JLS is the debut studio album by English boy band JLS. It was released in the UK on 9 November 2009 by Epic Records. It was preceded by the lead single, "Beat Again" on 13 July 2009. The album debuted at number one in the UK and Ireland. It has been certified four times platinum in the UK, where it was the sixth best-selling album of 2009.

JLS
Studio album by
Released9 November 2009
Recorded2009
Genre
Length44:47
LabelEpic
Producer
JLS chronology
JLS
(2009)
Outta This World
(2010)
Singles from JLS
  1. "Beat Again"
    Released: 13 July 2009
  2. "Everybody in Love"
    Released: 2 November 2009
  3. "One Shot"
    Released: 22 February 2010

In the US, the album was issued as a six track EP featuring their three UK singles, their new single "The Club Is Alive" and two other tracks from the UK version of the album.[1] This version was released on 2 August 2010. The album also won the award for "Best Album" at the MOBO Awards in 2010.

Singles

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  • "Beat Again" was the debut release by the band, following their success on the fifth series of The X Factor in 2008. The song was especially successful on the UK Singles Chart, debuting at number, selling 106,299 copies in its first week. The single became the second fastest-selling single of 2009, behind "Bonkers" by Dizzee Rascal. It has sold over 500,000 copies in the UK.
  • "Everybody in Love" was released as the second single from the album. On 8 November 2009, the song topped the UK Singles Chart, by selling over 121,000 copies in one week. It has sold over 400,000 copies in the UK, The single was released in February 2010 in the United States, but failed to chart.
  • "One Shot" was released as the third and final single from the album on 22 February 2010. The song has peaked in the UK Singles Chart at number six. It has sold over 300,000 copies in the UK.

Reception

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Commercial performance

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The album debuted at number one on the Irish Albums Chart on 12 November 2009. In the UK, the band beat Robbie Williams to the number-one spot on 15 November 2009. Both JLS and Williams's tenth solo album Reality Killed the Video Star sold over 200,000 copies, making them the fastest-selling albums of the year. JLS beat Williams to the top spot by a margin of less than 1%[2] First week sales were reported to be more than 230,000 copies;[3] it was later revealed that JLS had first-week sales of 239,643,[4] compared to 238,126 for Reality Killed the Video Star, meaning that Williams had lost out by just 1,517 copies, or 0.64%.[5]

The album has been certified two times platinum in Ireland,[6] while being certified four times Platinum in the UK,[7] and was the sixth best-selling album of 2009 in the UK.[8] The album was also the 35th best-selling album of 2010, selling 317,000 copies of the album that year. The album has sold 1.4 million copies in total in the UK as of December 2012.[9]

Critical reception

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Professional ratings
Aggregate scores
SourceRating
AnyDecentMusic?2.7/10[10]
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic     [11]
Digital Spy     [12]
entertainment.ie     [13]
The Guardian     [14]
In the News(5/10)[15]
The Scotsman     [16]
Virgin Media     [17]

The album received generally negative reviews from critics on release. It scored an average of 2.7/10 at aggregator website AnyDecentMusic?, which is the lowest score in the history of the website.[18]

Track listing

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No.TitleWriter(s)Producer(s)Length
1."Beat Again"Wayne Hector, Steve MacHector, Mac3:19
2."Everybody in Love"Hector, J.R. Rotem, Felicia Jensen, David DomanJ.R. Rotem3:16
3."Keep You"Aston Merrygold, Marvin Humes, Oritsé Williams, JB Gill, Fraser T Smith, Taio CruzSmith3:01
4."Crazy for You"Hector, MacMac3:37
5."Heal This Heartbreak"Merrygold, Humes, Williams, Gill, Mich Hansen, Jonas Jeberg, Chris BraideJeberg, Cutfather3:45
6."Close to You"Merrygold, Humes, Williams, Gill, Paul Barry, Graham StackMetrophonic3:51
7."Only Tonight"Merrygold, Humes, Williams, Gill, Lars Halvor Jensen, Martin Larsson, Ali TennantDEEKAY3:39
8."One Shot"Carsten Schack, Kenneth Karlin, Michael Warren, Brandon White, Sean HurleySoulshock & Karlin3:48
9."Private"Merrygold, Humes, Williams, Gill, Ayak Thiik, Paul MeehanMetrophonic3:14
10."Don't Go"Merrygold, Humes, Williams, Gill, Stack, Jamie ScottMetrophonic2:53
11."Only Making Love"Merrygold, Humes, Williams, Gill, Meehan, Tim WoodcockMetrophonic3:47
12."Kickstart"Merrygold, Humes, Williams, Gill, Jensen, Larsson, TennantDEEKAY3:11
13."Tightrope"Merrygold, Humes, Williams, Gill, Barry, StackMetrophonic3:26
Asda limited edition bonus DVD
No.TitleLength
1."Beat Again" (Music video)3:19
2."Everybody In Love" (Music video)3:16
3."Making the album" (Interview)3:55
US Edition
No.TitleWriter(s)Producer(s)Length
1."Beat Again"Hector, MacHector, Mac3:19
2."Everybody In Love"Hector, Rotem, Jensen, DomanJ. R. Rotem3:16
3."The Club Is Alive"Savan Kotecha, Richard Rodgers, Andrew Frampton, MacMac3:43
4."One Shot"Schack, Karlin, Warren, White, HurleySoulshock & Karlin3:48
5."Keep You"Smith, Gill, Williams, CruzSmith3:01
6."Close to You"Wiliams, Humes, Gill, Merrygold, Barry, StackMetrophonic3:51
Total length:20:02
Walmart deluxe edition bonus track
No.TitleWriter(s)Producer(s)Length
7."Heal This Heartbreak"Merrygold, Williams, Gill, Humes, Hansen, Jeberg, BraideJeberg, Cutfather3:45

Charts and certifications

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Release history

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Region Release date Format Label
United Kingdom[24][25] 9 November 2009 CD, DVD, digital download Epic Records
United States[1][26] 3 August 2010 CD, digital download Jive Records

References

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  1. ^ a b "JLS, JLS, Music CD - Barnes & Noble". Music.barnesandnoble.com. Archived from the original on 18 January 2013. Retrieved 27 February 2011.
  2. ^ "JLS narrowly beat Robbie to No. 1 album". Digital Spy. 15 November 2009. Retrieved 17 February 2010.
  3. ^ "Susan Boyle album I Dreamed A Dream sets sales record". BBC News. 25 November 2009. Retrieved 17 February 2010.
  4. ^ Jones, Alan (29 July 2013). "Official Charts Analysis: Jahmene Douglas needs just 19k to hit No.1". Music Week. Intent Media. Retrieved 17 December 2015.
  5. ^ Jones, Alan (16 November 2009). "X Factor continues to dominate charts". Music Week. Intent Media.
  6. ^ [The Irish Charts - All there is to know: "The Irish Charts - All there is to know - 2009 Certification Awards - Multi Platinum"]. International Recording Media Association. Irishcharts.ie. Retrieved 21 December 2010. {{cite web}}: Check |url= value (help)
  7. ^ "Certified Awards Search". British Phonographic Industry. 25 June 2010. Archived from the original on 24 September 2009. Retrieved 21 December 2010.
  8. ^ "SuBo denies GaGa 2009 chart double". Digital Spy. 3 January 2010. Retrieved 17 February 2010.
  9. ^ a b Lane, Dan (20 December 2012). "The Top 10 biggest selling X Factor debut singles and albums revealed!". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 27 December 2012.
  10. ^ "JLS: JLS". anydecentmusic.com. AnyDecentMusic?. Retrieved 30 May 2018.
  11. ^ https://www.allmusic.com/album/r1679002
  12. ^ Released on Monday, 9 November 2009 (9 November 2009). "Music - Album Review - JLS: 'JLS'". Digital Spy. Retrieved 27 February 2011.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  13. ^ Mulligan, Jenny (6 November 2009). "JLS - JLS". entertainment.ie. Retrieved 12 June 2013.
  14. ^ Costa, Maddy (6 November 2009). "Jls: Jls". The Guardian. London.
  15. ^ "JLS: JLS reviews - new music CD reviews on". Inthenews.co.uk. Retrieved 17 February 2010.
  16. ^ "Album reviews: JLS". The Scotsman. 1 November 2009. Retrieved 12 June 2013.
  17. ^ Dee, Johnny (9 November 2009). "JLS: JLS review - Reviews - Music". Virgin Media. Retrieved 17 February 2010.
  18. ^ "AnyDecentMusic? - All Time". WebCite. AnyDecentMusic?. Archived from the original on 12 April 2016. Retrieved 29 March 2016.
  19. ^ ">> IRMA << Irish Charts - Singles, Albums & Compilations >>". Irma.ie. 11 February 2010. Archived from the original on 9 August 2011. Retrieved 17 February 2010.
  20. ^ "Official Scottish Albums Chart Top 100 - Official Charts Company". www.officialcharts.com.
  21. ^ "The Irish Charts - 2009 Certification Awards - Multi Platinum". Irish Recorded Music Association.
  22. ^ "British album certifications – JLS – JLS". British Phonographic Industry.
  23. ^ "IFPI Platinum Europe Awards – 2009". International Federation of the Phonographic Industry.
  24. ^ "music: Jls (2009)". hmv.com. Retrieved 17 February 2010.
  25. ^ "iTunes Store". Itunes.apple.com. Retrieved 17 February 2010.
  26. ^ "JLS: JLS: Music". Retrieved 27 February 2011.