''Begin to Hope'' is the fourth album by Soviet-born American singer-songwriter

Regina Spektor Regina Ilyinichna Spektor (russian: Регинa Ильинична Спектор, ; born February 18, 1980) is a Russian–born American singer, songwriter, and pianist. After self-releasing her first three records and gaining popularity in ...

. It was released June 13, 2006. The album debuted at number 70 on the ''Billboard'' 200, but due to the popularity of the single "Fidelity", it peaked at number 20 and was labeled a "pace setter" by ''Billboard''. ''

Rolling Stone ''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner, and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. It was first kno ...

'' named it the 21st-best album of 2006. The album was

certified Gold Music recording certification is a system of certifying that a music recording has shipped, sold, or streamed a certain number of units. The threshold quantity varies by type (such as album, single, music video) and by nation or territory (see ...

by the

RIAA The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) is a trade organization that represents the music recording industry in the United States. Its members consist of record labels and distributors that the RIAA says "create, manufacture, and/o ...

for shipments to U.S. retailers of 500,000 units. The album was nominated for the 2006

Shortlist Music Prize The Shortlist Music Prize, stylized as (shôrt–lĭst), was an annual music award for the best album released in the United States that had sold fewer than 500,000 copies at the time of nomination. First given as a cash prize in 2001 under ...

Track listing

All songs written by Regina Spektor. # "

Fidelity Fidelity is the quality of faithfulness or loyalty. Its original meaning regarded duty in a broader sense than the related concept of ''fealty''. Both derive from the Latin word ''fidēlis'', meaning "faithful or loyal". In the City of London f ...

" – 3:47 # "Better" – 3:22 # "

Samson Samson (; , '' he, Šīmšōn, label= none'', "man of the sun") was the last of the judges of the ancient Israelites mentioned in the Book of Judges (chapters 13 to 16) and one of the last leaders who "judged" Israel before the institution o ...

" – 3:10 # " On the Radio" – 3:22 # "Field Below" – 5:18 # "Hotel Song" – 3:29 # "Après Moi" – 5:08 # "20 Years of Snow" – 3:31 # "That Time" – 2:39 # "

Edit Edit may refer to: Concepts * an action that is part of an editing process (including of images, video, and film) * a particular version that is the result of editing, especially of film (for example, fan edit), or music (for example, radi ...

" – 4:53 # "Lady" – 4:45 # "Summer in the City" – 3:50 ;Deluxe Edition bonus disc # "Another Town" – 4:07 # "Uh-Merica" – 3:16 # "Baobabs" – 2:02 # "Düsseldorf" – 3:09 # "Music Box" – 2:11 ;iTunes Store/Amazon MP3 bonus tracks #

"Hero" – 3:44 # "Bartender" – 3:12 ;Vinyl edition disc 2, side A # "Another Town" – 4:10 # "Uh-Merica" – 3:19 # "Baobabs" – 2:04 # "Düsseldorf" – 3:12 # "Music Box" – 2:07 ;Vinyl edition disc 2, side B # "Better" (Piano and Voice) – 3:09 # "Better" (Radio Recut) – 3:12 # "Hero" – 3:45 # "Bartender" – 3:12 ;Vinyl 10th Anniversary edition disc 2, side B Bonus Track # "Baby Jesus" – 2:43

Personnel

– piano, vocals, guitar, percussion *

Nick Valensi Nicholas Valensi (born January 16, 1981) is an American musician and songwriter, best known for his role as lead and rhythm guitarist in the American rock band The Strokes. Since 2001, the band has released six studio albums, some of which Valen ...

– guitar on "Better" *

David Kahne David Kahne is an American record producer, musician, composer, and former record company executive. Professional career Kahne started his musical career as a working musician and soon became Director of A&R for America's first punk and new ...

– bass on "Better" * Zhao Gang –

erhu The ''erhu'' (; ) is a Chinese two-stringed bowed musical instrument, more specifically a spike fiddle, which may also be called a ''Southern Fiddle'', and is sometimes known in the Western world as the ''Chinese violin'' or a ''Chinese two-s ...

on "Field Below" * Ralph U. Williams – saxophone on "Lady" * Shawn Pelton – drums on "Fidelity", "Better", "On the Radio", "Hotel Song", "Après Moi" & "That Time" * Rachel Beth Egenhoefer – album design * David Kahne – mainstream pop producer

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Certifications

Single success

In 2006, Regina Spektor's first single, "Fidelity", premiered on VH1. Soon after, VH1 included her among "You Oughta Know: Artists on the Rise". Spektor performed "Fidelity" on ''

Late Night with Conan O'Brien ''Late Night with Conan O'Brien'' is an American late-night talk show hosted by Conan O'Brien. NBC aired 2,725 episodes from September 13, 1993, to February 20, 2009. The show featured varied comedic material, celebrity interviews, and music ...

'' in July 2006 and on

ABC ABC are the first three letters of the Latin script known as the alphabet. ABC or abc may also refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Broadcasting * American Broadcasting Company, a commercial U.S. TV broadcaster ** Disney–ABC Television ...

's ''

Good Morning America ''Good Morning America'' (often abbreviated as ''GMA'') is an American morning television program that is broadcast on ABC. It debuted on November 3, 1975, and first expanded to weekends with the debut of a Sunday edition on January 3, 1993. Th ...

'' in April 2007. She also performed "On The Radio" on ''

Jimmy Kimmel Live! ''Jimmy Kimmel Live!'' is an American late-night talk show, created and hosted by Jimmy Kimmel, broadcast on American Broadcasting Company, ABC. The nightly hour-long show debuted on January 26, 2003, at Hollywood Masonic Temple in Hollywood, Los ...

'' in November 2006. She performed the song again on ''

Late Show with David Letterman The ''Late Show with David Letterman'' is an American late-night talk show hosted by David Letterman on CBS, the first iteration of the The Late Show (franchise), ''Late Show'' franchise. The show debuted on August 30, 1993, and was produced by ...

'' in April 2007, and on the Australian

Rove McManus John Henry Michael McManus (born 21 January 1974), better known by the stage name Rove McManus, is an Australian triple Gold Logie award-winning comedian, television and radio presenter, producer and media personality. He was the host of the e ...

show in 2007. "Better" was released to US radio in late July 2007. Even though it was not released as a single, "Hotel Song" has reached No. 11 in the Irish music download charts and No. 16 in the Irish Top 50 Singles Chart as of May 2007. "Samson" is a new recording of a song originally released on 2002's ''

Songs A song is a musical composition intended to be performed by the human voice. This is often done at distinct and fixed pitches (melodies) using patterns of sound and silence. Songs contain various forms, such as those including the repetition ...

''. Gwen Stefani used the song for her Season 9 battle between Korin Bukowski and Chase Kerby on ''The Voice''. "Après Moi" was covered by

Peter Gabriel Peter Brian Gabriel (born 13 February 1950) is an English musician, singer, songwriter, record producer, and activist. He rose to fame as the original lead singer of the progressive rock band Genesis. After leaving Genesis in 1975, he launched ...

on his 2010 album ''

Scratch My Back ''Scratch My Back'' is the eighth studio album (and fifteenth album overall) by English musician Peter Gabriel, his first in eight years. It was released in February 2010. The album, recorded at Air Lyndhurst and Real World Studios during 2009, ...

''.

In popular culture

*The song, "Better" appeared in the fourth season of the

CBS CBS Broadcasting Inc., commonly shortened to CBS, the abbreviation of its former legal name Columbia Broadcasting System, is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the CBS Entertainm ...

TV show,

How I Met Your Mother ''How I Met Your Mother'' (often abbreviated as ''HIMYM'') is an American sitcom, created by Craig Thomas and Carter Bays for CBS. The series, which aired from September 19, 2005 to March 31, 2014, follows the main character, Ted Mosby, and his ...

, in an episode titled " Happily Ever After." A piano version of the song appeared prominently throughout the series finale of ''

The Good Wife ''The Good Wife'' is an American legal and political drama television series that aired on CBS from September 22, 2009, to May 8, 2016. It focuses on Alicia Florrick, the wife of the Cook County State's Attorney, who returns to her career in law ...

'' in 2016. *"Hotel Song" is featured in mobile phone company

Vodafone Vodafone Group Public limited company, plc () is a British Multinational corporation, multinational Telephone company, telecommunications company. Its registered office and Headquarters, global headquarters are in Newbury, Berkshire, England. It ...

's TV commercial in Ireland, contributing to the song's popularity in the country. The song was also featured in the 2011 Jennifer Westfeldt film ''

Friends with Kids ''Friends with Kids'' is a 2011 American romantic comedy film written, produced, and directed by Jennifer Westfeldt, who also stars in the film. Adam Scott, Jon Hamm, Kristen Wiig, Maya Rudolph, Chris O'Dowd, Megan Fox, and Edward Burns also star ...

''. *"Music Box" is featured on a

JCPenney Penney OpCo LLC, doing business as JCPenney and often abbreviated JCP, is a midscale American department store chain operating 667 stores across 49 U.S. states and Puerto Rico. Departments inside JCPenney stores include Mens, Womens, Boys, Gir ...

commercial. *"Samson" was featured on ''

CSI: NY ''CSI: NY'' (''Crime Scene Investigation: New York'', stylized as ''CSI: NY/Crime Scene Investigation'') is an American police procedural television series that ran on CBS from September 22, 2004, to February 22, 2013, for a total of nine seaso ...

'' in the second-season episode "All Access". *"Field Below" was on an episode of ''

Criminal Minds ''Criminal Minds'' is an American police procedural crime drama television series created and produced by Jeff Davis (writer), Jeff Davis. The series premiered on CBS on September 22, 2005, and originally concluded on February 19, 2020; it was r ...

''. *"That Time" was featured in the 2008

Martin McDonagh Martin Faranan McDonagh (; born 26 March 1970) is a British-Irish playwright, screenwriter, producer, and director. Born and brought up in London, he is the son of Irish parents. He is known as one of the most acclaimed modern playwrights whose ...

film ''

In Bruges ''In Bruges'' is a 2008 black comedy-drama crime film directed and written by Martin McDonagh in his feature-length debut and starring Colin Farrell and Brendan Gleeson as two London-based Irish hitmen in hiding, with Ralph Fiennes as the ...

'' starring

Colin Farrell Colin James Farrell (; born 31 May 1976) is an Irish actor. A leading man in projects across various genres in both blockbuster and independent films since the 2000s, he has received numerous accolades including a Golden Globe Award. ''The I ...

and

Brendan Gleeson Brendan Gleeson (born 29 March 1955) is an Irish actor and film director. He is the recipient of three IFTA Awards, two British Independent Film Awards, and a Primetime Emmy Award and has been nominated twice for a BAFTA Award and four times for ...

. *"Hero" was featured in the film '' (500) Days of Summer'', along with " Us" from Spektor's previous album, '' Soviet Kitsch''. *"Fidelity" is one of the songs featured in "Elephant Love Medley," a number in ''

Moulin Rouge! The Musical ''Moulin Rouge! The Musical'' is a jukebox musical with a book by John Logan. The musical is based on the 2001 film ''Moulin Rouge!'' directed by Baz Luhrmann and written by Luhrmann and Craig Pearce. The musical premiered on July 10, 2018, at ...

''.

Sales

*In New Zealand, the album was certified Gold for sales of more than 7,500. *In Australia, the album was certified Gold for sales of more than 35,000. *In the United States, the album was certified Gold for shipments of over 500,000 copies. Its sales have since surpassed 600,000 according to Nielsen/Soundscan.

References

{{Authority control 2006 albums Regina Spektor albums Sire Records albums Albums produced by David Kahne