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''Sparks Fly'' is the debut studio album by American actress and pop singer Miranda Cosgrove. The plans for the album were first announced in July 2008, and the album was released by Columbia Records on April 27, 2010 as a standard edition and a deluxe edition and Epic Records in India and Italy. The album has been preceded by its lead single, "Kissin U" which was co-written by Cosgrove, Claude Kelly and Dr. Luke, who produced it with HitmanKTI, and was released on March 22, 2010. The album sold 36,000 copies in its first week, making its peak No. 8 on the ''Billboard'' 200. The album was met with a generally mixed to positive reception from fans and critics alike. Many fans and critics have stated they find similarities between Cosgrove and fellow singers Avril Lavigne and Miley Cyrus. Aside from its critical performance, ''Sparks Fly'' also has performed well commercially, charting in other countries such as Austria and Germany, among others. The album was promoted mainly through live performances, which included a mini-concert on ''The Today Show''. Cosgrove also promoted the album during her "Dancing Crazy Tour", which began January 24, 2011 and ended August 10, 2011. ==Background and development== Cosgrove's musical career first began with her recording the theme song of the Nickelodeon television series ''iCarly'' called "Leave It All to Me", on which Cosgrove starred as the title character on the show. The song features her former ''Drake and Josh'' cast mate Drake Bell, and was written by Michael Corcoran, one of Bell's band members. Following the success of ''iCarly'', Columbia Records released a soundtrack album of the show on June 10, 2008. The soundtrack album included four songs recorded by Cosgrove that were "Leave It All to Me", "Stay My Baby", "About You Now" and "Headphones On". Cosgrove stated, "Before that, I didn't see myself making an album, but when I spent time in the studio doing the theme song and saw how much fun it was, I wanted to go back."〔(Miranda Cosgrove Makes Sparks Fly With Top 10 Debut ) Billboard.com〕 In July 2008, Cosgrove officially announced plans for a debut solo album, stating that the album was "different" from her contributions to the ''iCarly'' soundtrack, with her "co-writing and getting really into it," and saying that "() playing a character on ''iCarly'', but this shows more of myself. Some people might think I'm just another actress putting out an album, but I wanted to prove that I'm more than that."〔 The album took two years to make, with Columbia Records' marketing manager Chris Poppe stating in May 2010 that "Miranda started working on (album ) at 14, and she's 16 now. The difference between those two ages is huge, and the songs have had to grow along with her."〔 On February 5, 2009, Cosgrove released her debut solo recording; the five-song EP ''About You Now'' exclusively onto the iTunes Store. The EP included the title track "About You Now", a remix of it, a remix of "Stay My Baby", "F.Y.I." and "Party Girl". In February 2010, Cosgrove announced the album's first single would be titled "Kissin U", which debuted live in an interview with Ryan Seacrest. The album's title ''Sparks Fly'' comes from the first two words of "Kissin U". The track list, including the four deluxe edition bonus tracks, was announced on Tommy2.net on March 12, 2010,〔 and the artwork was later revealed on March 19, 2010. The song "Daydream" was co-written and originally recorded by Avril Lavigne, co-written by Chantal Kreviazuk and produced by Raine Maida, and was planned for Lavigne's second studio album ''Under My Skin''. The song "Disgusting" was co-written and originally recorded by Ke$ha, co-written by Pebe Sebert and Sheppard Solomon and Tom Meredith, who produced it with HitmanKTI, and was planned for Ke$ha's debut studio album ''Animal''. Both songs were unreleased and eventually recorded by Cosgrove. The song "Shakespeare" is a cover, co-written and originally recorded by Susan Cagle, co-written by Jason Brett Levine and was released as a single on Cagle's debut self-recorded album ''The Subway Recordings''. The song was produced by John Shanks and HitmanKTI for this album. The song "Adored" was co-written by Cosgrove and The Matrix, who produced it and was a free digital download two years before the album's official release, first as a rough mix and later as a fully mastered version. The song "Charlie" was co-written by Nicole Morier and Greg Kurstin who produced it and was released as a bonus track exclusively on the iTunes deluxe edition of the album. ==Composition== Cosgrove has stated that in the album she was trying to find her own style, so the album experiments with several different kinds of music. In an interview, Cosgrove stated that she tried to put a little bit of her own flare into each and every song on the album. Cosgrove described the album's lead single "Kissin U", as "kind of a really happy, sweet song". The songs on the album generally deal with love and relationships. Cosgrove has stated that this was unintentional, but she realized this after she had already picked all of the songs on the album.〔 In their review of the album, ''Portrait Magazine'' stated the album would target teenagers, saying, "The verdict on Miranda's musical effort is, like her album, a little confusing. I don't think she's quite at the point of being on main stream radio; she's got a little bit of work to do before that. But her bubblegum tracks are good enough to be played on children's radio stations, like Radio Disney, for example. Her current sound, the mixture of club beats and the sugary sweet pop, will probably hit well with the younger end of her audience. I just don't know if anyone over the age of thirteen is going to want to listen to her album all that often. Tracks like “Disgusting” will probably land well with older teens, but when they can listen to its writer on the radio already, I don't see the need for them to buy this album." During their review of the album, J!-ENT commented on the composition of a few songs from the album, saying, "BAM features a catchy, pop tune by Antonina Armato (who has worked with Miley Cyrus, David Archuleta and Selena Gomez & the Scene), Tim James and Rodney Jerkins (who has worked with Britney Spears, Brandy, Janet Jackson, Destiny's Child). Also, included in ''Sparks Fly'' is “Daydream” written by Avril Lavigne. Other tracks include the catchy, pop track “Disgusting”; “Shakespeare” – a rock-driven track; the lovely ballad “Hey You” and the sugary, upbeat pop track “Oh Oh” and the well-done/solid pop track “There Will Be Tears”." ''Teenink'' also praised the lyrical content and friendly nature of the music, stating, "Any girl would love this album because it is upbeat and describes the way most girls feel when they are in love. ''Sparks Fly'' is a wonderful CD because it is upbeat, and has music that is very easy to relate to. Love may hurt and break your heart, but this album is sure to put a smile on your face." They later went on to say, "The album ''Sparks Fly'' has a good musical beat and positive lyrics. The song BAM is fast-paced and is an easy song to relate to. () This song is saying that once you find the one person that you love everything else doesn’t matter, because the only thing that’s important is being with the one that you love." 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Sparks Fly (album)」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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