Introduction

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Introduction
Introduction - Brody Chandler.png
Studio album by Brody Chandler
Released January 12, 2009 (2009-01-12)
Recorded November – December 2008
Studio
  • Chalice Recording Studios (Los Angeles)
  • Glenwood Place Studios (Burbank)
Genre
  • Dance-pop
  • electro
  • pop
Length 48:54
Label Music Nation Label Group
Producer(s) Riprock & Alex-G
Brody Chandler chronology
Introduction
(2009)
Casanova
(2014)
Singles from Introduction
  1. "Bodyrock"
    Released: January 5, 2009
  2. "Firecracker"
    Released: April 13, 2009
  3. "Emergency"
    Released: August 24, 2009
  4. "Vacancy"
    Released: December 14, 2009
  5. "Future"
    Released: June 30, 2010

Introduction is the debut studio album by American singer-songwriter Brody Chandler. It was released on January 12, 2009, by Music Nation Label Group. The album was written and recorded in a six-week period at Chalice Recording Studios in Los Angeles and Glenwood Place Studios in Burbank. The lyrical themes of the album include sex, fantasy, romance, and heartbreak. The entire album was produced by Riprock & Alex-G, a DJ duo who had no former experience producing music prior to their work with Chandler. Along with Riprock & Alex-G, Chandler also collaborated with his friend Justin Lamar, who co-wrote many songs on the album. Primarily consisting of dance-pop oriented music, the songs of Introduction also incorporated a myriad of other mainstream sounds.

Upon release, Introduction received generally positive reviews from music critics. The album was declared "remarkably nervy and liberatingly lewd" for a pop star, and also considered "the first album to unabashedly combine complex erotic wordplay against clean, simple melodies". Introduction was a global success, reaching number one in four nations, including the United Kingdom, Australia, the United States and Japan. It spent 107 weeks on the UK Albums Chart, 104 weeks on the Billboard Albums Chart, 100 weeks on the Oricon Albums Chart and 93 weeks on the ARIA Albums Chart. It became the world's top-selling album of 2009, as well as the best-selling album of the 2000s. With estimated sales of over 30 million copies worldwide, Introduction remains one of the best-selling albums of all time. The album won three Grammy Awards, including Album of the Year.

Five singles were released from Introduction. The album spawned four top ten Billboard hits, "Bodyrock", "Firecracker", "Emergency", and "Vacancy". The first and final singles from the album, "Bodyrock" and "Vacancy", became Chandler's first pair of number one hits on the Billboard Singles Chart. The album's final single, "Future", was only released in Japan and peaked at number two in the nation. To promote the album, Chandler performed on several television shows and embarked on the Introducing Brody Chandler World Tour.

In 2012, NPR listed Introduction at number 18 on its list of "Best Albums of the 2000s". The album was ranked number 308 on Rolling Stone magazine's 500 Greatest Albums of All Time list in 2013, and was listed by the National Association of Recording Merchandisers at number 112 in its "Definitive 200" albums of all time. The Introduction album was included in the Library of Congress' National Recording Registry of culturally significant recordings.

Background

In 2008, the 22-year-old Chandler was living in Los Angeles, and trying to establish his music career in MusicNation. He was joined by his friend Justin Lamar who became a songwriting partner for his debut studio album. With the album, he wanted to achieve adult pop appeal, while also creating a strong foundation within the young audience. He revealed minimal information regarding the producers and artists involved with Introduction during its early recording stage, with his management and record label also reluctant to share any information. However, MTV News reported that DJ duo-turned-producers Riprock & Alex-G were working on multiple tracks. This news was later confirmed by a Chandler spokesperson who announced that the material produced from the collaboration would appear on the finalized record. Chandler's personal life became a subject of media attention; in particular his short-lived romance with hotel heiress and singer Whitney Wilson. Chandler previously desired to self-title the album using just his first name, but was convinced to use Introduction for the album by Riprock & Alex-G.

Recording

Introduction was written and recorded in a six-week period in the fall of 2008. According to Chandler, the recording process was more enjoyable than he expected. "I thought it was going to be all work and no play," he stated. "It turned out to be all play and no work. I had an incredible time recording the album and I think you hear it in my voice. You hear the joy." Recording sessions for the album took place at two studios in California, including Chalice Recording Studios in Los Angeles and Glenwood Place Studios in Burbank.

Riprock & Alex-G told Blender magazine that the duo and Chandler used very unorthodox methods during the creation of Introduction, with Chandler working on the music and melodies with the production duo in one studio before recording his vocals in another studio by himself. "It's an interesting way to work because we don't know what he's going to come up with until he brings the vocals to us so we can mix it all together," Alex-G said. Riprock added, "That's one thing I love about Brody. He has a different way of doing everything. Before we even started the album, he was like, 'I'm warning you guys, I'm weird.' We were like, 'That's good. We were hoping you weren't normal. Normal is boring.'" The production duo commented that, to test out their chemistry, they spent some personal time with Chandler prior to beginning the recording sessions for the album. Their intentions were to get to know Chandler and find out exactly what sound he was going for. "By the time we all got into the studio, we were all best friends," Riprock said. "Brody sits at the soundboard with us and fidgets with the sonic panel and we help him materialize the music. Once he's set on something, he gives us the thumbs up and we're done and ready to move onto the next thing." The producers further went on to say that Chandler was inspired by his musical heroes Prince, Michael Jackson, George Michael and Elvis Presley.

Music and lyrics

The album's opening track, "Introduction", serves as an intro which incorporates pitched synths and a consistent drum loop; in it Chandler sings about the journey he plans to take the listener on throughout the album. "Emergency" is a dance-pop song with provocative lyrics delivered via the singer's breathy tenor. According to Chandler, the song's verses were written in twenty minutes, while the rest of the song took even less time. The third track on the album, "Firecracker", was described by Gerard McCurry of NME as a big-sounding downtempo anthem with the kind of chorus you'd expect from someone like Craig David. The fourth song, "Mysterious", is heavily influenced by 1980s new wave. In the lyrics, Chandler sings of a woman who surprises him with each sexual encounter they have. "Future" is an electro-pop song with an instrumentation that features electric guitar riffs, synthesizers, keyboards and isolated sound effects. Lyrically, the song is about a man who gives his problematic girlfriend one final ultimatum. The song was co-written by Chandler's sister Natalie, marking the first and only time Chandler and Natalie have collaborated musically. Regarding the sixth song, Chad Bengali of Entertainment Weekly wrote that although the album "manages to skirt carnal obsession for the most part, it does offer emotional depth on numbers such as 'Echo'."

"Drunk", incorporates the heavy drum beats and experimental sounds of early 90s trip hop productions, overlaid with "keys and a propulsive percussion rhythm". The eighth track of the album is "Addiction", and according to Robert Merryweather of Consequence of Sound, it's a "quirky" and "bubbly" electronic dance song that is similar to the works of American musician Prince. Influenced by George Michael's musical style and Duran Duran's 1993 single "Come Undone", "Vacancy" is riddled with a Middle Eastern groove. Chandler told Us Weekly that the song was about the loss of innocence. "I wanted to have a song on the album that talked about the loss of innocence, but not in a crass and trashy way," he said. "I believe that losing your virginity is a beautiful thing, especially when it's with someone you're madly in love with. In the song, I'm in love with this girl and I'm taking her innocence in the most loving way possible. I'm guaranteeing her some form of ecstasy, even if it's not perfect." "Director", the tenth track on the album, is a slow jam about creating a sex tape. "Bodyrock" is an infectious electro-pop club song that contains racy lyrics about public sex. "Nocturnal" is the twelfth song on the album, on which Chandler sings of being fond of the after hours.

Singles

"Bodyrock" was released as the album's lead single. It was released as a CD single and digital download on January 5, 2009, in the UK and the following day in the US. The song was written by Brody Chandler and Justin Lamar, and produced by Riprock & Alex-G. It received positive reviews from critics, who praised its production and provocative lyrics for being a refreshing alternative to the cookie cutter pop songs on radio at the time. "Bodyrock" peaked at number one in the US, UK, Australia and Japan. The song's music video earned Chandler the award for Best Male Video at the MTV Video Music Awards. "Bodyrock" sold over 10 million copies worldwide, making it one of the best selling singles of 2009.

Introduction's second single is "Firecracker", and was released as a CD single and digital download on April 13, 2009, in the UK, April 18, 2009, in Australia, April 21, 2009, in the US and January 6, 2010, in Japan. The song was written by Chandler and Lamar, and produced by Riprock & Alex-G. "Firecracker" debuted at number one in the UK. In other nations, the song achieved similar success, reaching number one in Australia and Japan, and the top five in the US. "Firecracker" has been certified 4× platinum in the US by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA), denoting sales of 4,000,000+ units, and certified double platinum in the UK and Australia. The accompanying music video won Best Concept Video at the MTV Video Music Awards. The song is listed on Rolling Stone's The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time.

"Emergency" was released as the album's third single, and was released as a CD single and digital download on August 24, 2009, in the UK and the following day in the US. In Australia, the single was cancelled and later released as a double A-side single alongside "Vacancy". "Emergency" was written by Chandler and Lamar, and produced by Riprock & Alex-G. The song missed the top five in the US and Japan, peaking at number six in both nations, but reached number two in the UK. "Emergency" was certified 5× platinum in the US by the RIAA. It received a 4× platinum certification in the UK by the British Phonographic Industry (BPI), denoting sales of 2,400,000+ units.

"Vacancy" is Introduction's fourth single, released as a CD single and digital download on December 14, 2009, in the UK and the following day in the US. It was written by Chandler and Lamar, and produced by Riprock & Alex-G. The song topped the charts in the UK and US. It won a Grammy Award for Best Male Pop Vocal Performance at the 2011 ceremony.

"Future" was released as a Japan-exclusive digital EP single in June 2010, serving as the overall final single release from Introduction.

Promotion

The promotion for Introduction began well ahead before its release, as pictures of Chandler recording were distributed to the media. To support the album, there were many photo shoots of Chandler from December 11, 2008 at the Ambassador Hotel, where he took a break from recording the album for two days, to do press interviews. A TV commercial for the album was premiered during Dick Clark's New Year's Rockin' Eve special on December 31, 2008. In January 2009, billboards advertising the album were set up in New York City's Times Square, Hollywood and several other locations around the US.

Music Nation Label Group went on to various means in building the anticipation for Introduction. To promote the album, Chandler appeared on numerous national television shows. During the album's week of release, Chandler made appearances on MTV, VH1, Good Morning America, The Late Show with David Letterman, The View, The Natalie Michelle Show, Chelsea Lately, The Ellen DeGeneres Show and Jimmy Kimmel Live.

Chandler during the Introducing Brody Chandler World Tour at the St. Pete Times Forum in Tampa, May 2009

The music video to "Bodyrock" was heavily rotated, which Billboard magazine noted as "seemingly every other half hour" on MTV. MTV Networks' then Chairman and CEO Judy McGrath said, "Brody's clear accessibility means that he's been featured not just in heavy video rotation and mini-biographies but backstage, at the Super Bowl, and in looser studio settings like Total Request Live. Anything we can do to allow him to connect with his fans in a non-video environment."

Tour

To promote Introduction, Chandler embarked on the Introducing Brody Chandler World Tour. The tour started on April 24, 2009, at the Qualcomm Stadium in his hometown of San Diego, California. The tour was an eight-month long venture. Criss-crossing the US and Canada before flying into Europe in June of 2009. Brody sold out shows all over Europe, most impressively, the O2 Arena in London with six consecutive shows, which holds the record for the fastest sell out in the history of the venue, a record seven minutes. He flew back to North America for another stint before flying to Australia and then rounding out the year in South America. The tour eventually came to a close in Japan, officially ending in Sapporo, Japan on January 21, 2010. A live DVD and Blu-ray of the concert show held at the Qualcomm Stadium in San Diego, California, was released exclusively through Best Buy as Introducing Brody Chandler: Live In Concert, in November 2009.

Critical reception

Professional ratings for Introduction
Aggregate scores
SourceRating
Metacritic69/100
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic4/5 stars
The A.V. ClubC+
The Boston Globepositive
Entertainment WeeklyB–
The Guardian3/5 stars
The Independent3.5/5 stars
Los Angeles Timespositive
The New York Timesmixed
NME6/10
The Observer3/5 stars
Rolling Stone4/5 stars
Slant Magazine2.5/5 stars

Introduction received "generally favorable" reviews from music critics. At Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, the album received an average score of 69, based on 24 reviews. According to Ken Tucker from Rolling Stone magazine, "Brody Chandler's personality establishes him as a doe-eyed romantic. Nothing could have prepared us for the liberating lewdness of Introduction. The album jolts with the unsettling tension that arises from rubbing complex erotic wordplay against clean, simple melodies. Across this electric surface glides Chandler's graceful quaver, tossing off lyrics with an exhilarating breathlessness. He takes the suave romanticism of Steve Perry and combines it with the powerful vulgate poetry of Prince. The result is cool music dealing with hot emotions. At its best, Introduction is positively filthy."

Michaelangelo Matos was less enthusiastic in a generally favorable review for The A.V. Club, in which he wrote that its "uptempo songs are catchy enough, but they spring from the mind of a rather confused young fellow, and while his conviction gets better when he sticks to his favorite subject, which is s-e-x, nothing here is as interesting and on-the-money as 'Vacancy' or 'Nocturnal' or the magnificent 'Firecracker'". Giving it two and a half out of five stars, Sal Cinquemani of Slant Magazine criticized Introduction saying it featured "a slew of punchy, structureless sex tracks that blend together". Cinquemani also called the songs "Future" and "Firecracker" "two of the album's best". In a favorable review by AllMusic editor Andy Kellman, similar to previous reviewers, praises "Firecracker", while also commending "Echo" for its lyrical content and "Drunk", which he notes contains George Michael and Terence Trent D'Arby influences.

Chad Bengali of Entertainment Weekly complimented its "zero-gravity pleasures", writing that "at its best moments, it still floats". Jon Caramanica of The New York Times commended Riprock & Alex-G's production, while praising "Bodyrock" and "Emergency", saying how the songs show that Chandler "has the balls to pursue the A-plus list". Caramanica showed ambivalence towards "Addiction" and "Vacancy", noting the former as "awkward" and the latter as "a lousy Duran Duran impression". Tyler Martin of The Guardian commended the second half of the album, particularly "Vacancy" and "Bodyrock", noting the two as standouts. Despite this, Martin goes onto to praise "Emergency" and "Firecracker", closing the review with saying that the album doesn't introduce Chandler's identity, but still "paints a picture of a complicated young man, growing into adulthood".

Accolades

Introduction earned Brody Chandler five American Music Award nominations, including Artist of the Year, Favorite Pop/Rock Single for "Firecracker", Favorite Pop/Rock Album, Favorite Pop/Rock Male Artist and Favorite Live Artist. Chandler won the latter three awards. At the 1st Annual Grammy Awards, Chandler had six nominations for Best Mainstream Artist, Best Mainstream Album, Single of the Year, Best Album Cover, Best Male Vocal and Album of the Year. Chandler won the latter two awards. The following year, Chandler's "Vacancy" won for Best Male Pop Vocal Performance. At the 2009 MTV Video Music Awards, he received six nominations and won three awards. In 2012, NPR listed Introduction at number 18 on its list of "Best Albums of the 2000s". The album was ranked number 308 on Rolling Stone magazine's 500 Greatest Albums of All Time list in 2013, and was listed by the National Association of Recording Merchandisers at number 112 in its "Definitive 200" albums of all time. The Introduction album was included in the Library of Congress' National Recording Registry of culturally significant recordings.

Commercial performance

Introduction debuted at number one on the Billboard Albums Chart, selling 567,726 copies in its first week. It made Chandler the first male artist to debut atop the chart. At the time of its release, it had the highest opening sales from an artist in Soundscan history. It placed at number two in its second week, with 546,257 copies sold. In its third week, it returned to the number one spot, selling an additional 501,355 copies. It sold 448,721 copies the following week, achieving a total of 2,064,059 copies sold within its first month of release. The album stayed in the top 10 for 43 weeks and set a record for longest stay in the Top 20, with 93 consecutive weeks. It remained on the Billboard Albums Chart for a total of 104 weeks, equivalent to two years. Introduction was certified 2× diamond by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA).

Introduction was a commercial success internationally, topping the charts for 7 weeks in the UK. The album is the highest-selling album ever in Australia, reaching 10× platinum and spending nine weeks at number one and 93 weeks on the chart overall. The album sat at the top spot of the now defunct Oricon Albums Chart for 14 weeks and spent 100 weeks on the chart. Worldwide the album has sold over 31 million copies, making it one of the best selling albums of all time.

Track listing

All music produced by Riprock & Alex-G.

Introduction
No. TitleWriter(s) Length
1. "Introduction"  Brody Chandler 1:24
2. "Emergency"  
  • Chandler
  • Justin Lamar
3:47
3. "Firecracker"  
  • Chandler
  • Lamar
4:36
4. "Mysterious"  
  • Chandler
  • Lamar
3:55
5. "Future"  
4:48
6. "Echo"  Chandler 4:27
7. "Drunk"  Chandler 4:14
8. "Addiction"  
  • Chandler
  • Lamar
3:47
9. "Vacancy"  
  • Chandler
  • Lamar
4:55
10. "Director"  
  • Chandler
  • Lamar
5:11
11. "Bodyrock"  
  • Chandler
  • Lamar
4:06
12. "Nocturnal"  Chandler 3:44
Total length:
48:54
Introduction - American iTunes edition bonus track
No. TitleWriter(s) Length
13. "Puppet"  Chandler 4:01
Total length:
52:55
Introduction - United Kingdom edition bonus track
No. TitleWriter(s) Length
13. "Danger"  Chandler 3:49
Total length:
52:43
Introduction - Australian edition bonus track
No. TitleWriter(s) Length
13. "Bellboy"  Chandler 3:36
Total length:
52:30
Introduction - Japanese edition bonus track
No. TitleWriter(s) Length
13. "Boom"  Chandler 3:40
Total length:
52:34

Personnel

  • Robert Baliss – assistant engineer
  • Brody Chandler – vocals, vocals (background), vocal arrangement
  • Jacob Coleman – engineer
  • Terry Davison – percussion
  • Doug Debold – assistant engineer
  • Matthew DeLaney – engineer
  • Joseph Delphino – producer, instrumentation
  • Elijah Dixon – drums, percussion, programming
  • Carl Thomas Douglas – mixing
  • Aaron Easton – bass
  • John Ehman – A&R
  • Omar Ellis – keyboards
  • Kevyn Estefan – mixing
  • Martika Evelyn – assistant engineer
  • Pope Evlands – mixing
  • Nicholas Fournier –  bass, drums, guitar, keyboards
  • William Galland – assistant
  • Loren Garfield – conductor, string arrangements, string conductor
  • Malcolm Ghanber – mixing
  • Alex Goldstein – producer, instrumentation
  • Henry Gray – A&R
  • Silas Gray – synthesizer
  • Larry Grimaldi – mastering
  • Joshua Gudwin – mixing assistant
  • Jetson Gurgen – engineer
  • Darren Howard – engineer
  • Sergio James – stylist
  • Christopher Kenny – guitar
  • Enrique "Storm" Martinez – assistant engineer
  • Ty "Beatman" McCurdy – drums
  • Rich Mendes – conductor, string arrangements
  • Kyle Parris – engineer
  • Don Pensado – mixing
  • Bill Pettaway – guitar
  • Arianne Phillips – stylist
  • David Pollick – publicity
  • Timothy Powers – mastering
  • Jimmy Randolph – digital editing, Pro-Tools
  • Elliot Roberts – assistant engineer
  • Norman Jean Roy – photography
  • Calvin Sanders – engineer
  • Jessica Anne Souza – assistant engineer
  • Vlad Stone – assistant engineer
  • Chad Thomas – clavinet, coordination
  • Thaddeus C. Tribbett – bass
  • Michael Veal – strings
  • Freddie Vicar – engineer, string engineer
  • Craig Willoughby – assistant engineer
  • Nicholas Wright – engineer
  • Tamara Yurley – legal advisor

Charts

Weekly charts

Chart performance for Introduction
Chart (2009)
  • Peak
  • position
ARIA Albums Chart 1
Billboard Albums Chart 1
Oricon Albums Chart 1
UK Albums Chart 1

Certifications

Certifications for Introduction
Nation Certification Sales/Shipments
AUNation (Australian Recording Industry Association) 10× Platinum 752,906
JPNation (Recording Industry Association of Japan) 6× Platinum 1,571,165
UKNation (British Phonographic Industry) 7× Platinum 2,206,544
USNation (Recording Industry Association of America) 2× Diamond 27,086,453
Summaries
Worldwide 31,617,068

Release history

Release formats for Introduction
Country Date Format Edition Label
United Kingdom January 12, 2009
  • CD
  • digital download
Original Music Nation Label Group
Australia January 17, 2009
United States January 20, 2009
Canada
Japan November 11, 2009
United Kingdom February 1, 2010 LP
United States February 2, 2010
Canada
Japan February 3, 2010
Australia February 6, 2010
United Kingdom January 21, 2019
  • Cassette
  • CD
  • digital download
  • LP
  • streaming
10th Anniversary Edition
Canada January 22, 2019
United States
Australia January 26, 2019