David Archuleta is the debut album by American singer David Archuleta. It was first released in Asia on November 10, 2008, through Jive Records. Recorded after he finished as the runner-up on the seventh season of American Idol, the label arranged for him to work with a variety of musicians on material for the album, including Andreas Carlsson, JC Chasez, Desmond Child, Dapo, Matthew Gerrard, Jimmy Harry, David Hodges, Tim James, Steve Kipner, Emanuel Kiriakou, Robbie Nevil, Eric Rosse, Wayne Wilkins and duo Midi Mafia. Archuleta co-wrote on several tracks on the album.

The album received generally mixed reviews, with critics praising his voice but also criticizing the album's material as safe or bland. It launched at number two on the US Billboard 200 with 183,000 first-week sales and was certified gold in January 2009. By January 2011, the album had sold a total of 764,000 copies domestically. "Crush," released in August 2008, debuted at number two on the US Billboard Hot 100 and sold nearly 2 million copies, while the second single "A Little Too Not Over You" hit radio in January 2009. David Archuletas release coincided with his United Kingdom tour with McFly in April and May 2009.

Background Archuleta auditioned for American Idol during the San Diego tryouts at Qualcomm Stadium in July 2007, earning a ticket to Hollywood after performing John Mayer's "Waiting on the World to Change." Sixteen at the time, he continued attending school while competing on the show and, as a minor, was required to have a parent or guardian present. During the competition, Archuleta gained attention for his stylistic and interpretive choices and ultimately advanced to the finale, where he received 44 percent of the vote, finishing in second place. After the finale, Archuleta made his first appearances on the US music charts with the three songs he performed on American Idol finale: "Don't Let the Sun Go Down on Me", "In This Moment", and "Imagine" debuted on the Billboard Hot 100 chart the week of June 7, 2008. "Imagine" entered at number 36, giving Archuleta his first top-forty hit, "Don't Let the Sun Go Down on Me" at 58, and "In This Moment" at 60. In June 2008, Archuleta signed with Jive Records and 19 Recordings and began work on his debut album.

Promotion The first single, "Crush", was released to radio on August 1, 2008, and was commercially released on August 12, 2008. Its first week it debuted at number two on the Billboard Hot 100 with 166,000 units sold. The single has sold almost 2 million copies in the United States. The second single, "A Little Too Not Over You", a song which he co-wrote, was released to radio on January 6, 2009.

On March 13, 2009, Archuleta released a couple of songs from David Archuleta on iTunes that were previously not available as single downloads. "Works for Me" came as a bonus track on the Walmart version of David Archuleta, and "Somebody Out There" was exclusive to those who pre-ordered the album on iTunes. Both songs were also included in a four-track EP titled Four for the Fans, released in 2010 exclusively on iTunes, before the release of Archuleta's single, "Something 'Bout Love", from his third studio album, The Other Side of Down (2010).

Critical reception

David Archuleta received generally mixed reviews from music critics, averaging a 58 out of a 100 among averaged reviews on Metacritic. Kerri Mason from Billboard praised David Archuleta, calling it "charming" and filled with performances "meant for arenas." Mason also credited Archuleta as having a "once-in-a-decade pop voice: A silky tenor with a natural melancholy." Ken Barnes of USA Today gave the album a positive review saying, "On American Idol runner-up David Archuleta's first, self-titled album, the 17-year-old singer delivers a non-stop succession of polite pop songs swathed in gauzy cotton-candy textures and catchy choruses. And that's exactly what he should be doing." The New York Times critic Ben Ratliff remarked that Archuleta "has a lovely, foggy R&B voice out of scale with his small body" and further wrote: "The music, made by many producers and songwriters, averages out different forms of radio-format blandness, with tinges of Coldplay and Shania Twain, and a few dollops of good writing."

Writing for The Boston Globe, Joan Anderman determined that "someone smart decided to stick with tasteful, understated production. Archuleta's delivery is likewise low-key and attractive, if predictably generic. We do get a glimpse of previously unheard heft and depth, respectively, on vaguely edgy "Desperate" and the winsome ballad "To Be With You." But it's never more than a short step back to the safe, unscintillating center where Archuleta belongs." Caryn Ganz from Rolling Stone noted that "on the most recent season of American Idol, Archuleta was a golden-voiced koala, too sweet to be sexy. His debut is similarly flavorless: Beautifully sung but snoozy tunes like "My Hands" never achieve takeoff, and his chaste voice is a poor match for lovey-dovey lyrics." August Brown, writing for The Los Angeles Times, felt that "the record is larded with awkward modernist R&B, Christian semaphore ballads like "You Can" and warm-milk mewling that makes David Cook, Archuleta's Idol foe, sound like Robert Plant". Entertainment Weeklys Chris Willman found that "on American Idols seventh season, David Archuleta had some personality — something you’ll struggle to remember while taking in this bland, amnesia-inducing collection."

Commercial performance David Archuleta debuted at number two on the US Billboard 200 chart in the week of November 29, 2008, with sales of 183,000 copies. On January 29, 2009, the album was certified gold by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA). By January 2011, it had sold 764,000 copies domestically, according to USA Today

Track listing

Notes denotes additional producer(s) denotes co-producer(s)

Personnel Adapted from AllMusic.

David Archuleta – piano, lead vocals, background vocals Antonina Armato – producer Jeff Baker – audio engineer Jeff Baker – assistant engineer Brett Banducci – viola Zukhan Bey – drum programming Jeff Bova – arranger, string arrangements, strings Cara Bridgins – production coordination Andreas Carlsson – producer JC Chasez – piano, producer, background vocals Desmond Child – producer Adam Comstock – audio engineer, engineer Randy Cooke – drums Tom Coyne – mastering Dorian Crozier – drums, engineer Tim Davies – conductor Tommy Denander – engineer, guitar, guitars Thomas Diener – viola Kara DioGuardi – background vocals Marcus Englöf – keyboards, programming Stephen Erdody – celli, cello James Fauntleroy – background vocals Jeff Fenster – a&r Marlow Fisher – viola Chris Fudurich – engineer Storm L. Gardner – background vocals Brian Gately – production coordination Humberto Gatica – vocal engineer Matthew Gerrard – audio engineer, engineer, keyboards, producer, programming Julie Gigante – violin Conor Gilligan – assistant Matty Green – assistant Steve Hammons – audio engineer, engineer Trevor Handy – cello Jimmy Harry – bass, bass instrument, engineer, guitars, keyboards, producer Paula Hochhalter – cello David Hodges – keyboards, piano, producer, programming, background vocals Ross Hogarth – audio engineer, engineer Sean Hurley – bass, bass instrument Devrim "DK" Karaoglu – producer Steve Kipner – producer Emanuel Kiriakou – bass, bass instrument, drum programming, engineer, guitar (acoustic), guitar (electric), keyboards, piano, producer, background vocals Mike Krompass – audio engineer, engineer, guitar (acoustic), guitar (electric), producer Natalie Leggett – violin Dimitrie Leivici – violin Thomas Lindberg – bass, bass instrument Nigel Lundemo – audio engineer, engineer Brian Macleod – drums Erik Madrid – assistant Manny Marroquin – mixing Maria P. Marulanda – art direction, design Luke Maurer – viola Steve McEwan – producer Justin Meldal-johnsen – Bass Instrument Corey Miller – assistant engineer, audio engineer Robbie Nevil – keyboards, producer, programming Paul Palmer – mixing Alex Papaconstantinou – keyboards, programming Searmi Park – violin Cameron Patrick – violin Brian Paturalski – mixing Tim Pierce – guitar, guitars Christian Plata – assistant Shari Reich – artist coordination Chris Reynolds – audio engineer, digital editing, engineer Jeff Riedel – photography Cristián Robles – vocal engineer Andros Rodriguez – engineer Francesco Romano – guitar (acoustic) Eric Ivan Rosse – arranger, keyboards, mixing Peter Rotter – contractor Ken Sarkey – assistant Nicole Simon – production coordination Jake Simpson – background vocals Jeanne Skrocki – violin Spike Stent – mixing Aaron Sterling – drums Cameron Stone – celli, cello Shane Swayney – guitar, guitars, keyboards, programming Sarah Thornblade – violin Pat Thrall – digital editing, engineer, mixing Dapo Torimiro – keyboards, producer Cecilia Tsan – cello Marc VanGool – guitar, guitars Jon Vella – engineer, guitar, guitars Bruce Watson – guitar, guitars Bruce Waynne – producer Wayne Wilkins – drums, keyboards, producer Margaret Wooten – violin

Charts

Weekly charts + Weekly chart performance for David ArchuletaChart (2008)PeakpositionCanadian Albums Chart 14US Billboard 2002US Comprehensive Albums (Billboard) 2

Year-end charts + Year-end chart performance for David ArchuletaChart (2009)Position US Billboard 20051

Certifications

Release history + Release history for David Archuleta Region Date Label Hong Kong November 10, 2008Sony Music Entertainment Indonesia Singapore South Korea November 11, 2008 United States CanadaSony Music Entertainment Philippines Malaysia November 17, 2008 Australia December 6, 2008 Taiwan December 12, 2008 Japan February 25, 2009 Brazil March 11, 2009 United Kingdom May 11, 2009RCA

References