Folklore (album)

Infobox Album | Name = Folklore
Type = Album
Artist = Nelly Furtado

| Background = Orange
Released = flagicon|USflagicon|Canada November 25 2003
Recorded = The Gymnasium and 4th Street Recordings (Santa Monica, California); Metalworks Studios (Mississauga, Ontario); Left Brain Studios and 1st Congregational Church (L.A., California)
Genre = Pop
Folk Pop
Length = 50:26
Label = DreamWorks
Producer = Track & Field, Nelly Furtado, Lil' Jaz, Jacques Morelenbaum
Reviews =
*Allmusic Rating|3|5 [http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=10:ua9fs39wa3ng link]
*Amazon Rating|4.5|5 [http://www.amazon.com/Folklore-Nelly-Furtado/dp/B0000DFZZA/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&s=music&qid=1216429127&sr=1-3link]
*Blender Magazine Rating|2|5 [http://www.blender.com/guide/reviews.aspx?id=1453 link]
*Rolling Stone Rating|2|5 [http://www.rollingstone.com/reviews/album/_/id/294060 link]
*Slant Magazine Rating|4|5 [http://www.slantmagazine.com/music/music_review.asp?ID=384 link]
*Entertainment Weekly A- [http://www.ew.com/ew/article/0,,547678,00.html link]
Last album = "Whoa, Nelly!"
(2000)
This album = "Folklore"
(2003)
Next album = "Loose"
(2006)
Misc = Singles
Name = Folklore
Type = studio
Single 1 = Powerless (Say What You Want)
Single 1 date = December 8 2003
Single 2 = Try
Single 2 date = March 15 2004
Single 3 = Força
Single 3 date = June 14 2004
Single 4 = Explode
Single 4 date = September 27 2004
Single 5 = The Grass Is Green
Single 5 date = February 28 2005

"Folklore" is the second album by Canadian pop singer-songwriter Nelly Furtado, released by DreamWorks Records in North America on November 25 2003 (see 2003 in music).

Production and release

The album's title was influenced by Furtado's parents' immigration to Canada, "when I look at my old photo albums, I see pictures of their brand-new house, their shiny new car, their first experiences going to very North American-type places like Kmart. When you have that in your blood, you never really part with it—it becomes your own personal folklore."cite web |url=http://www.findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m1285/is_10_33/ai_109085151|title=Interview: Nelly Furtado|work=Interview|accessdate=29 May|accessyear=2006] The album also displayed a diverse sound but with a more rock-oriented, acoustic approach.cite web |url=http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0000DFZZA/102-4956428-7887337?v=glance&n=5174|title=Folklore|work=Amazon.com|accessdate=28 May|accessyear=2006] Furtado attributed the mellowness of the album to the fact that she was pregnant during most of its recording.

"Folklore" includes the single "Força" (meaning "carry on" or "strength" in Portuguese), which was written as the official anthem of the 2004 European Football Championship. Furtado performed the song at the championship's final in Lisbon, in July 2004. [cite web |url=http://www.rollingstone.com/artists/35794/articles/story/5937297|title=Nelly Furtado Gets Her Kicks|work=Rolling Stone|accessdate=9 December|accessyear=2005] Other singles included the ballad "Try" and "Powerless (Say What You Want)", in which she embraces her Portuguese heritage; the song deals with "the idea that you can still feel like a minority inside, even if you don't look like one on the outside". Additional singles were released in certain territories; "Explode" in Canada and Europe, and "The Grass Is Green" in Germany.

The album debuted at number eighteen on the Canadian albums chart with first-week sales of 10,400, [Williams, John. [http://jam.canoe.ca/Music/Artists/F/Furtado_Nelly/2003/12/03/745274.html "New Furtado stumbles on chart"] . Jam! Showbiz. December 12 2003. Retrieved January 29 2007.] and at number thirty-eight on the U.S. "Billboard" 200 chart, selling 68,000 in its first week. [Dansby, Andrew. [http://www.rollingstone.com/artists/jayz/articles/story/5936513/jayz_bounces_britney "Jay-Z Bounces Britney"] . "Rolling Stone". December 3 2003. Retrieved January 29 2007.] According to Nielsen SoundScan, it had sold 425,000 copies in the U.S. by August 2008. [Caulfield, Keith. [http://www.billboard.com/bbcom/ask_bb/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1003837299 "Ask Billboard - Divalicious"] . "Billboard". August 8 2008.] It was not as successful as Furtado's debut album, "Whoa, Nelly!" (2000), partly because of troubles at DreamWorks Records and the less poppy sound. It lacked promotion because DreamWorks was sold to Universal Music Group at the time of "Folkore"'s release, and it spent only eleven weeks on the U.S. "Billboard" 200 chart. In 2005 DreamWorks Records was shut down, and many of its artists, including Furtado, were absorbed into Geffen Records. [cite web |url=http://blogcritics.org/archives/2003/11/12/122339.php|title=Universal Music Snags DreamWorks Records|work=Blogcritics.org|accessdate=29 May|accessyear=2006] An enhanced CD, "Folklore" sold two million copies worldwide [Pattenden, Mike. [http://entertainment.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,14932-2213438,00.html "The big cd - Nelly Furtado"] . "The Times". Retrieved January 29 2007.] and was most successful in Germany. Furtado said, "Why do Germans love this album? I think I figured it out: It's so cerebral. It's great in its own way, but that's a different side." [Anderson, Jason. [http://www.cbc.ca/arts/music/furtado.html "Bustin' "Loose"] . Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. June 20 2006. Retrieved September 18 2006.]

Critical reception

Folklore received mixed reviews from critics. All Music Guide's Stephan Thomas stated that " [w] hile there are some interesting musical moments on Folklore -- enough to make it worth a listen -- the dogged seriousness and didactic worldview become a bit overbearing not long before the album is a quarter of the way finished, particularly since the fusion of worldbeat and adult alternative pop often seems heavy-handed." [http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=10:ua9fs39wa3ng] Entertainment Weekly gave a positive review stating that " exultant music goes on its merry, multicultural way" [http://www.ew.com/ew/article/0,,547678,00.html] . While Rolling Stone gave a negative review , calling Folklore "slick, multicultural hodgepodge" but without a "good as a single as I'm Like A Bird" [http://www.rollingstone.com/reviews/album/294060/folklore] As she focused more on the songwriting rather "than on frenetically switching genres five times in one song", BBC felt that it had "twice the originality" of her debut.cite web |url=http://www.bbc.co.uk/music/urban/reviews/furtado_folklore.shtml|title=Folklore|work=BBC|accessdate=28 May|accessyear=2006]

Track listing

All songs were written by Gerald Eaton, Nelly Furtado and Brian West, except where noted.
#"One-Trick Pony" featuring the Kronos Quartet – 4:47
#"Powerless (Say What You Want)" – 3:52
#*Samples Malcolm McLaren's "Buffalo Gals" (Anne Dudley, Trevor Horn, McLaren)
#"Explode" (Eaton, Furtado) – 3:44
#"Try" (Furtado, West) – 4:39
#"Fresh Off the Boat" – 3:16
#"Força" – 3:40
#"The Grass Is Green" (Mike Elizondo, Furtado) – 3:50
#"Picture Perfect" – 5:16
#"Saturdays" (Furtado) – 2:05
#"Build You Up" – 4:58
#"Island of Wonder" (S. Diaz, Furtado, J. Gahunia) – 3:49
#*Samples Caetano Veloso's "Tonada De Luna Llena" and features new vocal recordings by Veloso
#"Childhood Dreams" – 6:35

;UK bonus tracks
*13. "Try" (acoustic version)
*14. CD-ROM video footage

;Japanese bonus tracks
*13. "Powerless (Say What You Want)" (alternative acoustic mix)
*14. "Try" (acoustic version)

;Latin American re-issue
*13. "Powerless (Say What You Want)" featuring Juanes

ingles

* Powerless (Say What You Want)
* Try
* Força
* Explode (song)
* The Grass Is Green (Germany only)

Limited CD/DVD Edition

[ [http://eil.com/shop/moreinfo.asp?catalogid=367637 "Limited CD/DVD Edition tracklisting"] ]

CD 1: DVD
# "I'm Like A Bird [music video] "
# "Turn Off The Light [music video] "
# "...On The Radio (Remember The Days) [music video] "
# Making of "Folklore"

CD 2: CD
# "Fresh Off The Boat" [medley]
# "Powerless (Say What You Want)" [medley]
# "Explode" [medley]
# "Try" [medley]
# Nelly Furtado talks about "Folklore"

Charts

ales and Certifications

References