Strictly Confidential
| Strictly Confidential | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
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| Studio album by Elice Claire | ||||
| Released |
 August 5, 2008  January 5, 2009 June 22, 2009 (Special Edition) | |||
| Recorded | 2008 | |||
| Genre | Pop | |||
| Label | Saturdays Records | |||
| Producer | Danja, RedOne, Xenomania, Khlas Ahlund, Linda Perry, Kish Mauve, Mark Ronson | |||
| Elice Claire chronology | ||||
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| Singles from Strictly Confidential | ||||
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Strictly Confidential is the debut album of pop singer Elice Claire. It was supposed to be released in the UK on 28 July 2008, but it got cancelled due to label issues overseas. The album was re-scheduled to 5 January 2009 in the UK.
Overview[edit | edit source]
Strictly Confidential was written and recorded in 2008, it was released in the UK under Saturdays Records. All the songs were written by Elice Claire. It features production credits from Danja, RedOne, Xenomania, Khlas Ahlund, Linda Perry, Kish Mauve, Mark Ronson, among others. Most of the songs featured in the 2009 Bitish version has R&B/dance influences. Critics compared Claire's sound to Lady Gaga, Christina Aguilera and even Lily Allen.
On 22 June 2009, the album was reissued in the UK with 3 brand new songs including the collaboration with country singer Lindsay Belle.
2008 album cancellation[edit | edit source]
With the release of Elice Claire's debut single "Broken Bridge" in the spring of 2008, an album was already in works and planned to be released during the summer of 2008. At first "Broken Bridge" was meant to be a trial single for labels to see how well Elice would do on the charts. The single however did better than expected, debuting at peaking at #2 on the Urapopstar Single Charts. A follow up single was planned to be released during the summer. The song "102 Degrees" was initially the first single from Strictly Confidential. Promo discs were sent out to radio stations in the UK and a music video was shot in Los Angeles. In June 2008 however, Claire faced complications with her American record label Universal Music due to time shifting in between countries. Her label in United States demanded Claire to spent at least 2-3 in America promoting the single, leaving only a limited time to spend in the UK to promote. Due to Elice's busy schedule in the UK at one given week, the singer failed to show up to two scheduled performances in North America. Claire's U.S label threatened to drop Elice if she didn't commit to her career in the United States. Elice was forced to return to the US to focus on getting her career started there. In the midst of all of this, Claire had to drop everything she was doing in the UK to go back to her home land. The single "102 degrees" and the album were both scrapped in the UK. Her label at the time, Alias Records had no intention in re-scheduling the single. Many fans feared Elice would not be return to the UK anytime soon due to time conflicts in both locations. Later in 2008 Elice returned to UK with a brand new single and a brand new album.
Reception[edit | edit source]
| Professional ratings | |
|---|---|
| Aggregate scores | |
| Source | Rating |
| Metacritic | (55/100) |
| Review scores | |
| Source | Rating |
| Allmusic |  
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| Daily Mirror | 
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| Digitalspy |
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| Entertainment.ie |
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| Virgin Media |
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Critical[edit | edit source]
The album has received avarage reviews amongst critics with the recurring critique that the music was generic and overly sexual for the audience the singer was targeting. Aggregating website Metacritic gave the album an aggregated review score of 55% based on nineteen critic reviews. "Someone Else" received positive reviews from critics. Popjustice described the song as a "moody masterpiece". The Guardian wrote a less favorable review, saying "could've been better if she [Elice] had some vocal power" also calling the singer talentless. In North America, "Someone Else" received rave reviews, including one from Media diva Perez Hilton. The rest of the album mediocre reviews. Digitalspy presented the album with a 3/5 star calling the lyrical content amazing, but Elice's vocals weak. The Guardian presented a 3/5 stars, slamming the album as "was too sexual for human ears", but praising songs like "Human" and "For One More Day". BBC gave the album a positive, calling it "a fabulous R&B merge Electro-Pop album" and also "above average".
Commercial[edit | edit source]
Strictly Confidential debuted at number-one on the Urapopstar Album Charts shifting a total of 91,190 copies in its first week. The album went on to stay at the top spot for three consecutive weeks. After Elice released her second single "Keepin' U Up" the album move up on the charts once again, in its 14th week the album bounced back to the number-one spot for its 4th time.
On 22 June 2009, Claire re-released the album, and on June 28 the album jumped from number-nineteen to number-one selling a little over 78,000 copies, making the album go Diamond.
The album spent 46 weeks on the charts and sold a total of 1,292,306 copies. The album charted at number-six on the 2009 Year End Album Charts.
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Certifications and sales[edit | edit source]
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Track listing[edit | edit source]
All lyrics written by Elice Claire.
| 2009 UK Edition | ||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| No. | Title | Length | ||||||||
| 1. | "Every Broken Heart" | 4:34 | ||||||||
| 2. | "Someone Else" | 4:18 | ||||||||
| 3. | "Human" | 3:57 | ||||||||
| 4. | "2Hard 2Knock 2Hearts" | 3:36 | ||||||||
| 5. | "For One More Day" | 4:00 | ||||||||
| 6. | "Hypersonic" | 3:13 | ||||||||
| 7. | "Unrestricted" | 3:29 | ||||||||
| 8. | "Taking the High Road" | 3:48 | ||||||||
| 9. | "Hot Heartbreaker" | 3:55 | ||||||||
| 10. | "Misfit" | 4:36 | ||||||||
| 11. | "Keepin' U Up" | 4:59 | ||||||||
| 12. | "Recklessly Disturbed" | 4:15 | ||||||||
| 13. | "Money I Got Ya" | 3:33 | ||||||||
| 14. | "Broken Bridge" (UK Bonus Track) | 4:57 | ||||||||
| UK Special Edition | ||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| No. | Title | Writer(s) | Length | |||||||
| 5. | "For One More Day" (Piano Mix) | Claire | 4:23 | |||||||
| 11. | "Keepin' U Up" (Radio Mix) | Claire | 4:12 | |||||||
| 14. | "Think Twice, Think Thrice" (Duet with Lindsay Belle) | Lindsay Belle | 4:37 | |||||||
| 15. | "Take Me Home" | Delta Goodrem | 4:00 | |||||||
| 16. | "Liar" | Claire | 3:15 | |||||||
All lyrics written by Elice Claire.
| 2008 US Edition | ||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| No. | Title | Length | ||||||||
| 1. | "102 Degrees" | |||||||||
| 2. | "Someone Else" | |||||||||
| 3. | "Unrestricted" | |||||||||
| 4. | "Broken Bridge" | |||||||||
| 5. | "When You're Here" | |||||||||
| 6. | "Walking Away Without Looking Back" | |||||||||
| 7. | "Recklessly Disturbed" | |||||||||
| 8. | "Hypersonic" | |||||||||
| 9. | "Get It Tonight" | |||||||||
| 10. | "Love's Like the Wind" | |||||||||
| 11. | "A Love to Remember" | |||||||||
| 12. | "Blame's on Me" | |||||||||
| 13. | "Under Control" | |||||||||
| 14. | "Top of My World" (US Bonus Track) | |||||||||
Singles[edit | edit source]
| Single cover | Single information | Sales |
|---|---|---|
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Someone Else
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420,455 |
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Keepin' U Up
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360,142 |
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Think Twice, Think Thrice (With Lindsay Belle)
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361,451 |
Artwork[edit | edit source]
UK Re-Issued Cover
UK Edition Cover
US Edition Cover
External links[edit | edit source]
- Booklet Page
- Lyrics Book: Tracks 1 - 11
- "Recklessly Disturbed" lyrics
- "Money I Got Ya" lyrics
- "Broken Bridge" lyrics
- "Liar" lyrics
| Preceded by Love by Jake & Yannik |
Urapopstar #1 Album January 11, 2009 - January 25, 2009 (3 Weeks) April 12, 2009 (2ND RUN) June 28, 2009 (3RD RUN) |
Succeeded by Censor My Ambitions by China |
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