Begin to Hope is the fourth album by Russian-American singer-songwriter

Singer-songwriter

Singer-songwriters are musicians who write, compose and sing their own musical material including lyrics and melodies. As opposed to contemporary popular music singers who write their own songs, the term singer-songwriter describes a distinct form of artistry, closely associated with the...

, Regina Spektor

Regina Spektor

Regina Ilyinichna Spektor is a Russian American singer-songwriter and pianist. Her music is associated with the anti-folk scene centered in New York City's East Village.-Early life:...

. It was released June 13, 2006. The album debuted at number 70 on the 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...

, but due to the popularity of the single "Fidelity", it peaked at number 20 and was labeled a "pace setter" by Billboard. Rolling Stone

Rolling Stone

Rolling Stone is a US-based magazine devoted to music, liberal politics, and popular culture that is published every two weeks. Rolling Stone was founded in San Francisco in 1967 by Jann Wenner and music critic Ralph J...

magazine named it the 21st-best album of 2006. The album was certified Gold

Gold

Gold is a chemical element with the symbol Au and an atomic number of 79. Gold is a dense, soft, shiny, malleable and ductile metal. Pure gold has a bright yellow color and luster traditionally considered attractive, which it maintains without oxidizing in air or water. Chemically, gold is a...

 by the RIAA for shipments to U.S. retailers of 500,000 units.

The album was nominated for the 2007 Shortlist Music Prize

Shortlist Music Prize

The Shortlist Music Prize, stylized as , was an annual music award for the best album released in the United States that had sold fewer than 500,000 copies at the time of nomination...

.

Track listing

All songs written by Regina Spektor.

1. "Fidelity
   Fidelity (song)
   "Fidelity" is an Anti-folk song from singer-songwriter Regina Spektor released in 2006 in the album Begin to Hope. The song marked Spektor's first Billboard 100 entry and is her most successful track to date. Despite a release date of September 25 , the song did not hit the charts until December...
   
   " – 3:47
2. "Better
   Better (Regina Spektor song)
   "Better" is a song by Regina Spektor. Three versions of this song are known. The first version appears on her 2006 album Begin to Hope. The second version is a re-recorded radio re-cut, and third version is called "Better ," which is simply the re-cut version, only with the piano and Regina's...
   
   " – 3:22
3. "Samson" – 3:10
4. "On the Radio
   On the Radio (Regina Spektor song)
   "On the Radio" is the first single from Regina Spektor's fourth album, Begin to Hope. The chorus contains references to the song "November Rain" by Guns N' Roses.-Music video:...
   
   " – 3:22
5. "Field Below" – 5:18
6. "Hotel Song" – 3:29
7. "Après Moi" – 5:08
8. "20 Years of Snow" – 3:31
9. "That Time" – 2:39
10. "Edit
    Edit (song)
    "Edit" is an Anti-folk/Indie rock song from Anti-folk singer Regina Spektor, released in the summer of 2006 on the album Begin to Hope. The line "You don't have no Doctor Robert/You don't have no Uncle Albert" references the Beatles' song "Doctor Robert" as well as Paul and Linda McCartney's 1971...
    
    " – 4:53
11. "Lady" – 4:45
12. "Summer in the City" – 3:50

Deluxe Edition bonus disc

1. "Another Town" – 4:07
2. "Uh-Merica" – 3:16
3. "Baobabs" – 2:02
4. "Düsseldorf" – 3:09
5. "Music Box" – 2:11

iTunes Store bonus tracks

18. "Hero" – 3:44
19. "Bartender" – 3:12

Amazon MP3

Amazon MP3

Amazon MP3 is an online music store owned and operated by Amazon.com. Launched in public beta on September 25, 2007, in January 2008 it became the first music store to sell music without digital rights management from the four major music labels , as well as many independents...

 Extended Version

13. "Another Town" – 4:07
14. "Uh-Merica" – 3:16
15. "Düsseldorf" – 3:09
16. "Music Box" – 2:11
17. "Hero" – 3:44
18. "Bartender" – 3:12

Vinyl edition disc 2, side A

1. "Another Town" – 4:10
2. "Uh-Merica" – 3:19
3. "Baobabs" – 2:04
4. "Düsseldorf" – 3:12
5. "Music Box" – 2:07

Vinyl edition disc 2, side B

1. "Better" (Piano and Voice) – 3:09
2. "Better" (Radio Recut) – 3:12
3. "Hero" – 3:45
4. "Bartender" – 3:12

Personnel

• Regina Spektor
  Regina Spektor
  Regina Ilyinichna Spektor is a Russian American singer-songwriter and pianist. Her music is associated with the anti-folk scene centered in New York City's East Village.-Early life:...
  
   - piano
  Piano
  The piano is a musical instrument played by means of a keyboard. It is one of the most popular instruments in the world. Widely used in classical and jazz music for solo performances, ensemble use, chamber music and accompaniment, the piano is also very popular as an aid to composing and rehearsal...
  
  , vocals
  Singing
  Singing is the act of producing musical sounds with the voice, and augments regular speech by the use of both tonality and rhythm. One who sings is called a singer or vocalist. Singers perform music known as songs that can be sung either with or without accompaniment by musical instruments...
  
  , guitar
  Guitar
  The guitar is a plucked string instrument, usually played with fingers or a pick. The guitar consists of a body with a rigid neck to which the strings, generally six in number, are attached. Guitars are traditionally constructed of various woods and strung with animal gut or, more recently, with...
  
  , percussion
  Percussion instrument
  A percussion instrument is any object which produces a sound when hit with an implement or when it is shaken, rubbed, scraped, or otherwise acted upon in a way that sets the object into vibration...
  
  
• Nick Valensi - guitar on "Better"
• David Kahne
  David Kahne
  David Kahne is an American record producer. Kahne started his musical career as a working musician and then became notable for his role as in-house producer and engineer at 415 Records, the first American new wave music label, and for his subsequent roles as Vice President of A&R at Columbia...
  
   - bass
  Bass guitar
  The bass guitar is a stringed instrument played primarily with the fingers or thumb , or by using a pick....
  
   on "Better"
• Zhao Gang - erhu
  Erhu
  The erhu is a two-stringed bowed musical instrument, more specifically a spike fiddle, which may also be called a "southern fiddle", and sometimes known in the Western world as the "Chinese violin" or a "Chinese two-stringed fiddle". It is used as a solo instrument as well as in small ensembles...
  
   on "Field Below"
• Ralph U. Williams - saxophone
  Saxophone
  The saxophone is a conical-bore transposing musical instrument that is a member of the woodwind family. Saxophones are usually made of brass and played with a single-reed mouthpiece similar to that of the clarinet. The saxophone was invented by the Belgian instrument maker Adolphe Sax in 1846...
  
   on "Lady"
• Shawn Pelton - drums
  Drum kit
  A drum kit is a collection of drums, cymbals and often other percussion instruments, such as cowbells, wood blocks, triangles, chimes, or tambourines, arranged for convenient playing by a single person ....
  
   on "Fidelity", "Better", "On the Radio", "Hotel Song", "Après Moi" & "That Time"

Album

Year	Chart	Peak Position
2007	Australian ARIA Australian Recording Industry Association The Australian Recording Industry Association is a trade group representing the Australian recording industry which was established in 1983 by six major record companies, EMI, Festival, CBS, RCA, WEA and Universal replacing the Association of Australian Record Manufacturers which was formed in 1956...  Albums Chart	29
2006	Austria Albums Chart	72
2007	Ireland Albums Chart	18
2007	New Zealand RIANZ Recording Industry Association of New Zealand The Recording Industry Association of New Zealand is a non-profit trade association of record producers, distributors and recording artists who sell music in New Zealand...  Albums Chart	10
2007	Swedish Albums Chart	18
2006	U.S. Billboard Top Heatseekers	1
2007	U.S. Billboard 200	20
2007	U.K. Albums Chart	53

Single Success

In 2006, Regina Spektor's first single, "Fidelity", premiered on VH1

VH1

VH1 or Vh1 is an American cable television network based in New York City. Launched on January 1, 1985 in the old space of Turner Broadcasting's short-lived Cable Music Channel, the original purpose of the channel was to build on the success of MTV by playing music videos, but targeting a slightly...

. Soon after, VH1 included her among "You Oughta Know: Artists on the Rise".

Spektor performed "Fidelity" on Late Night With Conan O'Brien

Late Night with Conan O'Brien

Late Night with Conan O'Brien is an American late-night talk show hosted by Conan O'Brien that aired 2,725 episodes on NBC between 1993 and 2009. The show featured varied comedic material, celebrity interviews, and musical and comedy performances. Late Night aired weeknights at 12:37 am...

in July 2006 and on ABC

American Broadcasting Company

The American Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network. Created in 1943 from the former NBC Blue radio network, ABC is owned by The Walt Disney Company and is part of Disney-ABC Television Group. Its first broadcast on television was in 1948...

's Good Morning America

Good Morning America

Good Morning America is an American morning news and talk show that is broadcast on the ABC television network; it debuted on November 3, 1975. The weekday program airs for two hours; a third hour aired between 2007 and 2008 exclusively on ABC News Now...

in April 2007. She also performed "On The Radio" on Jimmy Kimmel Live

Jimmy Kimmel Live

Jimmy Kimmel Live! is an American late-night talk show, created and hosted by Jimmy Kimmel and broadcast on ABC.The nightly hour-long show made its debut on January 26, 2003, following Super Bowl XXXVII. Jimmy Kimmel Live! is produced by Jackhole Productions in association with ABC Studios...

in November 2006. She performed the song again on Late Show with David Letterman

Late Show with David Letterman

Late Show with David Letterman is a U.S. late-night talk show hosted by David Letterman on CBS. The show debuted on August 30, 1993, and is produced by Letterman's production company, Worldwide Pants Incorporated. The show's music director and band-leader of the house band, the CBS Orchestra, is...

in April 2007, and on the Australian Rove McManus

Rove McManus

John Henry Michael "Rove" McManus is an Australian comedian, television presenter, producer and media personality. He was the host of the self-titled variety show Rove, and is the owner of the production company Roving Enterprises...

 show in 2007.

"Better" was released to US radio in late July 2007.

Even though it hasn't been released as a single, "Hotel Song" has reached #11 in the Irish music download charts and #16 in the Irish Top 50 Singles Chart as of May 2007. The song is featured in mobile phone company Vodafone

Vodafone

Vodafone Group Plc is a global telecommunications company headquartered in London, United Kingdom. It is the world's largest mobile telecommunications company measured by revenues and the world's second-largest measured by subscribers , with around 341 million proportionate subscribers as of...

's TV commercial in Ireland

Republic of Ireland

Ireland , described as the Republic of Ireland , is a sovereign state in Europe occupying approximately five-sixths of the island of the same name. Its capital is Dublin. Ireland, which had a population of 4.58 million in 2011, is a constitutional republic governed as a parliamentary democracy,...

, contributing to the song's popularity in the country.

"Musicbox" is featured on a JCPenney commercial.

"Samson" is a new recording of a song originally released on 2002's Songs

Songs (Regina Spektor album)

Songs is the second album by singer-songwriter Regina Spektor. The album was recorded in its entirety on Christmas Day of 2001; all songs were recorded in one take. Self-released copies of the album were sold at Spektor's early live shows, but the album is now available for purchase periodically at...

. "Samson" was featured on CSI: NY

CSI: NY

CSI: NY is an American police procedural television series that premiered on September 22, 2004, on CBS. The show follows the investigations of a team of NYPD forensic scientists and police officers as they unveil the circumstances behind mysterious and unusual deaths as well as other crimes...

in the second season episode "All Access".

"Field Below" was on an episode of Criminal Minds

Criminal Minds

Criminal Minds is an American police procedural drama that premiered September 22, 2005, on CBS. The series follows a team of profilers from the FBI's Behavioral Analysis Unit based in Quantico, Virginia. The BAU is part of the FBI National Center for the Analysis of Violent Crime...

.

"Apres Moi" was covered by Peter Gabriel

Peter Gabriel

Peter Brian Gabriel is an English singer, musician, and songwriter who rose to fame as the lead vocalist and flautist of the progressive rock group Genesis. After leaving Genesis, Gabriel went on to a successful solo career...

 on his recent album Scratch My Back

Scratch My Back

-Singles:Gabriel originally intended to release Scratch My Back and I'll Scratch Yours simultaneously. However, as completion of the latter dragged out, it was instead decided to release a series of double A-sided singles with one song from each album every new full moon during 2010 on iTunes...

.

"That Time" was featured in the 2008 Martin McDonagh film In Bruges

In Bruges

In Bruges is a 2008 black comedy crime film written and directed by Martin McDonagh. The film stars Colin Farrell and Brendan Gleeson as two hitmen in hiding, with Ralph Fiennes as their gangster boss. The film takes place—and was filmed—within the Belgian city of Bruges. In Bruges was...

starring Colin Farrell

Colin Farrell

Colin James Farrell is an Irish actor, who has appeared in such film as Tigerland, Miami Vice, Minority Report, Phone Booth, The Recruit, Alexander and S.W.A.T....

 and Brendan Gleeson

Brendan Gleeson

Brendan Gleeson is an Irish actor. His best-known films include Braveheart, Gangs of New York, In Bruges, 28 Days Later, the Harry Potter films, The Guard and the role of Michael Collins in The Treaty...

.

"Hero" was featured in the film (500) Days of Summer, along with "Us" from Spektor's previous album, Soviet Kitsch.

Sales

In New Zealand

New Zealand

New Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses and numerous smaller islands. The country is situated some east of Australia across the Tasman Sea, and roughly south of the Pacific island nations of New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga...

, the album was certified Gold for sales of more than 7,500.

In Australia

Australia

Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...

, the album was certified Gold for sales of more than 35,000.

In the United States, the album was certified Gold for shipments of over 500,000 copies. Its sales have since surpassed 600,000 according to Nielsen/Soundscan.