''Planet Jedward'' is the debut
studio album by
Irish pop
Pop or POP may refer to:
Arts, entertainment, and media Music
* Pop music, a musical genre Artists
* POP, a Japanese idol group now known as Gang Parade
* Pop!, a UK pop group
* Pop! featuring Angie Hart, an Australian band
Albums
* ''Pop'' (G ...
duo
Jedward
John and Edward Grimes (born 16 October 1991), collectively known as Jedward (a portmanteau of their first names), are an Irish singing and television presenting duo. They are identical twins who first appeared as John & Edward in the sixth ...
. The album was released on 16 July 2010. The album charted at No. 1 in Ireland and No. 17 in the UK. Critical reaction was largely negative.
Background
The album was released via Absolute Records, a minor subsidiary of the
Universal Music Group
Universal Music Group N.V. (often abbreviated as UMG and referred to as just Universal Music) is a Dutch– American multinational music corporation under Dutch law. UMG's corporate headquarters are located in Hilversum, Netherlands and its ...
label. However, the twins' debut single, "
Under Pressure (Ice Ice Baby)", had been released by
Sony Music
Sony Music Entertainment (SME), also known as simply Sony Music, is an American multinational music company. Being owned by the parent conglomerate Sony Group Corporation, it is part of the Sony Music Group, which is owned by Sony Entertainmen ...
. The album itself consists entirely of cover versions.
Following the duo's Eurovision success in May 2011, a
version of ''Planet Jedward'' was released across Europe in July, mainly consisting of previously unheard tracks from the duo's second studio album, ''
Victory
The term victory (from Latin ''victoria'') originally applied to warfare, and denotes success achieved in personal combat, after military operations in general or, by extension, in any competition. Success in a military campaign constitutes a ...
''. This version of the album also included their
Eurovision Song Contest 2011
The Eurovision Song Contest 2011 was the 56th edition of the Eurovision Song Contest. It took place in Düsseldorf, Germany, following the country's victory at the with the song "Satellite (Lena Meyer-Landrut song), Satellite" by Lena Meyer-La ...
entry, "
Lipstick
Lipstick is a cosmetic product used to apply coloration and texture to lips, often made of wax and oil. Different pigments are used to produce color, and minerals such as silica may be used to provide texture. The use of lipstick dates bac ...
".
In 2010, the original album was certified double platinum in
Ireland
Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...
, meaning that between 30,000 and 44,999 copies had been sold in the country as of the date of the certification. In the UK, the album had sold 31,251 copies as of August 2011.
Critical reception
The album was received extremely negatively by critics. ''
The Guardian
''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper
A newspaper is a periodical publication containing written information about current events and is often typed in black ink with a white or gray background.
Newspapers can cover a wide ...
''
's Caroline Sullivan said "it would be stretching a point to say I'd ever want to hear it again."
Virgin Media
Virgin Media is a British telecommunications company which provides telephone, television and internet services in the United Kingdom. Its headquarters are at Green Park in Reading, England. It is owned by Virgin Media O2, a 50:50 joint ven ...
criticised the "painfully wooden dialogue before the layers of auto-tuned backing vocalists kick in."
''
The Scotsman
''The Scotsman'' is a Scottish compact newspaper and daily news website headquartered in Edinburgh. First established as a radical political paper in 1817, it began daily publication in 1855 and remained a broadsheet until August 2004. Its pa ...
'' called it "a 35-minute comedy of errors".
''
Digital Spy
Digital Spy (DS) is a British-based entertainment, television and film website and brand and is the largest digital property at Hearst UK. Since its launch in 1999, Digital Spy has focused on entertainment news related to television programmes, ...
'' said it "contains more crimes against music than the combined discographies of
The Cheeky Girls,
Phil Collins
Philip David Charles Collins (born 30 January 1951) is an English singer, musician, songwriter, record producer and actor. He was the drummer and lead singer of the rock band Genesis and also has a career as a solo performer. Between 1982 and ...
and
Lou Bega
David Lubega Balemezi (born 13 April 1975), better known by his stage name Lou Bega, is a German singer. His 1999 song " Mambo No. 5", a remake of Pérez Prado's 1949 instrumental piece, reached number 1 in many European countries and was ...
."
The duo's compatriot newspaper ''
Irish Independent
The ''Irish Independent'' is an Irish daily newspaper and online publication which is owned by Independent News & Media (INM), a subsidiary of Mediahuis.
The newspaper version often includes glossy magazines.
Traditionally a broadsheet n ...
'' were unsympathetic and declared "Burn it: In the traditional sense of the word, burn the entire thing." ''
OK!
''OK!'' is a British weekly magazine that primarily specialises in royal and celebrity news. Originally launched as a monthly magazine, its first issue was published in April 1997. In September 2004, ''OK''! launched in Australia as a monthly ...
'' magazine said it was "all very karaoke and never going to win any awards, but it's fun. To sum up, Planet Jedward is great for a short visit but we're not sure we'd want to live there!"
Track listing
Chart performance
References
{{Authority control
Jedward albums
2010 debut albums
Universal Music Group albums
Covers albums