11:59 (Ryan Star album)
Encyclopedia
An exclusive deluxe iTunes
version of the album includes additional three bonus tracks, three music videos, and a digital booklet
.
Billboard
states that "the singer's voice throughout the set has a rocker-gruff quality that often stretches into melodic overtones as displayed on the track "This Could Be The Year"." Star is also complimented on "Losing Your Memory", for giving "an impressive delivery on the emotional track, belting about the loss of his place in loved one's heart." (favorable)
Jon Regen for Keyboard Magazine notes how "Star surrounds himself with a cast of keyboard killers including Serletic, Kim Bullard, and Patrick Warren, who bathe his soaring pop choruses in an ever-evolving sonic glow". (favorable)
Melodic gave the album 4 stars (out of five), and said: "It is a fitting end to one of the most complete albums of the year thus far. Ryan Star deserves a chance. This might just be his."
Stephen Thomas Erlewine from Allmusic gave the album 3 stars (out of five), "11:59 is the kind of slick, splashy debut designed to launch a career that has no ties to television. Thing of it is, it’s so cleanly commercial that it could use an outside boost, something to lend this collection of atmospheric anthems, passionate pleading, manicured rocking, and snappy AAA pop a bit of a defining personality."
Tunelab gave the album 8.5 stars out of 10, "Every instrumental on "11:59" is great, and every bit of vocal passion that emerges from Star is fantastic. The man sings as though he really feels what he is singing and he has the range to back it up. Despite only ten tracks being present on the album, each is memorable and unique to the rest of the set. The biggest faults the album has are minor. It is awfully short, especially considering how long it took to release, and the album doesn’t really have much of a flow. Each track is so different than the others, it feels more like a mixtape than an album, though a very good mixtape."
Some of music critics gave the album very negative reviews.
Rolling Stone gave the album 2 stars (out of five), "Ryan Star returns with a much-delayed major-label debut album filled with second-rate pop rock and a formula he beats senseless: He takes his brooding rasp from a muttered whisper to an overwrought rock howl about nine times too many."
and #10 on Billboard Rock Albums chart, and made it to #4 on Billboard Tastemaker Albums chart, with 11,599 copies sold on its first week of release.
ITunes
iTunes is a media player computer program, used for playing, downloading, and organizing digital music and video files on desktop computers. It can also manage contents on iPod, iPhone, iPod Touch and iPad....
version of the album includes additional three bonus tracks, three music videos, and a digital booklet
Digital booklet
Digital booklets are the digital equivalent of liner notes that often accompany digital music purchases. They are most commonly distributed in Portable Document Format. One well-known distributor of digital booklets with digital purchases is the iTunes Store; the first instance of this on the...
.
Critical response
The album has received generally favorable reviews from music critics.Billboard
Billboard (magazine)
Billboard is a weekly American magazine devoted to the music industry, and is one of the oldest trade magazines in the world. It maintains several internationally recognized music charts that track the most popular songs and albums in various categories on a weekly basis...
states that "the singer's voice throughout the set has a rocker-gruff quality that often stretches into melodic overtones as displayed on the track "This Could Be The Year"." Star is also complimented on "Losing Your Memory", for giving "an impressive delivery on the emotional track, belting about the loss of his place in loved one's heart." (favorable)
Jon Regen for Keyboard Magazine notes how "Star surrounds himself with a cast of keyboard killers including Serletic, Kim Bullard, and Patrick Warren, who bathe his soaring pop choruses in an ever-evolving sonic glow". (favorable)
Melodic gave the album 4 stars (out of five), and said: "It is a fitting end to one of the most complete albums of the year thus far. Ryan Star deserves a chance. This might just be his."
Stephen Thomas Erlewine from Allmusic gave the album 3 stars (out of five), "11:59 is the kind of slick, splashy debut designed to launch a career that has no ties to television. Thing of it is, it’s so cleanly commercial that it could use an outside boost, something to lend this collection of atmospheric anthems, passionate pleading, manicured rocking, and snappy AAA pop a bit of a defining personality."
Tunelab gave the album 8.5 stars out of 10, "Every instrumental on "11:59" is great, and every bit of vocal passion that emerges from Star is fantastic. The man sings as though he really feels what he is singing and he has the range to back it up. Despite only ten tracks being present on the album, each is memorable and unique to the rest of the set. The biggest faults the album has are minor. It is awfully short, especially considering how long it took to release, and the album doesn’t really have much of a flow. Each track is so different than the others, it feels more like a mixtape than an album, though a very good mixtape."
Some of music critics gave the album very negative reviews.
Rolling Stone gave the album 2 stars (out of five), "Ryan Star returns with a much-delayed major-label debut album filled with second-rate pop rock and a formula he beats senseless: He takes his brooding rasp from a muttered whisper to an overwrought rock howl about nine times too many."
Chart performance
The album debuted at #31 on the Billboard 200Billboard 200
The Billboard 200 is a ranking of the 200 highest-selling music albums and EPs in the United States, published weekly by Billboard magazine. It is frequently used to convey the popularity of an artist or groups of artists...
and #10 on Billboard Rock Albums chart, and made it to #4 on Billboard Tastemaker Albums chart, with 11,599 copies sold on its first week of release.
| Chart (2009–2010) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| U.S. Billboard 200 Billboard 200 The Billboard 200 is a ranking of the 200 highest-selling music albums and EPs in the United States, published weekly by Billboard magazine. It is frequently used to convey the popularity of an artist or groups of artists... |
31 |
| U.S. Rock Albums | 10 |
Uses in media
- "Breathe" named as "iTunes Single of the Week". and has also been featured in recent promotional spots for such popular TV series as Fox's American IdolAmerican IdolAmerican Idol, titled American Idol: The Search for a Superstar for the first season, is a reality television singing competition created by Simon Fuller and produced by FremantleMedia North America and 19 Entertainment...
and So You Think You Can DanceSo You Think You Can Dance (U.S. TV series)So You Think You Can Dance is an American dance competition and reality show that airs on Fox in the United States.The series first premiered on July 20, 2005, and was created by American Idol producers Simon Fuller and Nigel Lythgoe and is produced by 19 Entertainment and Dick Clark Productions...
, NBC's The Biggest Loser, ABC's All My ChildrenAll My ChildrenAll My Children is an American television soap opera that aired on ABC from January 5, 1970 to September 23, 2011. Created by Agnes Nixon, All My Children is set in Pine Valley, Pennsylvania, a fictitious suburb of Philadelphia. The show features Susan Lucci as Erica Kane, one of daytime's most...
, and WWE's annual Tribute "To The Troops". - "Last Train Home" has been featured in ABC's General HospitalGeneral HospitalGeneral Hospital is an American daytime television drama that is credited by the Guinness Book of World Records as the longest-running American soap opera currently in production and the third longest running drama in television in American history after Guiding Light and As the World Turns....
, and featured on the soundtrack album P.S. I Love YouP.S. I Love You (film)P.S. I Love You is a 2007 American drama film directed by Richard LaGravenese. The screenplay by LaGravenese and Steven Rogers is based on the 2004 novel of the same name by Cecelia Ahern. The film is dedicated to the memory of producer Molly Smith's sister Windland Smith Rice.-Plot:Holly and Gerry... - "Brand New Day" featured as the theme song for the Fox series Lie to MeLie to MeLie to Me is a 2009-2011 American television series.Lie to Me may also refer to:* Lie to Me , a South Korean drama series* "Lie to Me" , an episode of Buffy the Vampire Slayer...
. - "This Could Be The Year" can be heard on WWE television's Survivor SeriesSurvivor Series (2008)Survivor Series was a professional wrestling pay-per-view event produced by World Wrestling Entertainment , took place on November 23, 2008 at the TD Banknorth Garden in Boston, Massachusetts The Survivor Series was in Boston 15 years prior in 1993 in the now-demolished Boston Garden...
. - "Losing Your Memory" was featured on the television series The Vampire DiariesThe Vampire DiariesThe Vampire Diaries is a young adult vampire horror series of novels written by L. J. Smith. The story centers around Elena Gilbert, a high school girl torn between two vampire brothers. The series was originally a trilogy published in 1991, but pressure from readers led Smith to write a fourth...
in the episode "Daddy Issues".
External links
- Antonelli, Laura: "Ryan Star interview – Ryan talks in depth about his music and his new album, 11:59, which is out today" MusicVice.com. August 3, 2010.