''Innocent Eyes'' is the debut studio album by Australian singer Delta Goodrem, released in Australia on 24 March 2003. It was later released in the United Kingdom on 30 June 2003. Goodrem co-wrote most of the material, excluding "Throw It Away", " Lost Without You" and "Butterfly". The album features two self-penned songs, "In My Own Time" and "Will You Fall for Me". Goodrem worked with writers and producers such as: Audius Mtawarira,

Bridget Benenate Bridget Benenate is an American songwriter. She first found success in her song "Permission To Shine", which was performed by the band Bachelor Girl. The same year Bridget's song "Everything Changes" was featured on '' Dawson’s Creek''. In 200 ...

Cathy Dennis Catherine Roseanne Dennis (born 25 March 1969)Gregory, Andy (2002) ''International Who's Who in Popular Music 2002'', Europa; , p. 133 is a British singer, songwriter, record producer and actress. She was the vocalist for D Mob, which had the s ...

Eliot Kennedy Eliot Kennedy (born 29 March 1969) is an English songwriter and record producer based in Sheffield. He has worked with artists such as Billie Piper, The Spice Girls, Mary J. Blige, Donny Osmond, Bryan Adams, Lulu, S Club 7, Five, Gary Barlow, D ...

Gary Barlow Gary Barlow (born 20 January 1971) is an English singer, songwriter, record producer, and television personality. He is the lead singer of the British pop group Take That. Barlow is one of the United Kingdom's most successful songwriters, havi ...

, Jarrad Rogers,

Kara DioGuardi Kara Elizabeth DioGuardi (; born December 9, 1970) is an American songwriter, record producer, music publisher, A&R executive, and singer. She writes music primarily in the pop rock genre. DioGuardi has worked with many popular artists; sales o ...

, Vince Pizzinga and others to create the album with a collection of piano-based pop and ballad tracks. Five singles were released from the album. Its lead single " Born to Try" was released in November 2002 and became a massive commercial success, peaking atop the ARIA Singles Chart and the New Zealand Singles Chart, becoming Goodrem's most successful single to date. Follow-up singles " Lost Without You", " Innocent Eyes", " Not Me, Not I" and " Predictable" also all reached number one on the ARIA Singles Chart. Goodrem became the first artist to have five number-one singles from a debut album."Innocent Eyes – Biography"
. ''Deltagoodrem.com.au''. Retrieved 5 July 2007. The first three singles charted within the top 10 in the United Kingdom. To promote the album, Goodrem embarked on The Visualise Tour. ''Innocent Eyes'' debuted at number one on the

Australian Albums Chart The ARIA Charts are the main Australian music sales charts, issued weekly by the Australian Recording Industry Association. The charts are a record of the highest selling songs and albums in various genres in Australia. ARIA became the offici ...

, making it her first number-one album."Australian chart peak"
''Australian-charts.com''. Retrieved 25 June 2007. Altogether it sold 4.5 million copies worldwide"Delta Goodrem – Australian Idol Auditions 2009 – Delta's Intro"
YouTube. Retrieved 17 August 2008. including 1.2 million in Australia alone. ''Innocent Eyes'' is the most successful album in Australia in 19 years. It was the highest-selling album in Australia of the decade and is the second-best-selling Australian album of all time.

Background

In September 2000, Goodrem signed to Sony Music and an album which she planned to release with independent label Empire Records was shelved. A year later, Goodrem released her debut single " I Don't Care" which peaked at number 64 on the ARIA Singles Chart. Soon after, Goodrem began working on ''Innocent Eyes''. She worked with a range of producers and songwriters, including the True North production and songwriting team:

( Spice Girls),

Ric Wake Ric Wake is an American record producer who has won four Grammy Awards and two Oscar Awards. During his tenure as staff producer with Sony Music Entertainment he has worked with vocalists such as Celine Dion, Whitney Houston, Lucero, Taylor ...

(

Celine Dion Céline Marie Claudette Dion ( ; born 30 March 1968) is a Canadian singer. Noted for her powerful and technically skilled vocals, Dion is the best-selling Canadian recording artist, and the best-selling French-language artist of all time. Her ...

Taylor Dayne Taylor Dayne (born Leslie Wunderman; March 7, 1962) is an American singer, songwriter, and actress. She rose to fame in 1987 after her debut single " Tell It to My Heart". Dayne achieved six additional U.S. top-10 singles, including "Love Will ...

, Jennifer Lopez, Mariah Carey),

( Kelly Clarkson,

Christina Aguilera Christina María Aguilera (; ; born December 18, 1980) is an American singer, songwriter, actress, and television personality. Known for her four-octave vocal range and ability to sustain high notes, she has been referred to as the " Voice of ...

, Avril Lavigne, Hilary Duff), Matthew Gerrard (

Mandy Moore Amanda Leigh Moore (born April 10, 1984) is an American singer, songwriter and actress. She rose to fame with her debut single, "Candy (Mandy Moore song), Candy", which peaked at number 41 on the Billboard Hot 100, ''Billboard'' Hot 100. Her de ...

BBMak BBMak are an English band consisting of Mark Barry, Christian Burns and Stephen McNally. Formed in Liverpool in 1996, they sold over three million albums worldwide between 1999 and 2003. The band first achieved success when their single "Back H ...

), Vince Pizzinga ( Midnight Oil, Danielle Spencer), David Nicholas ( INXS, Elton John,

George George may refer to: People * George (given name) * George (surname) * George (singer), American-Canadian singer George Nozuka, known by the mononym George * George Washington, First President of the United States * George W. Bush, 43rd Presid ...

) and

Mark Holden Mark Ronald Holden (born 27 April 1954) is an Australian singer, actor, TV personality, record producer, songwriter, and barrister. He was a pop star in the 1970s and had four top 20 hit singles, "Never Gonna Fall in Love Again" (May 1976 ...

. ''Innocent Eyes'' is a Pop, pop rock and

adult contemporary Adult contemporary music (AC) is a form of radio-played popular music, ranging from 1960s vocal and 1970s soft rock music to predominantly ballad-heavy music of the present day, with varying degrees of easy listening, pop, soul, R&B, quie ...

album which uses mostly live instruments. Talking about the album, Goodrem said: "I wanted to make an album that reflected me at this time in my life", "Every song takes me to a place where I can remember what happened." She also said: "The album is almost like a diary I have been keeping over the last two years", "Every track has a meaning behind it that's personal to me. I have been looking forward to this day for a long time and I just hope that everyone likes the music as much as I loved making it."

Lawsuit

In 2004, Goodrem had been accused of owing thousands of dollars to songwriter

. Holden wanted to clear up the terms of his contract with Goodrem and her record label

Sony , commonly stylized as SONY, is a Japanese multinational conglomerate corporation headquartered in Minato, Tokyo, Japan. As a major technology company, it operates as one of the world's largest manufacturers of consumer and professiona ...

and requested all consultancy fees owed to him under the agreement.

Critical reception

''Innocent Eyes'' received mostly positive reviews from music critics. Matthew Chisling from

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databa ...

described Goodrem's presence in the music industry as a "refreshing change". He also said that, "''Innocent Eyes'' reflects a mature yet clean display of true vocal talent". Caroline Sullivan a writer for ''The Guardian'' said that "Goodrem sings her aspirational ballads with heartfelt candour, while her co-writer's credit on nearly every song seems to be more than affectation. The lyrics are a bit la-la-floating-on-clouds, but that doesn't dilute their charm".

Release and promotion

Singles

" Born to Try" was the first song from the album released in Australia on 11 November 2002, just a few days after Goodrem's eighteenth birthday. At the time of its release, Goodrem was performing the song on the Australian soap opera '' Neighbours'', as singer

Nina Tucker Nina Tucker is a fictional character from the Australian soap opera ''Neighbours'', played by Delta Goodrem. She made her first screen appearance during the episode broadcast on 11 June 2002. Goodrem was approached by producers after they saw he ...

. The song debuted on the Australian Singles Chart on 18 November 2002 at number three. On its second week the song jumped to number two and was accredited platinum by

ARIA In music, an aria ( Italian: ; plural: ''arie'' , or ''arias'' in common usage, diminutive form arietta , plural ariette, or in English simply air) is a self-contained piece for one voice, with or without instrumental or orchestral accompa ...

, by its third week the song had knocked "

The Ketchup Song ''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The'' is the m ...

" by Las Ketchup off the top spot and became Goodrem's first number-one single."Delta Is #1"
. ''Deltagoodrem.com.au''. Retrieved 6 July 2007. The song eventually went on to certify triple platinum, becoming the fourth highest-selling single in Australia for 2003. It won three

ARIA Awards The Australian Recording Industry Association Music Awards (commonly known informally as ARIA Music Awards, ARIA Awards, or simply the ARIAs) is an annual series of awards nights celebrating the Australian music industry, put on by the Austra ...

for Breakthrough Artist – Single, Highest Selling Single and Single of the Year."Delta Goodrem – ARIA Awards data"

. Retrieved 6 July 2007. "Born to Try" also went number-one in New Zealand and

Slovenia Slovenia ( ; sl, Slovenija ), officially the Republic of Slovenia (Slovene: , abbr.: ''RS''), is a country in Central Europe. It is bordered by Italy to the west, Austria to the north, Hungary to the northeast, Croatia to the southeast, an ...

,"Born to Try @ acharts"
''acharts.com''. Retrieved 7 July 2007. top ten in the UK, and top twenty in Ireland and the

Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Netherl ...

."Born to Try @ top40-charts"
''top40-charts.com''. Retrieved 7 July 2007. " Lost Without You" was the second song released from the album. Released to radio on 14 February 2003, it became the most added song to radio for that week. It was released as a CD single on 3 March 2003 in Australia. The song gave Goodrem her second number one single in Australia on 10 March 2003 debuting at number one."Delta Goodrem Debuts At #1"
. ''Deltagoodrem.com.au''. Retrieved 7 July 2007. The song eventually went on to certify double platinum, becoming the seventh highest selling single in Australia for 2003. It was nominated for one ARIA Award for Highest Selling Single but lost to herself with "Born to Try". "Lost Without You" also went top ten in New Zealand, Spain and the UK, and became the first of her four Number One singles in Sweden."Lost Without You @ acharts"
''acharts.com''. Retrieved 7 July 2007. On 17 April 2003 it was announced that the third song released from the album was " Innocent Eyes" which was released as a CD single on 9 June 2003. The song debuted on Australian Singles Chart the charts at number two on 16 June 2003, behind "

Bring Me to Life "Bring Me to Life" is the debut single by American rock band Evanescence from their debut studio album, ''Fallen'' (2003). Wind-up released it as the album's lead single on April 7, 2003. The song was written by Amy Lee when she was 19, after ...

" by

Evanescence Evanescence is an American rock band founded in Little Rock, Arkansas in 1995 by singer and musician Amy Lee and guitarist Ben Moody. After recording independent EPs as a duo in the late 90's, and a demo CD, Evanescence released their debut ...

, and was accredited gold."Innocent Eyes Goes Gold"
. ''Deltagoodrem.com.au''. Retrieved 7 July 2007. After three weeks in the charts it moved one spot up the charts and became Goodrem's third number-one hit single in Australia. The song went to certify platinum by ARIA, becoming the eighteenth highest selling single in Australia for 2003. It was nominated for one ARIA Award for Highest Selling Single but again lost to herself with Born to Try. "Innocent Eyes" also went top ten in the UK,"Innocent Eyes @ acharts"
''acharts.com''. Retrieved 7 July 2007. top twenty in New Zealand and topped the chart in Israel. " Not Me, Not I" was the fourth song released from the album in Australia on 15 September 2003. The song's music video was directed by Michael Spiccia and was filmed in August 2003. Goodrem was determined to film the music video and to have it completed before she started her second round of chemotherapy for

Hodgkin's lymphoma Hodgkin lymphoma (HL) is a type of lymphoma, in which cancer originates from a specific type of white blood cell called lymphocytes, where multinucleated Reed–Sternberg cells (RS cells) are present in the patient's lymph nodes. The condition w ...

because she said the song is her favourite from the album."New Video For Delta"
. ''Deltagoodrem.com.au''. Retrieved 7 July 2007. The song made its debut on the Australian Singles Chart at number two behind Dido's " White Flag". Ond on its second week it went to number-one, making it Goodrem's fourth number-one single, breaking Kylie Minogue's record of having the most songs released from an album to reach number-one. The single also made history when it topped the chart in Malta, making Goodrem the first Australian artist to have a Number One record (either album or single) in that country. " Predictable" was the fifth song released from the album and was released as a double

A-side The A-side and B-side are the two sides of phonograph records and cassettes; these terms have often been printed on the labels of two-sided music recordings. The A-side usually features a recording that its artist, producer, or record company ...

with her version of the

John Lennon John Winston Ono Lennon (born John Winston Lennon; 9 October 19408 December 1980) was an English singer, songwriter, musician and peace activist who achieved worldwide fame as founder, co-songwriter, co-lead vocalist and rhythm guitarist of ...

Christmas song "

Happy Xmas (War Is Over) "Happy Xmas (War Is Over)" is a Christmas song released in 1971 as a single by John & Yoko/Plastic Ono Band with the Harlem Community Choir. It was the seventh single release by John Lennon outside his work with the Beatles. The song reach ...

". It saw the release to radio on 25 November 2003 and topped the airplay charts,"Delta's New Single Instore"
. ''Deltagoodrem.com.au''. Retrieved 9 July 2007. and when it saw its physical release, it became her fifth number-one single.

Tour

Goodrem launched The Visualise Tour in 2005 where she performed songs from ''Innocent Eyes'' and her second album ''

Mistaken Identity Mistaken identity is a defense in criminal law which claims the actual innocence of the criminal defendant, and attempts to undermine evidence of guilt by asserting that any eyewitness to the crime incorrectly thought that they saw the defenda ...

''. She performed 10

arena An arena is a large enclosed platform, often circular or oval-shaped, designed to showcase theatre, musical performances, or sporting events. It is composed of a large open space surrounded on most or all sides by tiered seating for spectators ...

shows in Australian capital cities. The show on 24 July at

Acer Arena The Sydney SuperDome (currently known as the Qudos Bank Arena) is a large multipurpose arena located in Sydney, Australia. It is situated in Sydney Olympic Park, and was completed in 1999 as part of the facilities for the 2000 Summer Olympics. ...

in Sydney was filmed for inclusion on the live DVD for the concert tour entitled The Visualise Tour: Live in Concert, which was released on 13 November 2005. The DVD peaked at number one on the Australian

DVD Chart and was certified four times platinum for sales of 60,000 units.

Commercial performance

''Innocent Eyes'' debuted at number one on the Australian

Albums Charts on 31 March 2003 with sales of over 70,000 copies, accrediting platinum and knocking

Norah Jones Norah Jones (born Geethali Norah Jones Shankar; March 30, 1979) is an American singer, songwriter, and pianist. She has won several awards for her music and as of 2012, has sold more than 50 million records worldwide. ''Billboard'' named her the ...

's album '' Come Away with Me'' from the top spot. The album went on to spend twenty-nine weeks at number one. This broke John Farnham's record of twenty-five weeks at number one with ''

Whispering Jack ''Whispering Jack'' is the twelfth studio album by Australian adult contemporary pop singer John Farnham. It was produced by Ross Fraser, and released on 20 October 1986, peaking at No. 1 on the Australian Kent Music Report Album Charts. NOTE: ...

'' (1986)."Delta Goodrem Detailed Biography "
. ''netglimse.com''. Retrieved 7 July 2007. ''Innocent Eyes'' was then tied with Neil Diamond's album '' Hot August Night'' (1972) for spending the most weeks at number one in Australian history. Its accreditation reached to fourteen times platinum."ARIA Charts – Accreditations – 2003 Albums"
''

ARIA Charts The ARIA Charts are the main Australian music sales charts, issued weekly by the Australian Recording Industry Association. The charts are a record of the highest selling songs and albums in various genres in Australia. ARIA became the offic ...

''. Retrieved 7 July 2007 The album became the highest selling album in Australia for 2003,"ARIA Charts – End Of Year Charts – Top 100 Albums 2003"
''

''. Retrieved 6 July 2007. spent eighty-seven weeks in the top one hundred, and won six

for Highest Selling Album, Best Female Artist, Breakthrough Artist – Album, Best Pop Release and Channel V's Oz Artist of the Year. In 2004 the album again won the award for Highest Selling Album. It went to sell over a million copies in Australia. In the UK, the album debuted on the charts at number two"Issue Date: Saturday 12 July 2003"
''acharts.us''. Retrieved 7 July 2007. behind

Beyoncé Knowles Beyoncé Giselle Knowles-Carter ( ; born September 4, 1981) is an American singer, songwriter, and actress. Beyoncé's boundary-pushing artistry and vocals have made her the most influential female musician of the 21st century, according to ...

's album '' Dangerously in Love'' (2003). It spent thirty-one weeks in the top seventy-five,"Innocent Eyes @ acharts"
. ''acharts.us''. Retrieved 7 July 2007. and became the eighteenth highest-selling album for 2003."UK Best Selling Albums 2001–2005"
. '' BPI''. Retrieved 7 July 2007. ''Innocent Eyes'' is the second highest- selling album by an Australian female singer in the 2000s, behind Kylie Minogue's album ''Fever'' which sold over six million copies worldwide. On 23 December 2003 it was announced that the one millionth copy of the album had been released to retail, the disc was specially marked by

and the buyer would receive a plaque commemorating the milestone. On 7 January 2010, ''Innocent Eyes'' was announced as Australia's top-selling album for the 2000s,"Delta Hits One Million"
. ''Deltagoodrem.com.au''. Retrieved 7 July 2007. for which Goodrem received a special award at the 2010 ARIA No. 1 Awards in Sydney on 22 July 2010.

Track listing

B-sides

The following tracks were not released on the album, but were released on the singles.

Personnel

* Delta Goodrem — vocals, writer, producer, piano, keyboards, concept *Mark Russell – production coordination *Mark Fields – arranger, keyboards, producer, engineer, string arrangements, bass, guitar *

Matthew Gerrard Matthew Gerrard is a Canadians, Canadian record producer and songwriter. Biography Gerrard grew up in Don Mills, a suburb of Toronto's north-east end. He attended George S. Henry Academy, George S. Henry Secondary School where he played trombone ...

— arranger, programming, producer, instrumentation *

— keyboards, programming, producer *

— producer, guitar * Audius Mtawarira – co-writer, producer *David Nicholas – producer, vocal engineer *

Rick Wake Ric Wake is an American record producer who has won four Grammy Awards and two Oscar Awards. During his tenure as staff producer with Sony Music Entertainment he has worked with vocalists such as Celine Dion, Whitney Houston, Lucero, Taylor D ...

— producer *Daniel Denholm – conductor, string arrangements *Mike Ruekberg – guitar ( baritone) *Steve MacKay – guitar *Mark Punch – guitar * Phil Solem — guitar *Craig Myers – guitar *Jeremy Meek – bass guitar *Chris Cameron – string arrangements *Vince Pizzinga – cello arrangement *Ameena Maria Khawaja— cello *Richard Sanford – piano *David Falzone – piano *

Matt Mahaffey Matt Mahaffey (born June 9, 1973) is an American multi-instrumentalist, record producer, composer, and recording engineer best known for his band Self and his composer collective Cake In Space. Personal Mahaffey grew up in Kingsport, Tennessee ...

— keyboards, noise *Billy Hawn – percussion * Dorian Crozier — drums *

— vocals (background) *Ami Richardson – vocals (background) *Bob Cadway – engineer *

Chong Lim Chong Voon Lim (born Ipoh, Malaysia) is a Malaysian-born Australian-based musical director, keyboardist, producer, and session musician. Lim attended St. Michael's Institution for secondary education. He relocated to Melbourne, Australia in 1977 ...

— vocal engineer *Jim Annunziatto – assistant engineer * Michael Brauer— mixing *Greg Calbi – mastering *Robbie Adams – assistant *Sam Story – assistant *Blair Simmons – assistant

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Decade-end charts

Certifications

References

{{Authority control 2003 debut albums ARIA Award-winning albums Delta Goodrem albums Epic Records albums Albums produced by Ric Wake Sony Music Australia albums