Maps of Music

Amanda Leigh (2009)

Where the lyrics of Amanda Leigh take you, and where it was really made.

The label that released this album, Storefront Records, was founded by Moore's longtime music manager, Jon Leshay.

Key places

Recording sessions in Boston (2009)

Recording site Boston — Recording sessions took place around December 2008 in Boston, Massachusetts. The pin marks the city center, not a specific studio. Google Maps · Apple Maps

How to get there: See the map for directions.

Album story

Overview

• Studio album by American singer-songwriter Mandy Moore
• Released 26 May 2009 by Storefront Records, with distribution by Red Distribution
• Lead single 'I Could Break Your Heart Any Day of the Week' released 17 March 2009 as a digital download on iTunes
• Main track list of eleven songs, opening with 'Merrimack River' and closing with 'Bug'
• All songs produced by Mike Viola

Background

• October 2008: Moore posted live videos of three new songs she had been working on with Mike Viola on her blog
• Fans first took the project for a possible duo album with Viola; in January 2009 it was revealed as an album with a collaboration with him
• February 2009: release in May was announced; Storefront Records was founded by Moore's longtime music manager Jon Leshay
• Moore worked again with Lori McKenna, with whom she had co-written three songs on her fourth studio album Wild Hope (2007)
• Influences: Paul McCartney, Joni Mitchell and Todd Rundgren
• Moore on the sound: the music is all a reflection of her at that point

Recording

• Recording sessions took place around December 2008 in Boston, Massachusetts
• Viola is credited as producer of every song
• The title 'Bug' comes from Moore's nickname given by her then-husband, former Whiskeytown frontman Ryan Adams

Sources: en.wikipedia.org

Tracklist

Sources: musicbrainz.org

Artist

Career

• Amanda Leigh Moore (born April 10, 1984) is an American singer-songwriter and actress.
• She rose to fame with her 1999 debut single "Candy", which peaked at number 41 on the Billboard Hot 100.
• Her debut album So Real (1999) received Platinum certification from the RIAA.
• Her first Top 40 single was "I Wanna Be with You" from the 2000 reissue I Wanna Be With You, peaking at 24.
• Her studio albums include Mandy Moore (2001), Coverage (2003), Wild Hope (2007), Amanda Leigh (2009), Silver Landings (2020), and In Real Life (2022).
• She starred in A Walk to Remember (2002) and voiced Rapunzel in Disney's Tangled (2010).
• From 2016 to 2022 she starred as Rebecca Pearson in the NBC drama This Is Us, earning Golden Globe and Primetime Emmy nominations.
• She received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 2019.

Sources: en.wikipedia.org

Reception

At release

• Metacritic: the album scored 70, indicating generally favorable reviews from mainstream critics
• Entertainment Weekly gave the album a B+, calling it much more fun than its predecessor Wild Hope, and praised the songs 'Merrimack River', 'Pocket Philosopher' and 'Song About Home'
• The album topped the Entertainment Weekly website's Must List the week it was released
• AllMusic's Stephen Thomas Erlewine called the album a clean, classy collection of AAA pop
• IGN wrote that Moore had crafted a personal record that is entertaining, even compelling at times, but not weighed down by heavy themes, misguided irony or complex arrangements
• The Dallas Morning News wrote that Amanda Leigh turns more compelling with each listen

Records

• US Billboard 200: debuted at number 25
• First-week sales in the US: 15,000 copies
• Moore's third-highest peaking album to date, according to the source
• Released in Brazil on 28 June 2010 and in Argentina in November 2011
• Released digitally worldwide on 29 September, a little more than four months after the initial release, according to a post on Moore's website blog

Sources: en.wikipedia.org

Trivia

• The opening song 'Merrimack River' is named after the river of the same name, and Moore felt it was exactly the way to start the album
• 'Love to Love Me Back' was the first song co-written by Moore with Mike Viola and Inara George, and it became an instant driving force in shaping the record
• Moore said 'Indian Summer' was the one song that carried severe demo-itis for her
• On the release day, 26 May 2009, Moore performed songs from the album at Amoeba Music in Hollywood with Mike Viola
• Moore performed the single on The Ellen DeGeneres Show and The Tonight Show with Jay Leno
• Moore performed an exclusive concert for the winning town of the Love at First Sniff competition on Gain's official site

Sources: en.wikipedia.org

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