Three (Sugababes album)

Three

Official UK cover. European release received alternative artwork, featuring a blue-hued background, replacing the grey.
Studio album by Sugababes
Released 27 October 2003 (2003-10-27)
Recorded 2003; London, England
Genre
Length 55:15
Label Island
Producer
Sugababes chronology
Angels with Dirty Faces
(2002)		 Three
(2003)		 Taller in More Ways
(2005)
Singles from Three
  1. "Hole in the Head"
    Released: 13 October 2003
  2. "Too Lost in You"
    Released: 15 December 2003
  3. "In the Middle"
    Released: 22 March 2004
  4. "Caught in a Moment"
    Released: 23 August 2004

Three is the third studio album by British girl group Sugababes, released by Island Records on 27 October 2003, in the United Kingdom. It generated four singles that charted in various parts of the world; the first, "Hole in the Head", became the group's third UK number one single. The three members of the Sugababes each recorded a "solo" song on the album—"Whatever Makes You Happy" (Keisha Buchanan), "Sometimes" (Heidi Range) and "Maya" (Mutya Buena). Three debuted at number three on the UK Albums Chart.

Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[1]
BBC(positive)[2]
The Guardian[3]
Rolling Stone[4]
StylusB+[5]
Yahoo! Music[6]

Background

After releasing "Shape", the fourth and final single from their successful previous album Angels with Dirty Faces (2002), the group announced that they had gone back into the studio to start work on the next album with producers whom they worked with on the previous album such as Jony Rockstar and Xenomania. They went over to America to work with bigger producers such as Linda Perry and Diane Warren, who wrote the ballad "Too Lost in You". They had also aimed to release the new album in America. The girls co-wrote and recorded their own tracks on the new album—Keisha's being "Whatever Makes You Happy", Heidi's being "Sometimes", and Mutya's being "Maya", a song about her sister who died unexpectedly. The Sugababes later announced the lead single "Hole in the Head" and its release date of 13 October. The UK release was a special edition with two extra tracks, "Twisted" and "Buster". Initially, the digital download version offered by Woolworths in the UK accidently contained an earlier demo version of "Whatever Makes You Happy" but the mistake was quickly rectified.

Commercial performance

Three reached number three on the UK Albums Chart. The first single, "Hole in the Head", was the group's third number-one single in the United Kingdom and also went to number one in Denmark. It reached number two in Ireland and Norway, and the top forty in Australia. The second single, "Too Lost in You", reached the top ten in the UK and Norway, and the top forty in Australia. The third single, "In the Middle", went top ten in the UK, top twenty in Ireland and top forty in Europe and Australia. A fourth single, "Caught in a Moment", also reached the top ten in the UK.

In 2004, "Hole in the Head" was serviced to radio in the United States and became a top forty hit on pop radio. Following the moderate success of the single, Three was due for release in the US with an altered track listing featuring singles from the group's previous album, Angels with Dirty Faces (2002).[7] The release was subsequently cancelled when a second single, "Too Lost in You", failed to make any impact. In the UK, the album is certified two times Platinum by the BPI.[8] The album also received a Platinum Europe Award by the IFPI in recognition of European sales in excess of 1 million copies.[9]

Critical reception

Three received positive reviews from critics, who praised the experimental new urban and hip hop sounds on the album. Alan Braidwood from the BBC gave Three a positive review, stating the album takes lead from Angels with Dirty Faces and calling it a fresh and exciting album. He also praised the new sound on the album. Ross Hoffman from AllMusic described the album as "tuneful, R&B-inflected dance-pop with fresh-sounding but accessible productions, along with a healthy smattering of big droopy ballads with an expanded stylistic range".

Track listing

Three  – Standard edition
No. TitleWriter(s)Producer(s) Length
1. "Hole in the Head"  
 3:38
2. "Whatever Makes You Happy" (Keisha Buchanan solo)
  • Craig Dodds
  • Gary Cooper
  • Buchanan
  • Pete Martin
  • Stuart Crichton
Craigie 3:15
3. "Caught in a Moment"  
Jony Rockstar 4:24
4. "Situation's Heavy"  
  • Buchanan
  • Buena
  • Range
  • Tim Larcombe
  • Shawn Lee
  • Higgins
  • Cooper
  • Edele Lynch
  • Brian Higgins
  • Xenomania
 4:10
5. "Million Different Ways"  
  • Craigie
  • Crichton
  • Felix Howard
  • Guy Sigsworth
  • Buchanan
  • Buena
  • Range
  • Sigsworth
  • Craigie
 4:29
6. "Twisted" (UK bonus track)
  • Buchanan
  • Buena
  • Range
  • Cooper
  • Higgins
  • Lee
  • Larcombe
  • Lynch
Xenomania 3:03
7. "We Could Have it All"  
  • Craigie
  • Howard
  • Johnny Dollar
  • Buchanan
  • Buena
  • Range
Craigie 3:37
8. "Conversation's Over"  
  • Tom Elmhirst
  • Lipsey
  • Poole
  • Buchanan
  • Buena
  • Range
Jony Rockstar 4:06
9. "In the Middle"  
  • Cooper
  • Higgins
  • Scarlett
  • Lee
  • Lisa Cowling
  • Buchanan
  • Buena
  • Range
  • Andre Tegler
  • Phil Fuldner
  • Michael Bellina
  • Higgins
  • Xenomania
  • Wheatley
 3:59
10. "Too Lost in You"  Diane Warren
  • Andy Bradfield
  • Rob Dougan
 3:58
11. "Nasty Ghetto"  
Perry 4:16
12. "Buster" (UK bonus track)
  • Buchanan
  • Buena
  • Range
  • Cooper
  • Higgins
  • Lee
  • Larcombe
  • Lynch
Xenomania 4:22
13. "Sometimes" (Heidi Range solo)
  • Howard
  • Range
  • Lipsey
  • Buchanan
  • de Vries
  • Buena
Jony Rockstar 4:34
14. "Maya" (Mutya Buena solo)
  • Craigie
  • Sigsworth
  • Buena
  • Range
  • Buchanan
  • Sigsworth
  • Craigie
 4:43

Charts and certifications

Charts

Chart (2003) Peak
position
Australian Hitseekers Albums (ARIA)[10] 4
Austrian Albums (Ö3 Austria)[11] 21
Belgian Albums (Ultratop Flanders)[12] 50
Danish Albums (Hitlisten)[13] 39
Dutch Albums (MegaCharts)[14] 4
Finnish Albums (Suomen virallinen lista)[15] 40
French Albums (SNEP)[16] 128
German Albums (Offizielle Top 100)[17] 10
Irish Albums (IRMA)[18] 9
New Zealand Albums (RMNZ)[19] 45
Norwegian Albums (VG-lista)[20] 22
Swedish Albums (Sverigetopplistan)[21] 54
Swiss Albums (Schweizer Hitparade)[22] 9
UK Albums (OCC)[23] 3

Certifications

Region Certification Certified units/Sales
Germany (BVMI)[24] Gold 100,000^
Russia (NFPF)[25] Gold 10,000*
Switzerland (IFPI Switzerland)[26] Gold 20,000^
United Kingdom (BPI)[8] 2× Platinum 600,000^
Summaries
Europe (IFPI)[9] Platinum 1,000,000*

*sales figures based on certification alone
^shipments figures based on certification alone

Release history

Region Date Label Format
Europe 27 October 2003 Island Records CD
Australia 3 November 2003[27]
United States 4 October 2005

Tours

Set list

¹Performed at the first concert

References

  1. ↑ Allmusic review
  2. ↑ BBC review
  3. ↑ The Guardian review
  4. ↑ Rolling Stone review
  5. ↑ Stylus review
  6. ↑ Yahoo! Music review
  7. ↑ http://www.discogs.com/Sugababes-Three/release/452999
  8. 1 2 "British album certifications – Sugababes – Three". British Phonographic Industry. Enter Three in the field Keywords. Select Title in the field Search by. Select album in the field By Format. Click Search
  9. 1 2 "IFPI Platinum Europe Awards – 2004". International Federation of the Phonographic Industry.
  10. ↑ "Week Commecing: 1st December 2003 - Issue No: 719" (PDF). Australian Recording Industry Association. 1 December 2003. Retrieved 9 November 2012.
  11. ↑ "Austriancharts.at – Sugababes – Three" (in German). Hung Medien. Retrieved 9 November 2012.
  12. ↑ "Ultratop.be – Sugababes – Three" (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved 9 November 2012.
  13. ↑ "Danishcharts.com – Sugababes – Three". Hung Medien. Retrieved 9 November 2012.
  14. ↑ "Dutchcharts.nl – Sugababes – Three" (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved 9 November 2012.
  15. ↑ "Sugababes: Three" (in Finnish). Musiikkituottajat – IFPI Finland. Retrieved 9 November 2012.
  16. ↑ "Lescharts.com – Sugababes – Three". Hung Medien. Retrieved 9 November 2012.
  17. ↑ "Longplay-Chartverfolgung at Musicline" (in German). Musicline.de. Phononet GmbH. Retrieved 9 November 2012.
  18. ↑ "GFK Chart-Track Albums: Week 44, 2003". Chart-Track. IRMA. Retrieved 9 November 2012.
  19. ↑ "Charts.org.nz – Sugababes – Three". Hung Medien. Retrieved 9 November 2012.
  20. ↑ "Norwegiancharts.com – Sugababes – Three". Hung Medien. Retrieved 9 November 2012.
  21. ↑ "Swedishcharts.com – Sugababes – Three". Hung Medien. Retrieved 9 November 2012.
  22. ↑ "Swisscharts.com – Sugababes – Three". Hung Medien. Retrieved 9 November 2012.
  23. ↑ "2003 Top 40 Official UK Albums Archive". UK Albums Chart. Official Charts Company. 8 November 2003. Retrieved 9 November 2012.
  24. ↑ "Gold-/Platin-Datenbank (Sugababes; 'Three')" (in German). Bundesverband Musikindustrie.
  25. ↑ "2m-online.ru.". NFPF. Archived from the original on 24 January 2009. Retrieved 9 April 2012.
  26. ↑ "The Official Swiss Charts and Music Community: Awards (Sugababes; 'Three')". IFPI Switzerland. Hung Medien.
  27. ↑ http://www.sanity.com.au/product/product.asp?sku=1162512

External links

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