Battlefield is the second studio album by American singer Jordin Sparks, first released on July 17, 2009 through Jive Records and 19 Recordings. The album debuted at number 7 in the United States, number 11 in the UK, number 34 in Australia and top 20 in many territories.
Contributions to the album's production came from a variety of producers, including Harvey Mason, Jr., Claude Kelly, Ryan Tedder, Dr. Luke and Lucas Secon. The title track was released as the lead single from the album in May 2009, peaking at number 10 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart in the United States. "S.O.S. (Let the Music Play)" (which contains a sample from Shannon's 1983 single "Let the Music Play") was released as the second single from Battlefield in August 2009, followed by "Don't Let It Go to Your Head" (a cover version of Fefe Dobson's song of the same name) as the third single in January 2010. Upon its release, Battlefield received mixed reviews from music critics, most of whom complimented the production and Sparks' vocal performance, but criticized its lack of originality in terms of pop music. The album sold over 600,000 copies worldwide.
Background and production
Sparks confirmed in several interviews that the album would take the themes from the first single, "Battlefield". Then it was announced through the official press release that the album would be named Battlefield, after the first single, because it was central to the themes and other recordings for the album. Speaking of the lead song, Sparks said
Sparks spoke to Billboard magazine about how the recording process was much different to that of her previous album. Her debut had been recorded in approximately 20 days due to the huge appetite that fans had for her music. On the new album Sparks took her time meaning that not only could she write some of the songs but also had time to make the sound more mature or reject records which she felt unhappy with. Writing for the album began in the middle of 2008.
Music
On May 18, 2009 it was revealed so far Sparks had recorded 30 songs for the album but would select songs that fit well with the first single "Battlefield" since that was now also the name for the album. Later in May during an interview with Digital Spy, Sparks revealed that she has been involved in writing songs for the album, in total contributing to about 12 of approximately 30 recorded songs. She also revealed that although the album had at that time produced no duets she was hopeful to collaborate with Leona Lewis for a powerful ballad. When asked who else she would like to collaborate with she said Fergie, Justin Timberlake, and Alicia Keys.
None of these collaborations materialized although Sparks did confirm in an interview that she had made a pact to record a duet with Lewis for her future album as she believes the duo could be the next "Whitney Houston and Mariah Carey". The reason cited for no duets on this album was a lack of time and tight deadlines. As mentioned previously there are no vocal guests on the album although Tedder can be heard single backing vocals and ad-libs on the album's title song "Battlefield". Originally the album was intended to feature one guest in the form of T-Pain who had produced and appeared on the song "Watch You Go" with his signature vocoder (singing autotune), but for unspecified reasons this version of the song was omitted and replaced with a solo version featuring just Spark's vocals. Furthermore, of the 12 songs she has penned four have made the final version of the album ("Emergency (911)", "Was I the Only One", "Faith" and "The Cure") whilst a further two are being used as promotional songs (bonus tracks "Vertigo" and "Papercut"). All together between 30 and 40 songs had been short-listed for inclusion in the album, from which the final track list was selected and mastered.
Release and promotion
July 20 – Good Morning America
July 21 – Live with Regis and Kelly, Entertainment Tonight, Late Night with Jimmy Fallon July 22 – interviewed on The Today Show July 23 – interviewed on It's On with Alexa Chung July 24 – The Wendy Williams Show August 9 – appearance at the Teen Choice Awards August 17 – Live with Regis and Kelly September 17 – VH1 Divas October 13 – Performance of "S.O.S. (Let the Music Play)" on The Paul O'Grady Show in the UK.
The album was first announced to be released on July 14, 2009 in America by Sparks herself through Twitter and by Amazon.com. However it was then later confirmed through the official press release from Jive Records that the album would in fact be released a week later instead on July 21, 2009.