''Begin to Hope'' is the fourth album by Russian-born American singer-songwriter

Regina Spektor Regina Ilyinichna Spektor (, ; born February 18, 1980) is a Russian Americans, Russian-born American singer, songwriter, and pianist. After self-releasing her first three records and gaining popularity in New York City's Indie music scene, in ...

. It was released June 13, 2006. The album debuted at number 70 on the ''Billboard'' 200, but due to the popularity of the single "

Fidelity Fidelity is the quality of faithfulness or loyalty. Its original meaning regarded duty in a broader sense than the related concept of '' fealty''. Both derive from the Latin word , meaning "faithful or loyal". In the City of London financial m ...

", it peaked at number 20 and was labeled a "pace setter" by ''Billboard''. ''

Rolling Stone ''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. The magazine was first known fo ...

'' named it the 21st-best album of 2006. The album was

certified Platinum Music recording certification is a system of certifying that a music recording has shipped, sold, or streamed a certain number of units. The threshold quantity varies by type (such as album, single, music video) and by nation or territory (see ...

by the

RIAA 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 ...

for shipments to U.S. retailers of 1,000,000 units. The album was nominated for the 2006

Shortlist Music Prize The Shortlist Music Prize, stylized as (shôrt–lĭst), was an annual music award for the best album released in the United States that had sold fewer than 500,000 copies at the time of nomination. First given as a cash prize in 2001 under ...

Peter Gabriel Peter Brian Gabriel (born 13 February 1950) is an English singer, songwriter, musician, and human rights activist. He came to prominence as the original frontman of the rock band Genesis. He left the band in 1975 and launched a solo career wit ...

recorded a cover of "Après Moi" on his orchestral album ''

Scratch My Back ''Scratch My Back'' is the eighth studio album (and fifteenth album overall) by English musician Peter Gabriel, his first in eight years. It was released in February 2010. The album, recorded at AIR Lyndhurst and Real World Studios during 2009, ...

'', released in 2010.

Track listing

All songs written by Regina Spektor. # "

" – 3:47 # "Better" – 3:22 # "

Samson SAMSON (Software for Adaptive Modeling and Simulation Of Nanosystems) is a computer software platform for molecular design being developed bOneAngstromand previously by the NANO-D group at the French Institute for Research in Computer Science an ...

" – 3:10 # " On the Radio" – 3:22 # "Field Below" – 5:18 # "Hotel Song" – 3:29 # "Après Moi" – 5:08 # "20 Years of Snow" – 3:31 # "That Time" – 2:39 # "

Edit Edward Ma, known professionally as edIT, is an American electronic music producer and DJ based in Los Angeles. He is a member of the Glitch Mob. History After growing up in Boston, Edward Ma began his career as a DJ and got into music produ ...

" – 4:53 # "Lady" – 4:45 # "Summer in the City" – 3:50 ;Deluxe Edition bonus disc # "Another Town" – 4:07 # "Uh-Merica" – 3:16 # "Baobabs" – 2:02 # "Düsseldorf" – 3:09 # "Music Box" – 2:11 ;iTunes Store/Amazon MP3 bonus tracks # "Hero" – 3:44 # "Bartender" – 3:12 ;Vinyl edition disc 2, side A # "Another Town" – 4:10 # "Uh-Merica" – 3:19 # "Baobabs" – 2:04 # "Düsseldorf" – 3:12 # "Music Box" – 2:07 ;Vinyl edition disc 2, side B # "Better" (Piano and Voice) – 3:09 # "Better" (Radio Recut) – 3:12 # "Hero" – 3:45 # "Bartender" – 3:12 ;Vinyl 10th Anniversary edition disc 2, side B Bonus Track # "Baby Jesus" – 2:43

Personnel

– piano, vocals, guitar, percussion *

Nick Valensi Nicholas Valensi (born January 16, 1981) is an American musician, best known for his role as lead and rhythm guitarist in the American rock band The Strokes. Since 2001, the band has released six studio albums, some of which Valensi has also con ...

– guitar on "Better" *

David Kahne David Kahne is an American record producer, musician, composer, and former record company executive. Professional career Kahne started his musical career as a working musician and soon became Director of A&R for America's first punk and ne ...

– bass on "Better" * Zhao Gang –

erhu The (; ) is a Chinese two-stringed bowed musical instrument, more specifically a spike fiddle, that is sometimes known in the Western world as the ''Chinese violin'' or a ''Chinese two-stringed fiddle''. It is used as a solo instrument as ...

on "Field Below" * Ralph U. Williams – saxophone on "Lady" * Shawn Pelton – drums on "Fidelity", "Better", "On the Radio", "Hotel Song", "Après Moi" & "That Time" * Rachel Beth Egenhoefer – album design * David Kahne – mainstream pop producer

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Certifications

Single success

In 2006, Regina Spektor's first single, "Fidelity", premiered on

VH1 VH1 (originally an initialism for Video Hits One) is an American basic cable television network that launched on January 1, 1985, and is currently owned by the MTV Entertainment Group unit of Paramount Global's networks division based in New Y ...

. Soon after, VH1 included her among "You Oughta Know: Artists on the Rise". Spektor performed "Fidelity" on ''

Late Night with Conan O'Brien ''Late Night with Conan O'Brien'' is an American television talk show broadcast by NBC. The show is the second installment of the ''Late Night (franchise), Late Night'' franchise originally established by David Letterman. Hosted by Conan O'Brie ...

'' in July 2006 and on

ABC ABC are the first three letters of the Latin script. ABC or abc may also refer to: Arts, entertainment and media Broadcasting * Aliw Broadcasting Corporation, Philippine broadcast company * American Broadcasting Company, a commercial American ...

's ''

Good Morning America ''Good Morning America'', often abbreviated as ''GMA'', is an American breakfast television, morning television program that is broadcast on American Broadcasting Company, ABC. It debuted on November 3, 1975, and first expanded to weekends wit ...

'' in April 2007. She also performed "On The Radio" on ''

Jimmy Kimmel Live! ''Jimmy Kimmel Live!'', sometimes shortened to ''JKL'', is an American late-night talk show, created and hosted by Jimmy Kimmel, and broadcast on ABC. The nightly hour-long show tapes and is based out of the Hollywood Masonic Temple in Hollywo ...

'' in November 2006. She performed the song again on ''

Late Show with David Letterman ''Late Show with David Letterman'' is an American late-night talk show hosted by David Letterman on CBS, the first iteration of the ''Late Show'' franchise. The show debuted on August 30, 1993, and was produced by Letterman's production com ...

'' in April 2007, and on the Australian

Rove McManus John Henry Michael 'Rove' McManus (born 21 January 1974) is an Australian comedian, television and radio presenter, producer and media personality who has received three Gold Logie awards. He was the host of the eponymous variety show '' Rove ...

show in 2007. "Better" was released to US radio in late July 2007. Even though it was not released as a single, "Hotel Song" has reached No. 11 in the Irish music download charts and No. 16 in the Irish Top 50 Singles Chart as of May 2007. "Samson" is a new recording of a song originally released on 2002's ''

Songs A song is a musical composition performed by the human voice. The voice often carries the melody (a series of distinct and fixed pitches) using patterns of sound and silence. Songs have a structure, such as the common ABA form, and are usuall ...

''. Gwen Stefani used the song for her Season 9 battle between Korin Bukowski and Chase Kerby on ''The Voice''. "Après Moi" was covered by

on his 2010 album ''

''.

In popular culture

*The song, "Better" appeared in the fourth season of the

CBS CBS Broadcasting Inc., commonly shortened to CBS (an abbreviation of its original name, Columbia Broadcasting System), is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the CBS Entertainme ...

TV show, ''

How I Met Your Mother ''How I Met Your Mother'' (often abbreviated as ''HIMYM'') is an American sitcom created by Craig Thomas (screenwriter), Craig Thomas and Carter Bays for CBS. The series, which aired from September 19, 2005, to March 31, 2014, follows main char ...

'', in an episode titled " Happily Ever After." A piano version of the song appeared prominently throughout the series finale of ''

The Good Wife ''The Good Wife'' is an American legal political drama television series that aired on CBS from September 22, 2009, to May 8, 2016. It focuses on Alicia Florrick, the wife of the Cook County State's Attorney, who returns to her career in law ...

'' in 2016. *"Hotel Song" is featured in mobile phone company

Vodafone Vodafone Group Public Limited Company () is a British Multinational company, multinational telecommunications company. Its registered office and global headquarters are in Newbury, Berkshire, England. It predominantly operates Service (economic ...

's TV commercial in Ireland, contributing to the song's popularity in the country. The song was also featured in the 2011 Jennifer Westfeldt film ''

Friends with Kids ''Friends with Kids'' is a 2011 American romantic comedy film written, produced, and directed by Jennifer Westfeldt, who also stars in the film. Adam Scott, Jon Hamm, Kristen Wiig, Maya Rudolph, Chris O'Dowd, Megan Fox, and Edward Burns also star ...

''. *"Music Box" is featured on a

JCPenney Penney OpCo LLC , Trade name, doing business as JCPenney (colloquially Penney's and abbreviated JCP) is an American department store chain store, chain with 649 stores across 49 U.S. states and Puerto Rico. It is managed as part of the Catalys ...

commercial. *"Samson" was featured on '' CSI: NY'' in the second-season episode " All Access". *"Field Below" was on an episode of ''

Criminal Minds ''Criminal Minds'' is an American police procedural crime drama television series created by Jeff Davis that premiered on CBS on September 22, 2005. It follows a group of criminal profilers who work for the FBI as members of its Behavioral ...

''. *"That Time" was featured in the 2008

Martin McDonagh Martin Faranan McDonagh ( ; born 26 March 1970) is a British-Irish playwright and filmmaker. He is known for his Absurdism, absurdist Black comedy, dark humour which often challenges the modern theatre aesthetic. He has won List of awards and no ...

film ''

In Bruges ''In Bruges'' is a 2008 black comedy, black comedy-drama crime thriller film directed and written by Martin McDonagh in his feature-length debut. It stars Colin Farrell and Brendan Gleeson as two London-based Irish hitmen hiding in Bruges, with ...

'' starring

Colin Farrell Colin James Farrell (; born 31 May 1976) is an Irish actor. A Leading actor, leading man in blockbuster (entertainment), blockbusters and independent films since the 2000s, he has received various List of awards and nominations received by Col ...

and

Brendan Gleeson Brendan Gleeson (born 29 March 1955) is an Irish actor. He has received various accolades, including a Primetime Emmy Award, two British Independent Film Awards and three IFTA Awards, along with nominations for an Academy Award, three BAFTA Aw ...

. *"Hero" was featured in the film ''

(500) Days of Summer ''(500) Days of Summer'' is a 2009 American romantic comedy film directed by Marc Webb, written by Scott Neustadter and Michael H. Weber, and produced by Mark Waters. The film stars Joseph Gordon-Levitt and Zooey Deschanel as Tom and Summer r ...

'', along with " Us" from Spektor's previous album, ''

Soviet Kitsch ''Soviet Kitsch'' is the major label debut and third album by American singer/songwriter Regina Spektor. It was originally released on Shoplifter Records in May 2003 but was reissued in August 2004 when Spektor signed with Sire Records. The title ...

''. *"Fidelity" is one of the songs featured in "Elephant Love Medley," a number in ''

Moulin Rouge! The Musical ''Moulin Rouge! The Musical'' is a jukebox musical with a book by John Logan. The musical is based on the 2001 film ''Moulin Rouge!'' directed by Baz Luhrmann and written by Luhrmann and Craig Pearce. ''Moulin Rouge!'' is set in Paris during th ...

''.

Sales

*In New Zealand, the album was certified Gold for sales of more than 7,500. *In Australia, the album was certified Gold for sales of more than 35,000. *In the United States, the album was certified Gold for shipments of over 500,000 copies. Its sales have since surpassed 600,000 according to Nielsen/Soundscan.

References

{{Authority control 2006 albums Regina Spektor albums Sire Records albums Albums produced by David Kahne