''Bookmarks'' is the sixth studio album by American singer

Five for Fighting Vladimir John Ondrasik III (born January 7, 1965), also known by his stage name Five for Fighting, is an American singer-songwriter and pianist. He is best known for his piano-based soft rock ballads, such as the top 40 hits "Superman (It's Not ...

. It was released on September 17, 2013, by

Wind-up Records Wind-up Entertainment was an American independent record label founded by Alan and Diana Meltzer in 1997. It was based in New York City and was distributed by BMG Distribution. Wind-up's best-selling artists worldwide were Creed and Evanescence ...

. The album's first single, "What If", was released on June 11, 2013.

Background

After his previous album '' Slice'' was released in 2009, Ondrasik was uncertain about his future music career. He decided to record ''Bookmarks'' after restoring his passion for music while training for a marathon.

Recording

''Bookmarks'' was produced by Derek Fuhrmann and

Gregg Wattenberg Gregg Wattenberg is a Grammy Award nominated songwriter, music producer, and musician residing in New York City, New York. Work Gregg Wattenberg has co-written and/or co-produced eight No. 1 hit songs that reached the top of Billboard Hot AC, Adu ...

. Wattenberg previously worked with American rock band

Train In rail transport, a train (from Old French , from Latin , "to pull, to draw") is a series of connected vehicles that run along a railway track and Passenger train, transport people or Rail freight transport, freight. Trains are typically pul ...

and ''

American Idol ''American Idol'' is an American singing competition television series created by Simon Fuller, produced by Fremantle North America and 19 Entertainment, and distributed by Fremantle North America. It aired on Fox from June 11, 2002, to Ap ...

'' season 11 winner

Phillip Phillips Phillip LaDon Phillips Jr. (born September 20, 1990) Note: An inaccurate birthdate (Sept. 29, 1990) and birthplace (Leesburg, Georgia) appear in is an American singer-songwriter who rose to fame after winning the eleventh season of ''Americ ...

. Ondrasik and Wattenberg previously worked together for Ondrasik's 2000 album ''

America Town ''America Town'' is the second studio album by American pop rock artist Five for Fighting. It was released by Aware Records, a Columbia Records subsidiary, in 2000. It contains two of his most well-known songs, " Easy Tonight" and the Grammy-no ...

''. While recording, both of them tried out various genres and drum rhythms. Almost 60 songs were recorded for ''Bookmarks'' including six versions of "You'll Never Change".

Composition

Ondrasik based the songs off of ''Bookmarks'' on his life experiences that occurred in the three years after ''Slice''.

Reception

Stephen Thomas Erlewine of AllMusic said that while ''Bookmarks'' sounded like early 2000s

adult contemporary Adult contemporary music (AC) is a form of radio-played popular music, ranging from 1960s vocal and 1970s soft rock music to predominantly ballad-heavy music of the present day, with varying degrees of easy listening, pop, soul, R&B, quie ...

, he praised the positive lyrics and believed ''Bookmarks'' was the most put together album by Five for Fighting.

Track listing

Charts

References

2013 albums Five for Fighting albums Wind-up Records albums Albums produced by Gregg Wattenberg {{2010s-pop-rock-album-stub