Broken & Beautiful (Kate Alexa album)

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Broken & Beautiful
Studio album by
Kate Alexa
Released25 September 2006
Recorded2004–2006
GenrePop, pop rock, teen pop, adult contemporary
Length50:40
LabelLiberation
ProducerStuart Brawley, Pete Dacy, Charles Fisher, Jim Marr, Wendy Page, Reed Vertelney
Kate Alexa chronology
Broken & Beautiful
(2006) 		H2O: Just Add Water
(2007)
Alternative cover
The cover of the Japan edition.
Singles from Broken & Beautiful
  1. "Always There"
    Released: 27 September 2004
  2. "My Day Will Come"
    Released: 12 September 2005
  3. "All I Hear"
    Released: 6 March 2006
  4. "Somebody Out There"
    Released: 4 September 2006
  5. "Better than You"
    Released: November 2006

Broken & Beautiful is the first studio album by Australian singer Kate Alexa, released in Australia on 25 September 2006 by Liberation Music. The album has a main genre of pop rock songs, all of which besides the title track "Broken & Beautiful" were co-written by Alexa herself. She states she chose the title Broken & Beautiful because "We all make mistakes, and we all have flaws. We're delicate and we're vulnerable. But we're still beautiful on the inside."[1] "The album definitely my life and journey over the past few years. It's my story and it's all true" she states.[1] The album yielded five singles: "Always There", "My Day Will Come", "All I Hear", "Somebody Out There" and "Better than You".

Album information[edit]

Two years were spent recording the album, from 2004 to 2006, while Alexa was still at school, working with producers such as Charles Fisher and Pete Dacy and songwriters like Jim Marr and Wendy Page, Charlie Midnight and Matthew Gerrard. Regarding the making of the album Alexa said "I was juggling school and writing and songwriting trips for a while. I'm a bit of a perfectionist and I didn't want to release anything until I loved it. So it took a while.",[2] also saying "When I write a song, I'm not just sitting down and saying 'OK, I'm going to write a song now', it's all about what I'm feeling at the time"[3]

She co-wrote every single of the album's tracks besides the title track, which was suggested for her to record by John Kalodner after having heard some of her songs while she was in LA recording the album.[4]

Alexa helped with promoting the album by touring with artists such as the Backstreet Boys and Jesse McCartney in early 2006, and also traveling to many schools around the country leading up to the album's release.[2] In April 2008, Broken & Beautiful was released in Japan through Mia Records and featured a new track called "Walk On" and an acoustic version of "Always There".

Critical reception[edit]

Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
Kenneth Nguyen, The Age(not rated) link
Smash Hits

The critical reception of the album consisted of mixed reviews, a negative one by Kenneth Nguyen from The Age, stating the album "comes across as a little too old-fashioned, a little too polite, a little – may I say it? – too Hilary Duff."[5]

Chart performance and singles[edit]

On 1 October 2006, the album entered the Australian ARIA Albums Chart at number sixty-four.[6] The following weeks it peaked at number seventy-two then number ninety, only spending three weeks on the chart.[7] It also peaked at number eighteen on the Australian Artists Chart and number-one on the Hitseekers Albums Chart.[6]

Singles[edit]

  • The first single from the album and Alexa's debut single was "Always There" which was released in September 2004, it debuted at number twenty-one on the ARIA Singles Chart and peaked at number sixteen, making this her first top twenty hit. This was largely helped by the song appearing on two episodes of Home and Away.[8]
  • "My Day Will Come" was the second single released in September 2005, and peaked at number twenty-four, and was the album's weakest single in terms of peak position and chart run, only staying on the ARIA top fifty for four weeks.[8]
  • The album's third single "All I Hear" was and is still Alexa's most successful single to date, peaking at number nine on the ARIA Singles Chart in March 2006,[8] stayed on the top fifty for ten weeks and became the 100th best selling single of 2006, as well as the eighty-third best-selling physical single and the twenty-fourth best selling single by an Australian artist.[9]
  • The fourth and lead single from the album was "Somebody Out There" which debuted at number thirty-three in September 2006 and rose to number twenty-one in its fourth week of charting, and stayed on the ARIA top fifty for five weeks.[8]
  • "Better than You" was released to Australian radio in November 2006 and received a fair amount of airplay, but did not chart on the ARIA Singles Chart due to its only being released to radio.

Track listing[edit]

No.TitleWriter(s)Producer(s)Length
1."Somebody Out There"Kate Gudinski, Jim Marr, Wendy PageJim Marr, Wendy Page3:07
2."All I Hear"Kate Gudinski, A. JayBee, Reed Vertelney, Lindy RobbinsReed Vertelney3:27
3."I Let Go"Kate Gudinski, Jim Marr, Wendy PageJim Marr, Wendy Page3:58
4."We All Fall Down"Kate Gudinski, A. JayBee, Reed Vertelney, Lindy RobbinsReed Vertelney4:09
5."Naked Heart"Kate Gudinski, A. JayBee, Charlie Midnight, Charlton PettusPete Dacy2:48
6."My Day Will Come"Kate Gudinski, Jim Marr, Wendy PageCharles Fisher3:40
7."Glass Slipper"Kate Gudinski, A. JayBee, Stuart Brawley, Michelle LewisStuart Brawley3:31
8."Under the Influence of You"Kate Gudinski, A. JayBee, Reed Vertelney, Lindy RobbinsReed Vertelney3:52
9."Better than You"Kate Gudinski, A. JayBee, Stuart Brawley, Michelle LewisStuart Brawley3:35
10."In Your Eyes"Kate Gudinski, A. JayBee, Jim Marr, Wendy PageJim Marr, Wendy Page3:54
11."Broken & Beautiful"A. JayBee, Johan Aberg, Sigurd Rosnes, Michelle LewisCharles Fisher3:41
12."Not Another Love Song"Kate Gudinski, A. JayBee, Matthew Gerrard, Robbie NevilMatthew Gerrard3:39
13."Always There"A. JayBee, Kate Gudinski, Dragan Stanic, Brendan FitzgeraldCharles Fisher3:47
14."I Tried It Anyway"Dragan Stanic, Brendan FitzgeraldPete Dacy3:24
Japanese Edition
No.TitleLength
1."Somebody Out There"3:07
2."All I Hear"3:27
3."Better than You"3:35
4."Naked Heart"2:48
5."Glass Slipper"3:31
6."My Day Will Come"3:40
7."Under the Influence of You"3:52
8."I Let Go"3:58
9."We All Fall Down"4:09
10."Not Another Love Song"3:39
11."Always There"3:47
12."Broken & Beautiful"3:41
13."In Your Eyes"3:54
14."I Tried It Anyway"3:24
15."Walk On"3:17
16."Always There (Acoustic Version)"3:38

Chart position[edit]

Chart (2006) Peak
position
Australian Albums (ARIA Charts)[10][11] 64

Release history[edit]

Region Date Label Format Catalogue
Australia 25 September 2006 Liberation Music CD LIBCD82162
Japan 16 April 2008 Spinning Inc.,[12] VillageAgain CD TSF-016[13]

References[edit]

  1. ^ a b Official website "About Kate" Archived 16 May 2006 at the Wayback Machine. Katealexa.com. Retrieved 16 September 2007.
  2. ^ a b Cameron Adams "Kate Alexa speaks to us" Archived 6 July 2009 at the Wayback Machine. Herald Sun. Retrieved 21 September 2007.
  3. ^ [1][dead link]
  4. ^ [2][dead link]
  5. ^ "Broken & Beautiful review from The Age". The Age. Retrieved 11 April 2009.
  6. ^ a b "ARIA Report: Issue 865, 2 October 2006". ARIA Charts. Retrieved 16 September 2007.
  7. ^ "ARIA Report: Issue 867, 16 October 2006". ARIA Charts. Retrieved 11 April 2009.
  8. ^ a b c d Single chart positions. Acharts.us. Retrieved 25 October 2008.
  9. ^ ARIA Charts "End of Year Singles 2006" Archived 5 November 2008 at the Wayback Machine.
  10. ^ "The ARIA Report: Issue 865" (PDF). webarchive.nla.gov.au. 23 August 2006. Archived from the original (PDF) on 19 September 2006. Retrieved 8 February 2012.
  11. ^ Ryan, Gavin (2011). Australia's Music Charts 1988–2010 (pdf ed.). Mt. Martha, VIC, Australia: Moonlight Publishing. p. 11.
  12. ^ Kate Alexa / Broken & Beautiful Archived 13 May 2012 at the Wayback Machine. Spinning Inc., a division of Wedge Holdings Inc.
  13. ^ "Information on the Japanese edition of Broken & Beautiful". Towerrecords.co.jp. Retrieved 26 April 2008.
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