''Before the Dinosaurs'' is the second studio album by Danish singer-songwriter

Aura Dione Maria Louise Joensen (born 21 January 1985), known as Aura Dione, is a Danish singer and songwriter. In 2008 she released her debut album, '' Columbine''. The album spawned the hit single "I Will Love You Monday (365)", which reached number one in ...

. The album was released on 4 November 2011 by

Universal Music Universal Music Group N.V. (often abbreviated as UMG and referred to as just Universal Music) is a Netherlands, Dutch–United States, American multinational Music industry, music corporation under Law of the Netherlands, Dutch law. UMG's cor ...

. It was preceded by the lead single, "

Geronimo Geronimo ( apm, Goyaałé, , ; June 16, 1829 – February 17, 1909) was a prominent leader and medicine man from the Bedonkohe band of the Ndendahe Apache people. From 1850 to 1886, Geronimo joined with members of three other Central Apache ba ...

" on 19 September 2011. Upon its release, the album received mixed reviews from most music critics, who compared the singer to

Lady Gaga Stefani Joanne Angelina Germanotta ( ; born March 28, 1986), known professionally as Lady Gaga, is an American singer, songwriter, and actress. She is known for her image reinventions and musical versatility. Gaga began performing as a teenag ...

but felt the album was over-produced.

Singles

" was released as the album's lead single on 19 September 2011. Lyrically, the song is about staying true to yourself and living out your dreams, and is one of Dione's favourite songs on the album. The song was a number one hit in Austria, Denmark and Germany. In Germany, Dione became the first Danish artist to debut at number one. " Friends" was released as the second single from the album. It was sent for Danish mainstream radio adds on 23 January 2012. The song features German production team

Rock Mafia Rock Mafia is an American record production team, consisting of Tim James and Antonina Armato who have been active since the early 2000s. They have written and produced 38 top ten singles, and have sold over 50 million records worldwide. They hav ...

who co-wrote the song with Dione and

David Jost David Jost (born 12 August 1972) is a German music producer, singer-songwriter and DJ born in Hamburg. His career has a track record of 74 platinum and 108 gold records and 14 No. 1 hits. He's worked with artists like Lady Gaga, Chris Brown, To ...

. "Friends" was written to let Dione's friends know how precious they are to her. It peaked at number six in Denmark, becoming Dione's third top 10 hit following "Geronimo" (2011) and "Something from Nothing" (2007). " In Love with the World" was released as the album's third single. Co-written by

Rick Nowels Richard Wright Nowels Jr. is an American songwriter, record producer, multi-instrumentalist and arranger. He has co-written and co-produced over 90 hit singles with multiple artists late-night talk show A late-night talk show is a genre of talk show popular in the United States, where the format originated. It is generally structured around humorous monologues about the day's news, guest interviews, comedy sketches and music performances. It i ...

''Clement Søndag'' on 22 April 2012. It impacted Danish radio on 28 May 2012. The song peaked at number five in Denmark. In October 2012, "Reconnect" was added to Danish radio station

DR P3 DR P3 (referred to in Denmark simply as P3) is a Danish current-based hit music radio station operated by the Danish Broadcasting Corporation. It is broadcast on FM radio, DAB, and Internet radio. It commenced broadcasting on 1 January 1963 as '' ...

as the album's fourth single.

Commercial performance

In Denmark, the album debuted at number 18 after three days of sale. The following week the album rose to number 11. In its thirty-third week on the chart, ''Before the Dinosaurs'' peaked at number six. ''Before the Dinosaurs'' debuted and peaked at number 36 in Switzerland on 20 November 2011. In its third and final week on the chart, the album fell to number 83. In Austria, the album debuted at number thirty on 18 November 2011. The album has since been certified gold by the

International Federation of the Phonographic Industry The International Federation of the Phonographic Industry (IFPI) is the organisation that represents the interests of the recording industry worldwide. It is a non-profit members' organisation registered in Switzerland and founded in Italy in 19 ...

(IFPI) for shipments of 10,000 copies in Austria. On October 19 it was confirmed, that Dione will release a re-release of her album, including a bonus DVD.

Track listing

The 12 tracks on the album are listed below. *The special edition contains twelve commentary tracks where Aura Dione talks about each song on the album.

Charts and certifications

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Certifications

Release history

References

{{Authority control 2011 albums Albums produced by Rick Nowels Albums produced by Rock Mafia Island Records albums Aura Dione albums