Wildfire (Rachel Platten album)

Wildfire
Studio album by Rachel Platten
Released	January 1, 2016
Recorded	2015
Genre	Pop[1]
Length	40:48
Label	Columbia Sony
Producer	Jon Levine Brian West Ben Singer (exec.)
Rachel Platten chronology
Fight Song (2015) Wildfire (2016)
Singles from Wildfire
"Fight Song" Released: February 19, 2015 "Stand by You" Released: September 11, 2015 "Better Place" Released: March 24, 2016

Wildfire is the third studio album by American singer and songwriter Rachel Platten. It was released on January 1, 2016, by Columbia Records and Sony Music Entertainment.^[2] The album debuted at number five on the US Billboard 200, with 45,000 album-equivalent units (29,000 from pure album sales) in its first week. On March 9, 2016, the album was certified gold by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) for combined sales and streaming equivalent units of 500,000 units.

The album includes "Fight Song", released in February 2015, which peaked at number six on the Billboard Hot 100, and topped the charts in Scotland and the United Kingdom. The album's second single, "Stand by You", was released on September 11, 2015.^[3] The album's third single, "Better Place", was released on March 24, 2016.

Promotion

Singles

On February 19, 2015, "Fight Song" was released as the lead single from Platten's Fight Song EP. "Fight Song" peaked at number six on the US Billboard Hot 100 and topped the UK Singles Chart. "Stand by You" was released as the lead single from Wildfire on September 11, 2015.^[3] It has since peaked at number thirty seven on the Billboard Hot 100.^[4] The songs "Lone Ranger", "Beating Me Up", and "Congratulations" were available as pre-order singles (previously released as part of the Fight Song EP), as well as "Better Place". On March 24, 2016, "Better Place" was released as the third single from the album.

Tour

In support of the album, Platten embarked on The Wildfire Tour. The tour began on February 26, 2016, in Dallas, Texas^[5] and will end on November 2016 in Los Angeles.

Critical reception

Professional ratings
Aggregate scores
Source	Rating
Metacritic	52/100[6]
Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic	[7]
The Boston Globe	Positive[8]
Digital Journal	A[9]
The Guardian	[10]
The Herald-Standard	Positive[11]
The Irish Times	[1]
Starpulse	[12]
The Red and Black	Positive[13]

Wildfire received mixed reviews from music critics. At Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, the album has an average score of 52 out of 100, which indicates "mixed or average reviews" based on 4 reviews.^[6] Stephen Thomas Erlewine of AllMusic rated the album three out of five stars and states: "Platten specializes in skyscraping melodies and big, bombastic surfaces and these are the elements that not only fuel Wildfire, they distinguish it from the singer/songwriter's clear antecedents."^[7] At Digital Journal, Markos Papadatos rated the album an "A", affirming that "Rachel Platten has set the bar high already with her brand new album, Wildfire. There are no filler tracks on this release. It garners an A rating."^[9] Tony Clayton-Lea of The Irish Times rated the album three stars out of five and states the songs are "Pop songs built to withstand a wrecking ball."^[1] In a positive review for The Red and Black, Emma Korstanje writes the album "is made memorable by her juxtaposition of sassy, confident songs with others featuring raw emotion."^[13]

Track listing

Standard edition[2]
No.	Title	Writer(s)	Producer(s)	Length
1.	"Stand by You"	Rachel Platten Jon Levine Jack Antonoff Joy Williams Matt Morris	Levine	3:39
2.	"Hey Hey Hallelujah" (featuring Andy Grammer)	Platten Levine Andy Grammer Evan Kidd Bogart Caroline Ailin Emanuel Kiriakou Zukhan Bey	Levine	2:56
3.	"Speechless"	Platten Levine Nolan Lambroza Maureen McDonald	Levine	3:19
4.	"Beating Me Up"	Platten Levine Rune Westberg	Levine	3:09
5.	"Fight Song"	Platten Levine Dave Bassett	Levine	3:24
6.	"Better Place"	Platten Levine Sally Seltmann	Levine	2:56
7.	"Lone Ranger"	Platten Bonnie Baker Brian West	West	3:10
8.	"You Don't Know My Heart"	Platten Levine Robert Hawkins	Levine	3:34
9.	"Angels in Chelsea"	Platten Levine Nash Overstreet West	Levine West	3:56
10.	"Astronauts"	Platten Levine Bassett	Levine	3:37
11.	"Congratulations"	Platten Levine Scott Jacoby	Levine	3:46
12.	"Superman"	Platten Levine Chris DeStefano Lindy Robbins	Levine	3:22
Total length:				40:48

Target bonus tracks[14]
No.	Title	Writer(s)	Producer(s)	Length
13.	"Lonely Planet"	Platten Levine Nolan Sipe Ryan Petersen	Levine	3:09
14.	"Stand by You" (Acoustic)	Platten Levine Antonoff Williams Morris	Levine	3:53
15.	"Speechless" (Acoustic)	Platten Levine Lambroza McDonald	Levine	3:31
Total length:				51:21

Japan bonus tracks[15]
No.	Title	Writer(s)	Producer(s)	Length
16.	"Fight Song" (Dave Aude Remix)	Platten Levine Bassett	Levine	3:21
17.	"Stand By You" (DJ Mike D Remix)	Platten Levine Antonoff Williams Morris	Levine	3:22
Total length:				58:04

Charts

Chart (2016)	Peak position
Australian Albums (ARIA)[16]	12
Belgian Albums (Ultratop Flanders)[17]	132
Canadian Albums (Billboard)[18]	6
Irish Albums (IRMA)[19]	84
Japanese Albums (Oricon)[20]	38
New Zealand Albums (RMNZ)[21]	37
Swedish Albums (Sverigetopplistan)[22]	29
Swiss Albums (Schweizer Hitparade)[23]	85
UK Albums (OCC)[24]	35
US Billboard 200[25]	5

Certifications

Region	Certification	Certified units/Sales
United States (RIAA)[26]	Gold	500,000
^*sales figures based on certification alone ^^shipments figures based on certification alone sales+streaming figures based on certification alone

Release history

Region	Date	Version	Format	Label	Ref.
Worldwide	January 1, 2016	Standard	Digital download CD	Columbia Sony	[2]
United States		Deluxe	CD		[14]
Japan	April 13, 2016		Digital download CD		[15]

References

1. Clayton-Lea, Tony (December 31, 2015). "Rachel Platten - Wildfire: Pop songs built to withstand a wrecking ball". The Irish Times. Retrieved December 31, 2015.
2. Worldwide release of the standard edition of Wildfire:
   • "Wildfire by Rachel Platten on Apple Music". iTunes Store (US). January 1, 2016. Retrieved September 24, 2016.
   • "Wildfire by Rachel Platten on Apple Music". iTunes Store (UK). January 1, 2016. Retrieved September 24, 2016.
   • "Wildfire av Rachel Platten på Apple Music". iTunes Store (SE) (in Swedish). January 1, 2016. Retrieved September 24, 2016.
   • "Wildfire by Rachel Platten on Apple Music". iTunes Store (ZA). January 1, 2016. Retrieved September 24, 2016.
   • "Wildfire by Rachel Platten on Apple Music". iTunes Store (AU). January 1, 2016. Retrieved September 24, 2016.
3. "Rachel Platten Premieres New Single "Stand By You": Listen Now!". directlyrics.com.
4. "Rachel Platten - Chart history | Biillboard". Billboard. United States. Prometheus Global Media. Retrieved December 8, 2015.
5. Gracie, Bianca (December 3, 2015). "Rachel Platten Unveils Wildfire Album Cover Art & Tracklist". Idolator. United States: SpinMedia. Retrieved December 3, 2015.
6. "Reviews for Wildfire by Rachel Platten". Metacritic. CBS Interactive. Retrieved January 12, 2016.
7. Erlewine, Stephen Thomas. "Wildfire - Rachel Platten — Songs, Reviews, Credits, Awards". AllMusic. All Media Network. Retrieved January 9, 2016.
8. Johnston, Maura (January 7, 2016). "Album review: Rachel Platten, 'Wildfire'". Boston Globe. Retrieved January 8, 2016.
9. Papadatos, Markos (December 31, 2015). "Review: Rachel Platten amazing on new 'Wildfire' studio album". Digital Journal. Retrieved December 31, 2015.
10. Gibsone, Harriet (January 7, 2016). "Rachel Platten: Wildfire review – the soundtrack to a thousand teen dramas". The Guardian. Retrieved January 8, 2016.
11. "Music review: Rachel Platten- 'Wildfire'". The Herald-Standard. January 7, 2016. Retrieved January 7, 2016.
12. Faulkner, Brent M (January 4, 2016). "Rachel Platten Warms Up January With Her Empowering 'Wildfire'". Starpulse.com. Retrieved January 4, 2016.
13. Korstanje, Emma (January 6, 2016). "Rachel Platten on the cusp of greatness with new album 'Wildfire'". The Red and Black. Natalie McClure. Retrieved January 7, 2016.
14. "Rachel Platten - Wildfire - Target Exclusive : Target". Target. January 1, 2016. Retrieved September 24, 2016.
15. "Wildfire (Japan Version) by Rachel Platten on Apple Music". iTunes Store (JP) (in Japanese). April 13, 2016. Retrieved September 24, 2016.
16. "Australiancharts.com – Rachel Platten – Wildfire". Hung Medien. Retrieved January 9, 2016.
17. "Ultratop.be – Rachel Platten – Wildfire" (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved January 9, 2016.
18. "Rachel Platten – Chart history" Billboard Canadian Albums Chart for Rachel Platten. Retrieved January 12, 2016.
19. "GFK Chart-Track Albums: Week 1, 2016". Chart-Track. IRMA. Retrieved January 9, 2016.
20. "ワイルドファイア | Rachel Platten | ORICON STYLE". Oricon.co.jp. 2016-05-16. Retrieved 2016-08-07.
21. "Charts.org.nz – Rachel Platten – Wildfire". Hung Medien. Retrieved January 8, 2016.
22. Click on "Veckans albumlista".
23. "Swisscharts.com – Rachel Platten – Wildfire". Hung Medien. Retrieved January 13, 2016.
24. "Official Albums Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved January 29, 2016.
25. "Rachel Platten – Chart history" Billboard 200 for Rachel Platten. Retrieved January 12, 2016.
26. "American album certifications – Rachel Platten – Wildfire". Recording Industry Association of America. Retrieved September 24, 2016. If necessary, click Advanced, then click Format, then select Album, then click SEARCH