The Boy Who Knew Too Much (album)

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This article is about the Mika album. For other uses, see The Boy Who Knew Too Much (disambiguation).
The Boy Who Knew Too Much
File:Mika - The Boy Who Knew Too Much (album).jpg
Studio album by Mika
Released 18 September 2009
(see release history)
Recorded June 2008–2009[1]
Genre Pop, Glam rock[2]
Length 41:13[3]
Label Casablanca, Polydor[4]
Producer Greg Wells, Imogen Heap, Mika, RedOne[1]
Mika chronology
Songs for Sorrow
(2009)Songs for Sorrow2009		 The Boy Who Knew Too Much
(2009)		 The Origin of Love
(2012)The Origin of Love2012
Singles from The Boy Who Knew Too Much
  1. "We Are Golden"
    Released: 7 September 2009
  2. "Rain"
    Released: 23 November 2009
  3. "Blame It on the Girls"
    Released: 15 February 2010

The Boy Who Knew Too Much[5] is the second studio album by singer Mika. It was released on 21 September 2009,[6] under Casablanca Records in the United States and Polydor in the United Kingdom.

Background

Mika worked with producer Greg Wells, who also produced his debut album Life in Cartoon Motion.[1] The album was written in Olympic Studios, London, which began in June 2008. In September 2008 he moved to Rocket Carousel Studios, Los Angeles, where the album was recorded.[1] Mika has described the album's themes as dealing with his teenage years, and "in a sense is kind of part two" of his first album.[7] In contrast to his first album, which "contained innocent fairytales", Mika pitches the new album's songs as "gothic Tim Burton-esque fantasies."[8]

The album was originally titled We Are Golden after the first single from the album, "We Are Golden". On 20 July 2009 in an on-air interview with DJ Jo Whiley on BBC Radio 1, Mika revealed he was considering renaming the album, because he wanted "something a little more ridiculous."[9] On 6 August 2009 it was confirmed that the album's title would change to The Boy Who Knew Too Much.[10] As with Mika's debut album Life in Cartoon Motion, the album artwork has been designed by Mika's sister (who works under the nom de plume DaWack), the Australian illustrator Sophie Blackall, Airside collaborator Richard Hogg and Mika himself. The artwork has been inspired by children's picture books from the 1940s to 1970s.[11]

Critical response

Professional ratings
Aggregate scores
Source Rating
Metacritic (70/100)[12]
Review scores
Source Rating
AllMusic 4/5 stars[13]
The A.V. Club (A-)[14]
Entertainment Weekly (A)[15]
The Guardian 3/5 stars[16]
Los Angeles Times 3/4 stars[17]
The Observer 3/5 stars[18]
PopMatters 8/10 stars[19]
Rolling Stone 3/5 stars [20]
Slant 1.5/5 stars [21]
Spin 3.5/5 stars [22]
The Times 3/5 stars [23]

The album received generally positive reviews from music critics, based on an aggregate score of 70/100 from Metacritic.[24]

Singles

  • "We Are Golden" was the first single from the album. It received its UK radio debut on BBC Radio 2 on 20 July 2009. It peaked at #4 in the UK Singles Chart.
  • "Rain" was the second UK and German single, released on 23 November 2009 in both digital and physical format.[25][26][27] It peaked at #72 in the UK Singles Chart, making it Mika's first UK single to miss the Top 40. In Germany it peaked at #56.[28] It was released as the third UK single, on 15 February 2010.[29]
  • "Blame It on the Girls" was the second American and Japanese single from the album.[30][31] It peaked at #1 in Japan but failed to make any impact in the United States. It was released as the third UK single, on 15 February 2010.[29] It peaked at #72.
  • The song "Good Gone Girl" charted within the Romanian Top 100 on airplay only, without being released as a single.[32]

Track listing

No. Title Writer(s) Length
1. "We Are Golden"   Mika 3:58
2. "Blame It on the Girls"   Mika 3:34
3. "Rain"   Mika, Jodi Marr 3:43
4. "Dr. John"   Mika 3:44
5. "I See You"   Mika, Walter Afanasieff 4:17
6. "Blue Eyes"   Mika 2:50
7. "Good Gone Girl"   Mika, Jodi Marr 3:02
8. "Touches You"   Mika 3:19
9. "By the Time"   Mika, Imogen Heap 3:21
10. "One Foot Boy"   Mika, Rob Davis 2:58
11. "Toy Boy"   Mika, Jodi Marr 2:56
12. "Pick Up Off the Floor"   Mika 3:24

Personnel

Additional musicians

Charts and certifications

Release history

Country Date
Hong Kong (Digital Version)[57] 5 September 2009
Netherlands 16 September 2009
France 18 September 2009
Australia
Germany
Italy
Ireland
United Kingdom 21 September 2009
Argentina[58]
Mexico
South Korea (Regular & Deluxe Edition)[59]
United States 22 September 2009
Brazil
Canada
South Korea (Korean Special Edition)[60] 27 May 2010
Hong Kong (Asia Tour Edition)[61] 2 June 2010

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 Allen, Matt (1 June 2009). "Exclusive: Mika's Second Coming", Q Magazine. Retrieved 2009-07-12.
  2. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  3. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  4. ↑ Business Wire (14 June 2009). "Global Pop Phenomenon, MIKA, Releases Sophomore Album, WE ARE GOLDEN, 22 September", Business Wire. Retrieved on 2009-07-14.
  5. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  6. ↑ Medioni, Gilles (11 June 2009). "Exclu Mika: tout sur son nouveau CD... et sa playlist", L'Express. Retrieved on 2009-07-08.
  7. ↑ Mazumdar, Tulip (9 June 2009). "Mika pens 'teenage' second album", BBC Radio 1. Retrieved on 2009-07-08.
  8. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  9. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  10. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  11. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  12. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  13. ↑ The Boy Who Knew Too Much at AllMusic
  14. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  15. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  16. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  17. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  18. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  19. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  20. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  21. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  22. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  23. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  24. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  25. ↑ iTunes releases Mika's second single "Rain"
  26. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  27. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  28. ↑ [1] Archived 14 February 2010 at the Wayback Machine
  29. ↑ 29.0 29.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  30. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  31. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  32. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  33. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  34. ↑ http://image.kyobobook.co.kr/newimages/music/large/6393/2393644.jpg
  35. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  36. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  37. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  38. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  39. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  40. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  41. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  42. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  43. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  44. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  45. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  46. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  47. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  48. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  49. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  50. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  51. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  52. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  53. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  54. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  55. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found. Select Album e Compilation in the field Sezione. Enter Mika in the field Filtra. The certification will load automatically
  56. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  57. ↑ http://moov.hk/moovnow/music/album/albumdetail.do?contributorid=&roleid=&albumid=VAUN00018142A
  58. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  59. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  60. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  61. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.

External links

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