This Is the Life | ||||
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Studio album by Amy Macdonald | ||||
Released | 30 July 2007 | |||
Genre | Soft rock, indie rock, indie folk | |||
Length | 44:15 | |||
Label | Melodramatic, Vertigo | |||
Producer | Pete Wilkinson | |||
Amy Macdonald chronology | ||||
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Singles from This Is the Life | ||||
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Professional ratings | |
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Review scores | |
Source | Rating |
AllMusic | |
BBC | (favourable) |
Blender | |
Insiders' Guides | (8/10) |
Los Angeles Times | |
The Epoch Times | (positive) |
The Guardian | |
The Independent | |
TimesOnline | |
Yahoo! Music |
This Is the Life is the debut studio album by Scottish singer-songwriter Amy Macdonald, released on 30 July 2007. It reached number one on the UK Albums Chart on 13 January 2008 and selling over 900,000 copies in the UK as of February 2017, with a certification of 3× Platinum.
The first single from the album was "Poison Prince", a limited online release, while the debut first full single was the successful "Mr Rock & Roll", which debuted at number 12. The following singles "L.A." and "This Is the Life" were considerably less successful in the UK, although "This Is the Life" is considered her most successful song in the rest of Europe, where it peaked at number 1 in Belgium and the Netherlands, number 2 in Switzerland, number 3 in Spain, number 6 in Norway and number 8 in Denmark. It peaked at number 28 in the UK, spending 17 weeks in the top 75. After fifth single "Run", the sixth release from the album was a re-release of "Poison Prince" on 19 May 2008.
Three songs of the album are cover versions: "Caledonia", originally recorded in 1979 by Dougie MacLean, "Fairytale of New York", first performed in 1987 by The Pogues and Kirsty MacColl, written by Jem Finer and Shane MacGowan, and "Mr. Brightside", cover version of a 2004 song by The Killers, written by Brandon Flowers and Dave Keuning.
The album was particularly successful in Germany, spending 57 weeks in the top 20 of the German Albums Chart, 36 weeks in the top 10 of the German albums chart and a total of 100 weeks on the entire chart; it has been certified 9× Gold (February 2011) for over 900,000 copies sold in the country. It also spent 57 weeks in the Dutch albums chart and 53 weeks in the Swiss albums chart.