Europop (album)
1999 studio album by Eiffel 65
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Europop is the debut studio album by Italian electronic group Eiffel 65. The album was released in late 1999 as under Bliss Corporation and Universal Records and Republic Music (Universal and Republic would merge to Universal Republic). The album is most notable for the group's two biggest hits: "Blue (Da Ba Dee)" and "Move Your Body," which topped the charts worldwide in 2000.
| Europop | ||||
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| Studio album by | ||||
| Released | 22 November 1999[1] | |||
| Recorded | 1998–1999 | |||
| Genres | ||||
| Length | 65:35 | |||
| Labels | ||||
| Producers |
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| Eiffel 65 chronology | ||||
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| Alternative cover | ||||
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| Singles from Europop | ||||
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Background
The title of Europop describes its genre; it combines several dance styles unique to European countries, such as the United Kingdom's trip hop, Germany's techno, and Italy's dance music, and songs are structured like typical pop songs.[2] The album follows a deep house template featuring vocoder vocal effects, synthesizer hooks, and "nursery rhyme choruses,"[3][4] with occasional deviations from it into string-orchestrated hip-hop ("Living in a Bubble") and "trippy" house stylings ("Now is Forever" and "Europop").[3] Elements of 1980s synthpop dominate,[5] with reviews making comparisons to Depeche Mode[5][6] (especially towards "Your Clown"[7][3]), Erasure,[5][6] a-ha, and Duran Duran.[6]
The album features pitch-corrected vocals and Euro disco beats throughout.[8] Eiffel 65 perform all the songs on this album in English.
Reception
| Review scores | |
|---|---|
| Source | Rating |
| AllMusic |   [3] |
| Courier News | [9] |
| Entertainment Weekly | C+[5] |
| Houston Chronicle |  [7] |
| Los Angeles Daily News | [10] |
| PopMatters | 8/10[8] |
| Rolling Stone | [11] |
| The San Diego Union-Tribune | [4] |
Contemporaneous reviews from Entertainment Weekly, the Houston Chronicle, and The Plain Dealer welcomed the humorous, light-weight dance-pop style of Europop in a pop music market saturated with mostly dour music, calling serious cuts such as "Your Clown" and "Now is Forever" the LP's weakest.[5][7][6] Reviews from The Plain Dealer and Rolling Stone also appreciated its rejection of intellectual pretentiousness common in electronic music.[6][11] On the other hand, the album was criticized for a lack of differentiation (in composition and production techniques) between songs,[4][5] with Jose F. Promis writing its best moments came when it combined its template with different genres.[3] In his review for Courier News, Tab Benoit called Eiffel 65 a "one-trick pony" for using the same vocal effect for all tracks.[9]
The album peaked at number four on the Billboard 200 in the United States, and the song "Blue (Da Ba Dee)" peaked at number six on the Billboard Hot 100, impressive for an EDM song at the time of its release. In February 2000, the album was certified two-times platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) for shipments of two million copies in the US.
Track listing
| No. | Title | Lyrics | Music | Producer(s) | Length |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Too Much of Heaven" (album mix) |
|
| Lobina | 5:17 |
| 2. | "Dub In Life" (album edit) |
|
|
| 3:57 |
| 3. | "Blue (Da Ba Dee)" (DJ Gabry Ponte radio edit) |
|
|
| 4:43 |
| 4. | "Living in a Bubble" (album mix) (featuring Papa Winnie) |
|
|
| 5:03 |
| 5. | "Move Your Body" (DJ Gabry Ponte original radio edit) |
|
|
| 4:28 |
| 6. | "My Console" (DJ Gabry Ponte Console mix) |
|
|
| 4:13 |
| 7. | "Your Clown" (Slow mix) |
|
| Capuano | 4:09 |
| 8. | "Another Race" (album edit) |
|
|
| 4:34 |
| 9. | "The Edge" (album mix) | Randone |
| Randone | 4:20 |
| 10. | "Now Is Forever" (Electronic Ballad mix) |
|
| Capuano | 5:44 |
| 11. | "Silicon World" (Main mix) |
| Alessandro Topuntoli |
| 4:31 |
| 12. | "Europop" (Album Kraft mix) |
|
|
| 5:26 |
| 13. | "Hyperlink (Deep Down)" (album cut) | Randone |
|
| 4:57 |
| No. | Title | Lyrics | Music | Producer(s) | Length |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Blue (Da Ba Dee)" (radio edit) |
|
|
| 3:29 |
| 2. | "Too Much of Heaven" |
|
| Lobina | 5:17 |
| 3. | "Dub in Life" |
|
|
| 3:57 |
| 4. | "Living in a Bubble" (featuring Papa Winnie) |
|
|
| 5:03 |
| 5. | "Move Your Body" |
|
|
| 4:28 |
| 6. | "My Console" |
|
|
| 4:13 |
| 7. | "Your Clown" |
|
| Capuano | 4:09 |
| 8. | "Another Race" |
|
|
| 4:34 |
| 9. | "The Edge" | Randone |
| Randone | 4:20 |
| 10. | "Now Is Forever" |
|
| Capuano | 5:44 |
| 11. | "Silicon World" |
| Alessandro Topuntoli |
| 4:31 |
| 12. | "Europop" |
|
|
| 5:28 |
| 13. | "Hyperlink (Deep Down)" | Randone |
|
| 4:57 |
| 14. | "Blue (Da Ba Dee)" (extended mix) |
|
|
| 4:46 |
| No. | Title | Length |
|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Nick Skitz Eiffel 65 Megamix" | 7:35 |
| 2. | "Blue (Da Ba Dee)" (extended mix) | 6:29 |
| 3. | "Blue (Da Ba Dee)" (Molinaro Parade German cut) | 2:48 |
| 4. | "Blue (Da Ba Dee)" (TJM Bluemax 04 Extension remix) | 6:37 |
| 5. | "Move Your Body" (Paris remix) | 7:04 |
| 6. | "Move Your Body" (Claywork remix) | 6:28 |
| 7. | "Europop" (Parade mix) | 5:14 |
Personnel
Credits adapted from the album's liner notes. The track numbers correspond to the US release.[12]
Eiffel 65
- Jeffrey Jey – vocals
- Maurizio Lobina – keyboards, programming
- Gabry Ponte – DJ, mixing
Additional personnel
- Angelica Villella – mixing (1, 2, 4–8, 10, 14)
- Mauro Di Deco – mixing (3, 9, 11–13)
- Chris Zippel – mastering
- Massimo Gabutti – executive producer
- Luciano Zucchet – executive producer
Charts
Weekly charts
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Year-end charts
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Certifications
| Region | Certification | Certified units/sales |
|---|---|---|
| Argentina (CAPIF)[36] | Gold | 30,000^ |
| Australia (ARIA)[37] | Gold | 35,000^ |
| Canada (Music Canada)[38] | Platinum | 100,000^ |
| Denmark (IFPI Danmark)[39] | Gold | 25,000^ |
| Finland (Musiikkituottajat)[40] | Gold | 21,712[40] |
| France (SNEP)[41] | 2× Gold | 200,000* |
| Hungary (MAHASZ)[42] | Gold | |
| New Zealand (RMNZ)[43] | Platinum | 15,000^ |
| Poland (ZPAV)[44] | Gold | 50,000* |
| United States (RIAA)[45] | 2× Platinum | 2,000,000^ |
|
* Sales figures based on certification alone. | ||