Amy MacDonald - Albums Collection 2008-2011 (7CD)

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Amy MacDonald - Albums Collection 2008-2011 (7CD)

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Amy Macdonald is a Scottish singer/songwriter who, at the age of 20, began topping the European charts with her Celtic-tinged folk music. Born on August 25, 1987, she studied social sciences while attending university and, like many teenagers, spent her days dreaming of pilgrimages to music festivals like T in the Park. Inspired by the songwriting skills of Francis Healy and the sweeping pop/rock of Travis, the 12-year-old Macdonald picked up a guitar that had been left lying around the house from her father's pop group days. She taught herself the instrument by following "how to play guitar" advice on the Internet rather than taking structured lessons, and the burgeoning songwriter played with a community music group before graduating to solo shows in the local area. The gigs featured Macdonald, her acoustic guitar, and a set of cover songs including "Everybody Hurts" and a slow version of "Mad World." Before long, her slew of performances in local coffee houses had turned into a mini-tour of Scotland, where she performed original material alongside headliners like Travis and fellow Scot Paolo Nutini.

Festival appearances followed, including stints at Glastonbury, T in the Park, and V. Macdonald soon secured a recording deal with Vertigo Records, home to the Killers and Razorlight, before issuing two singles: "Poison Prince," a song about the tortured life of Pete Doherty offered as a limited online-only release, and "Mr. Rock & Roll," which finally launched Macdonald into the Top 20. Her debut album, This Is the Life, was released at the end of July 2007, where it climbed to number two during its first week on the charts. Over the course of the next year, This Is the Life continued to gain momentum and eventually went multi-platinum in several European countries. She began work on her sophomore effort in 2009, delivering the finished A Curious Thing – another lucrative chart-topper – in March 2010. Macdonald's third studio album, Life in a Beautiful Light, followed in 2012. Macdonald took over two years to write and record her fourth studio album – after giving it the time and attention it deserved, she released Under Stars in 2017.

Biography by Sharon Mawer, Allmusic.com

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Amy MacDonald - Albums Collection 2008-2011 (7CD)

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Amy MacDonald - Albums Collection 2008-2011 (7CD)

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The debut album from Scottish singer/songwriter Amy MacDonald, This Is the Life achieved a remarkable feat – it entered the charts at number two. MacDonald admits that the song "Poison Prince," which received a limited release as a single, is based on the life of Babyshambles/Libertines singer Pete Doherty, but the first nationally released single "Mr. Rock & Roll" has nothing whatever to do with him. With a finger on the pulse of news items of 2007, she fills "Footballer's Wife" with observations on WAG (wives and girlfriends) culture, in which female spouses are famous for nothing much more than their celebrity partners, and uses the title track "This Is the Life" to reflect upon the lifestyle she had always envied since the early days of practicing her guitar and honing her songwriting skills. Meanwhile, "Let's Start a Band" is exactly what it looks like: a song about being successful in the fickle career of pop music, a theme that is further developed on the song "Barrowland Ballroom," named after a venue in Glasgow that many an aspiring artist wishes to play. MacDonald captures the feelings of ordinary people in the crowd wishing that something exciting would happen in their lives ("I wish I saw Bowie playing on that stage"). There is a nostalgic feel to the album, which conjures up vocal images of Kirsty MacColl and vintage coffeehouse folk singers, and even the cover art evokes the '70s with its frayed edges and warm, lived-in appearance.

Review by Sharon Mawer, Allmusic.com

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Amy MacDonald - Albums Collection 2008-2011 (7CD)

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Amy MacDonald herself is a curious thing, an adult alternative singer/songwriter operating in a netherworld between indie and the mainstream. Naturally, she edges toward the mainstream – the polished production has a way of sanding down any edges – but her throaty growl gives this a heart unruly enough to prevent A Curious Thing from flowing too easily. Subtract MacDonald’s passionate vocals from the equation and A Curious Thing flows plenty easily, its surfaces gleaming with precision and its melodies sweetly lilting whether it’s a ballad or an understated folk stomp. If the production is the clearest signal that MacDonald is gunning for a larger crossover audience with her second album, her songs also show some signs of a swift sophomore sequel – she writes about her brushes with fame just a bit too often and bluntly, an affectation that doesn’t wear well no matter how well-executed the music is. These acknowledgments of MacDonald’s burgeoning European fame hinder A Curious Thing but don’t detract from its essential appeal as soft and shiny AAA pop with a bit of a thumping heart.

Review by Stephen Thomas Erlewine, Allmusic.com

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Amy MacDonald - Albums Collection 2008-2011 (7CD)

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Having overtaken KT Tunstall's mantle as Scotland's premier husky-voiced acoustic singer/songwriter, Amy MacDonald releases her first live album, recorded at London's Hammersmith Apollo on her 2010 Love Love: U.K. and European tour. Crediting her multi-platinum success across Germany, France, Belgium, and Britain to her extensive touring schedule, this three-CD 19-track collection is a chance for those yet to experience the Glaswegian's sound up close and personal; to hear what all the fuss is about. With only two studio albums under her belt, the set list contains few surprises, with only "A Wish for Something More" and "Barrowland Ballroom" omitted from her chart-topping debut This Is the Life, and "My Only One" and "Your Time Will Come" missing from her underwhelming follow-up, A Curious Thing. The stronger performances and the seemingly more well-received songs are indeed from her 2007 LP, including the tribute to troubled star Pete Doherty, "Poison Prince," her infectious "Ring of Fire"-influenced breakthrough, "Mr Rock & Roll," and her attack on the vacuousness of celebrity culture, "Footballer's Wife." However, backed by an eight-piece string orchestra in addition to her long-standing tight backing band, MacDonald's sophomore album is given a new lease of life, particularly on the passionate rendition of "Don't Tell Me It's Over" and the soulful ballad "What Happiness Means ro Me." While the two-track encore, a powerful cover version of Bruce Springsteen's "Born to Run" and a rousing rendition of the poetic "Let's Start a Band," showcase MacDonald's seductively charming vocals, which sit somewhere between the lilting Celtic tones of Dolores O'Riordan and the folky sensibilities of Kirsty MacColl. With its specially adapted new arrangements and confident, self-assured performances, this unique recording of the Love Love tour goes some way toward illustrating why MacDonald has become such a popular live draw.

Review by Jon O'Brien, Allmusic.com