The Piano Guys (album)

The Piano Guys is the second studio album, and first on a major record label, by American musical group The Piano Guys. It was released on October 2, 2012 through Sony Masterworks. The album is composed primarily of covers and mashups of classical and popular music.

The Piano Guys
Studio album by The Piano Guys
Released	October 2, 2012
Recorded	2011–12; Draper, Utah (TPG Studios); Sandy, Utah (Big Idea Studios); Salt Lake City, Utah (MetCom Studios)[1]
Genre	Classical crossover
Length	52:51
Label	Portrait, Sony Masterworks
Producer	Al van der Beek, Steven Sharp Nelson, Jon Schmidt[1]
The Piano Guys chronology
Hits Volume 1 (2011) The Piano Guys (2012) The Piano Guys 2 (2013)

Track listing

No.	Title	Writer(s)	Arranger(s)	Length
1.	"Titanium / Pavane" ([upper-alpha 1])	Sia Furler, David Guetta, Giorgio Tuinfort, Nick Van De Wall, Gabriel Fauré	Al van der Beek, Jon Schmidt, Steven Sharp Nelson	4:50
2.	"Peponi (Paradise)"	Guy Berryman, Jonathon Buckland, William Champion, Brian Eno, Chris Martin, Alex Boyé[upper-alpha 2]	van der Beek, Boyé, Nelson	4:10
3.	"Code Name Vivaldi" ([upper-alpha 3])	John James Powell, Antonio Vivaldi	van der Beek, Schmidt, Nelson	4:06
4.	"Beethoven's 5 Secrets" ([upper-alpha 4])	Ryan B. Tedder, Ludwig van Beethoven	Nelson, van der Beek, Kayson Brown	5:09
5.	"Over the Rainbow / Simple Gifts" ([upper-alpha 5])	Harold Arlen, Joseph Brackett	van der Beek, Schmidt, Nelson	3:44
6.	"Cello Wars"	John Williams	van der Beek, Nelson	3:31
7.	"Arwen's Vigil"	van der Beek, Schmidt, Nelson		3:55
8.	"Moonlight" ([upper-alpha 6])	Nelson, van der Beek, Beethoven	van der Beek, Nelson	3:28
9.	"A Thousand Years"	David Hodges, Christina Perri	van der Beek, Schmidt, Nelson	4:36
10.	"Michael Meets Mozart"	van der Beek, Schmidt, Nelson		5:20
11.	"The Cello Song" ([upper-alpha 7])	Johann Sebastian Bach, Nelson, van der Beek	van der Beek, Nelson	3:16
12.	"Rolling in the Deep" ([upper-alpha 8])	Adele Adkins, Paul Epworth	van der Beek, Schmidt, Nelson	3:52
13.	"What Makes You Beautiful"	Carl Falk, Savan Kotecha, Rami Yacoub	van der Beek, Schmidt, Nelson	2:54
Total length:				52:51

International Version

No.	Title	Length
14.	"Bring Him Home"	4:15
15.	"Without You"	3:36
16.	"Nearer My God to Thee"	3:01

Notes[1]

1. Inspired by Fauré: Pavane
2. Swahili lyrics by Alex Boyé
3. Inspired by Vivaldi: Double Concerto in G Minor, RV 531
4. Inspired by Beethoven: Symphony No. 5
5. Inspired by Brackett: Simple Gifts
6. Inspired by Beethoven: "Moonlight" Sonata and Beethoven: Symphony No. 7, Second movement
7. Inspired by Bach: Unaccompanied Cello Suite No. 1, Prelude
8. Contains elements of The Planets "Jupiter Theme" by Gustav Holst; Inspired by Holst: The Planets "Jupiter Theme"

Personnel

Per liner notes[1]

The Piano Guys

• Steven Sharp Nelson - producer, electric, acoustic and steel cellos, piano and cello percussion, light saber on "Cello Wars", additional percussion, piano and vocals
• Jon Schmidt - piano, piano and vocal percussion, additional vocals and production
• Al van der Beek - producer, percussion, additional piano, piano percussion and vocals
• Tel Stewart - videography
• Paul Anderson - videography, editing

Additional musicians

• Alex Boyé - lead vocals on "Peponi (Paradise)"
• Julie Ann Nelson - additional vocals on "Beethoven's 5 Secrets"
• Matthew John Nelson - additional vocals on "Beethoven's 5 Secrets"
• Lyceum Philharmonic Orchestra - orchestration on "Beethoven's 5 Secrets"
• Kayson Brown - conducting on "Beethoven's 5 Secrets"

Commercial performance

As of June 2013, the album had sold more than 135,000 copies in the United States.[2]

Charts

Weekly charts Chart (2012–13) Peak position Austrian Albums Chart[3] 65 German Albums Chart[4] 51 US Billboard 200[5] 44 US Billboard Classical Albums[5] 1 US Billboard New Age Albums[5] 1

Year-end charts Chart (2012) Position US Billboard Classical Albums[5] 16 US Billboard New Age Albums[5] 6 Chart (2013) Position US Billboard Classical Albums[6] 3 US Billboard New Age Albums[7] 1 Chart (2014) Position US Billboard Classical Albums[8] 8 US Billboard New Age Albums[9] 4

Certifications and sales

Region	Certification	Certified units/sales
United States (RIAA)[10]	Gold	500,000
Sales+streaming figures based on certification alone.

Release history

Region	Date	Format	Label
United States[11]	October 2, 2012	CD, Digital download	Sony Masterworks
Canada[12]	October 23, 2012
Europe[13]	January 18, 2013

References

1. The Piano Guys (CD liner notes). The Piano Guys. Sony Masterworks. 2012.CS1 maint: others (link)
2. Billboard (2013-06-27). "The Piano Guys Cover Adele & Taylor Swift in Chart Beat Meet & Greet (Video)". Billboard. Retrieved 2017-05-05.
3. "Austrian chart history for The Piano Guys". austriancharts.at. Retrieved 15 May 2013.
4. "German chart overview - The Piano Guys". musicline.de (in German). media control. Retrieved 16 May 2013.
5. "Billboard Chart history for The Piano Guys". Billboard. Retrieved 15 May 2013.
6. Billboard (2013-12-31). "Classical Albums - Year-End 2013". Billboard. Retrieved 2017-05-05.
7. Billboard (2013-12-31). "New Age Albums - Year-End 2013". Billboard. Retrieved 2017-05-05.
8. Billboard (2014-12-31). "Classical Albums - Year-End 2014". Billboard. Retrieved 2017-05-05.
9. Billboard (2014-12-31). "New Age Albums - Year-End 2014". Billboard. Retrieved 2017-05-05.
10. "American album certifications – The Piano Guys – The Piano Guys". Recording Industry Association of America. If necessary, click Advanced, then click Format, then select Album, then click SEARCH. 
11. "The Piano Guys: Amazon.com: Music". Amazon.com. Retrieved 15 May 2013.
12. "The Piano Guys: Amazon.ca: Music". Amazon.ca. Retrieved 15 May 2013.
13. "The Piano Guys [+digital booklet]: Amazon.co.uk: Music". Amazon.co.uk. Retrieved 15 May 2013.