''Wild Hope'' is the fourth studio album by American singer-songwriter

Mandy Moore Amanda Leigh Moore (born April 10, 1984) is an American singer, songwriter and actress. She rose to fame with her debut single, "Candy", which peaked at number 41 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100. Her debut studio album, '' So Real'' (1999), recei ...

, her first in four years ''

Coverage Coverage may refer to: Filmmaking * Coverage (lens), the size of the image a lens can produce * Camera coverage, the amount of footage shot and different camera setups used in filming a scene * Script coverage, a short summary of a script, wri ...

'' (2003). It was released in digitally in Australia on June 18, 2007, and on June 19, 2007 by The Firm Music, a division of EMI USA. The Australian digital version includes the bonus track "Swept Away". The album was released in Australia physically on February 23, 2008. It is Moore's first album to be fully co-written by her. The album debuted at number thirty on the US ''Billboard'' 200 with first-week sales of 25,000 copies.

Background

Moore began writing the album in 2004. She originally signed with

Sire Records Sire Records (formerly Sire Records Company) is an American record label owned by Warner Music Group and distributed by Warner Records. History Beginnings The label was founded in 1966 as Sire Productions by Seymour Stein and Richard Gottehrer ...

after leaving

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 ...

in 2004 and released a single via her site titled "Hey!" which was written by

James Renald Sky was a Canadian R&B-influenced pop rock group from Montreal, Quebec. The duo originally consisted of James Renald (1971 - 2018) and Antoine Sicotte (1972 - ), son of actor Gilbert Sicotte. Both were songwriters, producers and multi-instrumen ...

, the co-writer and co-producer of her 2001 single "

Cry Crying is the dropping of tears (or welling of tears in the eyes) in response to an emotional state, or pain. Emotions that can lead to crying include sadness, anger, and even happiness. The act of crying has been defined as "a complex secreto ...

". In early 2006, Moore posted her cover of

Lori McKenna Lorraine McKenna ( Giroux; born December 22, 1968) is an American folk, Americana, and country music singer-songwriter. In 2016, she was nominated for the Grammy Award for Song of the Year and won Best Country Song for co-writing the hit sing ...

's 2003 song "Beautiful Man" on her MySpace profile and later informed her fans that she left Sire because of creative differences. In July 2006. Moore signed with The Firm, owned by

EMI EMI Group Limited (originally an initialism for Electric and Musical Industries, also referred to as EMI Records Ltd. or simply EMI) was a British Transnational corporation, transnational Conglomerate (company), conglomerate founded in March 1 ...

, and a U.K. magazine assumed after hearing the song "Slummin' In Paradise" that it would be the title of the album. Moore collaborated with producer

John Alagía John Alagía is an American record producer, composer, mixer and co-founder of Drive Music. Alagia has worked with artists including Lukas Nelson, Paul Simon, Herbie Hancock, Dave Matthews, John Mayer, Jason Mraz, Serena Ryder, Brett Dennen, R ...

on the album, who is known for working with

Dave Matthews Band Dave Matthews Band (also known by the initials DMB) is an American rock band formed in Charlottesville, Virginia, in 1991. The band's founding members were singer-songwriter and guitarist Dave Matthews, bassist Stefan Lessard, drummer and bac ...

and

Liz Phair Elizabeth Clark Phair (born April 17, 1967) is an American singer-songwriter. Born in New Haven, Connecticut, Phair was raised primarily in the Chicago area. After graduating from Oberlin College in 1990, she attempted to start a musical career ...

, and has co-written an entire album for the first time: she co-wrote songs with a number of musicians, including

Michelle Branch Michelle Jacquet DeSevren Branch (born July 2, 1983) is an American singer, songwriter, and guitarist. During the early 2000s, she released two top-selling albums: ''The Spirit Room'' and '' Hotel Paper.'' She won a Grammy Award for Best Pop Co ...

, Chantal Kreviazuk, Lori McKenna,

Rachael Yamagata Rachael Yamagata (born September 23, 1977) is an American singer-songwriter and pianist from Arlington, Virginia. She began her musical career with the band Bumpus before becoming a solo artist and releasing five EPs and four studio albums. Her ...

and indie folk pop duo

The Weepies The Weepies were an American indie pop- folk band consisting of singer-songwriters Steve Tannen and Deb Talan. Their music has been described as "subtly intoxicating folk-pop". History Formation and early years (2001–2005) In 2001, Talan and ...

, all chronicled in a promotiona
video
available for viewing on her official website. This is the first album that Moore co-wrote entirely and the first time she released songs that she co-wrote since "When I Talk to You" with songwriter and producer

Matthew Hager Matthew Hager is a multiplatinum American record producer, musician and songwriter. Originally from Houston, Texas, Hager now lives in Los Angeles. Before moving to Los Angeles, Hager studied at the prestigious Berklee College of Music. Since th ...

, which appeared on her self-titled album, in 2001; a number of the songs are about her breakup with her ex-boyfriend, actor

Zach Braff Zachary Israel Braff'Scrubs' Star Zach Braff Wows ...

in 2006. The album's lead single " Extraordinary" was one of the songs she co-wrote with The Weepies, which premiered on her MySpace profile on January 29, 2007. On February 9, 2007, Moore posted the album's second single " Nothing That You Are" on her MySpace profile. Moore said making the album helped her cope with depression and self-discovery.

Critical reception

The album received generally positive reviews from critics. ''

Jane Magazine ''Jane'' was an American magazine created to appeal to the women who grew up reading '' Sassy'' magazine; Jane Pratt was the founding editor of each. Its original target audience (pitched to advertisers) was aged 18–34, and was designed to app ...

'' said that "Moore has turned into a sophisticated songwriter whose new sound fits cozily alongside that of

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 ...

Fiona Apple Fiona Apple McAfee-Maggart (born September 13, 1977) is an American singer-songwriter. She has released five albums from 1996 to 2020, which have all reached the top 20 on the U.S. ''Billboard'' 200 chart. Apple has received numerous awards an ...

and

Sarah McLachlan Sarah Ann McLachlan Order of Canada, OC Order of British Columbia, OBC (born January 28, 1968) is a Canadian singer-songwriter. As of 2015, she had sold over 40 million albums worldwide. McLachlan's best-selling album to date is ''Surfacing ( ...

rather than all the pop tarts she used to be compared to." ''

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertise ...

'' said that "''Wild Hope'' is the gratifying sound of a singer finally finding her comfort zone. Gone is the sugary pop of Moore's early career, replaced instead by thoughtful musings on love and life...an album full of subtle, but undeniable hooks."

Promotion

Moore filmed a documentary for Oxygen called ''I am Mandy Moore'' that chronicled the writing and concept of her album ''Wild Hope''. She also did "one-off" gigs promoting her album. The most popular is the MSN concert where Moore performed all songs off her album including three of her older songs that were " Help Me", " Moonshadow" and "

Candy Candy, also called sweets (British English) or lollies (Australian English Australian English (AusE, AusEng, AuE, AuEng, en-AU) is the set of varieties of the English language native to Australia. It is the country's common language an ...

". Moore also went on tour to help promote the album. In December 2017, ''Wild Hope'' was re-released and made available for digital download and streaming.

Commercial performance

''Wild Hope'' debuted on the US ''Billboard'' 200 at number 30, selling 25,000 copies on its first week. It is Moore's third highest debuting album, falling short of her third studio album ''

'' (2003), which debuted at number fourteen. The album also reached number nine on US The Top Internet albums. It spent a total of seven weeks on the ''Billboard'' 200. ''Wild Hope'' had sold 350,000 copies worldwide as of February 2009. In US the album had sold 109,000 copies by June 2009.

Track listing

All songs produced by

Personnel

: Main vocals *Brett and Steve Dennen, Tom Freund,

Jason Mraz Jason Thomas Mraz (; born June 23, 1977) is an American guitarist, singer and songwriter. He rose to prominence with the release of his debut studio album, ''Waiting for My Rocket to Come'' (2002), which spawned the single " The Remedy (I Won't ...

, Sara Watkins, Steve Wilson: Background vocals *John Alagía: Acoustic guitars, organ, piano, percussion *Daniel Clark: Organ, Fender Rhodes, Wurlitzer, acoustic piano *

Mark Goldenberg Mark Goldenberg (born April 10, 1952) is an American guitarist and songwriter, noted for his session work and composition of successful songs for Linda Ronstadt, the Pointer Sisters, and others. Biography Early career Raised in Chicago, Illin ...

: Organ,

mandolin A mandolin ( it, mandolino ; literally "small mandola") is a stringed musical instrument in the lute family and is generally plucked with a pick. It most commonly has four courses of doubled strings tuned in unison, thus giving a total of 8 ...

E-Bow The EBow, short for electronic bow or energy bow, is an electronic device used for playing string instruments, most often the electric guitar. It is manufactured by Heet Sound Products, of Los Angeles, California. It was invented by Greg Heet i ...

, electric and acoustic guitars, tamboura,

ukulele The ukulele ( ; from haw, ukulele , approximately ), also called Uke, is a member of the lute family of instruments of Portuguese origin and popularized in Hawaii. It generally employs four nylon strings. The tone and volume of the instrumen ...

*Kevin Saleem: Acoustic, electric and slide guitars, Hammond organ, drum programming *Doug Derryberry: Electric guitars, bouzouki *Deb Talan: Acoustic guitars, Wurlitzer, background vocals *

Clarinet The clarinet is a musical instrument in the woodwind family. The instrument has a nearly cylindrical bore and a flared bell, and uses a single reed to produce sound. Clarinets comprise a family of instruments of differing sizes and pitches ...

French horn The French horn (since the 1930s known simply as the horn in professional music circles) is a brass instrument made of tubing wrapped into a coil with a flared bell. The double horn in F/B (technically a variety of German horn) is the horn most ...

, piano, sampling, background vocals *Stewart Meyers: Bass *Matt Johnson: Drums, percussion *Brian Ashley Jones: Drums

Charts

Singles

#" Extraordinary" #" Nothing That You Are" (Promo only) #"All Good Things" (Australia Radio single only)

Unreleased tracks

*"Changed My Mind" (McKenna, Moore) *"Shades" (Moore, Renald) *"Never Again" (Moore, Renald)

Mandy Moore Soundcheck (Wal-Mart Exclusive)

*"All Good Things" riginal Performance Series– 2:53 *"Looking Forward To Looking Back" riginal Performance Series

ideo IDEO () is a design and consulting firm with offices in the U.S., England, Germany, Japan, and China. It was founded in Palo Alto, California, in 1991. The company's 700 staff uses a design thinking approach to design products, services, enviro ...

*"Interview From Soundcheck"

References

MTV interview with Mandy Moore, from December 7, 2006Official lyric sheet from Firm Music, confirming B-Sides

External links

Mandy Moore official websiteMandy Moore official MySpace
{{Authority control 2007 albums Mandy Moore albums Albums produced by John Alagía EMI Records albums