| When the Angels Swing | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Live album by | ||||
| Released | 29 November 2002 (2002-11-29) | |||
| Length | 49:34 | |||
| Label | ||||
| Producer |
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| No Angels chronology | ||||
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| Singles from When the Angels Swing | ||||
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When the Angels Swing is alive album by German girl groupNo Angels. It was released byCheyenne Records andPolydor on 29 November 2002 and recorded in promotion of a special one-offbig band concert at theBerlinTränenpalast on 2 October 2002. Musicians Jens Kuphal andTill Brönner were consulted to re-arrange songs from the group's first two albumsElle'ments (2001) andNow... Us! (2002) for the album which was inspired by the New York CityStork Club and several 1940sswing standards.
The album earned mixed to positive reviews from music critics who noted that it differed highly from the group's previous,mainstream pop releases. While the album failed to chart on theSwiss Albums Chart,When the Angels Swing peaked at number 9 on theGerman Albums Chart and reached number 22 in Austria. In promotion of the album, "All Cried out," a cover of the same-titled 1984 song by English singerAlison Moyet was issued as a single and became a top 20 success in Germany.
In June 2002, No Angels released their second album,Now... Us!, which featured writing credits by all band members and received critical acclaim from many critics who had thought that the band would not last past their first albumElle'ments (2001).[1][2] The album debuted at number one on theGerman Albums Chart and was eventually certified bothplatinum and doublegold by theInternational Federation of the Phonographic Industry (IFPI).[3] Its leading single "Something About Us", a musical response to what the band felt was intense and sometimes unfair and inaccurate media criticism at the time—predominantly resulting from theircasting band image—became the group's third non-consecutive number-one hit in Austria and Germany.[4] Still during the recording ofNow... Us! in spring 2002, the girls thought about taking another musical direction and how their songs would sound with a different musical approach.[5] Inspired byRobbie Williams's cover albumSwing When You're Winning (2002), in September 2002, the group took a few weeks off to prepare for a special swing concert at theBerlinTränenpalast.[5]
| Review scores | |
|---|---|
| Source | Rating |
| laut.de | |
Kronen Zeitung found thatWhen the Angels Swing offered "little innovation, but great entertainment value." The newspaper's editorial praised the band for their decision to re-record own songs instead of adapting "oldSinatra classics," and concluded: "This album is certainly indispensable for fans and certainly worth a listen or two for anyone who hasn't heard anything about the No Angels so far."[7] Dorothee von Peterffy fromlaut.de rated the album two out of five stars. She felt that the songs were too modern to fit swing style arrangements and thus,When the Angels Swing was not keeping up with other swing album releases such as Williams'Swing When You're Winning (2001).[6]
Released on 29 November 2002,When the Angels Swing debuted at number 89 on theGerman Albums Chart in the week of 9 December 2002.[8] The following week, it jumped to – and peaked at – number nine on the chart, becoming the band's third consecutive top ten album.[8] The album would spend 14 weeks on the German Albums Chart.[8] In Austria,When the Angels Swing debuted and peaked at number 22 on theAustrian Albums Chart in the week of 15 December 2002.[9] It remained ten weeks inside the top 75.[9]
| No. | Title | Writer(s) | Producer(s) | Length |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Daylight in Your Eyes" |
| 3:34 | |
| 2. | "Autumn Breeze" | Dennis Dowlut |
| 3:52 |
| 3. | "Funky Dance" |
| 3:02 | |
| 4. | "Ice in the Sunshine" |
|
| 2:44 |
| 5. | "There Must Be an Angel" |
| 3:56 | |
| 6. | "Faith Can Move a Mountain" | Julian Feifel |
| 3:31 |
| 7. | "2 Get Over You" |
|
| 3:23 |
| 8. | "Still in Love with You" |
|
| 3:38 |
| 9. | "Now That We Found Love" |
|
| 3:50 |
| 10. | "Something About Us" |
|
| 3:47 |
| 11. | "That's the Reason" |
|
| 3:27 |
| 12. | "Anchor Your Love" |
|
| 3:28 |
| 13. | "Rivers of Joy" |
|
| 3:26 |
| Total length: | 43:19 | |||
| No. | Title | Writer(s) | Producer(s) | Length |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 14. | "All Cried Out" | Perky Park | 3:53 | |
| Total length: | 43:19 | |||
| Chart (2002) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| Austrian Albums (Ö3 Austria)[9] | 22 |
| German Albums (Offizielle Top 100)[8] | 9 |
| Region | Certification | Certified units/sales |
|---|---|---|
| Germany (BVMI)[10] DVD certification | Gold | 25,000^ |
^ Shipments figures based on certification alone. | ||