''Meet the Vamps'' is the debut studio album by British pop band The Vamps. It was initially released in Australia and New Zealand on 11 April 2014, and released in the United Kingdom through

Virgin EMI Records Virgin EMI Records was a British record label owned by the Universal Music Group that was formed in 2013. In June 2020, the label was rebranded as EMI Records, and operates Virgin Records as an imprint of the new EMI Records. History Virgin ...

on 14 April. The album includes the UK top-five singles "

Can We Dance "Can We Dance" is the debut single by British pop band the Vamps. It was released in the United Kingdom on 29 September 2013 as the lead single from their debut studio album ''Meet the Vamps'' (2014). The song debuted and peaked at number two on ...

", " Wild Heart", " Last Night" and "

Somebody to You "Somebody to You" is a song by British pop rock band The Vamps. A version featuring American singer Demi Lovato was released in the United Kingdom on 18 May 2014 as the fourth single from their debut studio album, ''Meet the Vamps'' (2014). The s ...

". The album received generally positive reviews from music critics. It debuted at number two in the United Kingdom and the

Republic of Ireland Ireland ( ga, Éire ), also known as the Republic of Ireland (), is a country in north-western Europe consisting of 26 of the 32 Counties of Ireland, counties of the island of Ireland. The capital and largest city is Dublin, on the eastern ...

, kept off number one in both countries by ''

Caustic Love ''Caustic Love'' is the third studio album by Scottish singer-songwriter Paolo Nutini, released on 14 April 2014 by Atlantic Records. After releasing his critically and commercially successful album '' Sunny Side Up'' (2009), Nutini toured for ...

'' by

Paolo Nutini Paolo Giovanni Nutini (born 9 January 1987) is a Scottish singer, songwriter and musician from Paisley. Nutini's debut album, '' These Streets'' (2006), peaked at number three on the UK Albums Chart. Its follow-up, '' Sunny Side Up'' (2009), de ...

. It was the 23rd best selling album in 2014 in the UK.

Background and promotion

After James McVey met Brad Simpson via

YouTube YouTube is a global online video sharing and social media platform headquartered in San Bruno, California. It was launched on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim. It is owned by Google, and is the second mo ...

in late 2011, the duo began working together on their debut album. They later met Tristan Evans and Connor Ball and became a four-piece. They signed a record deal with

Mercury Records Mercury Records is an American record label owned by Universal Music Group. It had significant success as an independent operation in the 1940s and 1950s. Smash Records and Fontana Records were sub labels of Mercury. In the United States, it i ...

in November 2012. On 22 March 2014, The Vamps announced that their debut album would be called ''Meet the Vamps'' and would be released on 15 April 2014. The Vamps embarked on their first ever UK headline tour in support of their debut studio album and played 14 dates across the country. They made the announcement via their

Twitter Twitter is an online social media and social networking service owned and operated by American company Twitter, Inc., on which users post and interact with 280-character-long messages known as "tweets". Registered users can post, like, and ...

account on 12 February 2014.

Singles

" was released on 29 September 2013 as The Vamps' debut single and the lead single from the album. It had previously been on course to debut at number one 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 ...

, it eventually entered at number two, being beaten to the top spot by OneRepublic's "

Counting Stars "Counting Stars" is a song by American pop rock band OneRepublic from their third studio album, ''Native'' (2013). The song was written by lead singer Ryan Tedder, and produced by Tedder and Noel Zancanella. It was released as the album's seco ...

". The song has also peaked to number 17 in Australia and number 19 in New Zealand. *" Wild Heart" was released as the album's second single on 19 January 2014. The song peaked to number 3 in the UK. *" Last Night" was released as the third single on 6 April 2014, and peaked at number 2 on the UK Singles Chart. *A new version of "

" which features Demi Lovato was released as the fourth UK single and The Vamps' debut single in the US on 18 May 2014, and peaked at number four on the UK Singles Chart. *A new version of "

Oh Cecilia (Breaking My Heart) "Oh Cecilia (Breaking My Heart)" is a 2014 single by British pop band The Vamps, with a chorus adapted from Simon & Garfunkel's 1970 hit " Cecilia". The song appeared on their debut studio album ''Meet the Vamps'' (2014), but a later version feat ...

" which features

Shawn Mendes Shawn Peter Raul Mendes (; born August 8, 1998) is a Canadian pop singer. He gained a following in 2013, when he posted song covers on the video sharing platform Vine. The following year, he caught the attention of artist manager Andrew Gert ...

was released as the fifth single from the album on 12 October 2014. The song peaked at number 9 on the UK Singles Chart. It is certified Silver in the UK.

Promotional singles

*"Dangerous" was released as a

promotional single A promotional recording, or promo, or plug copy, is an audio or video recording distributed free, usually in order to promote a recording that is or soon will be commercially available. Promos are normally sent directly to broadcasters, such as ...

on 14 April 2014.

Reception

Critical reception

The album received generally positive reviews from music critics.

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databa ...

critic Matt Collar noted that the album "showcases the group's high-energy mix of melodic pop and

dance music Dance music is music composed specifically to facilitate or accompany dancing. It can be either a whole musical piece or part of a larger musical arrangement. In terms of performance, the major categories are live dance music and recorded da ...

." Lewis Corner of Digital Spy gave the album a positive review, stating, "...Meet packs a big enough pop punch to pierce through the oversaturated landscape and get itself noticed. They may have a lot of competition out there, but The Vamps have proven that they are more than capable to take on the challenge." Caroline Sullivan of ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...

'' also gave the album a positive review. She said, "segments of Meet the Vamps are verifiably bandy", but also felt that "there are many moments when it would be hard to pick the Vamps out of a lineup alongside

One Direction One Direction, often shortened to 1D, are an English-Irish pop boy band formed in London in 2010. The group are composed of Niall Horan, Liam Payne, Harry Styles, Louis Tomlinson, and previously Zayn Malik until his departure from the g ...

and

Peter Andre Peter Andre (born Peter James Andrea, 27 February 1973) is an English-Australian singer and television personality of Australian descent. Andre gained popularity as a singer, best known for his singles "Mysterious Girl" and " Flava". He is als ...

(whose " Mysterious Girl" clearly provided much of the inspiration for "Girls on TV"). This is where their origins as a YouTube covers act are most evident, and the need for a voice of their own most felt."

Virgin Media Virgin Media is a British telecommunications company which provides telephone, television and internet services in the United Kingdom. Its headquarters are at Green Park in Reading, England. It is owned by Virgin Media O2, a 50:50 joint ventu ...

's Matthew Horton called the album "an appealing effort that adds something to the pop landscape".

Commercial performance

''Meet the Vamps'' debuted at number two 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 ...

, behind

's ''

''. The same album kept it off the number one spot on the

UK Albums Chart The Official Albums Chart is a list of albums ranked by physical and digital sales and (from March 2015) audio streaming in the United Kingdom. It was published for the first time on 22 July 1956 and is compiled every week by the Official Charts ...

. It sold 47,160 in its first week, and was the 23rd biggest selling album of 2014. It has been certified Platinum by the

British Phonographic Industry British Phonographic Industry (BPI) is the British recorded music industry's Trade association. It runs the BRIT Awards, the Classic BRIT Awards, National Album Day, is home to the Mercury Prize, and co-owns the Official Charts Company with ...

(BPI) for sales of over 300,000 copies. In Australia, the album debuted at number three on the

ARIA Charts The ARIA Charts are the main Australian music sales charts, issued weekly by the Australian Recording Industry Association. The charts are a record of the highest selling songs and albums in various genres in Australia. ARIA became the offic ...

, behind the '' Frozen'' soundtrack and ''

The New Classic ''The New Classic'' is the debut studio album by Australian rapper Iggy Azalea. It was released on 21 April 2014 by Def Jam Recordings. Primarily a hip hop album, ''The New Classic'' features elements of EDM, dance-pop and trap in its produc ...

'' by

Iggy Azalea Amethyst Amelia Kelly (born 7 June 1990), known professionally as Iggy Azalea (), is an Australian rapper. At the age of 16, Azalea moved from Australia to the United States in order to pursue a career in music. Azalea earned public recognitio ...

. In the United States, the album debuted at No. 40 on the ''Billboard'' 200 albums chart on its first week of release, with around 10,000 copies sold. As of October 2015, the album has sold 51,000 copies in the US.

Track listing

Christmas Edition

''Meet the Vamps: Christmas Edition'' was released on 1 December 2014. It includes eight Christmas songs, the original version of "Somebody To You" and a DVD of band performing live at

Birmingham Birmingham ( ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands (county), West Midlands in England. It is the second-largest city in the United Kingdom with a population of 1. ...

NIA on 5 October 2014. iTunes version includes only songs and not available in US store .

US version

;Notes * signifies a co-producer * signifies an additional producer

Tour dates

Charts and certifications

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Certifications

Release history

References

{{Authority control 2014 debut albums Mercury Records albums Virgin EMI Records albums The Vamps (British band) albums Albums produced by TMS (production team)