Change (Sugababes album)

Untitled

Change is the fifth studio album by English girl group the Sugababes, released by Island Records throughout October 2007 (see 2007 in music) in most European territories. Their first regular studio album with the Sugababes third line up, including Mutya Buena-replacement Amelle Berrabah, it features production by Dr. Luke, Jony Rockstar, Dallas Austin, Deekay and Xenomania, among others.

While not as successful as it s predecessor Taller in More Ways (2005) on international music markets, the album debuted on top of the UK Albums Chart, where it became the band's second consecutive number-one album and was eventually certified platinum by the BPI. In addition, it reached the top ten in Estonia and Ireland. In France, Change was adapted as the group's first greatest hits compilation.

Production and release

In early and mid 2007, the Sugababes went back into the studio to work with a number of American producers on their then-untitled fifth studio album, the band's first full studio album with Amelle Berrabah. Collaborators on the album include Dr. Luke, Danish production team DEEKAY, and Novel as well as previous collaborators Xenomania, Dallas Austin and Jony Rockstar.

AXM Magazine reported the Sugababes' assumed attempt to move into the American market with the album. On 30 August 2007, the group appeared on The Album Chart Show to perform the first single, "About You Now", and premiere another two album cuts. They also confirmed that the album's title would be Change.

The album leaked in its entirety, excluding the UK bonus track "3 Spoons of Suga", on 4 October. A day later, the bonus track was also leaked. When inserted into the computer, the UK edition disc allows access to bonus features such as remix versions of "About You Now" and a special interview with the group, plus wallpapers and photos. The French edition of Change is a greatest hits compilation because the album Overloaded: The Singles Collection was not released there, and it contains all their hits since "Overload" to "Denial".

The song "About You Now" was used in the movie Wild Child and features as track three on the soundtrack. The song "3 Spoons of Suga" appears on the soundtrack to the film St Trinian's.

Reception

Critical reviews

The album has received mixed reviews, with The Guardian calling it a "mixed bag" but applauding tracks such as "Never Gonna Dance Again" and "Back Down". Daily Star gave the album a glowing review, calling it "one of the finest contemporary pop records of the decade". The Times claimed that the album was "only slightly better than All Saints outtakes, all dated production and pop tastefulness" but complimented tracks such as "My Love Is Pink" and "3 Spoons of Suga".

Commercial performance

The album's first single, "About You Now", was digitally released on 24 September 2007 in the United Kingdom, with the physical single release a week later. The song, produced by Dr. Luke, became Sugababes' sixth number-one single in the UK and their most successful to date. The second release from the album, "Change", was digitally released on 10 December and physically released on 17 December, charting at number thirteen. "My Love Is Pink" was also released as a digital single on 10 December. The third single from the album, "Denial", was digitally released on 10 March 2008 and physically released on 17 March, peaking at number fifteen.

Within three months of sales, which amounted to over 370,000, Change became the thirty-second biggest selling album in the UK of 2007. It sold approximatively 503,854 copies in the UK.

Tracklisting

No.	Title	Writer(s)	Producer(s)	Length
1.	"About You Now"	Cathy Dennis, Lukasz Gottwald	Dr. Luke	3:32
2.	"Never Gonna Dance Again"	Keisha Buchanan, Heidi Range, Miranda Cooper, Brian Higgins, Tim Powell, Lisa Cowling, Nick Coler	Xenomania	3:43
3.	"Denial"	Range, Buchanan, Amelle Berrabah, Flex Turner, Elliot Malloy, Vanessa Brown	Elliot Malloy & Flex Turner	3:31
4.	"My Love Is Pink"	Buchanan, Range, Cooper, Higgins, Powell, Cowling, Coler	Xenomania	3:44
5.	"Change"	Lars Halvor Jensen, Martin Michael Larsson, Niara Scarlett, Range, Buchanan, Berrabah	DEEKAY	3:37
6.	"Back When"	Dallas Austin, Gary White	Dallas Austin	3:56
7.	"Surprise"	Dennis, Gottwald	Dr. Luke	3:05
8.	"Back Down"	Alonzo Stevenson, Tony Reyes, Buchanan, Range, Berrabah	Novel	3:50
9.	"Mended By You"	Range, Buchanan, Jony Lipsey, Karen Poole, Jeremy Shaw	Jony Rockstar	3:34
10.	"3 Spoons Of Suga"	Buchanan, Range, Berrabah, Lipsey, Poole, Shaw	Jony Rockstar	3:50
11.	"Open The Door"	Buchanan, Range, Dennis, Gottwald	Dr. Luke	3:16
12.	"Undignified"	Tom Nichols, Turner, Buchanan, Range, Berrabah	Flex Turner	3:45

Greatest Hits Edition

Untitled

Due to the fact that the Sugababes' Greatest Hits album, Overloaded: The Singles Collection, was not released in France, the French version of Change was adapted to become a greatest hits compilation. The album features the original Overloaded tracklisting, with the addition of "About You Now", "Denial" & "Change", the three singles released from the international version of "Change".

Tracklisting

1. "About You Now" (Album Version)
2. "Change" (Album Version)
3. "Denial" (Main Mix with Dirty Version)
4. "Freak Like Me" (Video Version)
5. "Round Round" (Single Version)
6. "Red Dress" (Live Radio Edit)
7. "In the Middle" (Radio Mix)
8. "Stronger" (Edited Version)
9. "Shape" (Video Mix)
10. "Overload" (Radio Version)
11. "Good to Be Gone" (Single Edit)
12. "Caught in a Moment"(New Mix)
13. "Ugly" (Clean Version) (A.K.A Radio Edit)
14. "Easy"
15. "Too Lost in You" (12" Version)
16. "Hole in the Head" (Dirty) (7" Mix)
17. "Push the Button"

• "Push The Button" (Dirty Version;Album Released Video)

Digital Released

• Follow Me Home (Original Radio Edit)
• Soul Sound (Official Radio Version)
• New Year (U.S. 7" Edit)
• Angels with Dirty Faces (Promo Version)

Personnel

• Dallas Austin – Drums, Keyboards, Producer
• JC Chasez – Vocal Producer
• Nick Coler – Guitar
• Miranda Cooper – Keyboards, Programming
• Pete Craigie – Engineer, Mixing
• Richard Edgeler – Assistant
• Serban Ghenea – Mixing
• Aniela Gottwald – Assistant
• Lukasz "Doctor Luke" Gottwald – Bass, Guitar, Drums, Programming
• Matt Gray – Keyboards, Programming
• Brian Higgins – Keyboards, Programming, Producer, Mixing
• Tim McEwan – Percussion
• Tom Nichols – Percussion, Programming, Producer
• Andrew Nitsch – Assistant Engineer
• Rohan Onraet – Engineer
• Chris Parmenidis – Mastering
• Tim Powell – Keyboards, Programming, Mixing
• Kurt Read – Engineer
• Tony Reyes – Guitar
• Tim Roberts – Assistant
• Johnny Rockstar – Bass, Programming, Producer, Beats
• Rick Sheppard – Engineer
• Alonzo "Novel" Stevenson – Keyboards, Vocals (bckgr), Producer, Drum Programming
• Tim VanDerKuil – Bass
• Jeremy Wheatley – Keyboards, Drum Programming, Mixing
• Steven Wolf – Producer
• Jordan Young "DJ Swivel" – Engineer

Charts and certifications

Chart (2007)	Provider	Peak position	Certification
Australian ARIA Albums Chart	ARIA	90
Austrian Albums Chart	Media Control	32
Dutch Albums Chart	MegaCharts	69
Estonian Albums Chart	IFPI	3
German Albums Chart	Media Control	33
Irish Albums Chart	IRMA	10	Platinum
Swiss Albums Chart	Media Control	14
UK Albums Chart	BPI/The Official UK Charts Company	1	Platinum
Chart (2008)	Provider	Peak position	Certification
French Albums Chart	SNEP	36

Release history

Region	Date	Label
Netherlands	1 October 2007	Island Records
Ireland	5 October 2007
United Kingdom	8 October 2007
Austria	19 October 2007
Germany
Switzerland
Australia	20 October 2007
Spain	United States		November 6, 2007
Italy	16 November 2007
France	17 March 2008

Tour

Main article: Change Tour