Eye to the Telescope

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This article is about the album by KT Tunstall. For the online magazine, see Eye to the Telescope (magazine).

Eye to the Telescope
A sepia photograph of Tunstall wearing a black vest and holding her left hand against her head. Stylised in the top left corner are the words "KT Tunstall" and "Eye to the Telescope".
Studio album by
KT Tunstall
Released13 December 2004 (2004-12-13)
Recorded2004
StudioNam Studios (Bath, England)
Length45:44
LabelRelentless
Producer
KT Tunstall chronology
False Alarm EP
(2004) 		Eye to the Telescope
(2004) 		KT Tunstall's Acoustic Extravaganza
(2006)
KT Tunstall studio album chronology
Eye to the Telescope
(2004) 		Drastic Fantastic
(2007)
Alternative cover
A greyscale close-up of Tunstall. The title "Eye to the Telescope" and her name "KT Tunstall" are stylised in the top left corner.
American edition cover
Singles from Eye to the Telescope
  1. "Black Horse and the Cherry Tree"
    Released: 21 February 2005[1]
  2. "Other Side of the World"
    Released: 9 May 2005[2]
  3. "Suddenly I See"
    Released: 29 August 2005[3]
  4. "Under the Weather"
    Released: 5 December 2005[4]
  5. "Another Place to Fall"
    Released: 13 March 2006[5]

Eye to the Telescope is the debut studio album by Scottish singer-songwriter KT Tunstall, originally released on 13 December 2004 and re-released 10 January 2005 by Relentless Records. On 19 July 2005, it was nominated for the 2005 Mercury Music Prize in the United Kingdom. Tunstall promoted the album in the United States and Canada in December 2005. The album was released on 7 February 2006 in the US. Also, a special CD/DVD edition of the album was released in September 2006 in the United States, along with a different cover and a bonus track.

The album was a strong seller worldwide, and became the 50th best-selling album of the 2000s decade in the United Kingdom.[6]

Critical reception[edit]

Professional ratings
Aggregate scores
SourceRating
Metacritic76/100[7]
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[8]
The Guardian[9]
PopMatters[10]
Slant Magazine[11]
Yahoo! Music UK[12]
Q Magazine[13]

Reviews for Eye to the Telescope were positive. Mark A. Price of PopMatters gave the album a score of 7 out of 10, noting that it manages to sound "both new and familiar", mixing influences from artists like Melissa Etheridge and Fiona Apple, while adding some originality of her own.[10] Stephen Thomas Erlewine of AllMusic gave it three and a half stars out of five, calling it "a promising, satisfying debut".[8] On Metacritic, Eye to the Telescope has a score of 76 out of 100, indicating "generally favorable reviews".[7]

Chart performance[edit]

The album entered the UK album chart at 73 and quickly dropped out again (it originally entered the lower regions of the Top 200 in its debut week, but these placings are not officially recorded for statistical purposes). It re-entered at 66 a few weeks later, and its rise was both surprising and unique for a new album on the UK charts. It improved every week for four weeks before peaking at number 36, then dropping down as low as 63 again. It then resumed a somewhat meteoric rise, culminating in a peak of number seven before slowly shifting back down. The publicity surrounding Tunstall's Mercury Music Prize nomination sent it back up the charts to an eventual peak of No. 3, after which time it became a Top 20 mainstay for the rest of 2005. It dropped out of the Top 10 in the 61st week, and has dropped continually since, before ending its run at 72 weeks. After a several month absence, the album returned at No. 66 for a 73rd non-consecutive week in August 2006.

The singles from the album became increasingly more successful, with "Other Side of the World" spending almost five months on the chart and "Suddenly I See" remaining in the Top 40 for 10 weeks. The album's next single, "Under the Weather", entered the chart at No. 39, while the fifth and final single, "Another Place to Fall", became Tunstall's first single to miss the Top 40 after more than 1.3 million copies of the album had been sold. In total, Tunstall has spent 133 weeks so far on the British charts.

The album was certified 5× platinum by the Irish album chart selling about 75,000 copies,[14] and shipping 1.5 million copies in the UK, certifying it 5× platinum there as well.[15] It was also certified platinum in Canada in January 2007.[16] Worldwide, the album has sold 2.6 million copies.[17]

Track listing[edit]

All tracks produced by Steve Osborne, except for track 1, "Other Side of the World", which is produced by Osborne and Martin Terefe, and track 4, "Black Horse and the Cherry Tree", which is produced by Andy Green.

Original European release[18]
No.TitleLength
1."Other Side of the World"3:34
2."Another Place to Fall"4:11
3."Under the Weather"3:37
4."Suddenly I See"3:22
5."Miniature Disasters"3:32
6."Silent Sea"3:48
7."Universe & U"4:01
8."False Alarm"3:50
9."Heal Over"4:27
10."Stoppin' the Love"4:02
11."Through the Dark"3:48
12."Black Horse and the Cherry Tree" (live on Later... with Jools Holland)4:47
International release and European reissue
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
1."Other Side of the World"KT Tunstall, Martin Terefe3:34
2."Another Place to Fall"Tunstall4:11
3."Under the Weather"Tunstall, Tommy D3:37
4."Black Horse and the Cherry Tree"Tunstall2:51
5."Miniature Disasters"Tunstall3:32
6."Silent Sea"Tunstall, Jimmy Hogarth3:48
7."Universe & U"Tunstall, Pleasure4:01
8."False Alarm"Tunstall, Terefe3:50
9."Suddenly I See"Tunstall3:22
10."Stoppin' the Love"Tunstall, Tommy D4:02
11."Heal Over"Tunstall4:27
12."Through the Dark"Tunstall, Terefe3:48
CD/DVD bonus track[19]
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
13."Immune" (live from One Night in Gaia)Tunstall4:51
iTunes bonus track[20]
No.TitleLength
13."Black & White"2:45
Japanese bonus track[21]
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
13."Boo Hoo" (Acoustic Extravaganza version)Tunstall4:56

Notes

  • The original edition of the album, released in December 2004, had a slightly different track order and did not include the studio version of "Black Horse and the Cherry Tree"; the version of the track recorded on Later... with Jools Holland was included as a "bonus live track".

Personnel[edit]

Credits adapted from the album's liner notes.[22]

  • KT Tunstall – vocals (tracks 1–4, 6, 8–9, 11–12, Lead: 5, 7, 10), guitar (1–11), wurlitzer (1, 10), pianet (3, 7), Shelltone horn (3), piano (2, 5, 8, 12), Doepfer bass (4, 7), chimes (8), additional percussion (4)
  • Steve Osborne – shelltone horn (tracks 1–2), bass (2, 5, 11), additional guitar (2, 7, 10–11), percussion (5), moog synthesizer (7), background vocals (7, 10), audio mixing (10)
  • Arnulf Lindner – double bass (tracks 1–2), bass guitar (3, 6, 8–9), baritone guitar (6, 9)
  • Luke Bullen – drums (tracks 1–3, 5–12), percussion (3–4, 9–10), cajon (5–6, 9–10)
  • Martin Terefe – additional keyboards (track 1)
  • Ian Burdge – cello (tracks 2, 10)

Charts[edit]

Certifications[edit]

Region Certification Certified units/sales
Canada (Music Canada)[16] Platinum 100,000^
France (SNEP)[50] Gold 100,000*
Ireland (IRMA)[14] 5× Platinum 75,000^
New Zealand (RMNZ)[51] Platinum 15,000^
Switzerland (IFPI Switzerland)[52] Gold 20,000^
United Kingdom (BPI)[15] 5× Platinum 1,682,867[53]
United States (RIAA)[55] Platinum 1,300,000[54]
Summaries
Europe (IFPI)[56] 2× Platinum 2,000,000*
Worldwide — 4,000,000[57]

* Sales figures based on certification alone.
^ Shipments figures based on certification alone.

Release history[edit]

Country Release date Label Format Catalogue
United Kingdom 13 December 2004 (2004-12-13) Relentless CD CDREL06
10 January 2005 (2005-01-10) CD + LP CDRELX06 + LPREL06
United States 7 February 2006 (2006-02-07) Virgin CD 507292
12 September 2006 (2006-09-12) CD+DVD 747292

References[edit]

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  2. ^ "New Releases: Singles". Music Week. 7 May 2005. p. 23.
  3. ^ "New Releases: Singles". Music Week. 27 August 2005. p. 29.
  4. ^ "New Releases: Singles". Music Week. 3 December 2005. p. 29.
  5. ^ "New Releases: Singles". Music Week. 11 March 2006. p. 29.
  6. ^ "Top Selling Albums of Decade in UK - U2 Feedback". www.u2interference.com. 28 December 2009. Archived from the original on 8 August 2017. Retrieved 8 August 2017.
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  9. ^ Sullivan, Caroline (7 December 2004). "KT Tunstall, Eye to the Telescope > Album Review". The Guardian. Archived from the original on 11 January 2014. Retrieved 5 April 2009.
  10. ^ a b Price, Mark A. (15 March 2006). "KT Tunstall: Eye to the Telescope > Album Review". PopMatters. Archived from the original on 7 January 2009. Retrieved 4 April 2006.
  11. ^ Keefe, Jonathan (22 January 2006). "KT Tunstall Eye to the Telescope > Album Review". Slant Magazine. Archived from the original on 13 January 2010. Retrieved 4 July 2007.
  12. ^ Gennoe, Dan (4 January 2005). "KT Tunstall – Eye to the Telescope > Album Review". Yahoo! Music. Archived from the original on 9 August 2007. Retrieved 4 July 2007.
  13. ^ "Eye to the Telescope". Q Magazine: 130. January 2005.
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  52. ^ "The Official Swiss Charts and Music Community: Awards ('Eye to the Telescope')". IFPI Switzerland. Hung Medien.
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