On The Road Again: t.A.T.u. "200 km/h in the Wrong Lane"

lunes, 21 de octubre de 2019

t.A.T.u. "200 km/h in the Wrong Lane"

200 km/h in the Wrong Lane, also titled t.A.T.u. in Japan, is the second studio album and first English-language release by Russian duo t.A.T.u., first released on 10 December 2002 by Interscope Records. It is the duo's first studio album to be associated with Interscope after signing to Universal Music Russia, the label they signed to in 1998. Due to the duo's lack of English vocabulary, the album was produced and written by producers such as Trevor Horn, Martin Kierszenbaum, Sergio Galoyan, Robert Orton and Ivan Shapovalov, who was placed as the duo's manager and executive producer. 200 km/h lyrically explores themes such as teenage rebellion, love, sexuality, sadness, independence and social rebellion.

The album received mixed reaction from contemporary music critics. Many critics praised the catchiness and production standards, while ambivalent towards the group's tacky imagery and vocal abilities. Upon its release, it debuted inside the top ten in many European countries including Denmark, Austria, Finland and Italy. It became the group's best-selling album on the US Billboard 200, peaking at thirteen. The album became the highest selling album in Russia, with estimated shipments of one million copies. They went on to promote the album with their Show Me Love Tour.

One of the three official singles "All the Things She Said" became one of the most successful singles in the 2000 era, charting at the top spot in over 20 countries. The song was responsible for bringing the group to the spotlight, particularly with the music video, which caused international controversy. "Not Gonna Get Us" and "How Soon Is Now?" charted moderately worldwide. With the sales, they became the first Russian act to have an album charting in many charts worldwide, and the second to chart on the US Billboard 200, following Gorky Park in 1989.

Prior to t.A.T.u. Yulia and Lena had auditioned as members of Neposedy, a group produced by Ivan Shapolavov and his business partner Alexander Voitinskyi. Shapolavov has said the two girls stood out from the rest of those that auditioned; however, 14-year-old Katina was initially the only one chosen for the band. She sang "It Must Have Been Love" by Swedish pop duo Roxette and later recorded a demo release of "Yugoslavia" for the "1999 NATO bombing of Yugoslavia". When both Lena and Julia were cast for the group (under the name 'Taty'), they began to record their first record. Then, in 2001 the group released "200 Po Vstrechnoy", which became successful in Poland and Russia. While the album was in development, their producer Alexander Voitinskyi left the production, leaving the album unreleased. However, Shapolavov later signed Elena Kiper as the new co-producer and co-writer for the album. With the success, Shapovalov decided to sign the group to Interscope and its parent Universal Music Group at the headquarters in Russia.

The group started recording the album in Trevor Horn's home studio in London, England and having some recording sessions in Los Angeles, California. When the group were signed and ready for recording, both Yulia and Lena felt it was easy to understand the English language. Yulia stated that Kierszenbaum helped her with pronunciation, while Lena was already speaking English before production of the album. However, during the times recording in studios, Yulia constantly lost her voice.

Katina commented on the collaborations, saying; "It was great [...] I think he was involved in some translations because we wanted to keep the meaning of the songs, and to keep the structure specifics. I think that Martin is a little bit of a fan of t.A.T.u, so he was really trying hard to make us big everywhere! We had an opportunity to work with great producer, it was valuable experience. I am talking about Trevor Horn. And in general, just imagine: Two girls are coming from Russia, which is another world compared to the USA, working with a high class producers and writers and management. Everybody is so professional. Working with Martin and Interscope in general brought us to an absolutely different level."

The album's title was revealed as 200 km/h in the Wrong Lane, which strikes a similarity to their first studio album. In a documentary on their DVD Screaming for More, the group revealed that the title of the album was to represent their imagery that was portrayed through the media and that the album represented a "dangerous" side to them. Katina also said of Volkova's dangerous driving that inspired the title.

The artwork and photoshoot off the album was shot by Sheryl Nields. There are three official covers to the album. The international version featured both Volkova and Katina leaning of a motorbike, with Katina leaning on Volkova. The Japanese version was shot with the duo in catholic school uniforms similar to the clothes they wore in the "All the Things She Said" video. Because the album issued music videos, a "G" rating was issued on the cover off the album physically. The 10th Anniversary Edition takes the artwork off "All the Things She Said" and uses the group's music videos to illustrate the border of the cover.

Track listing