Down to Earth is the second studio album by Welsh musician Jem, the follow-up to Finally Woken. The first single, "It's Amazing", was featured on the soundtrack to the Sex and the City movie. The album spawned four singles.
| Down to Earth | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
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| Studio album by | ||||
| Released | 16 September 2008 | |||
| Recorded | 2006–2008 | |||
| Studio | Detroit and Los Angeles | |||
| Genre | ||||
| Length | 47:18 | |||
| Language |
| |||
| Label | ATO | |||
| Producer | ||||
| Jem chronology | ||||
| ||||
| Singles from Down to Earth | ||||
| ||||
| Aggregate scores | |
|---|---|
| Source | Rating |
| Metacritic | 54/100[1] |
| Review scores | |
| Source | Rating |
| AllMusic |   [2] |
| ArtofRhyme | 3.75/5[3] |
| Billboard | (positive)[4] |
| Digital Spy | [5] |
| The Guardian | [6] |
| musicOMH | [7] |
| Paste | 6.1/10[8] |
| The Phoenix |  [9] |
| The Times | [10] |
The press release states that Jem co-wrote the album with a variety of people including Jeff Bass, Lester Mendez and Greg Kurstin and sings in Japanese on the track, "Aciiid!". The album also includes a collaboration with South African singer-songwriter and poet-activist Vusi Mahlasela on the track "You Will Make It" which was dedicated to the memory of D12 member Proof.[11][12] Although the collaboration never happened, Jem wanted to work with Eminem for the song, saying "The track is about losing someone and I wrote it the day after his friend Proof was murdered. I was in Detroit with Eminem's friends, who I happened to be recording with, when it happened".[13]
Critical reception
editDown to Earth was met with "mixed or average" reviews from critics. At Metacritic, which assigns a weighted average rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream publications, this release received an average score of 54 based on 7 reviews.[1]
In a review for AllMusic, critic reviewer Andrew Leahey wrote: "Down to Earth's title depicts Jem as a grounded musician, but its wide-ranging sound suggests something different, as the singer has yet to find a style that fully suits her capabilities."[2]
Track listing
edit| No. | Title | Writer(s) | Producer(s) | Length |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Down to Earth" | Bass | 4:33 | |
| 2. | "Crazy" |
| Bass | 3:39 |
| 3. | "I Want You To..." | Mendez | 3:38 | |
| 4. | "It's Amazing" |
| Mendez | 3:58 |
| 5. | "Keep on Walking" |
| Bass | 4:12 |
| 6. | "You Will Make It (featuring Vusi Mahlasela)" |
| Mike Bradford | 6:11 |
| 7. | "I Always Knew" |
| Mendez | 3:09 |
| 8. | "Got It Good" |
| Bass | 4:26 |
| 9. | "Aciiid!" |
| Kurstin | 2:56 |
| 10. | "How Would You Like It" |
| Bradford | 4:02 |
| 11. | "And So I Pray" |
| Bradford | 2:42 |
| 12. | "On Top of the World" |
| Mendez | 4:52 |
| No. | Title | Writer(s) | Length |
|---|---|---|---|
| 13. | "Forever and a Day" |
| 3:49 |
Personnel
edit- Hiroko Aoyagi – vocals
- Jeff Atmajian – piano, string arrangements, piano arrangement
- Jeff Bass – bass, guitar, keyboards, producer, drum programming, tracked by
- Kevin Beber – drum programming
- Brian Berryman – engineer, fader engineer
- Mick Bolger – trombone, trumpet, euphonium, mellophonium, E flat cornet
- Mike Bradford – producer, string arrangements, instrumentation
- Del Casher – sounds
- Bryan Cook – engineer
- Nick Cuchinella – trombone
- Nabil Elderkin – photography
- Johnny Evans – saxophone
- Serban Ghenea – mixing
- Jem Griffiths – vocals, producer, vocal engineer, poetry reading
- Justin Griffiths – acoustic guitar
- John Hanes – mixing
- Mark Aaron James – design
- Ted Jensen – mastering
- Shinobu Lee – vocals
- David Levita – acoustic guitar, guitar
- Lester Mendez – piano, producer, string arrangements, brass arrangement, instrumentation
- Monica Mendez – sound design
- Milan, Derrick & The Krew – chorus
- Eddie Miller – vocal engineer
- Rafael Padilla – percussion
- Phillip Ramos – studio assistant
- Tim Roberts – mixing assistant
- Ken Robinson – trumpet
- Sonus – strings
- Welsh Choir of Southern California – chorus
- Joe Wohlmuth – engineer
Charts
edit| Chart (2008) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| US Billboard 200 | 48 |
| Chart (2009) | Peak position |
| UK Albums Chart[15] | 64 |
Release history
edit| Country | Date |
|---|---|
| United States | 16 September 2008 |
| Canada | |
| Japan | |
| Ireland | 30 January 2009 |
| United Kingdom | 2 February 2009 |
| Europe | |
| Sweden | 4 February 2009 |
| Portugal | 16 February 2009 |
| Poland | |
| Denmark | 23 February 2009 |
| Germany | 27 February 2009 |
| Austria | |
| Netherlands | |
| Switzerland | |
| Norway | 2 March 2009 |
| France | 3 March 2009 |
| Finland | 4 March 2009 |
| Greece | 6 March 2009 |
| Italy | 20 March 2009[a] |
Notes
edit- ^ Italy's release was originally planned for 6 march 2009, as announced on Jem's official MySpace, but it was later postponed.
References
edit- ^ a b "Metacritic Review". Metacritic. Retrieved 24 April 2021.
- ^ a b Leahey, Andrew. "AllMusic Review". AllMusic. Retrieved 24 April 2021.
- ^ "ArtofRhyme review". Artofrhyme.com. Archived from the original on 11 August 2011. Retrieved 14 May 2012.
- ^ Billboard review
- ^ "Digital Spy review". Digitalspy.co.uk. 30 January 2009. Retrieved 14 May 2012.
- ^ Caroline Sullivan (30 January 2009). "The Guardian review". London: Guardian. Retrieved 14 May 2012.
- ^ "Jem – Down to Earth – review". Musicomh.com. Retrieved 18 October 2016.
- ^ "Paste review". Pastemagazine.com. 16 September 2008. Retrieved 14 May 2012.
- ^ "The Phoenix review". Thephoenix.com. 23 September 2008. Retrieved 14 May 2012.
- ^ "The Times review". The Times. 9 May 2012. Retrieved 14 May 2012.
- ^ Raible, Allan. "Review: Jem's "Down To Earth". ABC News. Retrieved 18 October 2016.
- ^ Jem - Down To Earth (CD liner notes). ATO Records. 88088-21630-2
- ^ Kilkelly, Daniel. "Jem hopes to team up with Eminem". digitalspy.com. Hearst Magazines UK. Retrieved 27 December 2016.
- ^ "Down to Earth by Jem". Apple Music. ATO Records. 16 September 2008. Retrieved 27 May 2023.
- ^ "Official UK Albums Chart". Theofficialcharts.com. Retrieved 18 October 2016.
- ^ "Jem | The Official Website of Jem". Jem-music.net. Retrieved 18 October 2016.