Selena Gomez A Year Without Rain Album

[Ashely Wolfgram]

AYear Without Rain is the second studio album by American band Selena Gomez & the Scene. The album was released on September 17, 2010, via Hollywood Records. Gomez worked with Rock Mafia duo Tim James and Antonina Armato, as well as Fefe Dobson, Toby Gad, and Superspy. New contributions came from Kevin Rudolf, Katy Perry, Jonas Jeberg and RedOne among others.

Due to the success of their breakout hit, "Naturally", the record roots mainly from dance-pop and synth-pop, rather than the pop rock and electronic rock sound of Kiss & Tell. While making use of the Auto-Tune effect, the album also infuses influences of several other genres, including dancehall and Eurodance, among others. According to Gomez, most of the songs on the album are dedicated to the fans, while she wanted content with more melodies and empowering lyric themes.

The album has been given mixed to positive reviews and critics noting it as an improvement from the band's debut album. A Year Without Rain debuted in the United States at number four, selling 66,000 copies in its first week.[1] The album spawned two top 40 hit singles in the United States, lead single, "Round & Round", and the title track "A Year Without Rain". In January 2011, the album was certified Gold by RIAA making it the band's second gold selling album.[2]

Gomez stated that the album was named after the titular single because it was the first song recorded for the album, and she wanted to base the rest of the work on the song.[5] Gomez went into further explanation, stating, "I mean, even down from putting the track listing and numbering it, I wanted to make sure I envisioned [fans] putting it in their car or putting it on their iPod and how I wanted them to listen to the record."[5] According to Gomez, most songs on the album were inspired by the band's dedicated fans, as she stated, "I wish I could give to them, because they mean so much to me."[5] Calling the album "a feel-good record", Gomez said it has a more dance/techno vibe.[5] The frontwoman also said that she wanted something with more "meaning and melody, and more empowering lyrics."[6] About the new techno-leaning, Gomez said that it was inspired by the success of their breakout hit, "Naturally".[6] She explained, "There's a feeling when I perform that song that I love, so when I was going back in the studio, I had a better understanding of where I wanted to be musically."[6]

In July 2010, Gomez confirmed that an unreleased track co-penned by Katy Perry was given to her, and that Perry also contributed background vocals.[7] She also confirmed the titles of songs "A Year Without Rain" and "Intuition".[7] On August 17, 2010, Gomez revealed the album's track listing.[8]

The album features predominant dance-pop,[9] and synthpop[10] characteristics, while incorporating Eurodance,[11] dancehall and disco influences.[11] On most tracks, Gomez's vocals contain the Auto-Tune effect. Lyrical content deals with themes of love, freedom, and the joy of living in the moment.[6] Tim Sendra of Allmusic noted while Kiss & Tell was more lighthearted and fun, that this album is "more serious lyrically and musically."[12] Sendra also said where the previous album had a "retro feel" and "plenty of guitars", this work was "totally of the moment", accompanied by Auto-Tune and guest raps.[12] Album opener "Round & Round", an upbeat synth-driven song,[6] features a "riding electro groove", while "Summer's Not Hot" has a Eurodance chorus, courtesy of RedOne.[11] "Spotlight" seems to derive from dancehall, and according to Mikael Wood of Billboard, the song does not feature a hook.[11] The title track, "A Year Without Rain" is a dance ballad that also shows disco music elements, described as "emo".[11] Eric Bellinger makes an appearance in rap interludes in "Intuition", while Katy Perry sing backing vocals on "Rock God".[6] "Ghost of You" is another ballad about breakup.[12] The ending track "Live Like There's No Tomorrow" has been called a power ballad.[6]

The album's lead single, "Round & Round", co-written and produced by Kevin Rudolf of Cash Money and Andrew Bolooki, Jeff Halavacs, was released on June 22, 2010.[13] Fefe Dobson and Andrew Bolooki also receives writing credits. The song received positive reviews from critics who noted its catchiness and expanding of Gomez's demographic.[14][15] The single was met with chart success as well, debuting at number 24 on the Billboard Hot 100 in the US. The single also became the band's second dance hit, when it peaked at number 2 on the Hot Dance Club Play chart.[16] The song also had radio success, peaking at number 34 on the Pop Songs chart.[17] Outside of the US, the song was less successful. In Canada, the song only climbed to a peak of 51, despite the success of their previous singles in the country.[18] In the United Kingdom, where 'Naturally' performed inside the Top 10, 'Round & Round' failed to match its success, only reaching a peak of 47. In Australia, the single is one of their lowest performing songs there to date, only reaching a peak of 80 on the singles chart. The song's accompanying music video, shot in Budapest, Hungary, features Gomez and the band in a secret spy storyline.[19] The second single, "A Year Without Rain", written by Lindy Robbins and produced by Toby Gad, was released on September 7, 2010.[20] It debuted at thirty-five in the United States, where it peaked.[16] Despite little to no success on US radio and downloads, the single was a dance hit, becoming the band's second single to top the Hot Dance Club Play chart. In Canada, the single debuted at number 37, before quickly climbing to a peak of 30. This makes it the band's second single to reach the Top 40 in Canada, as well as the band's third Top 40 hit in the United States. In Australia, the song debuted and peaked at 78, only two spots higher than their previous single. The song did enjoy success in Belgium, however, reaching a peak of 3 on their singles chart.

A Year Without Rain was promoted mainly through a series of live televised performances, as well as a tour. Gomez first performed "Round & Round" live for the first time on America's Got Talent on July 14, 2010.[21] The performance saw Gomez wearing a red dress that spread out at the bottom, while her band performed behind her. Gomez and her band also made an appearance on The Ellen DeGeneres Show, on September 22, where they performed "A Year Without Rain".[22] On September 23, only six days after the album's release, Gomez and The Scene appeared on Good Morning America, where they performed "Round & Round", as well as "A Year Without Rain". While promoting in the United Kingdom, Gomez appeared on Daybreak on September 27, 2010,[23] and on Blue Peter on the following day, September 28, 2010.[24] Gomez performed the song on MTV's The Seven on October 1, 2010.[25] On November 16, Gomez performed the title track on Lopez Tonight. The performance saw Gomez wearing a silver, strapless dress with sparkles on it, performing the song as the show closed.[26] On December 1, the song was yet again performed on Live with Regis and Kelly, in which Gomez, wearing a sleeveless sparkly dress, performed the song towards the end of the show. They also performed the song at the 2011 People's Choice Awards on January 5, 2011, and afterwards were awarded the Choice award for Favorite Breakout Artist.[27] Gomez appeared on stage accompanied by low lights and fog.[27] Kara Warner of MTV News commented, "Although it wasn't a stadium-rocking performance la Lady Gaga or Katy Perry, Gomez powered through her pop song with a sense of earnestness and commitment. She didn't even miss a beat when her earpiece appeared to fall out mid-song."[27]

The band also promoted the album through their second tour, A Year Without Rain Tour. Previously, the band had toured the United States and Europe playing at state fairs and music festivals with a few headlining concerts thrown in. The tour became a major success with critics and spectators alike, selling out many dates within the United States. After the release of their second studio album, the band tour alongside Katy Perry, Bruno Mars and Enrique Iglesias for the KIIS-FM Jingle Ball concert series.[28] Gomez remarked her excitement for the tour and stated that it provided motivation to plan a "big" tour for 2011.[29] During a backstage interview, Gomez remarked that she was conceptualizing the tour as far as stage and production and promised an amazing show with an "epic" stage for 2011.[30] The tour was officially announced on the band's official website in September 2010 to begin in London. Allstar Weekend opened up for Gomez on select dates, while Christina Grimmie, who also had done background vocals on the album, was present for most of the US shows on the tour.

A Year Without Rain generally received positive reviews by the music critics, Mikael Wood of Billboard stated while the lyrics contain "standard issue tween-pop topics", the effort was an improvement over 2009's Kiss & Tell, commenting that the production outweighed the lyrical content.[11] Although noting most songs on the album as "over-produced" dance-pop songs ballads and that Gomez spends most of the record trying to "dig herself out" of vocal effects, Allison Stewart of The Washington Post said at its worst, the album was a marked improvement over the "attitude-heavy", Kiss & Tell. Calling Gomez a young version of Katy Perry, Stewart commented, "Disney princesses seem to come along every 15 minutes, but few of them charm like Selena Gomez."[33] Bill Lamb of About.com reviewed the album saying, "Clearly Selena Gomez and the Scene have evolved musically in the short year that has elapsed since their first album Kiss and Tell... This time around they are immersed in a more polished dance-pop style that moves easily from the glossy midtempo title cut to perky uptempo club tunes. If you have dismissed Selena Gomez as merely a cookie cutter Disney pop princess, it is high time to listen to more of her music and [the music] is likely to change your mind. While not deep, A Year Without Rain is a solid, pleasing pop album.[34]

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