THE E.N.D. (short for THE ENERGY NEVER DIES) is the 5th studio album by Americanpop group The Black Eyed Peas. The album was first released in Japan on 3 June 2009, and worldwide six days later. Critics described the album as containing more anthemic and inspirational songs in the group's bid to appeal to a new generation of music listeners.
Three promotional singles, "Imma Be", "Alive", and "Meet Me Halfway", were released through the iTunes Store in the three weeks running up to the album's release. The album gave the group their first, second, and third US number one hits with "Boom Boom Pow", "I Gotta Feeling", and "Imma Be" which topped the Billboard Hot 100 for 12, 14, and 2 weeks respectively. Boom Boom Pow and I Gotta Feeling led the Hot 100 back to back, putting the band at #1 on the chart for a record breaking 26 consecutive weeks (half a year). The third single, "Meet Me Halfway", along with the first two, topped several charts around the world including the United Kingdom and Australia. To Date the album has sold over 7 million copies worldwide .
Name
The album name was thought about since 2006, around the time Fergie released The Dutchess. Originally, they were going to call it Evolution, but that was also the name for what would become Ciara's second studio album. The album title was then tentatively changed to From Roots to Fruits, before the group decided this title may be better suited for a futurecompilation album. The name was changed again to The Energy Never Dies, before being shortened to The E.N.D. The name was confirmed by will.i.am in an interview promoting the release of his third studio album, Songs About Girls.[3]
Themes
In an interview with Billboard magazine, will.i.am stated that "The E.N.D." stands for "The Energy Never Dies", which describes his model for a project that will be living and frequently updated throughout its designated cycle. "It's a diary [...] of music that at any given time, depending on the inspiration, you can add to it," the artist/producer/songwriter explains."I'm trying to break away from the concept of an album. What is an album when you put 12 songs on iTunes and people can pick at it like scabs? That's not an album. There is no album anymore." He described the music as "a lot of dance stuff, real melodic, electronic, soulful. We call it, like, electric static funk, something like that."[4] Following its release, will.i.am remarked that the album had been inspired by a trip to Australia, specifically the sound of The Presets' "My People". "The energy on the Presets' small little stage was crazy energy. That song 'My People' (he sings the chorus) - that . . . is wild," will.i.am said, "That's the reason why this record sounds the way it does - my three months in Australia."[5]
Singles
"Boom Boom Pow" was released as the lead single on March 10, 2009. It reached the top spot on the U.S. BillboardHot 100, making it the groups first number-one song in America. It stayed at the top spot for twelve consecutive weeks, making it the second longest-running single to stay atop the chart in 2009. Also reached number one in Australia and the UK Singles Chart. The song Won Best Short Form Music Video at the 52nd Grammy Awards. This song is Song Of The Year in Billboard Hot 100 Year End Chart 2009.
"I Gotta Feeling" was released as the second single released on June 16, 2009. It replaced "Boom Boom Pow" as the number-one song in America making them only the fourth group to replace themselves at number-one in the chart's history. "I Gotta Feeling" remained at the top spot for fourteen consecutive weeks, making it the longest-running single to stay atop the chart in 2009. The song also reached number one in Australia and the UK. The song won Best Pop Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocals at the 52nd Grammy Awards.
"Meet Me Halfway" was released as the third single on September 22, 2009. It was originally released as the third and last digital promotional single for the E.N.D. on June 2. The song is their third consecutive number one in Australia and UK. It also peaked at seven on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100, making it the groups third top ten single from The E.N.D.
"Imma Be" was released on December 15, 2009 as the fourth U.S. single. As of February 25, 2010, the song has reached number one on the U.S. Hot 100, becoming the fourth top 10 single from the album and the 3rd U.S. #1 single from the album and as a group. The song reached the top 5 in Canada, due to a significant increase in digital downloads after the group performed it at the 52nd Grammy Awards,[6] as well as radio airplay.[7][8]
"Rock That Body" is the fifth single from the album and the fourth international single. It was released in Australia in January 2010 and was released in the UK on March 15, 2010. The song was officially sent to U.S. radio stations on May 11, 2010.[9] The single also peaked at number nine on the Billboard Hot 100, making it their fifth top ten single from The E.N.D.
"Missing You" began to have heavy airplay in France[10] and in Australia.[11] The song was released on June 7, 2010.[2] It has reached 10 on the official French Airplay Chart[12] and 19 on the French Digital Chart.[13] It is also being used in many adverts in the UK, causing it to rise on UK iTunes. A remix single was released to the Australian iTunes store on June 13.[14]
"Alive" was the second promo single from the album as part of "The Countdown to The E.N.D." The first being "Imma Be" and the third being "Meet Me Halfway" which were later commercial singles.
"Boom Boom Guetta" (David Guetta's Electro Hop Remix)
David Guetta
4:01
Notes
The Deluxe Edition bonus disc contains enhanced video content if bought from Target.
The French version of the second disc in the Deluxe Edition features David Guetta's remixes (11. "Boom Boom Guetta (David Guetta's Electro Hop Remix)" and 12. "I Gotta Feeling (David Guetta's FMIF Remix)").
In Japan and some other international markets the standard edition of the album also includes "Mare" as track 16 and "Simple Little Melody" as track 17.
"Welcome to the E.N.D." is not included on the iTunes version of the album.
"Imma Be" and "Rock That Body" have also been merged into a feature length music video called "Imma Be Rockin That Body", which is roughly 10 minutes and 20 seconds in length.[18]
All running times (of songs) are according to the album.
The album received either mixed or positive reviews from critics, and was given a metascore of 60 out of 100 on Metacritic,[29] higher than their 2005 album Monkey Business but lower than their 2003 breakout Elephunk, with critics agreeing that the album has more of a dance-oriented sound than its predecessors. However it is here that opinions began to differ with Entertainment Weekly describing the album as pure Top 40 nirvana[30] while PopMatters concludes that after listening to the album and "dancing all night [...] you just may not be able to respect yourself in the morning".[31] Despite the mixed reviews, the album gained 6 nominations for the 52nd Grammy Awards and won the Grammy Award for Best Pop Vocal Album on January 31, 2010.[32] The album also nominated for Album of The Year, but lost to Taylor Swift's Fearless.
Commercial
The album debuted at number one in Australia, number two in New Zealand and three in the United Kingdom. The album debuted at number one on the Billboard 200 chart and has sold 2,718,300 copies in the United States to date,[33] becoming the ninth album to top the one million mark in sales in 2009.The album has spent 38 weeks within the top 10 of the Billboard 200. The E.N.D. was the 7th best-selling album of 2009 in the U.S.[34] As of September 2, 2010, with 64 weeks on the Billboard 200 charts, the album has sold 2,756,700 units.[35]
The album experienced a strong run in the UK Album Charts, peaking at number three for eight non-consecutive weeks. In Australia, the album was number 84 on the decade-end chart. The decade-end chart also revealed the album to be the third most successful album of 2009.[36]
