Eye to the Telescope
Encyclopedia
Reviews for Eye to the Telescope were positive. Mark A. Price of PopMatters
gave the album a score of 7 out of 10, noting that it manages to sound "both new and familiar", mixing influences from artists like Melissa Etheridge
and Fiona Apple
while adding some originality of her own. Stephen Thomas Erlewine
of Allmusic gave it three and a half stars out of five, calling it "a promising, satisfying debut". On Metacritic
, Eye to the Telescope has a score of 76 out of 100, indicating "generally favorable reviews".
The singles from the album became increasingly more successful, with "Other Side of the World" spending almost five months on the chart and "Suddenly I See" remaining in the Top 40 for 10 weeks. The album's next single, "Under the Weather", entered the chart at No. 39, while the fifth and final single, "Another Place to Fall", became Tunstall's first single to miss the Top 40 after more than 1.3 million copies of the album had been sold. In total, Tunstall has spent 133 weeks so far on the British charts.
The album was certified 5× platinum by the Irish album chart selling about 75,000 copies, and shipping 1.5 million copies in the UK, certifying it 5× platinum there as well. It was also certified platinum in Canada in January 2007. Worldwide, the album has sold 2.6 million copies.
PopMatters
PopMatters is an international webzine of cultural criticism that covers many aspects of popular culture. PopMatters publishes reviews, interviews, and detailed essays on most cultural products and expressions in areas such as music, television, films, books, video games, comics, sports, theater,...
gave the album a score of 7 out of 10, noting that it manages to sound "both new and familiar", mixing influences from artists like Melissa Etheridge
Melissa Etheridge
Melissa Lou Etheridge is an American rock singer-songwriter and musician.Etheridge is known for her mixture of confessional lyrics, pop-based folk-rock, and raspy, smoky vocals...
and Fiona Apple
Fiona Apple
Fiona Apple McAfee Maggart is an American singer-songwriter and pianist. Apple met international acclaim for her 1996 debut album, Tidal, which was a critical and commercial success...
while adding some originality of her own. Stephen Thomas Erlewine
Stephen Thomas Erlewine
Stephen Thomas Erlewine is a senior editor for Allmusic. He is the author of many artist biographies and record reviews for Allmusic, as well as a freelance writer, occasionally contributing liner notes. He is also frontman and guitarist for the Ann Arbor-based band Who Dat?Erlewine is the nephew...
of Allmusic gave it three and a half stars out of five, calling it "a promising, satisfying debut". On Metacritic
Metacritic
Metacritic.com is a website that collates reviews of music albums, games, movies, TV shows and DVDs. For each product, a numerical score from each review is obtained and the total is averaged. An excerpt of each review is provided along with a hyperlink to the source. Three colour codes of Green,...
, Eye to the Telescope has a score of 76 out of 100, indicating "generally favorable reviews".
Track listing
The original edition of the album, released in December 2004, had a slightly different track order and did not include the studio version of "Black Horse and the Cherry Tree"; the version of the track recorded on Later... with Jools Holland was included as a "bonus live track".Personnel
- KT TunstallKT TunstallKate Victoria "KT" Tunstall is a Scottish singer-songwriter and guitarist from St Andrews, Scotland. She broke into the public eye with a 2004 live solo performance of her song "Black Horse and the Cherry Tree" on Later... with Jools Holland...
– vocalsSingingSinging 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...
, guitarGuitarThe 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...
, wurlitzerWurlitzerThe Rudolph Wurlitzer Company, usually referred to simply as Wurlitzer, was an American company that produced stringed instruments, woodwinds, brass instruments, theatre organs, band organs, orchestrions, electronic organs, electric pianos and jukeboxes....
, pianetPianetthumb|Hohner Pianet TThe Pianet was a series of electric pianos built by the Hohner company of Trossingen, West Germany from the 1960s to the 1970s. The designer of the early Pianet models was Ernst Zacharias, basing the mechanism closely on a 1920s design by Lloyd Loar...
, shelltone, pianoPianoThe 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...
, doepfer bass, chimes - Steve Osborne – shelltone, bassBass guitarThe bass guitar is a stringed instrument played primarily with the fingers or thumb , or by using a pick....
, guitar, percussionPercussion instrumentA 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... - Arnulf Lindner – bass
- Luke BullenLuke BullenLuke Bullen is an English drummer and percussionist. Bullen studied at top London drum school Drumtech and joined the band Addict in 1995; the band was signed to V2 Records in 1996...
– drumsDrum kitA 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 ....
, percussion, cajonCajónA cajón is a box-shaped percussion instrument originally from Peru, played by slapping the front face with the hands.-Origins and evolution:... - Martin Terefe – keyboardsKeyboard instrumentA keyboard instrument is a musical instrument which is played using a musical keyboard. The most common of these is the piano. Other widely used keyboard instruments include organs of various types as well as other mechanical, electromechanical and electronic instruments...
- Iain Burdge – celloCelloThe cello is a bowed string instrument with four strings tuned in perfect fifths. It is a member of the violin family of musical instruments, which also includes the violin, viola, and double bass. Old forms of the instrument in the Baroque era are baryton and viol .A person who plays a cello is...
Release history
| Country | Release date | Label | Format | Catalogue |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| United Kingdom | Relentless Relentless Records Relentless Records, founded by Shabs Jobanputra and Paul Franklyn in 1999 is now a part of Sony Music based in London, UK. Having achieved large scale successes with Joss Stone, KT Tunstall and several urban artists such as Artful Dodger and So Solid Crew, the label is now building a small focused... |
CD | CDREL06 | |
| CD | CDRELX06 | |||
| United States | Virgin | CD | 507292 | |
| CD+DVD | 747292 |
Charts performance
The album entered the UK album chart at 73 and quickly dropped out again (it originally entered the lower regions of the Top 200 in its debut week, but these placings are not officially recorded for statistical purposes). It re-entered at 66 a few weeks later, and its rise was both surprising and unique for a new album on the UK charts. It improved every week for four weeks before peaking at number 36, then dropping down as low as 63 again. It then resumed a somewhat meteoric rise, culminating in a peak of number seven before slowly shifting back down. The publicity surrounding Tunstall's Mercury Music Prize nomination sent it back up the charts to an eventual peak of No. 3, after which time it became a Top 20 mainstay for the rest of 2005. It dropped out of the Top 10 in the 61st week, and has dropped continually since, before ending its run at 72 weeks. After a several month absence, the album returned at No. 66 for a 73rd non-consecutive week in August 2006.The singles from the album became increasingly more successful, with "Other Side of the World" spending almost five months on the chart and "Suddenly I See" remaining in the Top 40 for 10 weeks. The album's next single, "Under the Weather", entered the chart at No. 39, while the fifth and final single, "Another Place to Fall", became Tunstall's first single to miss the Top 40 after more than 1.3 million copies of the album had been sold. In total, Tunstall has spent 133 weeks so far on the British charts.
The album was certified 5× platinum by the Irish album chart selling about 75,000 copies, and shipping 1.5 million copies in the UK, certifying it 5× platinum there as well. It was also certified platinum in Canada in January 2007. Worldwide, the album has sold 2.6 million copies.
Charts
From αCharts| Chart | Provider(s) | Peak position |
|---|---|---|
| Australia Album Chart | 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... |
43 |
| Austria Album Chart | Media Control Media Control Charts The official music charts in Germany are gathered and published by the company Media Control GfK International on behalf of Bundesverband Musikindustrie... |
41 |
| Canada Album Chart | CRIA Cria A cria is the name for a baby camelid such as a llama, alpaca, vicuña, or guanaco. It comes from the Spanish word cría, meaning "baby". Its false cognate in English, crya , was coined by British sailors who explored Chile in the 18th century and were quick to describe the camelids onomatopoeically... |
10 |
| French Album Chart | IFPI IFPI The International Federation of the Phonographic Industry is the organisation that represents the interests of the recording industry worldwide. It is a not-for-profit members' organisation registered in Switzerland... |
7 |
| Germany Album Chart | Media Control Media Control Charts The official music charts in Germany are gathered and published by the company Media Control GfK International on behalf of Bundesverband Musikindustrie... |
43 |
| Ireland Album Chart | IRMA Irish Recorded Music Association Irish Recorded Music Association is the Irish record industry association. IRMA is a non-profit association set up to manage and control the music industry in the Republic of Ireland.-Goals and activities:... |
4 |
| Italy Album Chart | FIMI | 37 |
| Netherlands Album Chart | NVPI NVPI The NVPI is the Dutch tradeassociation of the entertainment industry... |
53 |
| New Zealand Album Chart | RIANZ | 3 |
| Norway Album Chart | IFPI IFPI The International Federation of the Phonographic Industry is the organisation that represents the interests of the recording industry worldwide. It is a not-for-profit members' organisation registered in Switzerland... |
11 |
| Switzerland Album Chart | Media Control Media Control Charts The official music charts in Germany are gathered and published by the company Media Control GfK International on behalf of Bundesverband Musikindustrie... |
29 |
| United Kingdom Album Chart | BPI British Phonographic Industry The British Phonographic Industry is the British record industry's trade association.-Structure:Its membership comprises hundreds of music companies including all four "major" record companies , associate members such as manufacturers and distributors, and hundreds of independent music companies... |
3 |
| United States Album Chart | 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... |
33 |