Awake is the third studio album by American singer-songwriter Josh Groban. Announced on September 13, 2006, it is a follow-up to his multi-platinum album Closer. Awake was released on November 7, 2006.

The album was certified 2× platinum in the US by the RIAA on January 31, 2008, and has sold 2.3 million albums as of October 2015. It is the third top selling classical album of the 2000s in the US, according to Nielsen SoundScan.

Album information The album's first single is "You Are Loved (Don't Give Up)". The album features producers Imogen Heap, Marius De Vries, Guy Sigsworth, Eric Mouquet, Glen Ballard, and David Foster (who also worked on previous Groban works). As with all Josh Groban albums, songs on Awake are performed in English, Italian and Spanish. The album offered a more modern vibe to his voice by using more instruments aside from the occasional classic piano accompaniment in his previous albums. The album also featured Groban's head voice technique as evident in most of the tracks in the album.

Awake additionally features tracks that credit Groban's recent movements in South Africa. "Lullaby" and "Weeping" (album tracks 11 and 12) are sung by him in conjunction with the renowned South African musical group Ladysmith Black Mambazo, with further contributions from Vusi Mahlasela and Dave Matthews. "Weeping", a pop song originally composed in South Africa, is thematically oriented with the country's history of Apartheid. "Lullaby" is a track included in the album as a supplement to "Weeping", considered one of the album's major highlights. "Lullaby" is meant to flow gaplessly into "Weeping", but the rest of the album uses gaps. The song "Now or Never" was produced and co-written with English singer-songwriter Imogen Heap.

"You Are Loved (Don't Give Up)" peaked at No. 9 on the Hot Adult Contemporary Tracks chart, while "February Song" and "Awake" each peaked at No. 13 on the same chart.

Track listing

Notes signifies a vocal producer signifies a co-producer

Bonus track listing "You Raise Me Up" (Brendan Graham, Rolf Løvland) (European bonus track) – 4:50 "Verità" (Richard Page, Per Magnusson, David Kreuger) (Special edition bonus track) – 4:01 "Awake" (Groban, Mouquet, Salter) (Special edition bonus track) – 5:11 "Smile" (Charlie Chaplin, Geoffrey Parsons, John Turner) (Website exclusiveAwake Exclusive Edition in the Internet Archive) – 3:43

Personnel Josh Groban – vocals, drums, keyboards, piano, backing vocals Vinnie Colaiuta – drums Joel Shearer – guitar Frank Ricotti – percussion, vibraphone Jochem van der Saag – synthesizer, programming Glen Ballard – keyboards Blair Sinta – percussion Michael Thompson – guitar Ian Thomas – drums Eric Mouquet – keyboards Nathan East – bass guitar Chris Elliott – piano, dulcimer Andy Bradfield – mixing Vincent Nguini – guitar Sean Hurley – drums Russell Powell – guitar Bakithi Kumalo – bass guitar, backing vocals David Foster – keyboards Marius de Vries – keyboards, programming, piano Ramon Stagnaro – guitar Matt Chamberlain – drums Herbie Hancock – electric piano Tim Pierce – guitar Jason Boshoff – programming Anton Fig – drums Trevor Barry – bass guitar Kaitlyn Barton – tambourine Zac Rae – keyboards Alexis Smith – additional programming Dean Parks – guitar Fiona Hibbert – harp Imogen Heap – piano, programming, array mbira Anna Ross – backing vocals Ladysmith Black Mambazo – backing vocals Vusi Mahlasela – backing vocals Susie Suh – backing vocals

Charts

Weekly charts Chart (2006–2007) PeakpositionSouth African Albums (RISA) 1

Year-end charts Chart (2006) Position Belgian Albums (Ultratop Wallonia) 73 Swedish Albums (Sverigetopplistan) 89 Chart (2007) Position Australian Albums (ARIA) 94 Belgian Albums (Ultratop Wallonia) 55 French Albums (SNEP) 165 UK Albums (OCC) 120 US Billboard 200 17

Certifications

References General references Press release

Specific references

External links