× (pronounced as Multiply), is the second studio album by English singer-songwriter Ed Sheeran set for a worldwide release on 23 June, 2014 by Asylum Records and Atlantic Records. The lead single off the album entitled Sing was released on April 7, 2014, [1]this album is a continuation of his last album +.
Background and release[]
Sheeran performed three sell out nights at Madison Square Garden, finishing his two and a half year tour to focus on recording his new album. In a behind the scenes tour video, it was seen that he was in the studio with producers Rick Rubin and Pharrell Williams, who were later confirmed in interviews to be contributing towards the album. Having written "hundreds" of songs, Sheeran entered the studio with Rubin and they cut that down to the 15 new songs, excluding "I See Fire", which saw release on the soundtrack for The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug. The album was released on June 23, 2014. I love you so much better than the original one to be the best thing to do it again I love it and when you have a no from the start of of the year and of the world is the most recent quarter of the year and I love don't know live in a few weeks of the world is the most beautiful thing is that the government has been in a while ago and it is not a good day to day basis of a sudden you are so cute and I have used it to in me to get a ynew and a few years ago when he is not a good time with you guys are so cute when he is not a fan since day to day and I have a great day and I love it when you are so many people are so cute when he is a great day way too many people
Singles[]
- "Sing" was released as the first single from the album on 7 April 2014 around the world, and 1 June in United Kingdom and Germany. The music video, released exclusively to Facebook on 22 May, features a puppet caricature of Sheeran on a night out in Los Angeles.
- "Don't", previously released on iTunes as the second "instant grat" promotional single, will impact on US contemporary hit radio as the second official single from the album.
- "Thinking Out Loud" was sent to Oceanian radio on 21 September as the third single off Sheeran's album.
- A remixed version of "Bloodstream" was released as the album's fourth single on 11 February 2015. The new version of the song was remixed by British drum and bass band, Rudimental and was released as a joint single.
- "Photograph" was released as the fifth and final single from the album.
Promotional singles[]
"One" was released as the first promotional single on 16 May, available as an "instant grat" download on iTunes when you pre-ordered the album. It entered the UK Singles Chart at number 20 and entered the Billboard Hot 100 at 86.
"Don't" was released as the second "instant grat" promotional single from the album on 13 June, ten days before the release of the album. It debuted at #21 in the Canadian Hot 100 on the chart dated for June, 28th, 2014, the top debut for that week. The only one that I can be the same thing to say do with it is a I don't know how to get my money on my way to the world is a good one and I Sheeran revealed that he would be releasing a track from the album every weekday in the week leading up to the release, as promotional "instant grat" singles available to those who had preordered the deluxe edition of the album on iTunes. The first of these was "Afire Love", released on 16 June, followed by "Bloodstream" on 17 June, "Thinking Out Loud" on 18 June, "The Man" on 19 June and "Photograph" on 20 June.
Critical Reception[]
× was met with generally positive reception from critics. The review aggregator website Metacritic, assigns a Metascore to an album, which is based on the ratings and reviews of selected mainstream independent publications, and the release has a score of a 73 based on 15 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews".
Commercial Performance[]
× debuted at number one on the UK Albums Chart, marking Sheeran's second number one album in the United Kingdom. In the United States, the album became Sheeran's first number one on the Billboard 200, debuting at number one with sales of 210,000 copies. Furthermore, Sheeran marked the second largest debut for a pop album in 2014 and the fourth-biggest opening overall of the year. [2]
Tracklist[]
Standard Edition | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|
# | Title | Writer(s) | Producer(s) | Length |
1. | "One" | Ed Sheeran | Jake Gosling | 4:13 |
2. | "I'm a Mess" | Sheeran | Gosling | 4:06 |
3. | "Sing" | Sheeran, Pharrell Williams | Williams | 3:55 |
4. | "Don't" | Sheeran, Benjamin Levin | Benny Blanco, Rick Rubin | 3:39 |
5. | "Nina" | Sheeran, John McDaid | Gosling | 3:43 |
6. | "Photograph" | Sheeran, McDaid | Jeff Bhasker, Emile Haynie | 4:17 |
7. | "Bloodstream" | Sheeran, McDaid, Gary Lightbody, Rudimental | Rubin | 4:59 |
8. | "Tenerife Sea" | Sheeran, McDaid, Foy Vance | Rubin | 4:00 |
9. | "Runaway" | Sheeran, Williams | Williams | 3:26 |
10. | "The Man" | Sheeran | Gosling | 4:09 |
11. | "Thinking Out Loud" | Sheeran, Amy Wadge | Gosling | 4:40 |
12. | "Afire Love" | Sheeran, McDaid, Vance | McDaid | 5:14 |
Deluxe edition bonus tracks | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|
# | Title | Writer(s) | Producer(s) | Length |
13. | "Take It Back" | Sheeran, McDaid | Rubin | 3:28 |
14. | "Shirtsleeves" | Sheeran | Gosling | 3:09 |
15. | "Even My Dad Does Sometimes" | Sheeran, Wadge | Gosling | 3:48 |
16. | "I See Fire" | Sheeran | Sheeran, Pete Cobbin, Kirsty Whalley | 4:57 |
Deluxe physical edition bonus track | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|
# | Title | Writer(s) | Producer(s) | Length |
17. | "All of the Stars" | Sheeran, McDaid | McDaid | 3:55 |
Wembley Edition bonus tracks | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|
# | Title | Writer(s) | Producer(s) | Length |
13. | "I See Fire" | Sheeran | Sheeran | 4:57 |
14. | "All of the Stars" | Sheeran, McDaid | McDaid | 3:55 |
15. | "English Rose" | Sheeran, McDaid | McDaid | 3:04 |
16. | "Touch and Go" | Sheeran, Vance | Rubin | 4:01 |
17. | "New York" | Sheeran, Emile Haynie, Jeff Bhasker | Haynie, Bhasker | 3"56 |
18. | "Lay It All on Me (Rudimental featuring Ed Sheeran)" | Rudimental, James Newman, Jonny Harris, Sheeran | Rudimental | 4:02 |
Wembley Edition US iTunes Store bonus tracks | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|
# | Title | Writer(s) | Producer(s) | Length |
13. | "Take It Back" | Sheeran, McDaid | Rubin | 3:28 |
14. | "Shirtsleeves" | Sheeran | Gosling | 3:09 |
15. | "Even My Dad Does Sometimes" | Sheeran, Wadge | Gosling | 3:48 |
16. | "I See Fire" | Sheeran | Sheeran | 4:57 |
17. | "All of the Stars" | Sheeran, McDaid | McDaid | 3:55 |
18. | "English Rose" | Sheeran, McDaid | McDaid | 3:04 |
19. | "Touch and Go" | Sheeran, Vance | Rubin | 4:01 |
20. | "New York" | Sheeran, Haynie | Haynie | 3:56 |
21. | "Make It Rain" | Vance | 6:42 | |
22. | "Parting Glass" (Live from Wembley Stadium) | Traditional song | 3:16 | |
23. | "Small Bump" (Live from Wembley Stadium) | Sheeran | 5:03 | |
24. | "Lay It All on Me" (Rudimental featuring Ed Sheeran) | Rudimental, Newman Harris, Sheeran | Rudimental | 4:02 |
References[]
- ↑ mtv.com - Single and album announcement
- ↑ wikipedia.org - Reception and performance