Life in a Beautiful Light

Life in a Beautiful Light
Studio album by Amy Macdonald
Released 11 June 2012 (2012-06-11)
Genre Pop rock, soft rock
Label Melodramatic, Mercury, Vertigo
Producer Pete Wilkinson
Amy Macdonald chronology
A Curious Thing
(2010)		 Life in a Beautiful Light
(2012)		 Under Stars
(2017)
Singles from Life in a Beautiful Light
  1. "Slow It Down"
    Released: 20 April 2012
  2. "Pride"
    Released: 13 August 2012
  3. "4th of July"
    Released: 22 October 2012
Deluxe version cover

Life in a Beautiful Light is the third album by Scottish singer-songwriter Amy Macdonald, released on 11 June 2012.[1] The lead single is "Slow It Down" and was released on 20 April 2012. Macdonald's official website confirmed the album for release on 13 April 2012. The track listing was confirmed on Universal Music's store on the same day.[2]

Background

Macdonald began to write Life in a Beautiful Light after having a "lovely year off" following touring in support of A Curious Thing. Macdonald had no time to write songs on her second album as she was touring with This Is the Life. However, Macdonald said she felt that the creation of Life in a Beautiful Light was a more natural process.[3] Two songs from Life in a Beautiful Light were begun before Macdonald's break. "In the End" was written with Macdonald questioning herself whether being a musician was a worthwhile occupation.[3]

Macdonald wrote "Human Spirit" inspired by the Chilean miners' rescue.[3]

Reception

Critical reception

Professional ratings
Aggregate scores
SourceRating
Metacritic60/100[4]
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[5]
Daily Express[6]
Hot Press[7]
musicOMH[8]
Sputnikmusic[9]
The Scotsman[10]
The Tech[11]

The album up to now has gathered mixed reviews, earning a collective score of 5.1 out of 10 at AnyDecentMusic?.[12] The Upcoming described the album as a "strong return from Macdonald, interweaving her distinctive voice with splashing cymbals and burbling electronica, but still intermittently flirting with folky affectations".[13] The album received 60/100 on Metacritic, a review aggregator website, signifying "mixed or average reviews".[4]

Chart performance

On 14 June 2012 Life in a Beautiful Light entered the Irish Albums Chart at number 5, making it her highest charting album in Ireland. On 17 June 2012 the album entered the UK Albums Chart at number 2, making it the second highest charting album that week, only beaten by Gary Barlow's album Sing. Only 1,000 copies separated the top three albums.[14] The album fared better in Scotland, where it debuted at number one.

Singles

Track listings

All songs written by Amy Macdonald

Standard edition

No. Title Length
1. "4th of July"   3:48
2. "Pride"   3:22
3. "Slow It Down"   3:52
4. "The Furthest Star"   3:29
5. "The Game"   4:24
6. "Across the Nile"   3:19
7. "The Days of Being Young and Free"   4:09
8. "Left That Body Long Ago"   4:49
9. "Life in a Beautiful Light"   4:35
10. "Human Spirit"   2:06
11. "The Green and the Blue"   3:53
12. "In the End / Two Worlds" (hidden track) 8:05

Deluxe edition

No. Title Length
1. "4th of July"   3:48
2. "Pride"   3:22
3. "Slow It Down"   3:52
4. "The Furthest Star"   3:29
5. "The Game"   4:24
6. "Across the Nile"   3:19
7. "The Days of Being Young and Free"   4:09
8. "Left That Body Long Ago"   4:49
9. "Life in a Beautiful Light"   4:35
10. "Human Spirit"   2:06
11. "The Green and the Blue"   3:53
12. "In the End"   3:52
13. "Slow It Down" (acoustic version) 3:46
14. "The Furthest Star" (acoustic version) 3:07
15. "The Green and the Blue" (acoustic version) 2:50
16. "Across the Nile" (acoustic version; iTunes exclusive) 3:10
17. "4th of July" (acoustic version) 3:03
18. "Slow It Down" (singalong instrumental version) 3:56
19. "4th of July" (singalong instrumental version) 3:48
20. "Pride" (singalong instrumental version) 3:24
21. "Two Worlds" (hidden track) 3:52

Super deluxe box set

A super deluxe box set was also released that contains:[2]

Charts and certifications

Weekly charts

Chart (2012) Peak
position
Austrian Albums Chart[17] 1
Belgian Albums Chart (Flanders)[18] 4
Belgian Albums Chart (Wallonia)[19] 6
Croatian Foreign Albums Chart[20] 4
Danish Albums Chart[21] 9
Dutch Albums Chart[22] 5
French Albums Chart[23] 42
German Albums Chart[24] 1
Irish Albums Chart[25] 5
Norwegian Albums Chart[26] 15
Polish Albums Chart[27] 11
Scottish Albums Chart[28] 1
Spanish Albums Chart[29] 36
Swedish Albums Chart[30] 34
Swiss Albums Chart[31] 2
Swiss Albums Chart (Romandie)[32] 1
UK Albums Chart[33] 2

Year-end charts

Chart (2012) Position
Belgian Albums Chart (Flanders)[34] 78
Belgian Albums Chart (Wallonia)[34] 71
Swiss Albums Chart[35] 8

Certifications

Region Certification Certified units/Sales
Germany (BVMI)[36] Platinum 200,000^
Poland (ZPAV)[37] Gold 10,000*
Switzerland (IFPI Switzerland)[38] Platinum 30,000^
United Kingdom (BPI)[39] Gold 100,000^

*sales figures based on certification alone
^shipments figures based on certification alone

References

  1. ↑ "Life in a Beautiful Light". 13 April 2012. Retrieved 14 April 2012.
  2. 1 2 "Life in a Beautiful Light Track listing". 13 April 2012. Retrieved 15 April 2012.
  3. 1 2 3 Biography — Amy Macdonald
  4. 1 2 Life in a Beautiful Light Reviews, Ratings, Credits, and More - Metacritic
  5. ↑ Christopher Monger, James. "Life in a Beautiful Light - Amy Macdonald". AllMusic. Rovi Corporation. Retrieved 21 February 2014.
  6. ↑ Gaga, Simon (8 June 2012). "CD Review - Amy Macdonald, Life In A Beautiful Light". Daily Express. Retrieved 21 February 2014.
  7. ↑ O. Hare, Colm (29 May 2012). "Life In A Beautiful Light". Hot Press. Retrieved 21 February 2014.
  8. ↑ John Murphy. "Amy Macdonald - Life In A Beautiful Light". musicOMH. Retrieved 23 June 2012.
  9. ↑ Davey Boy (12 June 2012). "Amy Macdonald Life In A Beautiful Light". Sputnikmusic. Retrieved 23 June 2012.
  10. ↑ Fiona Shepherd (11 June 2012). "Album review: Amy MacDonald: Life in a Beautiful Light". The Scotsman. Retrieved 23 June 2012.
  11. ↑ Dere, Kathryn (11 July 2012). "ALBUM REVIEW: Sunny summer soundtrack". The Tech. Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Retrieved 21 February 2014.
  12. ↑ "Amy MacDonald - Life in a Beautiful Light". AnyDecentMusic?. Retrieved 23 June 2012.
  13. ↑ Album review: Amy Macdonald — Life In A Beautiful Light | The Upcoming
  14. ↑ Gary Barlow pips Amy MacDonald and Usher to Number 1 in albums chart race. Official Charts Company
  15. ↑ Saturn - Musik-Download
  16. ↑ Life In A Beautiful Light by Amy Macdonald on Spotify
  17. ↑ "Austria Top-40 - Amy Macdonald - Life in a Beautiful Light (album)" (in German). Austriancharts.at. Hung Medien. Retrieved 22 June 2012.
  18. ↑ "Charts Vlaandere - Amy Macdonald - Life in a Beautiful Light (album)" (in Dutch). Ultratop (Flanders). Hung Medien.
  19. ↑ "Charts Belgique Francophone - Amy Macdonald - Life in a Beautiful Light (album)" (in French). Ultratop (Wallonia). Hung Medien. Retrieved 22 June 2012.
  20. ↑ "Top Stranih - Tjedan 32. 2012." (in Croatian). HDU-Topplista.com. Retrieved 20 August 2012.
  21. ↑ "Amy Macdonald - Life In A Beautiful Light". danishcharts.com/ Hung Medien.
  22. ↑ "Dutch Charts - Amy Macdonald - Life in a Beautiful Light (album)" (in Dutch). Dutchcharts.nl. Hung Medien. Retrieved 15 June 2012.
  23. ↑ "Amy Macdonald - Life In A Beautiful Light". lescharts.com/ Hung Medien.
  24. ↑ "Album - Amy Macdonald, Life In A Beautiful Light" (in German). Charts.de. Retrieved 22 June 2012.
  25. ↑ "GFK Chart-Track - Top 75 Artist Album, Week Ending 14 June 2012". GfK. Chart Track. Retrieved 22 June 2012.
  26. ↑ "VG-Lista - Amy Macdonald - Life in a Beautiful Light (album)". Norwegiancharts.com. Hung Medien.
  27. ↑ "Oficjalna lista sprzedaży :: OLIS - Official Retail Sales Chart - sales for the period 11.06.2012 - 17.06.2012". OLiS. Retrieved 22 June 2012.
  28. ↑ "Scottish Albums Top 40 - 23rd June 2012". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 14 June 2012.
  29. ↑ "Swedish Charts - Amy Macdonald - Life In A Beautiful Light". spanishcharts.com/ Hung Medien.
  30. ↑ "Swedish Charts - Amy Macdonald - Life in a Beautiful Light (album)". swedishcharts.com. Hung Medien.
  31. ↑ "Swiss Charts - Amy Macdonald - Life in a Beautiful Light (album(" (in German). Hitparade.ch. Hung Medien. Retrieved 22 June 2012.
  32. ↑ "Suisse Romande Charts - Amy Macdonald - Life in a Beautiful Light (album)" (in French). lescharts.ch. Retrieved 23 October 2016.
  33. ↑ "Archive Chart". UK Albums Chart. The Official Charts Company. Retrieved 22 June 2012.
  34. 1 2 ultratop.be - ULTRATOP BELGIAN CHARTS
  35. ↑ http://hitparade.ch/year.asp?key=2012
  36. ↑ "Gold-/Platin-Datenbank (Amy Macdonald; 'Life in a Beautiful Light')" (in German). Bundesverband Musikindustrie. Retrieved 12 July 2012.
  37. ↑ "Polish album certifications – Amy Macdonald – Life in a Beautiful Light" (in Polish). Polish Society of the Phonographic Industry. Retrieved 8 November 2012.
  38. ↑ "The Official Swiss Charts and Music Community: Awards (Amy Macdonald; 'Life in a Beautiful Light')". IFPI Switzerland. Hung Medien. Retrieved 12 July 2012.
  39. ↑ "British album certifications – Amy MacDonald – Life in a Beautiful Light". British Phonographic Industry. Retrieved 13 August 2012. Enter Life in a Beautiful Light in the field Keywords. Select Title in the field Search by. Select album in the field By Format. Select Gold in the field By Award. Click Search

External links

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