City of Angels
Soundtrack album by
Various artists
ReleasedMarch 31, 1998
Genre
Length71:48
LabelWarner Bros.
Singles from City of Angels: Music from the Motion Picture
  1. "Uninvited"
    Released: February 24, 1998[1]
  2. "If God Will Send His Angels (Remix)"
    Released: March 2, 1998[1]
  3. "Iris"
    Released: April 7, 1998[1]
  4. "Angel"
    Released: September 28, 1998

City of Angels: Music from the Motion Picture is the soundtrack album for the film City of Angels, released by Warner Bros. Records on March 31, 1998 (see 1998 in music).

Reception

Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[2]
National Catholic Reporter(positive)[3]

Yahoo! Music's Craig Rosen, who called the album "a stroke of marketing genius", speculated that executive producer Rob Cavallo, who was head of Alanis Morissette and the Goo Goo Dolls' management firm, "was instrumental in making sure the soundtrack provided a nice set-up for the forthcoming Morissette and Goo Goo Dolls albums [Supposed Former Infatuation Junkie and Dizzy Up the Girl, respectively] ... Record executives and managers love big hits from soundtracks, especially when they dovetail into a new release by one of their artists. That's the case with both Morissette and the Goo Goo Dolls and it's not a mere coincidence."[4] Bob Bell, a new release buyer for the Wherehouse Entertainment chain of stores in Torrance, California, said the marketing of the album was "amazing" and attributed its early strong sales to Morissette's "Uninvited". He said of the Goo Goo Dolls that the soundtrack "helped to re-establish them ... [it] brought them back into our minds".[4] Robert Scally wrote of "Uninvited", "Placing exclusives on soundtracks ... has been a successful tactic for creating a buzz around the album while highlighting the musical artist".[5]

Commercial performance

The City of Angels soundtrack debuted at number 23 on the Billboard 200 chart on the issue dated 18 April 1998.[6] The following week it entered the top ten at number seven and eventually reached the runner-up position for three weeks until it topped the charts in early June, selling 165,000 copies.[7] City of Angels finished the year as the seventh highest-selling album of 1998.[8] To date the soundtrack has sold 5.5 million units in the United States and has been certified five times Platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America.[9][10] Additionally, it peaked at number three on the Canadian charts and has sold over 700,000 copies in the country.[11]

Elsewhere, the soundtrack also performed well, reaching number one in Australia, Germany, New Zealand and Switzerland. It has been certified Platinum in Japan and multi-Platinum in Australia.[12]

Singles

Its two singles, the Goo Goo Dolls' "Iris" and Alanis Morissette's "Uninvited", were released to U.S. radio in March and were still receiving substantial radio airplay by the following August.[4] An internet and radio leak of "Uninvited" in early March forced Warner Bros. to release the entire soundtrack to radio before it became available in stores. According to a publicity manager for Warner Music Canada, the measure was "an inconvenience" taken to stop radio stations from playing low-quality versions of the song downloaded from the internet.[13] "Iris" reached number one on Billboard's Modern Rock Tracks, Top 40 Mainstream and Adult Top 40 charts in the U.S., and it spent a record amount of time atop the Hot 100 Airplay chart.[14] "Uninvited" reached number one on the Top 40 Mainstream and peaked inside the top five on the Adult Top 40.

Track listing

No.TitleWriter(s)PerformerLength
1."If God Will Send His Angels"
4:31
2."Feelin' Love"
5:37
3."Red House"
3:49
4."Uninvited"
4:34
5."Mama, You Got A Daughter"
3:41
6."Angel"
4:29
7."Iris"
4:50
8."I Grieve"
8:09
9."I Know"
4:34
10."Further On Up the Road"
7:26
11."An Angel Falls"
4:54
12."The Unfeeling Kiss"
3:42
13."Spreading Wings"
  • Gabriel Yared
4:25
14."City of Angels"
  • Gabriel Yared
7:07
Total length:71:48

Charts

Sales and certifications

Region Certification Certified units/sales
Australia (ARIA)[32] 2× Platinum 140,000^
Austria (IFPI Austria)[33] Gold 25,000*
Brazil (Pro-Música Brasil)[34] Gold 100,000*
Canada (Music Canada)[35] 7× Platinum 700,000^
Germany (BVMI)[36] Gold 250,000^
Japan (RIAJ)[37] Platinum 200,000^
New Zealand (RMNZ)[38] Platinum 15,000^
Norway (IFPI Norway)[39] Gold 25,000*
Switzerland (IFPI Switzerland)[40] Gold 25,000^
United Kingdom (BPI)[41] Gold 100,000^
United States (RIAA)[42] 5× Platinum 5,500,000[10]

* Sales figures based on certification alone.
^ Shipments figures based on certification alone.

Personnel

See also

References

  1. ^ a b c "Billboard". 110 (11). Nielsen Business Media, Inc. 19 March 1998: 144. Retrieved 28 January 2014. ((cite journal)): Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
  2. ^ Allmusic review
  3. ^ National Catholic Reporter review
  4. ^ a b c Rosen, Craig. "'City' A Set-Up For New Alanis, Goo Goo Dolls Albums". Yahoo! Music. August 27, 1998. Retrieved November 11, 2006.
  5. ^ Scally, Robert. "The charts are alive with the Sound of Movies". Discount Store News. September 7, 1998. Retrieved November 11, 2006.
  6. ^ "Billboard". 110 (16). Nielsen Business Media, Inc. 1 August 1998: 84. Retrieved 28 January 2014. ((cite journal)): Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
  7. ^ "Billboard". 110 (24). Nielsen Business Media, Inc. 13 June 1998: 120. Retrieved 28 January 2014. ((cite journal)): Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
  8. ^ Pollack, Mark. "Dion named recording industry's top artist of '98". Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. December 24, 1998. Retrieved on 24 January 1998.
  9. ^ Searchable database of U.S. certifications. Recording Industry Association of America. Retrieved on 24 January 2014.
  10. ^ a b Caulfield, Keith. "Ask Billboard: Answers to readers' questions about the 'Grease' Soundtrack, Whitney Houston and Crossfade". Billboard. Retrieved 28 January 2014.
  11. ^ "City of Angels (Original Soundtrack) - Billboard Albums". Allmusic and Billboard. Retrieved on 28 January 2014.
  12. ^ "GOLD ALBUM 他認定作品 1999年1月度" [Gold Albums, and other certified works. January 1999 Edition] (PDF). The Record (Bulletin) (in Japanese). Chūō, Tokyo: Recording Industry Association of Japan. 472: 9. March 10, 1999. Archived from the original (PDF) on September 28, 2013. Retrieved January 23, 2014.
  13. ^ Cairney, Richard. "Cover Story" Archived 2006-10-18 at the Wayback Machine. SEE Magazine. March 19, 1998. Retrieved November 11, 2006.
  14. ^ Feniak, Jenny. "Dolls still dancing"[usurped]. Edmonton Sun. November 6, 2006. Retrieved November 11, 2006.
  15. ^ "Australiancharts.com – Soundtrack – City of Angels". Hung Medien.
  16. ^ "Austriancharts.at – Soundtrack – City of Angels" (in German). Hung Medien.
  17. ^ "Ultratop.be – Soundtrack – City of Angels" (in Dutch). Hung Medien.
  18. ^ "Ultratop.be – Soundtrack – City of Angels" (in French). Hung Medien.
  19. ^ "Billboard". 110 (18). Nielsen Business Media, Inc. 2 May 1998: 92. Retrieved 28 January 2014. ((cite journal)): Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
  20. ^ "Dutchcharts.nl – Soundtrack – City of Angels" (in Dutch). Hung Medien.
  21. ^ "Billboard". 110 (35). Nielsen Business Media, Inc. 2 May 1998: 126. Retrieved 28 January 2014. ((cite journal)): Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
  22. ^ "Lescharts.com – Soundtrack – City of Angels". Hung Medien.
  23. ^ "Officialcharts.de – Soundtrack – City of Angels". GfK Entertainment Charts.
  24. ^ a b "Billboard". 110 (31). Nielsen Business Media, Inc. 1 August 1998: 92. Retrieved 28 January 2014. ((cite journal)): Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
  25. ^ "Charts.nz – Soundtrack – City of Angels". Hung Medien.
  26. ^ "Norwegiancharts.com – Soundtrack – City of Angels". Hung Medien.
  27. ^ "Swedishcharts.com – Soundtrack – City of Angels". Hung Medien.
  28. ^ "Swisscharts.com – Soundtrack – City of Angels". Hung Medien.
  29. ^ "Soundtrack Chart History (Billboard 200)". Billboard.
  30. ^ "Top 100 Album-Jahrescharts" (in German). GfK Entertainment. Retrieved September 8, 2016.
  31. ^ Geoff Mayfield (December 25, 1999). 1999 The Year in Music Totally '90s: Diary of a Decade - The listing of Top Pop Albums of the '90s & Hot 100 Singles of the '90s. Billboard. Retrieved October 15, 2010.
  32. ^ "ARIA Charts – Accreditations – 1999 Albums" (PDF). Australian Recording Industry Association. Retrieved 28 January 2014.
  33. ^ "Austrian album certifications – Soundtrack – City of Angels" (in German). IFPI Austria. Retrieved 28 January 2014.
  34. ^ "Brazilian album certifications – Vários – [CD] O.S.T. City Of Angels" (in Portuguese). Pro-Música Brasil. Retrieved 25 October 2022.
  35. ^ "Canadian album certifications – Various Artists – City of Angels". Music Canada. Retrieved 25 January 2014.
  36. ^ "Gold-/Platin-Datenbank (O.S.T. - Various; 'City of Angels')" (in German). Bundesverband Musikindustrie. Retrieved 25 January 2014.
  37. ^ "The Record" (PDF). Recording Industry Association of Japan. March 1999. Archived from the original (PDF) on 28 September 2013. Retrieved 28 January 2014.
  38. ^ "New Zealand album certifications – Soundtrack – City of Angels". Recorded Music NZ. Retrieved 5 November 2016.
  39. ^ "IFPI Norsk platebransje Trofeer 1993–2011" (in Norwegian). IFPI Norway. Retrieved 5 May 2019.
  40. ^ "The Official Swiss Charts and Music Community: Awards ('City of Angels')". IFPI Switzerland. Hung Medien. Retrieved 25 January 2014.
  41. ^ "British album certifications – Original Soundtrack – City of Angels - OST". British Phonographic Industry. Retrieved 5 May 2019.
  42. ^ "American album certifications – Soundtrack – City of Angels". Recording Industry Association of America. Retrieved 28 January 2014.
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