Wallflower (Diana Krall album)
2015 studio album by Diana Krall
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Wallflower is the twelfth studio album by Canadian singer Diana Krall, released on February 3, 2015, by Verve Records.[1] The album was produced by David Foster.[2] The album's supporting tour, Wallflower World Tour, began in Boston on February 25, 2015.
- AIR (London)[a]
- Verve (Santa Monica, California
- Capitol (Hollywood)[b]
- MSR (New York City)[b]
- Soundtrade (Solna, Sweden)[b]
- The Village (West Los Angeles)[b]
- The Orange Lounge (Toronto)[b]
- Creekside (West Vancouver)[b]
| Wallflower | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
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| Studio album by | ||||
| Released | February 3, 2015 | |||
| Recorded | mid-2014. | |||
| Studio |
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| Genre | Jazz | |||
| Length | 45:14 | |||
| Label | Verve | |||
| Producer | David Foster | |||
| Diana Krall chronology | ||||
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Recording
The album consists of cover songs of various pop and rock songs, the only previously unreleased track being "If I Take You Home Tonight" by Paul McCartney. He wrote the song for his album Kisses on the Bottom, in which he collaborated with Krall. Although the song did not make the cut for that album, Krall asked McCartney if she could record the song, and he gave his consent.[3]
Critical reception
| Aggregate scores | |
|---|---|
| Source | Rating |
| Metacritic | 58/100[4] |
| Review scores | |
| Source | Rating |
| AllMusic |    [5] |
| American Songwriter | [6] |
| The Daily Telegraph | [7] |
| Financial Times | [8] |
| The National | [9] |
| PopMatters | 3/10[10] |
| Rolling Stone | [11] |
| Spectrum Culture | [12] |
| Stuff.co.nz | [13] |
| The Times of India | 3/5[14] |
Wallflower received mixed reviews from music critics. At Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream publications, the album received an average score of 58, based on 10 reviews.[4]
Neil McCormick of The Daily Telegraph stated, "It is a lovely Valentine record, if you favour melancholic songs about missed chances. The set feels overfamiliar, though, drawing heavily on classic Seventies ballads by the Carpenters, Eagles, Elton John and 10CC. A moodily evocative reading of a gorgeous new Paul McCartney song, "I'll Take You Home Tonight", suggests this album might have been more interesting if Krall had dared to take the middle-of-the-road less travelled".[7]
Jim Farber of the New York Daily News wrote, "Wallflower breaks another pattern for Krall. It eschews her frequent focus on American standards. But the sexiness and spring she brought to the best of those covers rarely comes into play here".[1]
Commercial performance
Wallflower debuted at number two on the Canadian Albums Chart, selling 13,000 copies in its first week.[15] By January 2016, the album had sold 66,000 copies in Canada.[16]
In the United States, it entered the Billboard 200 at number 10 with first-week sales of 44,000 copies, becoming Krall's sixth top-10 album on the chart.[17] The album debuted at number 19 on the UK Albums Chart with 3,511 copies sold in its first week.[18]
Track listing
| No. | Title | Writer(s) | Original artist | Length |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | "California Dreamin'" | The Mamas & the Papas | 3:17 | |
| 2. | "Desperado" | Eagles | 3:32 | |
| 3. | "Superstar" | Delaney & Bonnie | 4:16 | |
| 4. | "Alone Again (Naturally)" (duet with Michael Bublé) | Gilbert O'Sullivan | Gilbert O'Sullivan | 3:50 |
| 5. | "Wallflower" (featuring Blake Mills) | Bob Dylan | Doug Sahm | 3:05 |
| 6. | "If I Take You Home Tonight" | Paul McCartney | Diana Krall | 3:52 |
| 7. | "I Can't Tell You Why" |
| Eagles | 3:40 |
| 8. | "Sorry Seems to Be the Hardest Word" | Elton John | 4:11 | |
| 9. | "Operator (That's Not the Way It Feels)" | Jim Croce | Jim Croce | 3:41 |
| 10. | "I'm Not in Love" | 10cc | 3:52 | |
| 11. | "Feels Like Home" (duet with Bryan Adams) | Randy Newman | Linda Ronstadt | 4:21 |
| 12. | "Don't Dream It's Over" | Neil Finn | Crowded House | 3:37 |
| Total length: | 45:14 | |||
| No. | Title | Writer(s) | Original artist | Length |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 13. | "In My Life" |
| The Beatles | 3:53 |
| 14. | "Yeh, Yeh" (duet with Georgie Fame) | Georgie Fame and the Blue Flames | 3:08 | |
| 15. | "Sorry Seems to Be the Hardest Word" (live) |
| Elton John | 3:44 |
| 16. | "Wallflower" (live) | Dylan | Doug Sahm | 3:09 |
| Total length: | 59:08 | |||
| No. | Title | Writer(s) | Original artist | Length |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 17. | "A Case of You" | Joni Mitchell | Joni Mitchell | 4:55 |
| 18. | "If You Could Read My Mind" (featuring Sarah McLachlan) | Gordon Lightfoot | Gordon Lightfoot | 3:44 |
| 19. | "Everybody's Talkin'" (featuring Vince Gill) | Fred Neil | Fred Neil | 3:36 |
| 20. | "Heart of Gold" | Neil Young | Neil Young | 2:51 |
| Total length: | 74:14 | |||
Personnel
Credits adapted from the liner notes of the deluxe edition of Wallflower.[21]
Musicians
- Diana Krall – vocals (all tracks); piano (tracks 1, 5, 7, 15, 16)
- David Foster – orchestra arrangements (tracks 1–4, 6–11, 13); keyboards (tracks 1, 3, 12, 15); piano (tracks 2, 4, 6, 8–11, 13); string quartet arrangements (tracks 5, 16); horn arrangements (track 14); arrangements (all tracks)
- William Ross – orchestra arrangements (tracks 1–3, 6–11, 13)
- Graham Nash – background vocals (tracks 1, 9)
- Stephen Stills – background vocals (tracks 1, 9); electric guitar (track 9)
- Christian McBride – bass (tracks 1, 3, 7, 10, 11, 14)
- Ramón Stagnaro – acoustic guitar (tracks 1, 7, 9)
- Michael Thompson – EBow electric guitar (track 1); acoustic guitar (tracks 9, 11); electric guitar (tracks 10, 14); guitars (track 12)
- Jochem van der Saag – synths (tracks 1, 3, 7, 10–12); programming (tracks 1, 3, 4, 6–8, 10–12, 14); sound design (tracks 1, 3, 4, 6, 7, 10–12, 14)
- Karriem Riggins – drums (tracks 3, 7, 9)
- Michael Bublé – vocals (track 4)
- Chris Walden – orchestra arrangements (track 4); string quartet arrangements (tracks 5, 16)
- Dennis Crouch – bass (tracks 4, 9)
- Jim Keltner – drums (tracks 4, 6, 10–12)
- Dean Parks – guitars (tracks 4, 6)
- Blake Mills – guitar (track 5)
- Nathan East – bass (track 6)
- Timothy B. Schmit – background vocals (track 7)
- Rafael Padilla – percussion (track 7)
- Bryan Adams – vocals (track 11)
- Vince Mendoza – orchestra arrangements (track 12)
- Georgie Fame – vocals (track 14)
- Jerry Hey – horn arrangements (track 14)
- Joey DeFrancesco – B-3 organ (track 14)
- Steve Jordan – drums (track 14)
- Sean Billings – trumpet (track 14)
- Matt DeMerritt – tenor saxophone (track 14)
- Chris Lea – tenor saxophone (track 14)
- Elizabeth Lea – trombone (track 14)
- Gavin Greenaway – orchestra conducting
- Susie Gillis – orchestra conducting assistance
- Everton Nelson – orchestra leader
Technical
- David Foster – production
- Jochem van der Saag – co-production, mixing, engineering
- Jorge Vivo – recording, engineering
- Steve Price – orchestra recording
- Steve Genewick – Pro Tools, engineering assistance
- Roy Henderickson – recording engineering
- Daniel Fyfe – recording engineering assistance
- Anders Pantzer – recording engineering
- Chris Owens – engineering assistance
- Spencer Sunshine – recording engineering
- Chris Parker – engineering
- Paul Forgues – engineering assistance
- Guillame Dujardin – engineering
- Andreas Carlsson – production (Georgie Fame vocals)
- Hank Linderman – recording (Timothy B. Schmit vocals)
- Nuno Fernandes – recording (Bryan Adams vocals)
- Adam Miller – Pro Tools engineering
- Paul Blakemore – mastering
Artwork
- Coco Shinomiya – design
- Mr. Fotheringham – illustration
- Bryan Adams – photography
Charts
Weekly charts
|
Year-end charts
|
Certifications
| Region | Certification | Certified units/sales |
|---|---|---|
| Austria (IFPI Austria)[70] | Gold | 7,500* |
| Canada (Music Canada)[71] | Platinum | 80,000^ |
| Poland (ZPAV)[72] | 2× Platinum | 40,000‡ |
| Spain (Promusicae)[63] | Gold | 20,000‡ |
|
* Sales figures based on certification alone. | ||