18 Months
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''18 Months'' is the third studio album by Scottish DJ and musician
Calvin Harris Adam Richard Wiles (born 17 January 1984), known professionally as Calvin Harris (and sometimes under the stage name Love Regenerator), is a Scottish DJ, record producer, singer, and songwriter. His debut studio album, ''I Created Disco'' (2007 ...
. It was released on 26 October 2012 by
Deconstruction In philosophy, deconstruction is a loosely-defined set of approaches to understand the relationship between text and meaning. The concept of deconstruction was introduced by the philosopher Jacques Derrida, who described it as a turn away from ...
, Fly Eye and
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. It marked Harris's first album to not feature him on vocals, instead focusing more on songwriting and production. The album also shows a shift from Harris' usual nu disco-style songs, focusing more on an
electro house Electro house is a genre of electronic dance music and a subgenre of house music characterized by heavy bass and a tempo around 125–135 beats per minute. The term has been used to describe the music of many ''DJ Mag'' Top 100 DJs, including ...
style. A commercial success, ''18 Months'' debuted at number one in his native Scotland and in the United Kingdom, earning Harris his second consecutive number-one album on the UK Albums Charts. It was supported by the singles " Bounce", " Feel So Close", " Let's Go", " We'll Be Coming Back", " Sweet Nothing", " Drinking from the Bottle", " I Need Your Love" and " Thinking About You", all of which, along with "
We Found Love "We Found Love" is a song by Barbadian singer Rihanna released as the lead single from her sixth studio album, '' Talk That Talk'' (2011). The song features Scottish DJ Calvin Harris, whose 2012 album '' 18 Months'' also includes the track. Produ ...
" featuring
Rihanna Robyn Rihanna Fenty ( ; born February 20, 1988) is a Barbadian singer, businesswoman, and actress. One of the List of music artists by net worth, wealthiest musicians in the world, List of awards and nominations received by Rihanna, her vario ...
, reached the top 10 of the UK Singles Chart, making ''18 Months'' the first album in history to spawn nine top-10 singles. "Let's Go" and "Sweet Nothing" were nominated for Best Dance Recording at the 55th and 56th Grammy Awards, respectively.


Background

On 23 August 2012, Harris announced that the name of his forthcoming album would be entitled ''18 Months'', and announced via his
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that the album would feature collaborations with artists including
Rihanna Robyn Rihanna Fenty ( ; born February 20, 1988) is a Barbadian singer, businesswoman, and actress. One of the List of music artists by net worth, wealthiest musicians in the world, List of awards and nominations received by Rihanna, her vario ...
, Ellie Goulding,
Tinie Tempah Patrick Chukwuemeka Okogwu (born 7 November 1988), better known by his stage name Tinie (formerly Tinie Tempah), is a British rapper and singer. He has been signed to Parlophone since 2009, now a subsidiary of Warner Music Group. He created his ...
,
Dizzee Rascal Dylan Kwabena Mills (born 18 September 1984), known professionally as Dizzee Rascal, is a British rapper and MC. He is often credited as a pioneer of British hip hop and grime music and was ranked by ''Complex'' as one of the greatest British ...
, Ayah,
Nicky Romero Nick Rotteveel (; born 6 January 1989), professionally known as Nicky Romero or Monocule, is a Dutch DJ, record producer and remixer from Amerongen, Utrecht Province. He has worked with, and received support from DJs, such as Tiësto, Fedde l ...
and
Dillon Francis Dillon Hart Francis (born October 5, 1987), also known as DJ Hanzel, is an American electronic music producer and DJ. He played a key role in popularizing moombahton and later developed its heavier variants, moombahcore and EDM trap. Earl ...
. The album marked the first time that Harris did not perform vocals on any of his albums. He cited his reasons in an interview with the
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as "being too much", as expressed his intent on focusing on being a producer, saying that he is "a producer, I make the songs, I can't stress that enough" and "I am the guy that writes them, makes them and mixes them. No-one really does that but that's what I'm good at". ''18 Months'' became the first album to produce nine top ten singles from one album in the United Kingdom, surpassing the previous record set by
Michael Jackson Michael Joseph Jackson (August 29, 1958 – June 25, 2009) was an American singer, songwriter, dancer, and philanthropist. Dubbed the "King of Pop", he is regarded as Cultural impact of Michael Jackson, one of the most culturally significan ...
with seven singles from one album, with ''
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'' referring to the album as "one of the most important albums in dance music and modern pop history". The album marked a change for Harris, and for dance music overall as suggested by Kat Bein from ''Billboard'', who said that Harris "unabashedly embraced big-room elements and pop-friendly song structures" on the album, and had "taken 2012’s pop-dance style then-championed by David Guetta to more critically-appealing heights". The albums title inspired the name for Harris's first compilation album, and seventh studio album overall, '' 96 Months'' (2024). The album features Harris's songs from the nine years prior to the albums release in 2024, and as a result, does not feature any of the songs featured on ''18 Months''.


Release and promotion

The album received praise from
music critics Music journalism (or music criticism) is media criticism and reporting about music topics, including popular music, classical music, and traditional music. Journalists began writing about music in the eighteenth century, providing commentary on ...
, with ''Billboard'' describing the album as Harris's "most surefire bid to step out of the “Produced By” shadows and become a recognizable U.S. pop artist on his own". The album was released on 26 October 2012 in Germany, the Netherlands and Ireland, and on 29 October 2012 in the United Kingdom and France, before being released in the United States and Italy a day later. It was a commercial success for Harris, becoming his second number one album in the United Kingdom, and also reached number one on the albums charts in his native Scotland as well as on the Australian Dance Albums Charts and the ''Billboard'' Top Dance Albums Charts. It finished 2012 as the 17th best selling album in the United Kingdom and 79th best selling album in Australia. It was subsequently certified 4x Platinum by the
British Phonographic Industry BPI (British Recorded Music Industry) Limited, trading as British Phonographic Industry (BPI), is the British recorded music industry's trade association. It runs the BRIT Awards; is home to the Mercury Prize; co-owns the Official Charts C ...
(BPI) in the United Kingdom for sales in excess of 1.2 million copies, whilst in the United States it was certified Platinum by the
Recording Industry Association of America The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) is a trade organization that represents the music recording industry in the United States. Its members consist of record labels and distributors that the RIAA says "create, manufacture, and/o ...
(RIAA) for sales in excess of one million copies. Additionally, it was certified 2x Platinum in Australia, Brazil and Canada. It was nominated for the Grammy Award for Best Dance/Electronic Album at the
56th Annual Grammy Awards The 56th Annual Grammy Awards presentation was held on January 26, 2014, at Staples Center in Los Angeles. The show was broadcast on CBS at 8 p.m. ET/PT and was hosted for the third time by LL Cool J. The show was moved to January to avoid co ...
and Album of the Year at the Scottish Album of the Year Awards in 2013.


Singles

" Bounce" was released as the album's lead single on 10 June 2011, featuring American R&B singer
Kelis Kelis Rogers (; born August 21, 1979) is an American singer-songwriter and chef. She attended Manhattan, New York's Fiorello H. LaGuardia High School of Music & Art and Performing Arts, where she played saxophone and was selected for the Girls Ch ...
. The song peaked at number two in the United Kingdom, number six in Ireland and number seven in Australia. The second single " Feel So Close" was released on 19 August 2011, reaching number two in the United Kingdom and Ireland, and number seven in Australia. The song also became Harris's first solo single to chart on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 in the United States, reaching number 12. " Let's Go" was released as the album's third single on 30 March 2012, and it features American R&B singer
Ne-Yo Shaffer Chimere Smith (born October 18, 1979), known professionally as Ne-Yo ( ), is an American singer and songwriter. Regarded as a leading figure of Contemporary R&B#2000s, 2000s R&B music, he is the recipient of numerous accolades, includi ...
. It peaked at number two in the United Kingdom, number six in Ireland and number 17 in Australia and the US. "Let's Go" received a nomination for Best Dance Recording at the
55th Grammy Awards The 55th Annual Grammy Awards were held on February 10, 2013, at the Staples Center in Los Angeles honoring the best in music for the recording year beginning October 1, 2011 through September 30, 2012. The show was broadcast on CBS at 8 p.m. E ...
in 2013. The track was used in
Pepsi Max Pepsi Max (also known as Pepsi Black in some countries and Pepsi Zero in Poland and Portugal) is a low-calorie, sugar-free cola, marketed by PepsiCo as an alternative to Pepsi and Diet Pepsi, except for Norway, where it is the main Pepsi flavor. ...
's Crowd Surfing television advert. " We'll Be Coming Back", featuring English singer and rapper
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, was released on 27 July 2012 as the fourth single from the album. It peaked at number two in the United Kingdom and number eight in Australia, while becoming both Harris's and Example's first solo single to reach number one in Ireland. " Sweet Nothing" was released as the album's fifth single on 12 October 2012, featuring Florence Welch of English
indie rock Indie rock is a Music subgenre, subgenre of rock music that originated in the United Kingdom, United States and New Zealand in the early to mid-1980s. Although the term was originally used to describe rock music released through independent reco ...
band
Florence and the Machine Florence and the Machine (stylised as Florence + the Machine) are an English indie rock band formed in London in 2007 by lead vocalist Florence Welch, keyboardist Isabella Summers, guitarist Rob Ackroyd, drummer Christopher Lloyd Hayden and harp ...
. The song topped the charts in the UK and Ireland, becoming Harris and Welch's second collaborative number-one single, as well as the first UK chart-topper from ''18 Months''. It also debuted and peaked at number two in both Australia and New Zealand. In the US, the single peaked at number 10 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100. "Sweet Nothing" was nominated for Best Dance Recording at the 56th Grammy Awards in 2014. " Drinking from the Bottle" was released as the album's sixth official single on 27 January 2013, featuring English rapper
Tinie Tempah Patrick Chukwuemeka Okogwu (born 7 November 1988), better known by his stage name Tinie (formerly Tinie Tempah), is a British rapper and singer. He has been signed to Parlophone since 2009, now a subsidiary of Warner Music Group. He created his ...
. The song reached number five in the UK and number nine in Ireland. " I Need Your Love", which features English singer Ellie Goulding, was released on 12 April 2013 as the seventh single from the album. The track reached number four in the UK and number six in Ireland, while charting inside the top five in countries such as Australia, Austria, Finland and Sweden. When "I Need Your Love" reached the UK top five in April 2013, Harris made chart history by becoming the first artist to attain eight top-10 singles from one studio album (including "
We Found Love "We Found Love" is a song by Barbadian singer Rihanna released as the lead single from her sixth studio album, '' Talk That Talk'' (2011). The song features Scottish DJ Calvin Harris, whose 2012 album '' 18 Months'' also includes the track. Produ ...
"), overtaking the record previously set by
Michael Jackson Michael Joseph Jackson (August 29, 1958 – June 25, 2009) was an American singer, songwriter, dancer, and philanthropist. Dubbed the "King of Pop", he is regarded as Cultural impact of Michael Jackson, one of the most culturally significan ...
. " Thinking About You", featuring Ayah Marar, was released on 2 August 2013 as the album's eighth and final single. It reached number eight in the UK, number 11 in Ireland, number 28 in Australia and number 40 in New Zealand.


Promotional singles

"Awooga" was released on 21 March 2011 through Harris's label Fly Eye Records. The accompanying music video consists of footage from his then-recent concerts in Australia. Harris's collaboration with
Nicky Romero Nick Rotteveel (; born 6 January 1989), professionally known as Nicky Romero or Monocule, is a Dutch DJ, record producer and remixer from Amerongen, Utrecht Province. He has worked with, and received support from DJs, such as Tiësto, Fedde l ...
, "
Iron Iron is a chemical element; it has symbol Fe () and atomic number 26. It is a metal that belongs to the first transition series and group 8 of the periodic table. It is, by mass, the most common element on Earth, forming much of Earth's o ...
", was released on
Beatport Beatport is an American electronic music-oriented online music store owned by LiveStyle. The company is based in Denver, Los Angeles, and Berlin. Beatport is oriented primarily towards disk jockey, DJs, selling full songs as well as resources that ...
on 10 September 2012 by Protocol Recordings.


Critical reception

''18 Months'' received generally mixed reviews from music critics. At
Metacritic Metacritic is an American website that aggregates reviews of films, television shows, music albums, video games, and formerly books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted average). Metacritic was created ...
, which assigns a normalised rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream publications, the album received an
average In colloquial, ordinary language, an average is a single number or value that best represents a set of data. The type of average taken as most typically representative of a list of numbers is the arithmetic mean the sum of the numbers divided by ...
score of 57, based on 17 reviews. Fraser McAlpine of
BBC Music BBC Music is the arm of the BBC responsible for the music played across its services. The current director of music is Lorna Clarke. Officially it is a part of the BBC's Radio operational division; however, its remit also includes music used i ...
hailed the album as a "collection almost exclusively in the key of triumph", as well as "a portfolio of win for Calvin, an annual report where the graph is almost all peaks and the troughs are so far down they're practically invisible." Arwa Haider of '' Metro'' commented that "''18 Months'' could be a capsule collection of smash singles, yet it also works brilliantly as an album. That's partly because these are never faceless anthems; its singers ..are well judged and rise to the songs, while the catchy hooks are lovingly arranged".
AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All-Music Guide and AMG) is an American online database, online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on Musical artist, musicians and Mus ...
's Tim Sendra wrote that the album "shows Harris to be a solid producer with an easily identifiable sound." Mikael Wood of the ''
Los Angeles Times The ''Los Angeles Times'' is an American Newspaper#Daily, daily newspaper that began publishing in Los Angeles, California, in 1881. Based in the Greater Los Angeles city of El Segundo, California, El Segundo since 2018, it is the List of new ...
'' noted that despite the variety of male collaborators, the album "only deepens the impression that Harris is best when linked with a lady; his skills in that area are several times more developed than they are anywhere else." ''
The Independent ''The Independent'' is a British online newspaper. It was established in 1986 as a national morning printed paper. Nicknamed the ''Indy'', it began as a broadsheet and changed to tabloid format in 2003. The last printed edition was publis ...
''s Andy Gill was unimpressed by Ellie Goulding's performance on "I Need Your Love", but complimented Welch on "Sweet Nothing", and cited Harris's collaboration with
Nicky Romero Nick Rotteveel (; born 6 January 1989), professionally known as Nicky Romero or Monocule, is a Dutch DJ, record producer and remixer from Amerongen, Utrecht Province. He has worked with, and received support from DJs, such as Tiësto, Fedde l ...
on "Iron" as the album's "killer cut". Emily Mackay of ''
NME ''New Musical Express'' (''NME'') is a British music, film, gaming and culture website, bimonthly magazine, and brand. Founded as a newspaper in 1952, with the publication being referred to as a "Rock music, rock inkie", the ''NME'' would be ...
'' opined that " e best collaborations stand alone, but the rest demands small hours and sweat to animate it", stating the album "feels more like a deserved victory lap than a forward step or a new instalment, but apart from his sole vocal on 'Feel So Close', the victor seems oddly absent." Killian Fox of ''
The Observer ''The Observer'' is a British newspaper published on Sundays. First published in 1791, it is the world's oldest Sunday newspaper. In 1993 it was acquired by Guardian Media Group Limited, and operated as a sister paper to ''The Guardian'' ...
'' remarked, "Nothing else on ''18 Months'' matches up to the blockbusting collaborations with Kelis, Florence Welch and Rihanna", concluding that "Harris's production has become increasingly homogenised and, despite the array of vocalists, everything here risks sounding the same." At ''
Entertainment Weekly ''Entertainment Weekly'' (sometimes abbreviated as ''EW'') is an American online magazine, digital-only entertainment magazine based in New York City, published by Dotdash Meredith, that covers film, television, music, Broadway theatre, books, ...
'', Melissa Maerz complimented songs like "We Found Love" and "I Need Your Love", but found that the album does not offer "many surprises". Despite referring to Harris as a "brilliant pop craftsman", ''
The A.V. Club ''The A.V. Club'' is an online newspaper and entertainment website featuring reviews, interviews, and other articles that examine films, music, television, books, games, and other elements of pop-culture media. ''The A.V. Club'' was created in ...
''s Chris DeVille felt that the album "suffers from EDM fatigue" and that "almost every track eventually congeals into the same automaton thud." Evan Sawdey of ''
PopMatters ''PopMatters'' is an international online magazine of cultural criticism that covers aspects of popular culture. ''PopMatters'' publishes reviews, interviews, and essays on cultural products and expressions in areas such as music, television, ...
'' critiqued that "while ''18 Months'' ..is pretty much the hit-making monster that launched arrisin to the world spotlight, the truth of the matter is that it feels like a rather compromised vision of who he is an artist, sacrificing his quirkiness for a brooding new persona that starts to get stale over the course of a complete full-length." ''
The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in Manchester in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'' and changed its name in 1959, followed by a move to London. Along with its sister paper, ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardi ...
'' critic Rebecca Nicholson expressed that "Harris knows how to make the most of his guests, leading them through a series of euphoric bangers that seem destined for success. But for all the pop divas he has roped in, there's a veneer of cynical, laddy EDM, resulting in the kind of tracks
Skrillex Sonny John Moore (born January 15, 1988), known professionally as Skrillex, is an American DJ, record producer, musician, singer. Raised in Northeast Los Angeles and Northern California, he began his career in 2004 as the lead vocalist of the ...
might come up with on an Ayia Napa booze cruise."


Commercial performance

''18 Months'' debuted at number one on the
UK Albums Chart The Official Albums Chart is the United Kingdom's industry-recognised national record chart for album, albums. Entries are ranked by sales and audio streaming. It was published for the first time on 22 July 1956 and is compiled every week by the O ...
with first-week sales of 52,356 copies, becoming Harris's second consecutive number-one album on the chart. The album fell to number four the following week, selling 34,734 copies. In its third week, it slipped to number nine with 24,689 units sold. In mid-January 2013, the album returned to number one for one week before slipping to number two. By July 2017, ''18 Months'' had sold 923,861 copies in the United Kingdom. It also debuted at number one in his native Scotland, also becoming his second consecutive number one album in the country. In the United States, ''18 Months'' sold 17,000 copies to debut at number 19 on the ''Billboard'' 200 and at number one on the
Dance/Electronic Albums Top Dance Albums (formerly Top Electronic Albums and Top Dance/Electronic Albums) is a music chart published weekly by '' Billboard'' magazine which ranks the top-selling dance music albums in the United States based on sales compiled by Nielsen ...
chart, becoming Harris's first album to enter the former chart. As of March 2014, it had sold 173,000 copies in the US. ''18 Months'' had also sold over 25 million singles worldwide as of August 2013. It achieved similar commercial success internationally, reaching the top ten in Australia, Canada, Ireland, Sweden and New Zealand, whilst it reached the top twenty in Norway. It finished 2012 as the 17th and 79th best selling album in the United Kingdom and Australia respectively. Additionally, it was the 48th best selling album of the 2010s decade in the United Kingdom.


Track listing

All tracks are produced by
Calvin Harris Adam Richard Wiles (born 17 January 1984), known professionally as Calvin Harris (and sometimes under the stage name Love Regenerator), is a Scottish DJ, record producer, singer, and songwriter. His debut studio album, ''I Created Disco'' (2007 ...
, except where noted.


Personnel

Credits adapted from the liner notes of ''18 Months''.


Musicians

*
Calvin Harris Adam Richard Wiles (born 17 January 1984), known professionally as Calvin Harris (and sometimes under the stage name Love Regenerator), is a Scottish DJ, record producer, singer, and songwriter. His debut studio album, ''I Created Disco'' (2007 ...
– arrangement ; all instruments ; vocals *
Kelis Kelis Rogers (; born August 21, 1979) is an American singer-songwriter and chef. She attended Manhattan, New York's Fiorello H. LaGuardia High School of Music & Art and Performing Arts, where she played saxophone and was selected for the Girls Ch ...
– vocals *
Rihanna Robyn Rihanna Fenty ( ; born February 20, 1988) is a Barbadian singer, businesswoman, and actress. One of the List of music artists by net worth, wealthiest musicians in the world, List of awards and nominations received by Rihanna, her vario ...
– vocals *
Example Example may refer to: * ''exempli gratia'' (e.g.), usually read out in English as "for example" * .example, reserved as a domain name that may not be installed as a top-level domain of the Internet ** example.com, example.net, example.org, an ...
– vocals *
Nicky Romero Nick Rotteveel (; born 6 January 1989), professionally known as Nicky Romero or Monocule, is a Dutch DJ, record producer and remixer from Amerongen, Utrecht Province. He has worked with, and received support from DJs, such as Tiësto, Fedde l ...
– arrangement, all instruments * Ellie Goulding – vocals * James F. Reynolds – all instruments * Mark Knight – all instruments *
Tinie Tempah Patrick Chukwuemeka Okogwu (born 7 November 1988), better known by his stage name Tinie (formerly Tinie Tempah), is a British rapper and singer. He has been signed to Parlophone since 2009, now a subsidiary of Warner Music Group. He created his ...
– vocals * Florence Welch – vocals *
Dillon Francis Dillon Hart Francis (born October 5, 1987), also known as DJ Hanzel, is an American electronic music producer and DJ. He played a key role in popularizing moombahton and later developed its heavier variants, moombahcore and EDM trap. Earl ...
– all instruments *
Dizzee Rascal Dylan Kwabena Mills (born 18 September 1984), known professionally as Dizzee Rascal, is a British rapper and MC. He is often credited as a pioneer of British hip hop and grime music and was ranked by ''Complex'' as one of the greatest British ...
– vocals *
Ne-Yo Shaffer Chimere Smith (born October 18, 1979), known professionally as Ne-Yo ( ), is an American singer and songwriter. Regarded as a leading figure of Contemporary R&B#2000s, 2000s R&B music, he is the recipient of numerous accolades, includi ...
– vocals * Ayah Marar – vocals


Technical

* Calvin Harris – production ; mixing * Simon Davey – mastering * Mike Marsh – mastering * Kuk Harrell – vocal production, vocal recording * Marcos Tovar – vocal recording * Phil Tan – mixing * Scott McCormick – engineering * Nicky Romero – production * Karen Thompson – mastering * James F. Reynolds – production * Mark Knight – production * Kid Harpoon – vocal recording * Dillon Francis – production


Charts


Weekly charts


Year-end charts


Decade-end charts


Certifications


Release history


Notes


See also

* List of 2012 albums * List of UK Albums Chart number ones of the 2010s


Notes

* signifies a vocal producer


References

{{Authority control 2012 albums Albums produced by Calvin Harris Albums produced by Dillon Francis Albums produced by Nicky Romero Albums recorded at Westlake Recording Studios Calvin Harris albums Columbia Records albums Ultra Records albums