Piece by Piece (Katie Melua album)

Piece by Piece
Studio album by
Katie Melua
Released26 September 2005
Recorded2004–2005
StudioEwshot Hall
Genre
Length44:32
LabelDramatico
ProducerMike Batt
Katie Melua chronology
Call Off the Search
(2003) 		Piece by Piece
(2005) 		Pictures
(2007)
Singles from Piece by Piece
  1. "Nine Million Bicycles"
    Released: 19 September 2005
  2. "I Cried for You"
    Released: 2005
  3. "Spider's Web"
    Released: 17 April 2006
  4. "It's Only Pain"
    Released: 11 September 2006
  5. "Shy Boy"
    Released: 20 November 2006
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[1]
Rolling Stone[2]

Piece by Piece is the second studio album by British jazz and blues singer Katie Melua. It was released on 26 September 2005 by Dramatico Records. In the United Kingdom, the album debuted at #1 with 120,459 copies sold in its first week.[3]

Its first single, Mike Batt's song "Nine Million Bicycles", became Melua's first top five hit in the UK and caused controversy when science writer Simon Singh said the lyrics "demonstrates a deep ignorance of cosmology and no understanding of the scientific method". After an amusing and good-natured debate in the Press Melua eventually recorded Singh's version, which both agreed was scientifically accurate and musically pathetic.[4]

The second single was a double A-side comprising "I Cried for You" and a cover of The Cure's "Just Like Heaven". The former song was written after Melua met the writer of The Holy Blood and the Holy Grail and is about Jesus and Mary Magdalene, while the latter was recorded for the soundtrack to the film Just Like Heaven. The single peaked outside the UK top twenty, and the album's third single, "Spider's Web" (which Melua wrote when she was eighteen, during the Iraq War) did not reach the top forty.

Melua wrote the title song "Piece By Piece" after she broke up with her boyfriend Luke Pritchard, and "Half Way up the Hindu Kush" was written by Katie and Mike Batt playing on the unusualness of the title phrase, which cropped up in a conversation about scarves on a train journey. Alongside covers of "Blues in the Night" and Canned Heat's "On the Road Again", the album includes "Thank you, Stars", which was previously released as a B-side on Melua's debut single "The Closest Thing To Crazy" in 2003.

The album was re-released in 2006, as Piece by Piece: Special Bonus Edition, with three additional tracks and a bonus DVD with concert Moment by Moment and promo videos.

Track listing

No.TitleWriter(s)Length
1."Shy Boy"Mike Batt3:22
2."Nine Million Bicycles"Batt3:15
3."Piece by Piece"Katie Melua3:24
4."Halfway Up the Hindu Kush"
  • Melua
  • Batt
3:06
5."Blues in the Night"
4:12
6."Spider's Web"Melua3:58
7."Blue Shoes"Batt4:39
8."On the Road Again"
4:38
9."Thank You, Stars"Batt3:39
10."Just Like Heaven"
3:35
11."I Cried for You"Melua3:38
12."I Do Believe in Love"Melua3:00
13."It's Only Pain" (Special Bonus Edition track)Batt3:13
14."Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds" (Acoustic version) (Special Bonus Edition track)Lennon–McCartney3:07
15."Sometimes When I'm Dreaming" (Special Bonus Edition track)Batt3:39

Variants

A special edition for Spanish department store El Corte Inglés had additional tracks - Spanish language versions of "Closest Thing to Crazy" ("Esa Clase de Locura") and "Faraway Voice" (aka "Otra vez tu").

The American release had two extra tracks (but not the Special Bonus edition tracks), "Jack's Room" and "Market Day in Guernica".

Charts

Certifications and sales

Region Certification Certified units/sales
Austria (IFPI Austria)[48] Platinum 30,000*
Belgium (BEA)[49] Platinum 50,000*
Canada (Music Canada)[50] Gold 50,000^
Denmark (IFPI Danmark)[51] 4× Platinum 160,000^
France (SNEP)[52] 3× Platinum 300,000‡
Germany (BVMI)[54] 4× Platinum 1,000,000[53]
Ireland (IRMA)[55] 4× Platinum 60,000^
Netherlands (NVPI)[57] 2× Platinum 400,000[56]
New Zealand (RMNZ)[58] Gold 7,500^
Norway (IFPI Norway)[60] Platinum 175,000[59]
Poland (ZPAV)[61] 2× Platinum 40,000*
Sweden (GLF)[62] Platinum 60,000^
Switzerland (IFPI Switzerland)[63] 3× Platinum 120,000^
United Kingdom (BPI)[64] 4× Platinum 1,200,000^
United States — 58,000[53]
Summaries
Europe (IFPI)[65] 3× Platinum 3,000,000*

* Sales figures based on certification alone.
^ Shipments figures based on certification alone.
‡ Sales+streaming figures based on certification alone.

Personnel

Production

  • Producer: Mike Batt
  • Engineer: Steve Sale
  • Arranger: Mike Batt
  • Photography: Simon Fowler

References

  1. ^ AllMusic review
  2. ^ "Rolling Stone review". Rollingstone.com. Archived from the original on 5 January 2007. Retrieved 20 May 2021.
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