Ready For The Weekend - Calvin Harris

...his long awaited second album, Ready For The Weekend. Released on 18th August 2009, the album headed to number one in the album charts. The album as a whole has an 80’s 90’s feel with the beats, dynamics and the auto tuned vocals. The album is easy to listen to and the lyrics are catchy and work well.

I was first brought to the attention of the Calvin Harris listening to radio 1 at the start of 2009. The song being played at the time ...
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In all Ready for the Weekend has 14 singles, listed below. The album comes with a simple fold out booklet that features a woman with a pair of sparkly shades on the cover.


Track Listing


1. The Rain
2. Ready for the Weekend
3. Stars Come Out
4. You Used to Hold Me
5. Blue
6. I'm Not Alone
7. Flashback
8. Worst Day (feat. Izza Kizza)
9. Relax ... more

Calvin Harris returns with his long awaited second album, Ready For The Weekend. Released on 18th August 2009, the album headed to number one in the album charts. The album as a whole has an 80’s 90’s feel with the beats, dynamics and the auto tuned vocals. The album is easy to listen to and the lyrics are catchy and work well.

I was first brought to the attention of the Calvin Harris listening to radio 1 at the start of 2009. The song being played at the time was ‘I’m Not Alone’, a mixture of vocals, beats and a variety of disco styles.

So far off the album, Calvin has released 4 songs.

1. Dance Wiv Me
2. I’m not alone
3. Ready for the weekend
4. Flash Back

First to be released was the summer hit of 2008, ‘Dance Wiv Me’ featuring Dizzee Rascal rapping along with vocals from Calvin. The majority of the vocals are from Dizzee Rascal. Overall the song works well as they alternate well on the song. What’s more is that it reached number one in the single’s chart and became one of the records of the summer 2008.

Following up off his number one hit with Dizzee Rascal, Calvin released ‘I’m not alone’ 9 months after his first single. The song features just Calvin and his lyrics combine with a catchy beat and dance part on the track. I think it is one of the best songs on the album. It works well as a whole because it start’s off slowly with lyrics and then the dance part kicks in, followed by the beat. The stand out lyrics from Calvis is;

If I see a light flashin'
Could this mean that I’m comin' home?
If I see a man waving
Does this mean that I’m not alone?

The single proved to be very popular and with it gave Calvin his first number one as a solo artist.

The 3rd single off the album is titled ‘Ready for the Weekend’. The single features Calvin with his slick lyrics and a vocal performance from Mary Pearce. The single is catchy and has a summer dance feel to it. The style of this single is similar to his first album ‘I created disco’ but with a more mature feel. It has been played frequently on radio 1 and is the sort of song to play to start your weekend, as the title suggests. It was not to be a third number one, overall, but it still managed 3 in the charts.

Recently Calvin told radio 1 his fourth single off the album would be ‘Flash Back’. The song features auto tones lyrics from Calvin, a strong repetitive beat along with a performance from Ayah Marar. The lyrics have a smooth silky effect and are very catchy to listen to. You will find yourself listening to this song over and over again, it is one of them singles that just gets better and better the more times you play it. The single will be released on Monday 2nd November and I will not be surprised if it becomes another hit.

Other possible singles to be considered for release in the near future could be, ‘The Rain’, again featuring auto tones lyrics. The saxophone at the start of the song grabs your attention immediately, the lyrics kick in with;

‘She's the type of girl that makes you feel better’ add a dance beat and the slickness of Calvin and you have another great song. Overall it has a warm summer feel to it reminding you of good times as the lyrics suggest;

‘These are the good times in your life, so put on a smile and it will be alright’

There are a few other songs that could be released, such as ‘Stars Come Out’ or ‘You Used to Hold Me’. Both electo pop songs with a dance element to them.
There are a couple of songs on the album that feature no lyrics but they are still worth a listen because they are relaxing and slow the album down in a good way. The songs with no lyrics are tracks 11 and 14.

In all Ready for the Weekend has 14 singles, listed below. The album comes with a simple fold out booklet that features a woman with a pair of sparkly shades on the cover.

Track Listing

1. The Rain
2. Ready for the Weekend
3. Stars Come Out
4. You Used to Hold Me
5. Blue
6. I'm Not Alone
7. Flashback
8. Worst Day (feat. Izza Kizza)
9. Relax
10. Limits
11. Burns Night
12. Yeah Yeah Yeah La La La
13. Dance Wiv Me
14. 5iliconeator

Overall the album is a good listen and features catchy lyrics that you can listen to time and time again. The album is more mature than his first album ‘I Created Disco’ because the lyrics seem to flow well and work better as a whole with the beat. Quite simply one of the best albums I have bought in a long time. Well worth a listen.
 

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