The Gift (Susan Boyle album)

The Gift is the second album and first Christmas album by Scottish singer Susan Boyle, which was released on 8 November 2010.[3] Boyle hinted that the album has a 1960s feel "because that was [her] era".[4][5] on 30 November 2011, the album received a nomination in 54th Grammy Awards for Best Traditional Pop Vocal Album.

Contents 1 Background 2 Susan's Search competition 3 Reception 3.1 Commercial performance 3.2 Critical reception 4 Track listing 5 Release history 6 Charts 6.1 Peak positions 6.2 Year-end charts 6.3 Certifications and sales 6.4 Chart procession and succession 7 References

Background
It was produced by Steve Mac, who says, "Now Susan’s used to the studio and the recording process, this time round we might go even further down a traditional route of recording by getting a band together and rehearsing songs before we go into the studio to see what works, how she reacts with certain parts, and so we can change the arrangements that way. I think that’s going to work much better... With Susan it's very important she connects with the public and the public connect with her. She doesn’t want to sing anything that hasn’t happened to her or she can't relate to."[2] Boyle included some Jazz numbers now she's "a bit more content" within herself. "My next album has to have an element of surprise in it again. I'm hoping to make it better and a bit extra special."[6]

Susan's Search competition
In a lead up to the release, Boyle offered her fans a chance to duet with her, with a competition titled Susan's Search. Applicants had to record a video of themselves singing "Silent Night" and upload it to her YouTube channel.[7] The winner was 33-year-old paramedic Amber Stassi of Brewerton, New York.[8]

Reception
Commercial performance

In the UK, The Gift debuted at No. 1. However, it only remained at the top spot for one week and dropped out of the chart altogether after eleven weeks.[9] In comparison, Boyle's first album topped the UK chart for four weeks and remained on the chart for 39 weeks.

In the United States, The Gift debuted at the top of the Billboard 200 chart with first week sales of 318,000 copies.[10] In its second week, the album stayed at No. 1, and sold even more copies: 335,000.[11] In its third week, it dropped to No. 3 on the Billboard 200, selling 263,000 copies.[12] In its fourth week, The Gift returned to No. 1, selling 272,000 additional copies.[13] The album remained at No. 1 in its fifth week with sales of 243,000 copies.[14] By the end of 2010, sales of the The Gift totaled 1,852,000 copies in the United States, and was the fifth best-selling album for the year.[15][16] As of November 2014, the album has attained cumulative sales of 2,180,000 copies in the United States according to SoundScan.[17]

The album debuted at No. 3 on the Canadian Albums Chart, selling 13,000 copies in its first week.[18]

Critical reception

Professional ratings

Review scores

Source

Rating

Allmusic 2.5/5 stars[19] BBC Music (favourable)[20] Metro International (mixed)[21] Yahoo! Music 6/10 stars[22] InYourSpeakers (55/100)[23]

The album has received generally mixed reviews from critics.[24] According to Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, the album received an average score of 62, based on 5 reviews, which indicates "generally favourable reviews".[24] Stephen Thomas Erlewine of Allmusic gave the album two and a half out of five stars, complimenting Boyle as the right person to make a holiday album, but referred to the music as "predictable".[19] Graham Rockingham of Metro International gave the album mixed reviews, criticizing how the album can be a number 1 charter, but at the same time be well suited for traditional carols.

Track listing
No.

Title

Writer(s)

Original artist

Length

1. "Perfect Day"  Lou Reed Lou Reed 4:31 2. "Hallelujah"  Leonard Cohen Leonard Cohen 3:53 3. "Do You Hear What I Hear?" (featuring Amber Stassi) Noël Regney, Gloria Shayne Baker Harry Simeone Chorale 3:55 4. "Don't Dream It's Over"  Neil Finn Crowded House 3:47 5. "The First Noel"  Trad/Arranger Steve Mac, David Arch Christmas carol 2:59 6. "O Holy Night"  Adolphe Adam, John Sullivan Dwight / Arranger Steve Mac, David Arch Christmas carol 4:05 7. "Away in a Manger"  Trad/Arranger Steve Mac, David Arch Christmas carol 2:56 8. "Make Me a Channel of Your Peace"  Trad/Arranger Sebastian Temple Christian hymn 4:24 9. "Auld Lang Syne"  Robert Burns, Trad/Arranger Steve Mac, David Arch Folk song 2:45 10. "O Come All Ye Faithful"  Trad/Arranger Steve Mac, David Arch Christian hymn 2:06 11. "Vapor Trail" (Japanese bonus track) Yumi Arai Yumi Arai 3:46

[25]

Release history
Country

Release date

Format(s)

United Kingdom 8 November 2010 CD, digital download Canada 9 November 2010 United States Japan 10 November 2010 Argentina 10 November 2010

Charts
Peak positions

Chart (2010)

Peak position

Australian Albums Chart[26] 2 Austrian Albums Chart[26] 38 Belgian Albums Chart (Flanders)[26] 2 Belgian Albums Chart (Wallonia)[26] 30 Canadian Albums Chart[27] 1 Danish Albums Chart[26] 14 Dutch Albums Chart[26] 1 European Top 100 Albums[28] 5 French Albums Chart[26] 29 Finnish Albums Chart[26] 20 Greek Albums Chart[26] 7 Hungarian Albums Chart[29] 7 Irish Albums Chart[30] 4 Italian Albums Chart[31] 97 Japanese Oricon Chart[32] 18 Mexican Albums Chart[33] 71 New Zealand Albums Chart[26] 1 Norwegian Albums Chart[26] 6 Swedish Albums Chart[26] 10 Swiss Albums Chart[26] 19 UK Albums Chart[34] 1 U.S. Billboard 200[35] 1 U.S. Holiday Albums[36] 1

Year-end charts

Chart (2010)

Position

US Billboard 200 100[37]

Chart (2011)

Position

Canadian Albums Chart 11[38] US Billboard 200 5[39]

Certifications and sales

Country

Certification

Sales

Australia 3× Platinum[40] 210,000 Belgium Gold[41] 10,000 Canada 2× Platinum 160,000[42] Hungary Gold[41] 3,000 Ireland 2× Platinum 30,000[43] Netherlands Gold[41] 25,000 New Zealand 4× Platinum[44] 60,000 Sweden Gold[45] 20,000 United States 3× Platinum[46] 2,180,000[17] United Kingdom 2× Platinum[47] 600,000

Chart procession and succession

[show]Order of precedence