''Lee Ryan'' is the debut and only solo studio album to be released by English boy band

Blue Blue is one of the three primary colours in the RYB color model, RYB colour model (traditional colour theory), as well as in the RGB color model, RGB (additive) colour model. It lies between Violet (color), violet and cyan on the optical spe ...

lead singer,

Lee Ryan Lee Ryan (born 17 June 1983) is an English singer, songwriter, and voice actor. He is best known as the lead singer of the boy band Blue. Early life Lee Ryan was born in Chatham, Kent. His parents split up when he was six years old. Ryan most ...

. The album was the first release from the singer on the record label

Sony BMG Sony BMG Music Entertainment was an American record company owned as a 50–50 joint venture between Sony Corporation of America and Bertelsmann. The venture's successor, the revived Sony Music, is wholly owned by Sony, following their buyout o ...

in August 2005, spawning 4 singles, all of which entered on domestic music charts, pushing the album to moderate success.

Background and production

At the end of February 2005 Lee Ryan was diagnosed with nodules on his throat, causing the cancellation of the farewell tour of

. The tour was scheduled to start on 11 of March. With no further plans with the band, all members decided to focus on their solo projects. According to the spokesperson of the band this was "not the end" and "they're taking a break, but they haven't officially split". Ryan revealed on

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documentary ''

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'' that soon after, he was approached by record executives to pursue a solo career. He signed a $1.1 million record deal with

and was looked after by music chief Hugh Goldsmith to help him produce and write his debut album. The record label had high hopes for his career, hoping that he would become the new

Robbie Williams Robert Peter Williams (born 13 February 1974) is an English singer and songwriter. He found fame as a member of the pop group Take That from 1990 to 1995, launching a solo career in 1996. His debut studio album, ''Life thru a Lens'', was re ...

. Lee Ryan admitted that there were parallels between himself and the former Take That star, but is reluctant to encourage the comparison. He said: "Aside from making a similar career change, I don't want to be compared too heavily with Robbie's style - but I do admire him for his success as a solo artist." According to an interview with Craig McLean, Ryan wrote a lot of tracks for the album, enough to fill half of his second album as well. He mainly worked with Ash Howes and Martin Harrington, who had already worked with

Natalie Imbruglia Natalie Jane Imbruglia ( , ; born 4 February 1975) is an Australian and British singer and actress. Born and raised in New South Wales, Imbruglia became widely known in the early 1990s playing Beth Brennan in the soap opera ''Neighbours''. A ...

and

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, while had recently produced

Kylie Minogue Kylie Ann Minogue (; born 28 May 1968) is an Australian singer, songwriter, and actress. Frequently referred to as the "Honorific nicknames in popular music, Princess of Pop", she has achieved recognition in both the music industry and fas ...

's hit single

Love at First Sight Love at first sight is a personal experience and a common theme in creative works: a person or character feels an instant, extreme, and ultimately long-lasting romantic attraction for a stranger upon first seeing that stranger. It has been desc ...

. Lee Ryan wanted to collaborate with Kylie Minogue, hoping she would sing backing vocals on a track. His plans unfortunately never materialised.

Army of Lovers Army of Lovers is a Swedish dance-pop group which formed in 1987 and had a number of hits in Europe throughout the 1990s. Some of their biggest successes include the song "Crucified", which was a big hit in Europe, charting 31 weeks in the Eu ...

was chosen as the first single of the album.

Dolce & Gabbana Dolce & Gabbana (), also known by initials D&G, is an Italian Luxury goods, luxury fashion house founded in 1985 in Legnano by Italian designers Domenico Dolce and Stefano Gabbana. The house specializes in ready-to-wear, handbags, accessories, ...

also signed Ryan up to be the face of their new line of clothing in the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Northwestern Europe, off the coast of European mainland, the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

. Ryan did not receive any money for the deal, he was just going to be provided with many new clothes and he should wear at least one piece of Dolce & Gabbana when promoting the album or performing live.

Release and promotion

The album was released on 1 August 2005, debuting at #6 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 ...

which was its peak position. It remained inside the top 75 for another three weeks before disappearing from the chart completely. The album was also released in Europe to moderate success. It managed thought to reach #3 in

Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...

. Ryan did several appearances to European television channels in order to promote his album, including an appearance in

TVP2 TVP2 (TVP Dwa, ''Telewizja Polska 2'', ''Program Drugi Telewizji Polskiej'', ''"Dwójka"'') is a Polish public mainstream TV channel operated by TVP. Launched in October 1970, its varied line-up contains a variety of programming (documentary, h ...

, where he sang an unplugged version of "In the Morning" and Italy where he sang the Italian version of the first single

"Ho Te". Shortly after the release of the album Ryan released his second single, Turn Your Car Around, which was also moderately successful, doing no boost to the album sales, which remained outside the top 75 in the UK. January 2006 saw the release of the album's third single When I Think of You, which peaked at #15 on the UK Singles Chart and while it succeed in promoting the album's sales a bit, as the album re-entered the UK Albums Chart for four more weeks, it became Ryan's last release from the album in the

. The album's fourth single, Real Love, was not released in the

due to poor sales of the album and its former singles, however, the song was released across

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and was used as the theme to the film '' Ice Age: The Meltdown.'' Ryan also secured a vocal role in the British version of the film. The song received additional production from Brian Rawling and Paul Meehanfor its release as a single. Because of the album poor sales Ryan was later dropped from his record label.

Singles

was the first single from the album, released on 18 July 2005. The single peaked at #3 on the UK Singles Chart, but found higher success staying at #1 for four weeks in

. The physical single featured an acoustic version of the song, an album sampler featuring samples of "When I Think of You", "Parking" and "Jump" and the music video. The second singe released from the album was Turn Your Car Around on 10 October 2005. The single peaked at #12 on the UK Singles Chart, but found higher success peaking at #2 in

and reaching #1 in the European Top 20. The physical single featured three b-sides: "Best of You (BBC Radio 1 Live Lounge)", "These Words (Gold Horizons)" and "Movin' On", as well as the music video. The Italian version of the single also included the song "Ho Te", the Italian version of the first single

. " When I Think of You" was the third song to be released as single from the album on 30 January 2006. The single peaked at #15 on the UK Singles Chart, before dropping out of the top forty the following week. The physical single featured a new B-side called "I Can Let Go Now". A final single was released from the album, which also served as the lead single from the film soundtrack Ice Age: The Meltdown. The song Real Love received additional production from Brian Rawling and Paul Meehanfor, being released on 7 April 2006. The single was not released in the UK due to the low sales of the album and the mediocre sales of the previous singles, however it found success in

and

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. The single also featured a club remix by the Sharp Boys.

Critical reception

The critical reception of the album was mixed to negative. Jon O'Brien from

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 ...

gave the album 3,5 out of 5 stars, stating that "Ryan has produced a surprisingly sophisticated and authentic debut". He also gave credit to his vocal abilities while recognising his "undeniable talents". Michael Hubbard from

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found that Lee Ryan's debut album "showcases vocal prowess" but he thought that the songs "are a mixed bag of made-to-order drivetime ditties and flaccid shelf filler". Bine Jankowski of

Laut.de ''laut.de'' is a German online magazine covering music and entertainment. It was founded in Konstanz in 1996 by Rainer Henze Simon Webbe Simon Solomon Webbe (born 30 March 1978) is an English singer, rapper and actor. He is best known as a member of the boy band Blue, selling over 15 million records. Webbe released three solo studio albums in 2005, 2006 and 2017 and had five UK ...

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Track listing

;Notes * signifies a co-producer * signifies a remixer

Charts

Certifications and sales

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lee Ryan (Album) 2005 debut albums Lee Ryan albums Albums produced by Cutfather Pop rock albums by English artists