''It's a Man's World'' is a cover album and is the fifth studio album by American recording artist
Anastacia. The album is covers of songs with male vocalists. The album was released on November 9, 2012 by
BMG Rights Management,
as a prelude to her then-upcoming album of original studio material, which was originally due for release in 2013.
Background
The album was released digitally exclusively in Europe, with physical editions limited to select European countries and Anastacia's official store. The official store copies were all officially signed by Anastacia, and sold out in just three days. Copies available via the official store are able for purchase anywhere in Europe. Digital copies of the album contain an exclusive bonus track, a cover of
Soundgarden
Soundgarden was an American rock band formed in Seattle, Washington, in 1984 by singer and drummer Chris Cornell, lead guitarist Kim Thayil (both of whom are the only members to appear in every incarnation of the band), and bassist Hiro Yama ...
's "
Black Hole Sun
"Black Hole Sun" is a song by American rock band Soundgarden. Written by frontman Chris Cornell, the song was released in 1994 as the third single from the band's fourth studio album, '' Superunknown'' (1994). Considered to be the band's signatu ...
". Entirely produced by
Glen Ballard
Basil Glen Ballard Jr. (born May 1, 1953) is an American songwriter, lyricist, and record producer. He is best known for co-writing and producing Alanis Morissette's 1995 album '' Jagged Little Pill'', which won Grammy Awards for Best Rock Alb ...
,
the album is Anastacia's first studio album since ''
Heavy Rotation
In broadcasting, rotation is the repeated airing of a limited playlist of songs on a radio station or satellite radio channel, or music videos on a TV network. They are usually in a different order each time. However, they are not completely ...
'' (2008), and consists of cover versions of songs by male rock artists.
The album was preceded by a promotional single, "
Dream On", on October 26, 2012, before the album's official lead single, a cover of "
Best of You" by the
Foo Fighters, was released on November 2, 2012. A music video for the track was also released in promotion of the album. During an interview on German radio show ''
hr3
hr3 is a German, public radio station
Radio broadcasting is transmission of audio (sound), sometimes with related metadata, by radio waves to radio receivers belonging to a public audience. In terrestrial radio broadcasting the radi ...
'', Anastacia said of the album, "I think that in today's music market, it's a man's world. In essence, that's where the album title came from. It's also because the tracks I'm covering for this album are real men's songs. Do I think it's a man's world in the ultimate sense of the universe? No!"
Promotion
In promotion of the album, Anastacia has toured extensively since July 2012, and participated in the
Night of the Proms
Night of the Proms is a series of concerts held annually in Belgium (since 1985), the Netherlands, Germany and Luxembourg. Regularly there are also shows in France, Spain, Austria, Switzerland, Poland, Denmark, the United States and Sweden. The co ...
concert series as part of her tour, where she performed the album's official lead single, "Best of You". Anastacia revealed the release of the album to her British fans on an episode of ''
The Xtra Factor'', while she was a guest judge for the
Glasgow
Glasgow ( ; sco, Glesca or ; gd, Glaschu ) is the most populous city in Scotland and the fourth-most populous city in the United Kingdom, as well as being the 27th largest city by population in Europe. In 2020, it had an estimated popul ...
auditions of the
ninth series of ''The X Factor''. She also performed tracks from the album at
AIDA
''Aida'' (or ''Aïda'', ) is an opera in four acts by Giuseppe Verdi to an Italian libretto by Antonio Ghislanzoni. Set in the Old Kingdom of Egypt, it was commissioned by Cairo's Khedivial Opera House and had its première there on 24 Decemb ...
events in Germany and the Netherlands from September to December 2012. In further promotion of the album, Anastacia gave interviews on German radio show ''hr3'', Dutch talk show ''
Shownieuws'', German radio show ''NRD'', Germany's Radio Oberhausen, Swedish news channel
TV4 News
TV4 News was a Swedish television channel owned and operated by the TV4 Group. It started broadcasting on 24 January 2012 as Sweden's first 24/7 news channel in the Swedish language, with some material from BBC World News also rebroadcast on the s ...
, British talk show ''
Lorraine
Lorraine , also , , ; Lorrain: ''Louréne''; Lorraine Franconian: ''Lottringe''; german: Lothringen ; lb, Loutrengen; nl, Lotharingen is a cultural and historical region in Northeastern France, now located in the administrative region of Gra ...
'', and German television show ''
Leute heute''. She also premiered "Best of You" during the ''hr3'' interview, and provided links for her fans to listen to previews of the album from October 13, 2012.
In December 2012, it was announced that Anastacia would embark on the It's a Man's World Tour across Europe, starting at
O2 Shepherd's Bush Empire in
London
London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...
on April 6, 2013, and ending at
Philharmonie in
Munich
Munich ( ; german: München ; bar, Minga ) is the capital and most populous city of the German state of Bavaria. With a population of 1,558,395 inhabitants as of 31 July 2020, it is the third-largest city in Germany, after Berlin and Ha ...
on April 23. In February 2013, it was announced that the tour was to be cancelled due to Anastacia being diagnosed with breast cancer for a second time, after being in remission for nearly ten years.
Track listing
Personnel
Credits for ''It's a Man's World'' adapted from liner notes.
* Anastacia – vocals
*
Glen Ballard
Basil Glen Ballard Jr. (born May 1, 1953) is an American songwriter, lyricist, and record producer. He is best known for co-writing and producing Alanis Morissette's 1995 album '' Jagged Little Pill'', which won Grammy Awards for Best Rock Alb ...
– producer
* Scott Campbell – engineer, mixing
* Julian People Studio – art direction, design
* Samur Khouja – second engineer
* Andrew Macpherson – photography
* Bill Malina – engineer
* Jeremy Miller – second engineer
* Peter Stanislaus – second engineer
* Angela Vicari – production coordinator
*
Sadaharu Yagi
Sadaharu Yagi is a Japanese-born record producer, mixing engineer, and recording engineer who has won one Grammy and two Latin Grammy Awards. – second engineer
Charts
References
{{Authority control
2012 albums
Albums produced by Glen Ballard
Anastacia albums
Covers albums
Hard rock albums by American artists