JLS (album)

JLS is the debut studio album by English boy band JLS. It was released in the UK on 9 November 2009 by Epic Records. It was preceded by the lead single, "Beat Again" on 13 July 2009. The album debuted at number-one in the UK and Ireland. It has been certified four times platinum in the UK, where it was the sixth best-selling album of 2009.

JLS
Studio album by JLS
Released	9 November 2009
Recorded	2009
Genre	Pop dance-pop R&B
Length	44:47
Label	Epic
Producer	Wayne Hector Steve Mac J.R. Rotem Fraser T Smith Jonas Jeberg Cutfather Metrophonic DEEKAY Soulshock & Karlin
JLS chronology
JLS (2009) Outta This World (2010)
Singles from JLS
"Beat Again" Released: 13 July 2009 "Everybody in Love" Released: 2 November 2009 "One Shot" Released: 22 February 2010

In the US, the album was issued as a six track EP featuring their three UK singles, their new single "The Club Is Alive" and two other tracks from the UK version of the album.[1] This version was released on 2 August 2010, but failed to chart.[2]

Singles

• "Beat Again" was the debut release by the band, following their success on the fifth series of The X Factor in 2008. The song was especially successful on the UK Singles Chart, debuting at number, selling 106,299 copies in its first week. The single became the second fastest-selling single of 2009, behind "Bonkers" by Dizzee Rascal. It has sold over 500,000 copies in the UK.
• "Everybody in Love" was released as the second single from the album. On 8 November 2009, the song topped the UK Singles Chart, by selling over 121,000 copies in one week. It has sold over 400,000 copies in the UK, The single was released in February 2010 in the United States, but failed to chart.
• "One Shot" was released as the third and final single from the album on 22 February 2010. The song has peaked in the UK Singles Chart at number six. It has sold over 300,000 copies in the UK.

Reception

Commercial performance

The album debuted at number one on the Irish Albums Chart on 12 November 2009. In the UK, the band beat Robbie Williams to the number-one spot on 15 November 2009. Both JLS and Williams's tenth solo album Reality Killed the Video Star sold over 200,000 copies, making them the fastest-selling albums of the year. JLS beat Williams to the top spot by a margin of less than 1%[3] First week sales were reported to be more than 230,000 copies;[4] it was later revealed that JLS had first-week sales of 239,643,[5] compared to 238,126 for Reality Killed the Video Star, meaning that Williams had lost out by just 1,517 copies, or 0.64%.[6]

The album has been certified two times platinum in Ireland,[7] while being certified four times Platinum in the UK,[8] and was the sixth best-selling album of 2009 in the UK.[9] The album was also the 35th best-selling album of 2010, selling 317,000 copies of the album that year. The album has sold 1.4 million copies in total in the UK as of December 2012.[10]

Critical reception

Professional ratings

Aggregate scores
Source	Rating
AnyDecentMusic?	2.7/10[11]
Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic	[12]
Digital Spy	[13]
entertainment.ie	[14]
The Guardian	[15]
In the News	(5/10)[16]
The Scotsman	[17]
Virgin Media	[18]

The album received generally negative reviews from critics on release. It scored an average of 2.7/10 at aggregator website AnyDecentMusic?, which is the lowest score in the history of the website.[19]

Track listing

No.	Title	Writer(s)	Producer(s)	Length
1.	"Beat Again"	* Wayne Hector Steve Mac	* Hector Mac	3:19
2.	"Everybody in Love"	* Hector J.R. Rotem Felicia Jensen David Doman	J.R. Rotem	3:16
3.	"Keep You"	* Aston Merrygold Marvin Humes Oritsé Williams JB Gill Fraser T Smith Taio Cruz	Smith	3:01
4.	"Crazy for You"	* Hector Mac	Mac	3:37
5.	"Heal This Heartbreak"	* Merrygold Humes Williams Gill Mich Hansen Jonas Jeberg Chris Braide	* Jeberg Cutfather	3:45
6.	"Close to You"	* Merrygold Humes Williams Gill Paul Barry Graham Stack	Metrophonic	3:51
7.	"Only Tonight"	* Merrygold Humes Williams Gill Lars Halvor Jensen Martin Larsson Ali Tennant	DEEKAY	3:39
8.	"One Shot"	* Carsten Schack Kenneth Karlin Michael Warren Brandon White Sean Hurley	Soulshock & Karlin	3:48
9.	"Private"	* Merrygold Humes Williams Gill Ayak Thiik Paul Meehan	Metrophonic	3:14
10.	"Don't Go"	* Merrygold Humes Williams Gill Stack Jamie Scott	Metrophonic	2:53
11.	"Only Making Love"	* Merrygold Humes Williams Gill Meehan Tim Woodcock	Metrophonic	3:47
12.	"Kickstart"	* Merrygold Humes Williams Gill Jensen Larsson Tennant	DEEKAY	3:11
13.	"Tightrope"	* Merrygold Humes Williams Gill Barry Stack	Metrophonic	3:26

Asda limited edition bonus DVD

No.	Title	Length
1.	"Beat Again" (Music video)	3:19
2.	"Everybody In Love" (Music video)	3:16
3.	"Making the album" (Interview)	3:55

US Edition

No.	Title	Writer(s)	Producer(s)	Length
1.	"Beat Again"	* Hector Mac	* Hector Mac	3:19
2.	"Everybody In Love"	* Hector Rotem Jensen Doman	J. R. Rotem	3:16
3.	"The Club Is Alive"	* Savan Kotecha Richard Rodgers Andrew Frampton Mac	Mac	3:43
4.	"One Shot"	* Schack Karlin Warren White Hurley	Soulshock & Karlin	3:48
5.	"Keep You"	* Smith Gill Williams Cruz	Smith	3:01
6.	"Close to You"	* Wiliams Humes Gill Merrygold Barry Stack	Metrophonic	3:51
Total length:				20:02

Walmart deluxe edition bonus track

No.	Title	Writer(s)	Producer(s)	Length
7.	"Heal This Heartbreak"	* Merrygold Williams Gill Humes Hansen Jeberg Braide	* Jeberg Cutfather	3:45

Charts and certifications

Charts Chart (2009) Peak position Irish Albums (IRMA)[20] 1 Scottish Albums (OCC)[21] 2 UK Albums (OCC) 1

Certifications Region Certification Certified units/sales Ireland (IRMA)[22] 2× Platinum 30,000^^ United Kingdom (BPI)[23] 4× Platinum 1,400,000[10] Summaries Europe (IFPI)[24] Platinum 1,000,000^* ^*sales figures based on certification alone ^^shipments figures based on certification alone

Release history

Region	Release date	Format	Label
United Kingdom[25][26]	9 November 2009	CD, DVD, digital download	Epic Records
United States[1][27]	3 August 2010	CD, digital download	Jive Records

References

1. "JLS, JLS, Music CD - Barnes & Noble". Music.barnesandnoble.com. Retrieved 27 February 2011.
2. Jones, Alan (1 February 2010). "Nutini back on top of albums chart". Music Week. Retrieved 17 February 2010.
3. "JLS narrowly beat Robbie to No. 1 album". Digital Spy. 15 November 2009. Retrieved 17 February 2010.
4. "Susan Boyle album I Dreamed A Dream sets sales record". BBC News. 25 November 2009. Retrieved 17 February 2010.
5. Jones, Alan (29 July 2013). "Official Charts Analysis: Jahmene Douglas needs just 19k to hit No.1". Music Week. Intent Media. Retrieved 17 December 2015.
6. Jones, Alan (16 November 2009). "X Factor continues to dominate charts". Music Week. Intent Media.
7. [The Irish Charts - All there is to know: "The Irish Charts - All there is to know - 2009 Certification Awards - Multi Platinum"] Check |url= value (help). International Recording Media Association. Irishcharts.ie. Retrieved 21 December 2010.
8. "Certified Awards Search". British Phonographic Industry. 25 June 2010. Archived from the original on 24 September 2009. Retrieved 21 December 2010.
9. "SuBo denies GaGa 2009 chart double". Digital Spy. 3 January 2010. Retrieved 17 February 2010.
10. Lane, Dan (20 December 2012). "The Top 10 biggest selling X Factor debut singles and albums revealed!". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 27 December 2012.
11. "JLS: JLS". anydecentmusic.com. AnyDecentMusic?. Retrieved 30 May 2018.
12. https://www.allmusic.com/album/r1679002
13. Released on Monday, 9 November 2009 (9 November 2009). "Music - Album Review - JLS: 'JLS'". Digital Spy. Retrieved 27 February 2011.
14. Mulligan, Jenny (6 November 2009). "JLS - JLS". entertainment.ie. Retrieved 12 June 2013.
15. Costa, Maddy (6 November 2009). "Jls: Jls". The Guardian. London.
16. "JLS: JLS reviews - new music CD reviews on". Inthenews.co.uk. Retrieved 17 February 2010.
17. "Album reviews: JLS". The Scotsman. 1 November 2009. Retrieved 12 June 2013.
18. Dee, Johnny (9 November 2009). "JLS: JLS review - Reviews - Music". Virgin Media. Retrieved 17 February 2010.
19. "AnyDecentMusic? - All Time". WebCite. AnyDecentMusic?. Archived from the original on 29 March 2016. Retrieved 29 March 2016.
20. ">> IRMA << Irish Charts - Singles, Albums & Compilations >>". Irma.ie. 11 February 2010. Archived from the original on 9 August 2011. Retrieved 17 February 2010.
21. "Official Scottish Albums Chart Top 100 - Official Charts Company". www.officialcharts.com.
22. "The Irish Charts - 2009 Certification Awards - Multi Platinum". Irish Recorded Music Association.
23. "British album certifications – JLS – JLS". British Phonographic Industry. Select albums in the Format field. Select Platinum in the Certification field. Type JLS in the "Search BPI Awards" field and then press Enter.
24. "IFPI Platinum Europe Awards – 2009". International Federation of the Phonographic Industry.
25. "music: Jls (2009)". hmv.com. Retrieved 17 February 2010.
26. "iTunes Store". Itunes.apple.com. Retrieved 17 February 2010.
27. "JLS: JLS: Music". Retrieved 27 February 2011.