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Shallow Life

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Shallow Life
Studio album by
Lacuna Coil
ReleasedApril 1, 2009 (US)
Recorded2008
StudioNRG Studios, Los Angeles, California
GenreGothic metal,[1] electronic rock,[2] hard rock[3]
Length43:59
LabelCentury Media, EMI
ProducerDon Gilmore[4]
Lacuna Coil chronology
Visual Karma (Body, Mind and Soul)
(2008) 		Shallow Life
(2009) 		Dark Adrenaline
(2012)
Singles from Shallow Life
  1. "Spellbound"
    Released: February 24, 2009
  2. "I Like It[5]"
    Released: June 29, 2009
  3. "I Won't Tell You"
    Released: October 5, 2009
  4. "Wide Awake"
    Released: November 30, 2009

Shallow Life is the fifth studio album by Italian gothic metal band Lacuna Coil. The album was released in April 2009 in Europe and North America through Century Media Records and EMI. As of September 2009, it has sold over 75,000 copies in the U.S. and 225,000 worldwide.[6]

Background

[edit]

The album was recorded in autumn 2008 at a studio in Los Angeles with producer Don Gilmore.[7] According to magazine Rock Sound the album would have some Arabic influences. Scabbia noted that the album "feels more rock" and that it is "the perfect mixture between our old European sound and something more modern...some of its very heavy. The most amazing this is, we've been able to improve everything about Lacuna Coil without taking away anything good or doing something that doesn't belong."[8] Shallow Life was reportedly set to be the band's first concept album, containing references toward superficial lifestyles in the world today. The song "Spellbound" was debuted live at the Soundwave Music Festival in February 2009. The song "Not Enough" was released as a free download on the Italian Music website XL with the backstage of Spellbound video on April 1, 2009.[9] In the beginning of April the song "I'm Not Afraid" was released as airplay on Russian radios.

On April 8, 2009 Lacuna Coil posted all 12 tracks from their album to listen to on their MySpace profile page for one week only.

On April 14, 2009 the band created a poll on their MySpace profile for fans to choose the second single, involving nine songs from Shallow Life.[10]

Shallow Life was re-released as a double disc deluxe edition with new artwork from January 22–27, 2010 in Europe[11] and February 22, 2010 in North America.[citation needed] The bonus disc contains live and acoustic recordings and previously unreleased studio tracks.

Reception

[edit]
Professional ratings
Aggregate scores
SourceRating
Metacritic68/100[12]
Review scores
SourceRating
Allmusic [2]
Kerrang!
Popmatters6/10[3]
Sputnik Music [13]
Metal Hammer
Alternative Press
Rock Sound [14]

The Album received mixed reviews from music critics. Allmusic writer, gave a mixed review to the album and rated it as two-and-a-half stars out of five and wrote: "In all fairness, Shallow Life, does come on very much as expected based on Lacuna Coil's preceding career arc, and many observers would argue that backtracking isn't the solution either if a band is to prosper in the long run -- but it may have to be here, given the underwhelming sales and vociferous critical backlash bestowed upon the album."[2] Kerrang! magazine gave it three out of five, stating: "It may not stand along Karmacode in ten years' time...but it is an album for today." Rock Sound gave them eight out of ten saying that the album is "Edgier, racier and more accessible than almost anything they've done to date, 'Shallow Life' is the sound of a band that's reaping the rewards of over a decade in the business". Despite the mixed reaction, the track "Wide Awake" received near universal praise.

Track listing

[edit]

All lyrics are written by Lacuna Coil & Don Gilmore; all music is composed by Lacuna Coil

No.TitleLength
1."Survive"3:34
2."I Won't Tell You"3:49
3."Not Enough"3:40
4."I’m Not Afraid"3:22
5."I Like It"3:42
6."Underdog"3:40
7."The Pain"4:00
8."Spellbound"3:21
9."Wide Awake"3:51
10."The Maze"3:38
11."Unchained"3:22
12."Shallow Life"4:00
Total length:43:59
Bonus tracks
Limited Edition Digipack & iTunes edition
No.TitleLength
13."Oblivion"4:08
Total length:48:07
Japanese edition
No.TitleLength
14."The Last Goodbye (from Saw VI)"4:15
Total length:49:03
Play.com Exclusive CD & DVD Digipack
No.TitleLength
1."Video for lead single "Spellbound"" (Exclusive to UK customers who ordered through Play.com) 
Special Edition (Double disc)
Special edition: Disc 2 (Disc 1 is the same of the standard release)
No.TitleLength
1."The Last Goodbye"4:15
2."Leaving Alone"4:09
3."Oblivion"4:08
4."Spellbound" (acoustic)2:52
5."Closer" (acoustic)3:36
6."Within Me" (acoustic)3:14
7."Survive" (live)3:47
8."I'm Not Afraid" (live)3:34
9."I Won't Tell You" (live)3:53
10."Tight Rope" (live)4:22
11."Fragments of Faith" (live)4:18
12."The Game" (live)3:39
Total length:45:47

Singles

[edit]
  • "Spellbound": "Spellbound" was released on March 20, 2009, via digital download. No physical release is scheduled. "Spellbound" was released on the "Liquid Metal" and "Octane" stations of Sirius XM satellite radio on February 14 and was released officially on their MySpace on February 24.
  • "I Like It": The single was chosen after a poll on their MySpace profile, involving nine other songs from Shallow Life. The video for "I Like It" was filmed in May. The music video was shot in Kansas City by the American director Kevin James Custer[15] and it was released June 29, 2009. Despite being released as a single, however, it has never been performed live.[16]
  • "I Won't Tell You": The single was released on October 5, 2009 on American mainstream rock radio stations.[17] The video for "I Won't Tell You" was filmed on December 5 in Milan by the Italian director SaKu, who also directed the video for "Spellbound." The music video was released on the band's official MySpace page on January 12, 2010.
  • "Wide Awake": The single was released on November 30, 2009 for Italian radio stations as a special single for the holidays.[18]

Credits and personnel

[edit]

Charts

[edit]
Chart (2009)[19][20] Provider(s) Peak
position 		Sales/shipments
Australian Albums Chart[21] ARIA 78
Austrian Albums Chart[20] IFPI 68
Belgian (Flanders) Albums Chart[22] 74
Belgian (Wallonia) Albums Chart[22] 60
Canadian Albums Chart Nielsen SoundScan 44
Dutch Albums Chart[23] IFPI 76
European Albums Chart 39
French Albums Chart[23] SNEP 46
German Albums Chart[23] Media Control 52
Greek Albums Chart IFPI 15
Irish Albums Chart IRMA 55
Italian Albums Chart[24] FIMI 25
Japanese Albums Chart[25] Oricon 76
Spanish Albums Chart[26] PROMUSICAE 95
Swiss Albums Chart[22] Media Control 64
UK Albums Chart[27] BPI/OCC 42
UK Rock Chart[23] 2
US Billboard 200[28] RIAA 16 75,000[29]
US Billboard Top Rock Albums[28] 2

Release history

[edit]
Country Date[30]
Italy April 1, 2009
Germany
Austria
Switzerland
Benelux
United Kingdom April 20, 2009
France
Greece
Denmark
Norway
North America April 21, 2009
Spain
Portugal
Sweden April 22, 2009
Finland
Hungary
Japan[31] May 20, 2009

References

[edit]
  1. ^ "Metal Storm Awards 2009 - Metal Storm". www.metalstorm.net.
  2. ^ a b c Allmusic review
  3. ^ a b Popmatter Review
  4. ^ Don Gilmore credits at Allmusic
  5. ^ "Emptyspiral Gallery". emptyspiral.net. 15 November 2023. [not specific enough to verify]
  6. ^ "Lacuna Coil Reveals 'Shallow Life' Release Dates".
  7. ^ LACUNA COIL: "Shallow Life" Due In The Spring Roadrunner Records. Accessed December 13, 2008.
  8. ^ "BLABBERMOUTH.NET - LACUNA COIL Singer CRISTINA SCABBIA Says New Album 'Feels More Rock'". Archived from the original on 2009-01-23. Retrieved 2009-01-19.
  9. ^ "XL Repubblica - Dettaglio articolo".
  10. ^ LACUNA COIL - (FULL ALBUM STREAM ONLINE) MySpace. Accessed April 14, 2009.
  11. ^ "BLABBERMOUTH.NET - LACUNA COIL: 'Shallow Life' Deluxe Edition Due This Month". www.roadrunnerrecords.com. Archived from the original on 2010-01-19.
  12. ^ "Shallow Life Reviews, Ratings, Credits, and More". Metacritic. CBS Interactive. Retrieved 27 February 2012.
  13. ^ Sputnik Music Review
  14. ^ Rock Sound Review
  15. ^ "News | Emptyspiral". 15 November 2023.
  16. ^ "Emptyspiral.net - the Lacuna Coil Community - Content". www.emptyspiral.net. Archived from the original on 2011-11-21.
  17. ^ "FMQB: Radio Industry News, Music Industry Updates, Arbitron Ratings, Music News and more!". Archived from the original on 2013-01-01. Retrieved 2007-04-27.
  18. ^ http://www.virginradioitaly.it/top/magazine/the_rocket/lacuna_coil_wide_awake [dead link‍]
  19. ^ "Lacuna Coil - Shallow Life". lescharts.com. Retrieved 2022-08-09.
  20. ^ a b "Shallow Life by Lacuna Coil - Music Charts". αCharts.
  21. ^ Ryan, Gavin (2011). Australia's Music Charts 1988–2010 (PDF ed.). Mt Martha, Victoria, Australia: Moonlight Publishing. p. 159.
  22. ^ a b c Steffen Hung. "Lacuna Coil - Shallow Life". swedishcharts.com. Retrieved 2022-08-09.
  23. ^ a b c d http://www.roadrunnerrecords.com/blabbermouth.net/news.aspx?mode=Article&newsitemID=119172 [dead link‍]
  24. ^ "LACUNA COIL - More 'Shallow Life' First Week Chart Positions Revealed - AZ Heavy Metal". www.azheavymetal.com. Archived from the original on 2009-05-11.
  25. ^ "Shallow Life - Lacuna Coil" (in Japanese). oricon ME inc. Retrieved 2015-05-16.
  26. ^ "Shallow Life First Week SalesEmptyspiral | Emptyspiral". 4 May 2009.
  27. ^ "SEARCH RESULTS FOR: LACUNA COIL". officialcharts.com. [not specific enough to verify]
  28. ^ a b https://www.billboard.com/artist/lacuna-coil/chart-history/
  29. ^ "BLABBERMOUTH.NET - LACUNA COIL: 'I Like It' Video Released". www.roadrunnerrecords.com. Archived from the original on 2009-07-07.
  30. ^ "LACUNA COIL: New Italian-Language Video Interview Available - Mar. 15, 2009". roadrunnerrecords.com. 2009-03-15. Archived from the original on 2012-12-06. Retrieved 2009-03-17.
  31. ^ "LACUNA COIL, Shallow Life, New album release from LACUNA COIL". cdjapan.co.jp. Retrieved 2009-03-04.
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