Hi Im Susan and I am a typical girly girl! I have a rather expensive addiction to shoes (so much so...
Hi Im Susan and I am a typical girly girl! I have a rather expensive addiction to shoes (so much so my friends call me Shoesan!) and also make up, clothes, jewellary, bags in fact anything you can wear! I also like anything pink and glittery!
Member since:20.08.2004
Reviews:20
Members who trust:22
A1 were formed by Steps Manager, Tim Byrne (also manages Simon Cowell’s contestants in the X Factor). Tim wanted to create the ultimate boy band. One that could sing, dance, write music and play their own instruments.
The first member of the band was Paul Marazzi who was picked from auditions Tim held. Paul was the only auditionee good enough. Tim nex spotted Mark Read in the audience at a gig and asked him to go for a meeting, Mark went along and sang and became the second member of the band. Tim asked Mark if he knew of any friends who are talented and would be interested and Mark recommended the youngest member of the band Ben Adams. Last but not least Christian Inbebrigtsen was recommended by one of his teachers at the Paul McCartney Fame School (also known and LIPA).
The band secured a contract with Sony which at the time was the largest contract to ever be given to a new artist/s. The band set about writing music and building a fan base. In 1999 A1 released their first single, 'Be The First To Believe' which secured them their first top 10 hit. This was followed by 'Summertime of Our Lives' 'Like a Rose' and then a Double A Side of 'Ready or Not' and 'Everytime'. Until Ready or Not and Everytime were released A1 just seemed to be a normal run of the mill boyband but Everytime in particular set them apart from the rest as it was an amazing ballad and penned
by the band themselves.
The band released their first album which showed a diversity in sound. Although a1 weren't a household name until 'Take on Me' a cover of the 80's classic by A-Ha was released.
The video for the single used the same effects as used on the film The Matrix and was the most expensive pop video until that time. Love or hate their version the song got them a lot of attention and launched them to the next level when it reached number 1.
A1 obtained their second number one with the self penned track 'Same Old Brand New You'. To celebrate their success A1 had their first and only UK tour. On tour they proved themselves to not only be talented singers but performers too. The show wasn't as big a setting as shows by previous boy bands, e.g. Take That but it enthralled audiences all over the country and gained them a variety of fans of all ages and sexes.
A1 released their second album the A List and their future seemed bright, the majority of the album was written by themselves and they also played the majority of the instruments. They had grown a lot since their first album and their sound showed this. They released their third single off the album ‘No More’ and promoted it world wide then disaster struck. At an A1 signing in Indonesia four fans were killed in the rush to meet the band. This shocked A1 and their fans alike and made the band seriously consider their future. They decided to continue but to do things they wanted not what the record company wanted. They practically took a year out from the public eye apart from the odd TV appearance and concert to ensure people remembered them.
They spent much of the time in the studio writing and recording and the result was the amazing album ‘Make it Good’. The first single from the album was the classic ‘Caught in the Middle’ no matter how little you thought of a1 everyone loved this song, which was wrote by 2 members of the band. But even better than ‘Caught in the Middle’ was its B Side ‘2.59’ which showed a rocker edge to the band and it seemed insane it wasn’t an album track or used as a single itself.
The album was a huge change both music wise, style wise and personally for the band. Eventually they seemed to be receiving the recognition they deserved and were loosing their boy band tag. The band ditched their dance routines and instead played their instruments and being able to do that meant a lot to them. I confess on a1’s first two albums the majority of it was cheese and not my kind of music. But I was luck enough (or unlucky some might say!) to know the band personally so I always supported them but with the ‘Make it Good’ album I couldn’t stop listening to it.
The album showed the true A1 which was actually quite rocky. I truly believe if A1 had released the ‘Make it Good’ album first their career would have ended up very differently but once you’re a boy band its hard to shake that tag. The album contained amazing songs such as ‘Isn’t it Cheap’ ‘One Last Song’ and the Beatleesque ‘Make it Through the Night’ so it seemed insane when the record company released the title track from the album. ‘Make it Good’ was a great album track but lacked spark for the singles charts, ‘Isn’t it Cheap’ would have opened a lot of doors for the band but Sony wanted them to stick to being a cheesy Boy Band. Sony failed to market the album correctly and despite A1 promoting by doing signings nationwide the album only reached number 11 in the UK charts.
Disappointed in the record company and the music business as a whole Paul Marazzi decided to leave the band. Mark, Ben and Christian vowed to carry on but due to lack of support from Sony gave up and ‘took a break’ two weeks later. Mark Ben and Chris were and still are the best of friends but no longer hear from Paul, as a result when the band did a one off Reunion Concert at Hallingmarken in Norway only three members performed. The boys still had the spark that made them the success they had been and did the best performance of their lives, its just a shame the record company hadn’t promoted them better because they had the ability to be huge.
Since the break things have been going well for the boys, Paul is a producer at a studio in Surrey along with 90’s pop star Chesney Hawkes, Mark is writing songs for other artists including Charlotte Church and the Backstreet Boys, Christian is a successful solo star in his native Norway and is currently writing, recording and producing his second album as a solo artist and Ben signed to the same record label as Natasha Bedingfield has his first single coming out in May (check out www.benadams.uk.com) and is tipped by all to be a huge star.
If someone wanted to know what A1 album to buy I would definitely recommend Make it Good and if you ever get the chance to see any of them live I would highly recommend it, no matter what anyone thinks they are talented and I am very happy to say I know these four amazing men.
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Good review. Sound Band. Glad the guys are doing well!! xx
jesi 12.04.2005 15:25
This would have been more helpful to me (as a dyslexic) if you had put a few headings in to 1) break up the review and make it easier to navigate and 2) make it easier to find any section in particular and possibly guide the reader as to what you are trying to say - ♥ - jes ≈≈≈≈{; -)-{{::::: |||||<
Advantages: Play instruments, write their own songs, sing live, can dance...(let me know when to stop) Disadvantages: Are still seen as being 'just another cheesy boyband'
MelW 25.01.2002 ·
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful
Review of A1 - A1
Advantages: Play instruments, write their own songs, sing live, can dance...(let me know when to stop) Disadvantages: Are still seen as being 'just another cheesy boyband'
MelW 25.01.2002 ·
Read review
Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful
Review of A1 - A1
Advantages: You Only Tell Me You Love Me When You're Drunk is a greatly song - simultaneously funny and depressing. The B-SIdes and live tracks are good,.. Disadvantages: ...it's a shame all the mixes couldn't have been up to the standard of those by Brother Brown.
Mar 22nd, 2005
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