Flyleaf (album)

Flyleaf is the debut studio album by American rock band Flyleaf. It was released on October 4, 2005 through Octone Records. A re-packaged CD/DVD special edition was released on October 30, 2007, which included additional acoustic tracks and music videos. The album was re-released on January 14, 2008 through Polydor Records in the United Kingdom, which included three additional acoustic tracks.

Flyleaf
Studio album by
Flyleaf
ReleasedOctober 4, 2005
Recorded2005
Genre
Length33:42
LabelOctone, Polydor
ProducerHoward Benson
Flyleaf chronology
Flyleaf
(2004)		 Flyleaf
(2005)		 Music as a Weapon
(2006)
Singles from Flyleaf
  1. "I'm So Sick"
    Released: August 29, 2006
  2. "Fully Alive"
    Released: November 2006
  3. "All Around Me"
    Released: April 23, 2007
  4. "Perfect"
    Released: 2007
  5. "Sorrow"
    Released: 2007
  6. "Cassie"
    Released: December 2007
  7. "There for You"
    Released: July 25, 2008
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
About.com[3]
AllMusic[1]
Jesus Freak Hideout [2]
Kludge5/10[4]
Sputnikmusic[5]

While the band's then frontwoman Lacey Sturm prominently sings, her unclean vocals are frequent throughout the album. Lyrically, the album deals with topics such as Christianity, love and death. Flyleaf received mixed reviews from music critics. It debuted at No. 88 on the Billboard 200, selling more than 13,000 copies within its first week. Due to the band's growing exposure to fame in 2007, it eventually reached its peak of No. 57 on the week of September 17, 2007, and spent more than 133 weeks on the chart. It also topped the Billboard Christian Albums chart, and has since become the ninth best-selling Christian album of the 2000s. It has sold more than 1 million copies to date, and was certified Platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA).[6]

Background

The album was released October 4, 2005. October 30, 2007 the band re-released this album repackaged as a CD/DVD Special Edition version. The Special Edition re-release has the same tracks as the original release, with the addition of acoustic versions of "Cassie", "Fully Alive", "I'm So Sick", "All Around Me", and "Red Sam" (which is the only acoustic song not released as a single). The DVD has exclusive interviews with Flyleaf and music videos of "All Around Me", "I'm So Sick" and "Fully Alive". The re-release also came packaged with a free ringtone of "All Around Me" and a "locker" poster. The album was re-released January 14, 2008 in the UK on Polydor Records but with only three additional acoustic tracks.

When A&M Records teamed with Octone Records, the album was re-printed to show the new joint-venture label arrangement. This re-printed version had "Fully Alive" at a length of 2:34, replacing the original 2:48 version, and a different back cover artwork.

The single "Cassie" was written in honor of Cassie Bernall, who was killed in the Columbine High School massacre in 1999.[7]

Promotion

The album was hugely publicized on the website Purevolume. "I'm So Sick" appears in the game Rock Band and in the film, Live Free or Die Hard, and "Perfect" appears in the PC/Mac video game Guitar Praise.

According to Rolling Stone, the band was among the 2008 breakout bands, along with Paramore.

Singles
  • Their first single released was "I'm So Sick".
  • Their second single, "Fully Alive", hit radio stations on June 6, 2006.
  • Their third and highest charting single is "All Around Me", reaching No. 40 on the Billboard Hot 100.
  • Their fourth and fifth singles, "Perfect", and "Sorrow", were then released.
  • Their sixth and final seventh singles were "Cassie", and "There for You", in which the latter of the two did not garner much attention.

Commercial performance

Flyleaf sold over 13,000 copies of the Special Edition CD/DVD in the first week. They jumped 59 spots on the Billboard Top 200 chart up to No. 62. In the second week of sales for the Special Edition CD/DVD, Flyleaf sold over 10,100 copies. To date, it has sold over 1,000,000 copies in the U.S. certifying it as platinum.

According to Billboard, the album was the ninth best-selling Christian album between the years 2000 and 2009.[8]

Track listing

All tracks are written by Lacey Mosley, James Culpepper, Sameer Bhattacharya, Jared Hartmann, Pat Seals, co-writes noted.

Standard edition
No.TitleLength
1."I'm So Sick"3:00
2."Fully Alive"2:47
3."Perfect" (Mark Lewis)2:53
4."Cassie"2:58
5."Sorrow"2:45
6."I'm Sorry"2:43
7."All Around Me"3:18
8."Red Sam" (Will Hoffman)3:20
9."There for You"2:47
10."Breathe Today" (Hoffman)2:29
11."So I Thought" (Hoffman)4:50
German and Japanese bonus track
No.TitleLength
12."Tina"2:34
International re-release bonus tracks
No.TitleLength
12."Fully Alive" (acoustic)2:16
13."All Around Me" (acoustic)3:21
14."Cassie" (acoustic; Europe-only)3:08
US special edition bonus tracks
No.TitleLength
12."Fully Alive" (acoustic)2:15
13."Red Sam" (acoustic; Hoffman)3:26
14."Cassie" (acoustic)3:10
15."I'm So Sick" (acoustic)2:59
16."All Around Me" (acoustic)3:21
US special edition bonus DVD
No.TitleLength
1."Fully Alive" (acoustic) 
2."Red Sam" (acoustic; Hoffman) 
3."Cassie" (acoustic) 
4."I'm So Sick" (acoustic) 
5."All Around Me" (acoustic) 
6."All Around Me" (music video) 
7."Fully Alive" (music video) 
8."I'm So Sick" (music video) 

Personnel
  • Lacey Mosley – lead vocals
  • Pat Seals – bass guitar
  • Sameer Bhattacharya – lead guitar
  • Jared Hartmann – rhythm guitar
  • James Culpepper – drums, percussion
  • Dave Navarro – additional guitar on "There For You"
  • Ryan White of Resident Hero – background vocals on "Cassie," "So I Thought," and "Red Sam"
  • Howard Benson – producer, keyboards and programming
  • Mike Plotnikoff – mixing
  • Leon Zervos & Chris Athens – Mastering at Sterling Sound, NY
  • James Diener & Ben Berkman – A&R
  • Mike Plotnikoff – recording

Charts
Chart (2005) Peak[9]
position
Top Heatseekers 3
Chart (2006) Peak
position
The Billboard 200 57
Top Rock Albums 12
Top Christian Albums 1
Chart (2008) Peak
Top Digital Albums 71
Top Alternative Albums 11
Top Hard Rock Albums 5

Accolades
Award (2009)
2009 BMI Pop Award Winning Song – All Around Me[10]

References
  1. Allmusic review
  2. "Flyleaf, "Flyleaf" Review". Jesusfreakhideout.com. October 4, 2005. Retrieved October 12, 2011.
  3. "About.com review". Archived from the original on May 15, 2013. Retrieved September 3, 2013.
  4. "KLUDGE MAGAZINE - Review - Flyleaf: Flyleaf". February 23, 2005. Archived from the original on February 23, 2005.
  5. "Flyleaf - Flyleaf (album review 3) | Sputnikmusic". www.sputnikmusic.com.
  6. "FLYLEAF - Flyleaf". www.riaa.com. Retrieved July 4, 2018.
  7. "Flyleaf, "Flyleaf EP" Review". www.jesusfreakhideout.com. Retrieved April 16, 2016.
  8. "Music Albums, Top 200 Albums & Music Album Charts". Billboard.com. December 31, 2009. Retrieved October 12, 2011.
  9. https://www.allmusic.com/artist/p703878
  10. "2009 BMI Pop Awards Award Winning Songs | Press". BMI.com. May 19, 2009. Retrieved October 12, 2011.
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