Proclaimers 3:24

Bonus track

No. Title Writer Length
11. "Vocalise"   Sergei Rachmaninoff 4:31

French edition

No. Title Writer Length
12. "Fairytale" (French lyrics) Alexander Rybak, Thierry Samois 3:05

Russian edition bonus track

No. Title Writer Length
10. "Fairytale (Holter/Erixson Radio Remix)" (bonus track) Alexander Rybak 2:53

Russian winter edition

Fairytales – Зимняя сказка (en. Winter Fairytales)

Standard-Edition

No. Title Writer Length
1. "Roll With the Wind"   Mårten Eriksson, Lina Eriksson 3:34
2. "Сказка (English: Skazka (Russian version of "Fairytale"))"   Alexander Rybak 3:05
3. "Dolphin"   Rybak 4:16
4. "Kiss and Tell"   Alexander Rybak, Kim Bergseth, Piotr Andrej 3:20
5. "Funny Little World"   Alexander Rybak 3:46
6. "Когда Уйдешь (Russian version of "If You Were Gone")"   Henning Sommerro, Alexander Rybak 4:31
7. "13 Horses"   Alexander Rybak 5:42
8. "Song from a Secret Garden"   Rolf Løvland 3:30
9. "Vocalise"   Sergei Rachmaninoff 4:31
10. "500 Miles"   The Proclaimers 3:24
11. "Fairytale (Bonustrack)"   Alexander Rybak 3:05
12. "If You Were Gone (Bonustrack)"   Henning Sommerro, Alexander Rybak 4:31

Digipack-Edition

1. CD: Same songs as Standard-Edition

2. DVD:

No. Title Length
1. "Fairytale (Video)"    
2. "Roll With the Wind (Video)"    
3. "Funny Little World (Video)"    
4. "Kupalinka (live in Minsk)"    

Personnel

Musicians

  • Alexander Rybak – lead vocals, violin, piano, strings. All string arrangements, song arrangements.
  • Amir Aly – acoustic guitar (track #5), guitar (#1, #6), bass (#1, No. 5, #6), programming (#1, #6)
  • Gunnar Flagstad – piano (#9)
  • Henrik Wikström – keyboards (#5), programming (#5)
  • Jorunn Hauge – background vocals (#2)
  • Kai Morten Berg – percussion (#4)
  • Karianne Kjærnes – background vocals (#2)
  • Kim Edward Bergseth – background vocals (#4, #7), guitar (#3, No. 4, #7), bass (#2, No. 3, #4, #7), programming (#2, No. 3, #4, #8)
  • Laila Samuels – background vocals (#7)
  • Mattis Lerbak – drums (#3)
  • Sylvie Loche – background vocals (French bonus track: "Fairytale")

Recording and production staff

  • Amir Aly – producer (track No. 1, #5, #6), mixing (#1, No. 5, #6)
  • Björn Engelmann Cutting Room Studios – mastering
  • Henrik Wikström – producer (#5), mixing (#5)
  • Kim Edward Bergseth – producer (#2, No. 3, #4, No. 7, #8)
  • Ulf Ø. W. Holand – mixing (#2, No. 3, #4, No. 7, #8)

Album artwork

  • Baard Lunde – photos
  • Guro Synes – artwork, design
  • Trond Kulterud – artwork, design

Release history

This list is incomplete; you can help by expanding it.
Region Date Label Format
Armenia[2] 29 May 2009 Universal CD
Austria[3] EMI CD
Azerbaijan[2] Universal CD
Belarus[2] Universal CD
Belgium[4] V2/Universal CD
Denmark[2] EMI CD; Digital download
Finland[2][5] EMI CD; Digital download
Germany[6] EMI CD; Digital download
Kazakhstan[2] Universal CD
Kyrgyzstan[2] Universal CD
Luxembourg[4] V2/Universal CD
Netherlands[4] V2/Universal CD
Norway[7] EMI CD; Digital download[8]
Russia[2] Universal CD
Romania[2] Universal CD
Switzerland[9] EMI CD
Tajikistan[2] Universal CD
Turkmenistan[2] Universal CD
Uzbekistan[2] Universal CD
Ukraine[2] Universal CD
Cyprus[2] 2 June 2009 Universal CD
Greece[2] Universal CD
Sweden[10] 3 June 2009 Lionheart CD
Estonia[11] June 4, 2009 CD
Ireland[12][13] June 15, 2009 EMI CD
United Kingdom[12][14] 15 June 2009 EMI CD
France[15][16] 17 August 2009 M6 Interactions CD
Poland[17] 21 August 2009 Universal CD

Charts

Chart (2009) Peak
position		 Certification Sales
Austrian Albums Chart[18] 46
French Albums Chart[19] 21 20,000
Belgian Albums Chart (Flanders)[20] 13
Belgian Albums Chart (Wallonia)[20] 62
Cyprus International Albums Chart[21] 9
Dutch Albums Chart[22] 29
Danish Albums Chart[23] 15
Finnish Albums Chart[24] 4
Irish Albums Chart[25] 91
German Albums Chart[26][27] 16
Norwegian Albums Chart[28] 1 3x Platinum 90,000
Polish Albums Chart[29] 7
Russian Albums Chart 1 2x Platinum 40,000
Swedish Albums Chart 2
Swiss Albums Chart[30] 65
European Top 100 Albums[31] 18

Critical reception

Professional ratings
Review scores
Source Rating
Allmusic 3.5/5 stars[32]

On 27 May 2009 Norway's biggest newspaper Verdens Gang was the first to review the album giving it top score, 6 out of 6. "Alexander Rybak has not only become a star in no time, he deserves the status as well", the paper said.[33] On the same day it was revealed that the album had been leaked illegally on the net. Norwegian newspaper Dagbladet was less enthused. "Rybak is seducing, but not entirely convincing" their critic stated, giving it 4 out of 6 points.[34] Aftenposten gave it 5 out of 6 stars, calling Rybak "a complete artist."[35] Swedish newspaper Aftonbladet, however, caused a stir by giving the record merely 1 star and hurling epithets like "violin hobbit" and "smurf hits" at the artist.[36] TV2 in Norway gave the album 4 out of 6 stars, stating that Rybak was "no one-hit-wonder at all".[37] NRK gave Rybak a good review saying that Rybak was "a good pop composer."[38] Dagsavisen gave the record 5 points out of 6, exclaiming "the fairy tale continues!"[39] The radio channel P4 Radio Hele Norge gave the album a rather poor review. Calling it a record for "13 year old girls and Eurovision enthusiasts" it got 2 stars.[40] Bergensavisen was impressed by the record, especially by the album's "personal style", and gave it 5 stars.[41]

References

  1. ↑ ДОЖИВЕМ ДО ПОНЕДЕЛЬНИКА (1968) 1/10 on YouTube
  2. ↑ 2.00 2.01 2.02 2.03 2.04 2.05 2.06 2.07 2.08 2.09 2.10 2.11 2.12 2.13 2.14 Alexander Rybak – Official Facebook Page, Facebook, May 27, 2009
  3. ↑ Alexander Rybak – Fairytales, emimusic.at
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 Fairytales, Alexander Rybak, bol.com
  5. ↑ Fairytales – Rybak Alexander, CDON
  6. ↑ Fairytales: Alexander Rybak, Amazon.de
  7. ↑ Fairytales – Rybak Alexander, CDON.eu
  8. ↑ Alexander Rybak – Fairytales (obs! fredag 29. mai) (Norwegian), EMI Norway
  9. ↑ Alexander Rybak – Fairytales, emimusic.ch
  10. ↑ Fairytales – album, Lionheart
  11. ↑ Alexander Rybaki "Fairytales" album ilmub 4. juunil (Estonian), publik.delfi.ee, May 19, 2009
  12. ↑ 12.0 12.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  13. ↑ Fairytales – Alexander Rybak, Amazon.ie
  14. ↑ Fairytales – Alexander Rybak, Amazon.co.uk
  15. ↑ Fairytales – Rybak Alexander, Amazon.fr
  16. ↑ A French version of Fairytale, esctoday.com, August 19, 2009
  17. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  18. ↑ Alexander Rybak – Fairytales, austriancharts.at
  19. ↑ Alexander Rybak – Fairytales, Acharts.us
  20. ↑ 20.0 20.1 Alexander Rybak – Fairytales, ultratop.be
  21. ↑ Alexander Rybak – Fairytales, Super FM
  22. ↑ Alexander Rybak – Fairytales, dutchcharts.nl
  23. ↑ Hitlisten.NU – Album Top-40, hitlisterne.dk
  24. ↑ Suomen virallinen lista[dead link]
  25. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  26. ↑ Alexander Rybak in den Top 20, newsticker.sueddeutsche.de, June 9, 2009
  27. ↑ Offizielle Charts, musicload.de
  28. ↑ Alexander Rybak – Fairytales, norwegiancharts.com
  29. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  30. ↑ Alexander Rybak – Fairytales, ultratop.be
  31. ↑ Alexander Rybak – Fairytales, billboard.com
  32. ↑ Allmusic review
  33. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  34. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  35. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  36. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  37. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  38. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  39. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  40. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  41. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
Preceded by Norwegian Albums Chart number one albums
2–15 June 2009		 Succeeded by
Hallelujah – Live vol. 2 by Espen Lind, Kurt Nilsen, Alejandro Fuentes, Askil Holm
Preceded by Russian Albums Chart number one albums
3 June 2009 –		 Succeeded by
Пришло наше время by Ranetki
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