''Get Born'' is the debut studio album by Australian rock band Jet. It was released on 14 September 2003 and has sold over 4 million copies worldwide. The album includes Jet's most popular song, " Are You Gonna Be My Girl".
Writing and recording
Jet went to
Sunset Sound Studios
Sunset Sound Recorders is a recording studio in Hollywood, California, United States, located at 6650 Sunset Boulevard.
Background
The Sunset Sound Recorders complex was created by Walt Disney's Director of Recording, Tutti Camarata, from a co ...
and Larrabee East in Los Angeles to record ''Get Born''. The band left the recording studios halfway through recording the album to fly back to support
the Rolling Stones
The Rolling Stones are an English Rock music, rock band formed in London in 1962. Active for over six decades, they are one of the most popular, influential, and enduring bands of the Album era, rock era. In the early 1960s, the band pione ...
on their 2003 Australian tour.
"Are You Gonna Be My Girl", from this album, was voted number one in the 2003
Triple J Hottest 100
The Triple J Hottest 100 is an annual music poll presented by the publicly-funded Australian youth radio station Triple J. Members of the public are invited to vote for their favourite Music of Australia, Australian and alternative music of th ...
. ''Get Born'' also has a song, "Timothy", dedicated to guitarist Cameron Muncey's brother, who died when he was a baby (the song has also been remixed for American rapper
Timbaland
Timothy Zachery Mosley (born March 10, 1972), known professionally as Timbaland, is an American record producer and rapper. Born and raised in Norfolk, Virginia, he is widely acclaimed for his distinctive production work and "stuttering" rhythm ...
's 2009 album '' Shock Value II''). The track "Radio Song" was written about when they were an unsigned band in Melbourne seeking attention, and "Rollover DJ" was written about the difficulty they encountered when trying to play gigs because of the takeover of dance music.
Critical reception
''Get Born'' received generally positive reviews 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 ...
. 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 critics, 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 70, based on 15 reviews. ''
Alternative Press Alternative press may refer to:
Individual publications
* ''Alternative Press'' (magazine), an American music magazine
Alternative journalism
* Alternative media
** Alternative media (U.S. political left)
** Alternative media (U.S. political r ...
'' gave it a rave review and found Jet's songs "catchy" and their appeal "diverse". '' Q'' magazine said that the album's raw immediacy "belies its dated influences." '' Uncut'' called it "an efficient if fairly joyless hybrid of the Stones,
AC/DC
AC/DC are an Australian rock band formed in Sydney in 1973. Their music has been variously described as hard rock, blues rock and Heavy metal music, heavy metal, although the band calls it simply "rock and roll". They are cited as a formativ ...
and
Oasis
In ecology, an oasis (; : oases ) is a fertile area of a desert or semi-desert environment In a negative review, ''
Pitchfork
A pitchfork or hay fork is an agricultural tool used to pitch loose material, such as hay, straw, manure, or leaves. It has a long handle and usually two to five thin tines designed to efficiently move such materials.
The term is also applie ...
'' wrote that Jet sounds like "everyone's favorite old rock bands" and have "insipid lyrics", including interjections such as "come on!" and "oh yeah!" sung "every five seconds".
Robert Christgau
Robert Thomas Christgau ( ; born April 18, 1942) is an American music journalist and essayist. Among the most influential music critics, he began his career in the late 1960s as one of the earliest professional rock critics and later became a ...
of ''
The Village Voice
''The Village Voice'' is an American news and culture publication based in Greenwich Village, New York City, known for being the country's first Alternative newspaper, alternative newsweekly. Founded in 1955 by Dan Wolf (publisher), Dan Wolf, ...
'' cited "Rollover D.J." and "Look What You've Done" as highlights and remarked that the band has "the juice and talent to make their retro happen without the brains or vision to run with it". He gave the album a two-star honorable mention, indicating a "likable effort consumers attuned to its overriding aesthetic or individual vision may well enjoy." In October 2010, ''Get Born'' was listed in the book ''
100 Best Australian Albums
''The 100 Best Australian Albums'' (a.k.a. ''One Hundred Best Australian Albums'') is a compendium of rock and pop albums of the past 50 years as compiled by music journalists Toby Creswell, Craig Mathieson and John O'Donnell. The book was ...
''.
Lead single
The album's lead single, "Are You Gonna Be My Girl", was often singled out due to distinct similarities to
Iggy Pop
James Newell Osterberg Jr. (born April 21, 1947), known professionally as Iggy Pop, is an American singer, musician, songwriter, actor and radio broadcaster. He was the vocalist and lyricist of proto-punk band the Stooges, who were formed in 1 ...
's " Lust for Life". The band argued that "Are You Gonna Be My Girl" had more in common with '60s
Motown
Motown is an American record label owned by the Universal Music Group. Founded by Berry Gordy, Berry Gordy Jr. as Tamla Records on January 12, 1959, it was incorporated as Motown Record Corporation on April 14, 1960. Its name, a portmanteau ...
, however; namely, songs such as "
I'm Ready for Love
"I'm Ready for Love" is a song by the American girl group Martha and the Vandellas. It was issued as a single by Motown in October1966. The song, produced and written by Holland–Dozier–Holland, and was written in a similar style to the Suprem ...
" by
Martha And The Vandellas
Martha and the Vandellas (known from 1967 to 1973 as Martha Reeves & the Vandellas) were an American girl group formed in Detroit, Michigan in 1957. The group achieved fame in the 1960s as a major act for Motown Records. Formed by friends Annett ...
and "
You Can't Hurry Love
"You Can't Hurry Love" is a song originally recorded by the Supremes on the Motown label. It was released on July 25, 1966 as the second single (music), single from their studio album ''The Supremes A' Go-Go''.
Written and produced by Motown p ...
" by
The Supremes
The Supremes were an American girl group formed in Detroit, Michigan, in 1959 as the Primettes. A premier act of Motown Records during the 1960s, the Supremes were the most commercially successful of Motown's acts and the most successful Amer ...
. In an
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 ...
review of "Are You Gonna Be My Girl", the song was praised for its commercial appeal despite its resemblance to "Lust for Life", saying "Whether 'Are You Gonna Be My Girl?' (sic) is creatively bankrupt, or just an extreme example of how all music is influenced by what came before it, is up for debate... Either way, the song is impossible to ignore."Chris Cester addressed the media speculation in an interview with Pop in ''Uptown Magazine'', stating: "It's funny because I asked him point blank about that. He said I was crazy. He said that when he and
David Bowie
David Robert Jones (8 January 194710 January 2016), known as David Bowie ( ), was an English singer, songwriter and actor. Regarded as one of the most influential musicians of the 20th century, Bowie was acclaimed by critics and musicians, pa ...
were writing ' Lust for Life', they were ripping off Motown's beat. It's funny that he said that to me because we also thought we were ripping off Motown more than 'Lust for Life'. To be honest with you that kind of annoyed me a lot, because I always thought it was really lazy. People just go, well 'Lust for Life' is more well-known so that's what they go for, but if you listen to a song like 'You Can't Hurry Love' (The Supremes) I think you'll find it's closer to 'Are You Gonna Be My Girl' than 'Lust for Life' ever was. And that's what Iggy said as well."
Commercial performance
''Get Born'' debuted at number three and peaked at number one on the Australian
ARIA
In music, an aria (, ; : , ; ''arias'' in common usage; diminutive form: arietta, ; : ariette; in English simply air (music), air) is a self-contained piece for one voice, with or without instrument (music), instrumental or orchestral accompan ...
Albums Chart as of May 2004 (so far being certified 8× Platinum), number 17 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 ...
(number 14 after a re-entry in June 2004), and peaked at number 26 on the U.S. ''Billboard'' 200 albums chart (and was certified Platinum).
"Are You Gonna Be My Girl?" also peaked at number 20 and certified Gold on the Australian ARIA Singles Chart, number 23 on the UK Singles Chart in September 2003 (number 16 after a re-release in May 2004), and number 29 on the U.S. ''Billboard'' Hot 100 singles chart.
The second single, "Rollover DJ", was released in Australia and the UK, and peaked at number 31 and number 34 respectively.
The third single released in Australia and the UK was "Look What You've Done", which peaked at number 14 and number 28 respectively. It was also released as the third single in the U.S. in January 2005, and reached number 37 as of March 2005.
In the US, "Cold Hard Bitch" was released as the second single, reaching number one on the ''Billboard'' Modern Rock and Mainstream Rock charts and number 55 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100. In Australia, it was released as the fourth single in July 2004, and reached number 33 in August 2004, and in the UK, it reached number 34 in September 2004.
A fifth single also charted in the UK, this being "Get Me Outta Here", reaching number 37 in December 2004.
In the week ending 11 September 2006, ''Get Born'' re-entered at a position of number 46 on the ARIA Charts, presumably because Jet had " Put Your Money Where Your Mouth Is", the lead single from their second album, '' Shine On''.
Track listing
Personnel
Jet
* Nic Cester – lead vocals, guitars
* Chris Cester – drums, percussion, tambourine, backing vocals, lead vocals
* Cameron Muncey – guitars, backing vocals, lead vocals
* Mark Wilson – bass guitar, piano , harmonica
Additional musicians
*
Billy Preston
William Everett Preston (September 2, 1946 – June 6, 2006) was an American keyboardist, singer, and songwriter whose work encompassed R&B, rock, soul, funk, and gospel. Preston was a top session keyboardist in the 1960s, backing Little Richa ...
– keyboards
* Roger Joseph Manning Jr. – keyboards
* Andre Warhurst – slide guitar
* Dave Sardy – producer, tambourine, slide guitar , additional guitar
* Davey Lane – additional guitar