| Animal | ||
|---|---|---|
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| Studio album by Kesha | ||
| Released | January 1, 2010 See release history |
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| Recorded | 2009 | |
| Genre | Pop, electropop, Synthpop | |
| Length | 46:18 | |
| Label | RCA | |
| Producer | Dr. Luke, Ammo, Benny Blanco, David Gamson, Greg Kurstin, Max Martin, Tom Neville, Shellback | |
| Singles from Animal | ||
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Animal is the debut studio album by American pop singer Kesha. A project that took seven years to complete and for which Kesha had written over 200 songs, the theme of the album is to not take minor issues in life too seriously.
The album debuted at the top of the album charts in the United States and Canada with three U.S. Billboard Hot 100 debuts accompanying the album's release, including second single "Blah Blah Blah" which debuted at number seven, as a result of massive digital sales.
Animal received mixed reviews from music critics upon release. Some appreciated the fun, carefree nature, while others dismissed it as juvenile and claimed that it came off as insincere. The lead single, "Tik Tok", reached number one in eleven countries as well as reaching the top ten in many others.
Contents |
Kesha had been working on Animal for seven years prior to its release, and had written over 200 songs for the album. The abundance of material extended it from its planned twelve track length to fourteen tracks.[1] The album's title came from a diving experience Kesha had, where a barracuda was chasing and trying to attack her. She explained,
| “ | I've done research on animals because I'm a diver, and I used to wear gold bikinis and had eye piercings and stuff, and then I almost got eaten by a barracuda once, and I was like 'Why does he keep chasing me? Why does he want to eat me?' And then I was researching and found out that animals are really attracted to shiny things, especially gold and silver, so I feel like if I cover my body and the audience with glitter then they'll like it. | ” |
She felt that the album had an empowering, carefree message for young women. "For girls, I think it's an empowering record, it's funny, it's cheeky," she said. "I think people need to have fun with whatever they're doing – makeup, their clothes, music, live shows – anything you don't need to take too seriously, don't take too seriously."[1]
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Musically, Animal is of the dance-pop genre, while incorporating elements of electro and electropop in its production and beats.[2] Some of its songs are reminiscent of 1980s music, such as "Party at a Rich Dude's House", which Allmusic reviewer David Jeffries noted could have appeared on the soundtrack to the 1982 film Fast Times at Ridgemont High.[2] Animal also uses Auto-Tune and vocoders to alter Kesha's voice, and includes samples.[2]
Jeffries noted that the album lyrically revolves around avoiding reality with a preference for a "garbage chic" one with lyrics such as "Maybe I need some rehab, or maybe just need some sleep" from the opening song "Your Love Is My Drug".[2] "Tik Tok" was written about an experience Kesha had where she woke up in her house in Laurel Canyon, Los Angeles, California, surrounded by several of her attractive female friends. She compared the experience to feeling like rapper Diddy,[3] who contributed two lines to the song.[4] The song "Kiss n Tell" was written about Kesha's discovery that her boyfriend was cheating on her with a female pop singer.[5]
The writing of "Party at a Rich Dude's House" came about from an incident where Kesha vomited in Paris Hilton's closet during a party held at Hilton's home,[5] while "Backstabber," according to Kesha, was written about "some dumb [girl who] fronted like she was my friend but then secretly tried to bring me down."[5] "Boots & Boys" is a "lusty" song reminiscent of INXS's "Suicide Blonde", but from a female point of view.[2] Jeffries concluded that, overall, Animal portrays Kesha as "a gum-snapping, alcohol-abusing Facebook jockey straight out of the suburbs who spits sophomoric but fun putdowns, come-ons, and sig files all over electro beats".[2]
Animal was released January 5, 2010 in the United States and Canada. It debuted atop the U.S. charts with first-week sales of 152,000 (76% of which were digital sales, setting a percentage record as opposed to physical sales for a number one album).[6] In Canada it also debuted at number one with sales of 16,000.[7] The album was released a month later in the United Kingdom and debuted at number eight with sales of 18,723.[8] To date the album has sold 407,100 copies in its first two months.[9]
To date, two singles have been released from the album. The first single, "Tik Tok," topped the singles charts in many countries.[10] Second single, "Blah Blah Blah" featuring 3OH!3, had charted before being released in the album's debut week along with two other non-singles in the United States due to strong digital downloads. It debuted at number seven with "Your Love Is My Drug" coming in at number twenty-seven and "Take It Off" at eighty-five, while "Tik Tok" remained atop the chart for the fourth consecutive week.[11]
| Professional ratings | |
|---|---|
| Review scores | |
| Source | Rating |
| AbsolutePunk | (61%)[12] |
| Allmusic |   [2] |
| Billboard | (favorable)[13] |
| The Boston Globe | (unfavorable)[14] |
| Entertainment Weekly | (B+)[15] |
| The Guardian | [12] |
| Los Angeles Times | [16] |
| musicOMH | [17] |
| NME | (5/10)[18] |
| The Phoenix | [19] |
| Rolling Stone | [20] |
| Slant Magazine |  [21] |
The album received mixed reviews from music critics upon release. David Jeffries of Allmusic awarded the album three out of five stars, criticizing the album's ballads, but noting, "Snooty taste makers and parents should avoid Animal at all costs, but with so many fun, 'TiK ToK'-type tracks, the album has plenty for both brats and the bratty at heart."[2] Mikael Wood of Entertainment Weekly gave the album a B+ rating, noting that while Kesha "may be the most brazen" of her dance-pop peers, the production of Dr. Luke on the album, "fram[ing] her Valley Girl sneer with electro-glam arrangements", makes up for that.[15]
Ailbhe Malone of NME gave the album a score of five out of ten, saying that the Kesha's "clever rhythms and rhymes are testament to a musicality that the disposable nature of her subject matter hides."[18] Monica Herrera of Billboard commented that the prevalent use of Auto-Tune on Kesha's vocals made it difficult to tell if she actually had vocal capabilities, citing the song "Take It Off" as an example of "how easily individuality can get lost in a sea of AutoTune".[13]
Jody Rosen of Rolling Stone called the album "repulsive, obnoxious and ridiculously catchy", crediting those qualities to the production of Dr Luke and Max Martin.[20] Andrew Burgess of musicOMH gave the album four out of five stars and described it as "an infectiously good dance-pop album".[17] Ann Powers of the Los Angeles Times, gave the album a three-star (out of four) review, and commented that Kesha came across as "a woman behaving like a sexist, inconsiderate male oaf."[16] Daniel Brockman of The Phoenix gave Animal three out of four stars and called it "a clear subversion of pop norms".[19]
Jonathan Keefe of Slant Magazine gave the album a negative review, calling Kesha's attempts to sing and rap "pitiable."[21] James Reed of The Boston Globe postulated that Kesha's "personality [was] completely missing from [the songs]," resulting in her sounding "vapid and faceless."[14]
To promote the album, Kesha did several performances. Her first performance was on the British Television show named "MTV Push, a program broadcast on MTV Networks worldwide.[22][23] Kesha also performed the song "Tik Tok" at the 2009 Z100 Jingle Ball held on December 11 in Madison Square Garden to promote the single and album.[24] To promote the album Animal, she made appearances on the It's On with Alexa Chung, The Wendy Williams Show, Lopez Tonight, Late Night with Jimmy Fallon, The Tonight Show with Conan O'Brien and The Ellen DeGeneres Show to perform the song.[25][26][27] On February 18, 2010, Kesha made an appearance on British talk show, Alan Carr: Chatty Man performing the song "Blah Blah Blah".[28]
| Track listing[31] | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Track | Title | Music | Length | ||||||
| 1. | "Your Love Is My Drug" | Kesha Sebert, Pebe Sebert, Joshua Coleman | 3:06 | ||||||
| 2. | "Tik Tok" | K. Sebert, Lukasz Gottwald, Benjamin Levin | 3:19 | ||||||
| 3. | "Take It Off" | K. Sebert, Gottwald, Claude Kelly | 3:35 | ||||||
| 4. | "Kiss n Tell" | K. Sebert, Gottwald, Max Martin, Shellback | 3:27 | ||||||
| 5. | "Stephen" | K. Sebert, David Gamson, P. Sebert, Oliver Leiber | 3:32 | ||||||
| 6. | "Blah Blah Blah" (featuring 3OH!3) | K. Sebert, Levin, Neon Hitch, Sean Foreman | 2:52 | ||||||
| 7. | "Hungover" | K. Sebert, Gottwald, Martin, Shellback | 3:52 | ||||||
| 8. | "Party at a Rich Dude's House" | K. Sebert, Shellback, Levin | 2:55 | ||||||
| 9. | "Backstabber" | K. Sebert, Gamson, Marc Nelkin, Jon Ingoldsby | 3:06 | ||||||
| 10. | "Blind" | K. Sebert, Gottwald, Levin, Coleman | 3:17 | ||||||
| 11. | "D.I.N.O.S.A.U.R." | K. Sebert, Martin, Shellback | 2:55 | ||||||
| 12. | "Dancing with Tears in My Eyes" | K. Sebert, Gottwald, Levin, Greg Kurstin | 3:29 | ||||||
| 13. | "Boots & Boys" | K. Sebert, Tom Neville, Olivia Nervo, Miriam Nervo | 2:56 | ||||||
| 14. | "Animal" | K. Sebert, Gottwald, Kurstin, P. Sebert | 3:57 | ||||||
| International bonus track[32] | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Track | Title | Music | Length | ||||||
| 15. | "VIP" | K. Sebert, Neville, O. Nervo, M. Nervo | 3:31 | ||||||
| UK & Ireland bonus tracks[33] | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Track | Title | Music | Length | ||||||
| 15. | "VIP" | K. Sebert, Neville, O. Nervo, M. Nervo | 3:31 | ||||||
| 16. | "Dirty Picture Part 2" (featuring Taio Cruz) | Cruz, Fraser T. Smith | 3:40 | ||||||
| Region | Date | Label |
|---|---|---|
| Australia | January 1, 2010 | Sony Music |
| Denmark | ||
| France | Columbia, Sony Music | |
| Italy | Sony Music | |
| New Zealand | ||
| Canada[34] | January 5, 2010 | |
| Philippines[35] | ||
| Spain[36] | ||
| United States[31] | RCA Records | |
| Brazil[37] | January 28, 2010 | Sony Music |
| United Kingdom[38] | February 1, 2010 | Columbia |
| Argentina[39] | February 23, 2010 | Sony Music |
| Chart (2010) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| Australian Albums Chart[40] | 4 |
| Belgian Albums Chart (Flanders)[41] | 39 |
| Belgian Albums Chart (Wallonia)[41] | 22 |
| Canadian Albums Chart[42] | 1 |
| Dutch Albums Chart[41] | 52 |
| Greek Albums Chart[43] | 1 |
| French Albums Chart[44] | 11 |
| German Albums Chart[45] | 7 |
| Irish Albums Chart[46] | 8 |
| Italian Albums Chart[47] | 22 |
| Mexican Albums Chart[48] | 58 |
| New Zealand Albums Chart[41] | 6 |
| Norwegian Albums Chart[41] | 36 |
| Poland Albums Chart[49] | 44 |
| South African Albums Chart[50] | 15 |
| Spanish Albums Chart[51] | 64 |
| Swiss Albums Chart[40] | 3 |
| UK Album Chart[40] | 8 |
| U.S. Billboard 200[42] | 1 |
| Preceded by I Dreamed a Dream by Susan Boyle |
U.S. Billboard 200 number-one album January 23, 2010 |
Succeeded by Contra by Vampire Weekend |
| Canadian Albums Chart number-one album January 23, 2010 |
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