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A.D.D. (Audio Day Dream)

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A.D.D. (Audio Day Dream) is the debut studio album by Blake Lewis, the runner-up on the sixth season of American Idol. It was released in the United States and Canada on December 4, 2007. The first single is "Break Anotha" and was released to radio on October 30.[2] The album did not leak as other artists' albums generally do, instead appeared in full first within the "Free Full CD Listening Parties" section on AOL.com on December 3, the day before the release.

A.D.D. (Audio Day Dream)
Studio album by
Blake Lewis
ReleasedDecember 4, 2007 (2007-12-04)
RecordedJune–November 2007
Genre
Length52:44
LabelArista
Producer
Blake Lewis chronology
Blake Lewis
(2007) 		A.D.D. (Audio Day Dream)
(2007) 		Heartbreak on Vinyl
(2009)
Singles from A.D.D. (Audio Day Dream)
  1. "Break Anotha"
    Released: October 30, 2007
  2. "How Many Words"
    Released: March 10, 2008[1]

Background

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On June 21, 2007, Lewis disclosed in his blog at MySpace that on top of the American Idol tour, he has "been in meetings with producers and writers" for his album, though his record deal with Arista Records/19 Recordings was not announced officially until August 24.[3][4] He started to record his album in the studio "for all night long" from June 18 and co-wrote 12 songs out of 13 tracks (excluding the interludes) on Audio Day Dream.[5][6][7]

An exclusive version of Audio Day Dream with a 17-minute documentary, which was shot by Ethan Newberry and Cisco McCarthy, Lewis' friends, is offered as a bonus video download by Wal-Mart with purchase of their specially marked CD.[3][8][9] Another special edition of the album, which is tied with a bonus track called "Human", is available on iTunes Store. A trailer of A.D.D. was published on BlakeLewisComingSoon.com right before the leak of "Break Anotha".

Musical influences

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Lewis has stated in several interviews that he wanted his future album to have pop, electronic and jazzy hip hop feels to it, as he classified the sound as "electro-funk-soul-pop".[6][10] He has also listed his ideal choices of producers and collaborators for his album in various interviews, including "Father of Trance" BT, Darkchild, will.i.am, Pro J, DJ Shadow, Dan the Automator and Gnarls Barkley.[10][11] In interviews with Entertainment Weekly and Entertainment Tonight, he mentioned a collaboration with Doug E. Fresh, the hip hop/beatboxing legend Lewis beatboxed with to "The Show" in the Grand Finale of the sixth season of American Idol and received a standing ovation from the judges and the audience, as well as some of his musical influences, such as Maroon 5, 311, Duran Duran, Michael Jackson and Jamiroquai.[12][13]

Lewis described some of the songs he has recorded on July 16, 2007:

I try not to be put in a box. I'm inspired by everything. I've got six tracks done. I've got a track that's very Erasure-sounding ("How Many Words"), a track that's Sting-meets-Neverending Story and a track that's very electro-poppy Depeche Mode. It's all over the map.[14]

The singer gave another depiction of A.D.D. in the official press announcing its release:

This album is exactly how I wanted it to come out. It's like an '80s mix tape, with some hip-hop and electronic influences. I wanted to make a record where every song sounds like it could be on the radio, but my radio. 2000-'80s Blake radio is what I call it.[15][16]

Critical reception

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Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic     [17]
Billboardfavorable[18]
New York Daily Newsfavorable[19]
The Detroit Newsmixed[20]
Entertainment WeeklyC[21]
Los Angeles Times    [22]
People    [23]
Seattle Post-Intelligencerfavorable[24]
The New York Timesfavorable[25]
The Seattle Timesunfavorable[26]

The album was met with mixed reviews. AllMusic called the album "ADD is certainly one of the more interesting AmIdol-related records, but so much commotion without construction is ultimately as forgettable as Jordin's pageant-winner trifle, and perhaps a little more tiring to get through, too."[17] Entertainment Weekly gave the album a "C" and wrote "If Lewis could just find a way to integrate all his early-MTV influences (A Flock of Fat Boys?), well...that album wouldn't be great either--though it'd be less forgettable than this exercise in pop adequacy."[21]

Other critics praised the album. Billboard titled its review "American Idol" season six runner-up Blake Lewis' debut, "ADD: Audio Day Dream," is indeed a little all over the map, but, surprisingly, it works."[18] Los Angeles Times was quite impressed stating "His singing on "Audio Day Dream" is fine; it gets the job done. Yet what arrests your ear are Lewis' ideas."[22]

Chart performance

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In its first week of release, Audio Day Dream sold about 97,500 copies, debuting at number ten on the Billboard 200, the same spot where fellow American Idol Jordin Sparks debuted (although Jordin's sales were better on her debut week), and number three on the Billboard Digital Albums Chart[27] It has sold 308,000 as of July 1, 2009.[28]

Track listing

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No.TitleWriter(s)Producer(s)Length
1."Silence Is Golden... (Intro)" Michael J. Mani, Jordan Omley0:32
2."Break Anotha"Blake Lewis, Ryan "Alias" Tedder, Sam Watters, Louis BiancanielloTedder, Watters[a]3:09
3."Gots to Get Her" (Inspired by "Puttin' on the Ritz")Lewis, Tedder, Irving Berlin, Kristal Oliver, Steph JonesTedder, Omley[a], Mani[a]3:09
4."Know My Name" (featuring Lupe Fiasco)Lewis, Tedder, Josh Hoge, Wasalu JacoTedder3:58
5."How Many Words"Lewis, Sam Hollander, Dave KatzS*A*M & Sluggo3:34
6."Surrender"Tedder, E. Kidd BogartTedder3:43
7."Hate 2 Love Her"Lewis, TedderTedder4:14
8."Without You"Lewis, Sean Hurley, David Ryan HarrisTedder, Watters, Biancaniello, Wayne Wilkins4:22
9."Here's My Hello"Lewis, Hollander, KatzS*A*M & Sluggo4:16
10."What'cha Got 2 Lose?"Lewis, Jonathan Rotem, Chris RichardsonJ.R. Rotem4:06
11."She's Makin' Me Lose It"BT, Alex GreggsBT, Greggs[b]3:55
12."Bshorty Grabs Mic!" Mani, Omley1:08
13."End of the World"Lewis, Tedder, Troy Johnson, Watters, Biancaniello, Omley, ManiRadio, Tedder, Omley[a], Mani[a]3:33
14."1000 Miles"Lewis, Mike Elizondo, David HodgesElizondo4:17
15."I Got U"Lewis, TedderTedder3:37
16."...I Choose Noise (Outro)" Mani, Omley1:06
17."Human (ITunes Only Bonus Track)"Sam Hollander, Blake Lewis, Chris Richardson, David KatzBlake Lewis2:58
Total length:55:47
Notes
  • ^a signifies a vocal producer
  • ^b signifies an additional producer

Release history

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Country Date
Canada December 4, 2007
United States

References

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  1. ^ "How Many Words" Radio release Archived June 28, 2014, at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved March 3, 2008.
  2. ^ Barnes, Ken (October 29, 2007). "Blake Sets Album Date, Readies First Single". USA Today. Archived from the original on February 1, 2008. Retrieved 2007-10-29.
  3. ^ a b "Blake Lewis' profile". MySpace. Retrieved 2007-06-22.
  4. ^ "Blake Lewis Sixth Season Runner-Up on 'American Idol,' Signs to 19 Recordings/Arista Records". PR Newswire. August 24, 2007. Archived from the original on 29 September 2007. Retrieved 2007-08-24.
  5. ^ ""Behind the Scenes: 'Idol Live' Tour Rehearsals" (video)". MyFox Los Angeles. June 25, 2007. Archived from the original on 28 June 2007. Retrieved 2007-06-26.
  6. ^ a b Zepeda, Dana Meltzer (June 27, 2007). "American Idol's Blake Lewis Dishes on New Album". TV Guide. Archived from the original on 10 August 2007. Retrieved 2007-06-27.
  7. ^ Graff, Gary (November 23, 2007). "'Idol' Runner-up Lewis Realizes 'Dream'". Yahoo! News. Retrieved 2007-11-24. [dead link]
  8. ^ Balta, Victor (July 27, 2007). "Blake's Back Home". HeraldNet. Retrieved 2007-06-27.
  9. ^ ""Audio Day Dream (with exclusive video download)" on WalMart.com". Wal-Mart. Archived from the original on 6 December 2007. Retrieved 2007-11-17.
  10. ^ a b Barnes, Ken (May 20, 2007). "Blake Talks to Reporters". USA Today. Archived from the original on May 24, 2007. Retrieved 2007-05-22.
  11. ^ Edwards, Haley (May 25, 2007). "Blake Talks About 'Idol' and Beyond". The Seattle Times. Archived from the original on 27 May 2007. Retrieved 2007-05-25.
  12. ^ ""Blake Lewis Plans His Debut CD!" (video)". Entertainment Weekly. May 31, 2007. Archived from the original on 22 May 2007. Retrieved 2007-06-01.
  13. ^ "Blake Lewis: 'Idol' Runner-Up". Entertainment Tonight. June 2, 2007. Archived from the original on 2007-06-04. Retrieved 2007-06-02.
  14. ^ Guerra, Joey (July 16, 2007). "'American Idol' Fivesome Talk Music, M&Ms, Makeup". Chron.com. Archived from the original on 21 August 2007. Retrieved 2007-07-18.
  15. ^ "Blake Lewis to Release Debut Album 'Audio Day Dream' on 19 Recordings/Arista Records on December 4, 2007". PR Newswire. November 16, 2007. Retrieved 2007-11-17.
  16. ^ "Pure Tone Music". Archived from the original on 21 October 2007. Retrieved 2007-10-28.
  17. ^ a b Erlewine, Stephen Thomas (December 4, 2007). "Allmusic-A.D.D. (Audio Day Dream) Album Review". Allmusic. Retrieved 2007-12-04.
  18. ^ a b Menze, Jill (December 4, 2007). "Billboard-A.D.D. (Audio Day Dream) Album Review". Billboard. Archived from the original on 2007-12-03. Retrieved 2007-12-04.
  19. ^ Daily News review
  20. ^ The Detroit News review
  21. ^ a b Willman, Chris (December 4, 2007). "Entertainment Weekly -A.D.D. (Audio Day Dream) Album Review". Entertainment Weekly. Archived from the original on 2 December 2007. Retrieved 2007-12-04.
  22. ^ a b "Los Angeles Times-A.D.D. (Audio Day Dream) Album Review". Los Angeles Times. December 4, 2007. Archived from the original on December 13, 2007. Retrieved 2007-12-04.
  23. ^ People magazine, December 2007.
  24. ^ Seattle Post-Intelligencer review
  25. ^ "New CDs (Published 2007)". The New York Times. Archived from the original on 2019-08-25.
  26. ^ The Seattle Times review
  27. ^ Katie Hasty, "Groban Ties Elvis With Third Week At No. 1", Billboard.com, December 12, 2007.
  28. ^ EW.com
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