''JLS'' is the debut
studio album
An album is a collection of audio recordings issued on compact disc (CD), Phonograph record, vinyl, audio tape, or another medium such as Digital distribution#Music, digital distribution. Albums of recorded sound were developed in the early ...
by English boy band
JLS
JLS (an initialism of Jack the Lad Swing) are an English boyband, which consists of members Aston Merrygold, Oritsé Williams, Marvin Humes, and JB Gill, originally formed by Williams. They initially signed to Tracklacers production company ...
. It was released in the UK on 9 November 2009 by
Epic Records
Epic Records is an American record label owned by Sony Music Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Corporation of America
Sony Corporation of America (SONAM, also known as SCA), is the American arm of the Japanese conglomerate Sony Group ...
. It was preceded by the lead single, "
Beat Again
"Beat Again" is the debut single by English boy band JLS. It was released on 12 July 2009 as the lead single from their self-titled debut studio album '' JLS'' (2009). The song was written by Wayne Hector and Steve Mac and produced by Mac. The ...
" on 13 July 2009. The album debuted at number-one in the UK and Ireland. It has been certified four times
platinum
Platinum is a chemical element with the symbol Pt and atomic number 78. It is a dense, malleable, ductile, highly unreactive, precious, silverish-white transition metal. Its name originates from Spanish , a diminutive of "silver".
Platinu ...
in the UK, where it was the sixth best-selling album of 2009.
In the US, the album was issued as a six track
EP featuring their three UK singles, their new single "
The Club Is Alive
"The Club Is Alive" is a song by British boyband JLS. It was released in the United Kingdom on 2 July 2010 as the lead single from their second studio album, ''Outta This World''. It was also included in the American EP version of their JLS (alb ...
" and two other tracks from the UK version of the album.
This version was released on 2 August 2010, but failed to chart.
Singles
* "
Beat Again
"Beat Again" is the debut single by English boy band JLS. It was released on 12 July 2009 as the lead single from their self-titled debut studio album '' JLS'' (2009). The song was written by Wayne Hector and Steve Mac and produced by Mac. The ...
" was the debut release by the band, following their success on the
fifth series of ''
The X Factor
''The X Factor'' is a television music competition franchise created by British producer Simon Cowell and his company Syco Entertainment. It originated in the United Kingdom, where it was devised as a replacement for ''Pop Idol'' (2001–2003 ...
'' in 2008. The song was especially successful on the
UK Singles Chart
The UK Singles Chart (currently titled Official Singles Chart, with the upper section more commonly known as the Official UK Top 40) is compiled by the Official Charts Company (OCC), on behalf of the British record industry, listing the top-s ...
, debuting at number, selling 106,299 copies in its first week. The single became the second fastest-selling single of 2009, behind "
Bonkers" by
Dizzee Rascal
Dylan Kwabena Mills (born 18 September 1984), better known by his stage name Dizzee Rascal, is a British MC and rapper. A pioneer of grime music, his work has also incorporated elements of UK garage, bassline, British hip hop, and R&B.
D ...
. It has sold over 500,000 copies in the UK.
* "
Everybody in Love
"Everybody in Love" is a song by English boyband JLS from their self-titled debut album (2009). The song was released as a digital download on 1 November 2009, followed by a physical release the following day. The song became the band's seco ...
" was released as the second single from the album. On 8 November 2009, the song topped the UK Singles Chart, by selling over 121,000 copies in one week. It has sold over 400,000 copies in the UK, The single was released in February 2010 in the United States, but failed to chart.
* "
One Shot" was released as the third and final single from the album on 22 February 2010. The song has peaked in the UK Singles Chart at number six. It has sold over 300,000 copies in the UK.
Reception
Commercial performance
The album debuted at number one on the
Irish Albums Chart
The Irish Albums Chart is the Irish music industry standard albums popularity chart issued weekly by the Irish Recorded Music Association (IRMA). The charts were previously compiled on behalf of IRMA by Chart-Track, and have been compiled by the ...
on 12 November 2009. In the UK, the band beat
Robbie Williams
Robert Peter Williams (born 13 February 1974) is an English singer and songwriter. He found fame as a member of the pop group Take That from 1990 to 1995, and achieved commercial success after launching a solo career in 1996. His debut stud ...
to the number-one spot on 15 November 2009. Both ''JLS'' and Williams's tenth solo album ''
Reality Killed the Video Star
''Reality Killed the Video Star'' is the eighth solo studio album by English singer-songwriter Robbie Williams, released in November 2009. The album was produced by Trevor Horn and recorded between September 2008 and August 2009 in London and L ...
'' sold over 200,000 copies, making them the fastest-selling albums of the year. JLS beat Williams to the top spot by a margin of less than 1% First week sales were reported to be more than 230,000 copies; it was later revealed that ''JLS'' had first-week sales of 239,643, compared to 238,126 for ''Reality Killed the Video Star'', meaning that Williams had lost out by just 1,517 copies, or 0.64%.
The album has been certified two times platinum in Ireland,
while being certified four times Platinum in the UK,
and was the sixth best-selling album of 2009 in the UK. The album was also the 35th best-selling album of 2010, selling 317,000 copies of the album that year. The album has sold 1.4 million copies in total in the UK as of December 2012.
Critical reception
The album received generally negative reviews from critics on release. It scored an average of 2.7/10 at aggregator website
AnyDecentMusic?
AnyDecentMusic? is a website that collates album reviews from magazines, websites, and newspapers. Primarily focused on popular music – covering rock, pop, electronic, dance, folk, country, roots, hip-hop, R&B, and rap – albums are adjudg ...
, which is the lowest score in the history of the website.
Track listing
Charts and certifications
Charts
Certifications
Release history
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Jls
2009 albums
Epic Records albums
Albums produced by Cutfather
Albums produced by Fraser T. Smith
Albums produced by J. R. Rotem
JLS albums