My Cassette Player
Studio album by
Lena
Released7 May 2010
RecordedMarch–April 2010
Length42:32
LabelUniversal Music Germany
Producer
  • André "Brix" Buchmann
  • John Gordon
  • Per Kristian Ottestad
  • Ingo Politz
  • Stefan Raab
  • Bernd Wendlandt
Lena chronology
My Cassette Player
(2010)		 Good News
(2011)
Singles from My Cassette Player
  1. "Satellite"
    Released: 13 March 2010
  2. "Touch a New Day"
    Released: 6 August 2010

My Cassette Player is the debut studio album of German singer Lena Meyer-Landrut. It was released by Universal Music Germany on 7 May 2010 in German-speaking Europe.[1] After winning Unser Song für Oslo, the German final for the Eurovision Song Contest 2010, Meyer-Landrut began work on her debut album, with entertainer Stefan Raab producing and co-writing most of the material. Several song which she had recorded during the national finals, including winning entry "Satellite," were also included.

The album earned largely mixed reviews but was released to major commercial success. It debuted at number one on the German Albums Chart and also peaked atop the charts in Austria. Following its international release and Meyer-Landrut's triumph at the Eurovision Song Contest, My Cassette Player also reached the top five in Greece, Sweden, and Switzerland. One of the five biggest-selling albums of the year in Germany, it was certified 5× Gold by the Bundesverband Musikindustrie (BVMI) in 2011.

Production

My Cassette Player was chiefly produced by entertainer and Unser Song für Oslo jury member Stefan Raab, while Meyer-Landrut co-wrote five songs from the final track listing. The album includes her number-one single "Satellite," Germany's winning entry at the Eurovision Song Contest 2010,[2] as well as her songs "Love Me" and "Bee",[1] which had been released previously on 13 March 2010.[3] It also features cover versions of "My Same" by English singer Adele, "Mr. Curiosity" by American singer Jason Mraz, and "New Shoes" by Scottish singer Paolo Nutini, all of which had been performed by Meyer-Landrut during Unser Star für Oslo.[1] The cover photo was created by Sophie Krische and depicts the singer sitting on a SKR 700.[4] The artwork of the album booklet was done by Ronald Reinsberg.[4]

Critical reception

Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
Aftonbladet[5]
Expressen[6]
Laut.de[7]
LetMeEntertainYou[8]
MuzObzor[9]
Nerikes Allehanda[10]
Nya Wermlands-Tidningen[11]

In Germany, initial reviews of the album were mixed. While Gunther Reinhardt from Stuttgarter Nachrichten criticised the overly distinct influence of producer Stefan Raab,[12] Neue Presse's Matthias Halbig deemed it a "charming debut,"[13] and Gerd Schild from Hannoversche Allgemeine called it "somewhat banal" but still a "good pop album," characterising "Bee" as a "cheerful hymn to independence" and "Satellite" as "still sounding astonishingly fresh, even after its massive airplay."[14] Michael Schuh, writing for Laut.de, found that "for an instant pop album with pre-written numbers, Lena does a pretty good job." He noted that My Cassette Player was "certainly more pleasant than anything from Silbermond or Ich + Ich and perhaps a little more infectious than Max Mutzke albums."[7] Tagesspiegel critic Nadine Lange felt that "Lena's accent contributes significantly to the international feel of My Cassette Player. However, it is evoked even more strongly by the solid songwriting and the pleasing arrangements. When a spacey keyboard joins the slap bass in I like to hang my head or the acoustic guitars complement each other like Jack Johnson in "Wonderful Dreaming," it's simply nice, contemporary consensus pop."[15]

In foreign press, the album was critically panned with a number of reviews blaming nonsensical lyrics and Meyer-Landrut's "weak voice." In Sweden, the website Kritiker assigned a normalised rating out of 5.0 to reviews from mainstream critics across the country and gave the album an average score of 2.0, based on 13 reviews, which indicates negative to mixed reviews.[16] Jenny Seth of Aftonbladet accused Meyer-Landrut of being "a precocious teenager" with "forced vocals [and] banal lyrics about bees." She added that, whilst Meyer-Landrut "is influenced by Kate Nash and Adele, she sounds rather [like a] wimpy Colbie Caillat and Jason Mraz's unbearably perky little sister."[5] Anders Nunstedt, music editor from the Swedish tabloid Expressen, gave the album a harsh review calling it a "bland pop debut with nonsense lyrics" and criticising the singer's "exaggerated British accent."[6] Carina Jonsson in Nerikes Allehanda gave the album only one out of five and criticised Meyer-Landrut's vocal ability, saying she "sings as bad as any karaoke rookie, also, she has added a hard-won goofy English accent."[10] AllMusic editor Jason Birchmeier called My Cassette Player a "relatively straightforward pop album that doesn't rely on the novelty appeal of most Eurovision debut efforts. The style of the album seems to be modeled after one of Lena's favorite contemporary artists, British pop star Kate Nash."[17]

Chart performance

Released only a few weeks ahead of the Eurovision Song Contest 2010, My Cassette Player debuted at number one the German Albums Chart in the week of 21 May 2010.[18] It would spend four non-consecutive weeks at the top of the chart and further twelve weeks inside the top ten.[18] The fifth biggest-selling album of the year in Germany only after Unheilig's Große Freiheit (2010), Peter Maffay's Tattoos (2010), Lady Gaga's The Fame (2008), and Ich + Ich's Gute Reise (2009),[18] in 2011, the album was certified 5× Gold by the Bundesverband Musikindustrie (BVMI) for shipment figures in excess of 500,000 copies.[19]

Track listing

My Cassette Player track listing
No.TitleWriter(s)Producer(s)Length
1."Satellite"
  • André "Brix" Buchmann
  • Gordon
  • Ingo Politz
  • Bernd Wendlandt
2:55
2."My Cassette Player"
Raab3:35
3."Not Following"
Raab3:36
4."I Like to Bang My Head"
  • Meyer-Landrut
  • Raab
Raab3:23
5."My Same"AdeleRaab3:02
6."Caterpillar in the Rain"
  • Meyer-Landrut
  • Raab
Raab3:42
7."Love Me"
  • Meyer-Landrut
  • Raab
Raab2:59
8."Touch a New Day"RaabRaab3:08
9."Bee"
Ottestad3:00
10."You Can't Stop Me"RaabRaab2:54
11."Mr. Curiosity"
Raab3:41
12."I Just Want Your Kiss"
  • Daniel Schaub
  • Pär Lammers
  • Raab
Raab3:05
13."Wonderful Dreaming"
  • Meyer-Landrut
  • Raab
Raab3:32
Total length:42:32
Platinum edition – bonus tracks
No.TitleWriter(s)Producer(s)Length
14."We Can't Go On"
  • Lammers
  • Schaub
Raab3:15
15."New Shoes"
Raab3:23
16."Das Wunder von Oslo" (documentary)  23:00
17."Satellite" (music video)  2:54
18."Touch a New Day" (music video)  3:08
Tchibo deluxe edition bonus DVD
No.TitleLength
1."Satellite" (Live at Unser Star für Oslo)3:01
2."Love Me" (Live at Unser Star für Oslo)3:09
3."Bee" (Live at Unser Star für Oslo)3:30
4."My Same" (Live at Unser Star für Oslo)3:39
5."Mr. Curiosity" (Live at Unser Star für Oslo)3:32
6."Photo gallery ("Satellite")"2:54

Notes

Personnel

Credits adapted from the album's booklet.[4]

Performers and musicians

  • Thorsten Brötzmann – keyboards
  • Axel Grube – bass
  • Jan Löchel – additional vocals
  • Kayna – additional vocals
  • Michael Knauer – keyboards
  • Christoph Leis-Bendorf –additional vocals
  • Lena Meyer-Landrut – Lead vocals
  • Peter Weihe – guitar

Technical

  • André "Brix" Buchmann – production
  • Sascha "Busy" Bühren – mastering
  • John Gordon – production
  • Jeo@Jeopark – mastering
  • Per Kristian "Boots" Ottestad – production
  • Ingo Politz – production
  • Stefan Raab – production
  • Michael Schwabe – mastering
  • Bernd Wendtland – production

Imagery

  • Sophie Krische – photos
  • Ronald Reinsberg – artwork

Charts

Certifications

Certifications for My Cassette Player
Region CertificationCertified units/sales
Germany (BVMI)[19] 5× Gold 500,000^

^ Shipments figures based on certification alone.

Release history

My Cassette Player release history
Region Date Edition(s) Format(s) Label Ref.
Various 7 May 2010
Universal Music Germany [33]
26 November 2010 Platinum [34]

References

  1. 1 2 3 Klier, Marcus. Germany: Lena's debut album released on 7th May. ESCtoday.com. 1 May 2010. Accessed 7 May 2010.
  2. ↑ Zeit Online. Eurovision Song Contest: Lena siegt in Oslo. Zeit.de. 30 May 2010. Accessed 30 May 2010. (in German)
  3. ↑ "Lena Meyer-Landrut fliegt wie ein "Satellite"in die Charts", Die Welt (in German), 23 March 2010.
  4. 1 2 3 My Cassette Player (CD booklet and case back cover). Lena. USFO for Universal Deutschland. 2010.{{cite AV media notes}}: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link)
  5. 1 2 Seth, Jenny (11 June 2010). "Lillgammal och forcerad sång". Aftonbladet (in Swedish). Schibsted. Retrieved 11 December 2012.
  6. 1 2 Nunstedt, Anders (3 June 2010). "Lena – My cassette player". Expressen (in Swedish). Bonnier Group. Retrieved 11 December 2012.
  7. 1 2 Schuh, Michael (25 January 2012). "Review". Laut.de. Retrieved 29 August 2012.
  8. ↑ "LetMeEntertainYou review". Letmeentertainyou.de. 7 May 2010. Archived from the original on 24 July 2011. Retrieved 29 August 2012.
  9. ↑ "MuzObzor review". Muzobzor.ru. Archived from the original on 8 March 2012. Retrieved 29 August 2012.
  10. 1 2 Jonsson, Carina. "Lena: My Cassette Player". Nerikes Allehanda (in Swedish). LT Liberala Tidningar AB. Archived from the original on 11 July 2010. Retrieved 11 December 2012.
  11. ↑ Hård, Lina (18 June 2010). "Lena – Vill vara Nash men blir Schwarzenegger". Nya Wermlands-Tidningen (in Swedish). Nya Wermlands-Tidningen. Retrieved 11 December 2012.
  12. ↑ Reinhardt, Gunther (6 May 2010). "Ganz viel Raab und ein kleines bisschen Lena". Stuttgarter Nachrichten (in German). Retrieved 27 October 2023.
  13. ↑ Halbig, Matthias (6 May 2010). "Zeug zum Chartstürmer: Lenas neues Album". Neue Presse (in German). Archived from the original on 9 May 2010. Retrieved 27 October 2023.
  14. ↑ Schild, Gerd (6 May 2010). "Lena Meyer-Landruts erstes Album ist erschienen". Hannoversche Allgemeine (in German). Archived from the original on 9 August 2011. Retrieved 27 October 2023.
  15. ↑ Lange, Nadine (7 May 2010). "Netter, zeitgemäßer Konsenspop". Tagesspiegel (in German). Retrieved 27 October 2023 – via ZEIT Online.
  16. ↑ "13 recensioner av Lena: My Cassette Player" (in Swedish). Kritiker.se. Retrieved 11 December 2012.
  17. ↑ Birchmeier, Jason. "My Cassette Player (Review)". AllMusic. Retrieved 27 October 2023.
  18. 1 2 3 4 "Offiziellecharts.de – Lena – My Cassette Player" (in German). GfK Entertainment Charts. Retrieved 27 October 2023.
  19. 1 2 "Gold-/Platin-Datenbank (Lena; 'My Cassette Player')" (in German). Bundesverband Musikindustrie. Retrieved 3 October 2011.
  20. ↑ "Austriancharts.at – Lena – My Cassette Player" (in German). Hung Medien. Retrieved 8 April 2017.
  21. ↑ "Ultratop.be – Lena – My Cassette Player" (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved 8 April 2017.
  22. ↑ "Danishcharts.dk – Lena – My Cassette Player". Hung Medien. Retrieved 8 April 2017.
  23. ↑ "Lena: My Cassette Player" (in Finnish). Musiikkituottajat – IFPI Finland. Retrieved 8 April 2017.
  24. ↑ "Greekcharts.com – Lena – My Cassette Player". Hung Medien. Retrieved 8 April 2017.
  25. ↑ "Norwegiancharts.com – Lena – My Cassette Player". Hung Medien. Retrieved 8 April 2017.
  26. ↑ "Oficjalna lista sprzedaży :: OLiS - Official Retail Sales Chart". OLiS. Polish Society of the Phonographic Industry. Retrieved 8 April 2017.
  27. ↑ "Swedishcharts.com – Lena – My Cassette Player". Hung Medien. Retrieved 8 April 2017.
  28. ↑ "Swisscharts.com – Lena – My Cassette Player". Hung Medien. Retrieved 8 April 2017.
  29. ↑ "Ö3 Austria Top 40 – Jahreshitparade 2010". Retrieved 8 April 2017.
  30. ↑ "Top 100 Album-Jahrescharts (2010)". Retrieved 8 April 2017.
  31. ↑ "Schweizer Jahreshitparade 2010". Retrieved 8 April 2017.
  32. ↑ "Der Countdown läuft, das Debütalbum MY CASSETTE PLAYER erscheint am Freitag". Universal-music.de] (in German). 6 May 2010. Retrieved 27 October 2023.
  33. ↑ "My Cassette Player by Lena". Tidal. Retrieved 27 October 2023.
  34. ↑ "My Cassette Player by Lena". Apple Music (DE). Retrieved 27 October 2023.
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