Cover for side two of the album which was independently released as the Jack Back Mixtape
7 is the seventh studio album by French DJ and record producer David Guetta, released on 14 September 2018 by What a Music, Parlophone and Big Beat Records. Released as a double album, the collection features commercial pop collaborations on the first disc, whilst disc two features underground house music akin to Guetta's starting roots as a DJ. The latter is credited to Jack Back, which Guetta revealed to be his alias and as a means to release more dance music alongside his pop collaborations. This side of the album is known as the Jack Back Project and was also released independently as a mixtape titled the Jack Back Mixtape, preceded by the release of the song "Overtone". 7 is David Guetta's first album since 2014's albumListen.
Upon release, the album garnered mixed reviews from critics who were torn between the predictability of Guetta's collaborations, with some praising the second side of the album a return to his roots as an underground DJ. 7 was released on 28 September 2018 as a CD and vinyl. The album made several top-ten debuts including in Australia, Belgium, France, Italy and the UK and Ireland. In the US, the album opened at number 37 on the Billboard 200 albums chart although it did top become Guetta's third Dance/Electronic Albums chart topper.
Background and release
7 is a two-disc collection, with the first disc including Guetta's commercial pop collaborations.[2] The second disc features a mixtape of undergroundhouse and dance music[2][1] credited to Jack Back which was revealed to be an alias of Guetta's.[3] The album's name has a special meaning to Guetta; elaborating on the theme and name of the album he said "it is my seventh album, but the number seven also represents the end of a cycle; a week is seven days, the creation of the world in the Bible is seven days and my birthday is on (Nov. 7). That number is kind of magic to me."[4] In an interview with DJ Pete Tong, Guetta said the album represented a full cycle and return to his house roots. "I originally started in underground house music, playing all the raves and underground clubs in Paris. I wanted to make music just for fun, with absolutely no commercial approach to it. I want to make every type of music that I like, I'm doing it for the love of music."[3]
"It represents a different side of me. Basically, I come from house music, and I wanted to go to my roots and just do something for fun. It's a double album, so the idea is not to compromise. The first album is completely pop, and the second album is completely underground. Instead of trying to do a little bit of everything on the same record I'm like, OK, let’s go hard! All the way pop and all the way electronic." — Guetta on his "double album" and alias 'Jack Back'.[2]
Alongside the release of the album's official singles, a number of other songs were released throughout the recording of the album. On 27 March 2017, Guetta released "Light My Body Up" featuring frequent collaborator Nicki Minaj and Lil Wayne which reached the top twenty in Finland and France but only reaching number 64 in the UK. This was then followed on 28 April by the release of "Another Life", a collaborative release with Dutch DJ Afrojack and featuring vocals from singer songwriter Ester Dean. Then "Complicated" with Dimitri Vegas & Like Mike featuring Kiiara was released on 28 July.
On 9 September, Guetta released a mixtape of the second side of the album as a DJ Mix. The Jack Back Mixtape contains the 12 songs released under his alias 'Jack Back'.[3] Additionally in the run up to 14 September, Guetta released a series of teaser videos via his official instagram, each video features music from the album and together, the screencaps of the videos make up the album cover.[7]
Singles
"2U" featuring Justin Bieber was released as the album's first single on 7 June 2017.[8] The song peaked in the top-ten of over 15 countries worldwide including in the UK, much of Europe and Australia and New Zealand.[9] This was followed up by "Dirty Sexy Money", with Afrojack and featuring vocals from Charli XCX and French Montana.[10] Guetta described the collaboration as the type of song "he'd always wanted to make".[11] "Dirty Sexy Money" peaked in the top-thirty in France, top-forty in the UK and top-ten on many dance charts.[12]
On 24 August 2018, Guetta simultaneously released two further singles from the album, "Goodbye" with Jason Derulo (featuring Nicki Minaj and Willy William) and "Drive", a collaboration with South African DJ Black Coffee and featuring vocals from Delilah Montagu.[15] Both songs debuted on the US BillboardDance/Electronic Songs at numbers 12 and 31 respectively, making Guetta the artist with the most entries on the chart since its creation, bringing his total to 34.[16]
7 received mixed reviews from music critics. When describing the music releases of the week, MTV described the album as "huge" and "filled with features and bops that will keep you dancing 'till 2019."[22] In writing for Rolling Stone, Elias Leight said that the first half of the album was familiar territory for Guetta, "stuffed to bursting with the type of cross-genre collaborations that made Guetta a global star".[20] He also remarked that Guetta's album was in keeping with current trends by including Afro-house (his Black Coffee collaboration) and reggaeton with two songs featuring J Balvin. He rounded off his review by saying that Guetta missed the trick by revealing he was being the alias 'Jack Back', "it would have been bolder, of course, if Guetta had dropped an album under a fake name and kept his identity secret. But there's no point in being bold when there’s money to be made by hedging bets".[20]The Times' Will Hodgkinson described the album as "Guetta having his cake and eating it,". According to Hodgkinson, "disc one features cheesy pop; disc two showcases his credible roots as a house and techno DJ." He also criticised the commercial collaborations as "formulaic hit fodder" for "drowning in a sea of Auto-tune".[21]
In a more positive review AllMusic's Neil Z. Yeung gave the album 4 out of 5 starts saying that Guetta "entered a free-spirited, late-era comfort zone, making music for the fun of it instead of chasing another radio smash," and comparing disc one to a "festival headlining set, building nicely before an unrelenting middle stretch that winds down the euphoria at the close." Yeung also described the album as "celebratory", and finished his review by saying "Not since One Love (2009) has Guetta sounded as uplifted or invested. 7 is a pure joy to experience and a reminder that Guetta is still a master of the genre."[18]
Guetta is credited for writing and producing all of the songs on the standard and limited editions of the album. Additional credits are provided below.[24]
^"Czech Albums – Top 100". ČNS IFPI. Note: On the chart page, select 38.Týden 2018 on the field besides the words "CZ – ALBUMS – TOP 100" to retrieve the correct chart. Retrieved 26 September 2018.
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