''The Power of Love'' is the debut studio album by English singer
Sam Bailey
Samantha Florence Bailey (born 29 June 1977) is an English pop singer who won the tenth series of ''The X Factor'' in 2013. Following her win, her debut single, a cover of Demi Lovato's "Skyscraper" was released on 15 December 2013, achieving ...
, the winner of the
tenth 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 ...
''. It is largely an
album of cover versions with the exception of one original song, "Treasure". The album was released on 21 March 2014 via
Syco Music
Syco Music is a defunct division of Syco Entertainment founded by British entrepreneur and record executive Simon Cowell. Originally founded as S Records, the label launched while Cowell was still employed by BMG, the label oversaw music relea ...
and
Sony Music
Sony Music Entertainment (SME), also known as simply Sony Music, is an American multinational music company. Being owned by the parent conglomerate Sony Group Corporation, it is part of the Sony Music Group, which is owned by Sony Entertainme ...
.
The album received an overall mixed reception, with some praising Bailey's vocal ability but criticising the lack of original content and questioning her oversinging on certain songs.
A new version of the album, subtitled ''The Gift Edition'', was released on 1 December 2014.
Background
After winning the
tenth 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 ...
'' on 15 December 2013, Bailey signed a joint record deal with
Syco Music
Syco Music is a defunct division of Syco Entertainment founded by British entrepreneur and record executive Simon Cowell. Originally founded as S Records, the label launched while Cowell was still employed by BMG, the label oversaw music relea ...
and
Sony Music
Sony Music Entertainment (SME), also known as simply Sony Music, is an American multinational music company. Being owned by the parent conglomerate Sony Group Corporation, it is part of the Sony Music Group, which is owned by Sony Entertainme ...
. She also released a cover of
Demi Lovato's "
Skyscraper" as her winner's single on 16 December.
On ''
The Xtra Factor'' after the final results show, judge
Gary Barlow
Gary Barlow (born 20 January 1971) is an English singer, songwriter, record producer, and television personality. He is the lead singer of the British pop group Take That.
Barlow is one of the United Kingdom's most successful songwriters, havi ...
said that he would like to write songs for Bailey. In an interview with the
Official Charts Company
The Official Charts (legal name: The Official UK Charts Company Limited) is a British inter-professional organization that compiles various "official" record charts in the United Kingdom, Ireland and France.
In the United Kingdom, its charts in ...
, Bailey said that she wanted to release her debut album in spring 2014, which, with a gap of just three months, would make it 'the fastest album in X Factor history' (although
Nicholas McDonald, who was the runner-up to Bailey, ended up releasing his debut album a week earlier than Bailey making that the fastest album in ''X Factor'' history).
The album was recorded 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 ...
in January 2014. On 21 January, Bailey tweeted that her debut album would be called ''The Power of Love''. On 22 January, Bailey appeared at the
19th National Television Awards and sang the album's title track, "
The Power of Love".
She also performed a duet of "
Ain't No Mountain High Enough
"Ain't No Mountain High Enough" is a song written by Nickolas Ashford & Valerie Simpson in 1966 for the Tamla label, a division of Motown. The composition was first successful as a 1967 hit single recorded by Marvin Gaye and Tammi Terrell, and ...
" with
Michael Bolton
Michael Bolotin
, The Jewish Historical Society of New Haven, 1998. (born February 26, 1953), known professio ...
.
During an appearance on ''
The Jonathan Ross Show
''The Jonathan Ross Show'' is a British comedy chat show presented by Jonathan Ross. It was first broadcast on ITV on 3 September 2011 and airs on Saturday evenings following the conclusion of Ross' BBC One chat show, ''Friday Night with Jonat ...
'' on 24 January, Bailey announced that she had finished recording ''The Power of Love'' earlier that day.
On 4 March, a sampler of the album was released on Bailey's official
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 ...
channel.
Composition
In an interview with
Digital Spy, Bailey said "I wanted to do some
over versions It wasn't just them telling me what to do - there were a lot ideas passed across the table. I didn't want to cover any songs by artists that are around at the moment or are current in the charts because I don't think that's right. I wanted to do songs that were inspirational to me back in the day and close to my heart, particularly with my dad..." One of the songs,
Supertramp
Supertramp were an English rock band that formed in London in 1969. Marked by the individual songwriting of founders Roger Hodgson (vocals, keyboards, and guitars) and Rick Davies (vocals and keyboards), they are distinguished for blending p ...
's "
Lord Is It Mine", was chosen in memory of Sam's father, Ronnie, who died from cancer in 2008. "It was played at my dad's funeral," she said. "It was his favourite song and I've always wanted to sing it. When I recorded it, I was literally sobbing – I had to turn my microphone around so nobody could see me and shut the curtains."
It had previously been reported that Bailey and Bolton may record a duet for the album.
During ''The X Factor'', Bolton extended his UK trip in order to meet her and said he would work with her "in a heartbeat" and would "love to duet" with her. On 29 January, the duo released pictures of themselves recording a duet of "Ain't No Mountain High Enough", and this will be included on the album.
Bolton said, "The only thing more important than a great instrument is the ability to put your heart into that instrument. That's what resonates with people, that's what moves human beings and she has that combination."
Another duet on the album is "
And I Am Telling You" with
Nicole Scherzinger
Nicole Scherzinger (; born Nicole Prascovia Elikolani Valiente, June 29, 1978) is an American singer, songwriter, dancer, actress, and television personality. She is best known as the lead singer of the Pussycat Dolls, one of the best-selling g ...
, which Bailey originally performed on the ''X Factor'' final.
Singles
On 16 December 2013, the day after she won ''The X Factor'', Bailey released a cover of
Demi Lovato's "
Skyscraper" as her winner's single.
On 22 December, the song debuted atop 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 ...
with first-week sales of 149,000 copies, becoming
the Christmas number one.
On 30 December, the
Official Charts Company
The Official Charts (legal name: The Official UK Charts Company Limited) is a British inter-professional organization that compiles various "official" record charts in the United Kingdom, Ireland and France.
In the United Kingdom, its charts in ...
revealed that "Skyscraper" was the fifth fastest-selling single of 2013.
On 18 February 2014, the song "
Compass
A compass is a device that shows the cardinal directions used for navigation and geographic orientation. It commonly consists of a magnetized needle or other element, such as a compass card or compass rose, which can pivot to align itself wit ...
" received its debut airplay on
BBC Radio 2.
The song was previously released in 2010 by
classical singers
Mark Vincent
Mark Vincent (born 4 September 1993) is an Australian tenor. Vincent won the third season of ''Australia's Got Talent'' in 2009 and signed with Sony Music Australia immediately after. As of 2018, Vincent has released seven studio albums and one ...
and
Didrik Solli-Tangen
Didrik Solli-Tangen (born 11 June 1987) is a Norwegian singer who represented Norway in the Eurovision Song Contest 2010 with the song " My Heart Is Yours".
Biography
Solli-Tangen was born in Porsgrunn. From his early years he was interested i ...
. It was released as the second and final single the album on 16 March 2014.
Critical reception
The album received a mixed reception from critics. Daniel Falconer of ''Female First'' gave it 2 stars out of 5. Referring to a duet with Nicole Scherzinger (And I Am Telling You), he wrote: "Unfortunately for Sam,
cherzingermanages to bring herself to the forefront as she takes the best lines and shows that her ability is a much more honed one. Granted, she's been in the business for quite some time now, but Sam should have put her foot down."
In an extremely negative review,
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 Ian Gittins gave the album 1/5 and called it "the worst album made by an X Factor winner to date."
In a positive review, the ''
Scunthorpe Telegraph
The ''Scunthorpe Telegraph'' is a local paid-for newspaper published and distributed weekly in Scunthorpe, England. It was launched on 8 September 1937. Prior to the ''Scunthorpe Telegraph''s launch, the town was served by the '' Grimsby Evening ...
'' wrote, "Obviously cashing in on her success of winning X-Factor Sam’s debut album is a commendable effort. But some of her choices have been flogged to death. The ex-prison warder is strong however on emotion and that could make this a best-seller. Her duet with Michael Bolton on Ain’t No Mountain High Enough is the stand-out track."
Commercial performance
On 27 March 2014, the album 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 ...
. On 30 March, it went in at number one 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 ...
, making Bailey the first ''X Factor'' winner to have a number one album since
Alexandra Burke topped the chart with her debut album ''
Overcome'' in October 2009. The album sold 72,644 copies in its first week, making it (at the time) the fastest-selling album of 2014 in the UK, the second fastest-selling female solo album, behind
Taylor Swift
Taylor Alison Swift (born December 13, 1989) is an American singer-songwriter. Her discography spans multiple genres, and her vivid songwriting—often inspired by her personal life—has received critical praise and wide media coverage. Bor ...
's ''
1989
File:1989 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The Cypress structure collapses as a result of the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake, killing motorists below; The proposal document for the World Wide Web is submitted; The Exxon Valdez oil tanker runs ...
'', and the 41st best-selling album overall.
The album has sold 165,711 copies in the UK as of November 2015.
Track listing
*All tracks produced by
Graham Stack and Matt Furmidge, except "Ain't No Mountain High Enough" (produced by Stack, Furmidge,
Ray Hedges
Ray "Madman" Hedges is an English songwriter and record producer from Surrey, England who has had over 60 top 20 singles and albums including seven UK number-ones as producer and or writer with many on his own record labels.
Career
Hedges has b ...
, and Nigel Butler). All vocal production by David Quiñones.
Charts and certifications
Charts
Year-end charts
Certifications
Release history
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Power of Love, The
2014 debut albums
Sam Bailey albums
Covers albums
Sony Music albums
Syco Music albums