Shades of Purple

Marion Raven and Marit Larsen come from Lørenskog in the district east of Oslo.[3] They became friends at age five, and formed their own band when they were eight.[4] They released a children's album, Synger Kjente Barnesanger, under the band name "Marit & Marion", which was nominated for a Spellemannprisen award[3] when they were both 12 years old.[5] They continued writing pop songs and sent demo recordings out. One of the demos ended up at Atlantic Records and they were signed to a worldwide contract in 1998,[6] after which they shortened their name to M2M, which reflects the initials of both their first names.[4]

The album was recorded in London, Sweden and New York,[3] when Raven was 14 and Larsen was 15.[7] Raven and Larsen co-wrote most of the songs on the album.[8] "Girl in Your Dreams" was the first song Raven had ever written.[8] She wrote it when she was 13 about a boy she liked that was not interested in her.[9] The pair wrote over 30 songs in anticipation of recording; 16 of these were recorded, and 13 made it onto the US version of the album. One of the unreleased songs, "The Feeling is Gone", was released as a B-side on the European[10] and Japanese[11] single versions of "Don't Say You Love Me", and also appears on the Australian version of the album.[12]

The track "Our Song" uses the chorus of the Bee Gees' hit single "Too Much Heaven" as its own chorus.[13][10] Raven and Larsen had previously been unaware of "Too Much Heaven"; the chorus was added at the suggestion of their producer.[10] When questioned about the album title, M2M replied that purple was their favourite colour and they wanted "a title that expressed that the album is us and through our eyes."[10]

The album was released in Europe in mid-February 2000[1] and the US on 7 March.[1] It had been released worldwide by the end of March, except in Sweden where a shipment of 20,000 copies was delayed for at least four weeks due to a legal dispute with a local band there that also used the name "M2M".[14]

In December 1999 Warner Music Group, which owns Atlantic Records, stated they expected to sell at least five to six million copies of Shades of Purple.[15] Sales had exceeded one million by September 2000, though investors were disappointed as they had not yet recuperated the amount they had spent promoting the duo; they expected to break even before the end of the year.[16] The album sold 107,000 units in its opening week in the US, debuting at number one on the Billboard Top Heatseekers chart and reached number 89 on the US Billboard 200, staying on the chart for sixteen weeks.[17] and had sold 268,000 units there by March 2002.[18] Worldwide sales of the album exceeded 1.5 million by January 2002.[19]

Beginning in August 1999, M2M toured and performed extensively to promote their debut single "Don't Say You Love Me", performing several concerts in the US[20] and throughout Asia,[21] as well as appearing on an episode of the show One World,[22] and performing at Walt Disney World in February 2000.[23] M2M continued to keep a high profile following the release of Shades of Purple, appearing on Top of the Pops in March 2000[24][25] embarking on a tour of US high schools[26] and touring with Hanson in September.[16]

Professional ratings

Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic	[39]
Robert Christgau	A−[40]
Entertainment Weekly	B[41]

The album received critical acclaim. Robert Christgau gave it an A-, stating: "even when the writing is ordinary, the quality teenpop, some assembly-line and some personalized, is transfigured by the duo's singing."[40] Entertainment Weekly gave the album a B, saying M2M's "precise Euro-dance pop is fun, fun, fun, and behind the lip gloss is enough insecurity to charm."[41] Heather Phares from AllMusic said "Overall, Shades of Purple is a strong debut from a young group that still sounds fresh and innocent ... something of a rarity in teen pop."[39] Michael Paoletta from Billboard gave a favourable review, saying "The 13 tracks on display here showcase a seasoned singing style that is, quite frankly, the antithesis of teen sensations like Britney Spears", concluding "Beautifully sun-kissed, Shades of Purple is poised to be the soundtrack of spring/summer 2000."[13] The album was nominated for the best pop album at the 2000 Spellemannprisen awards.[33]

Credits are taken from AllMusic.[2] Writers and producers are mentioned in track listing.