Eye to the Telescope

This article is about the album by KT Tunstall. For the online magazine, see Eye to the Telescope (magazine).

Eye to the Telescope
Studio album by KT Tunstall
Released	13 December 2004 (2004-12-13)
Recorded	2004
Studio	Nam Studios (Bath, England)
Length	45:44
Label	Relentless
Producer	Steve Osborne Andy Green Martin Terefe
KT Tunstall chronology
False Alarm EP (2004) Eye to the Telescope (2004) KT Tunstall's Acoustic Extravaganza (2006)
Alternative cover
American edition cover
Singles from Eye to the Telescope
"Black Horse and the Cherry Tree" Released: 21 February 2005[1] "Other Side of the World" Released: 9 May 2005[2] "Suddenly I See" Released: 29 August 2005[3] "Under the Weather" Released: 5 December 2005[4] "Another Place to Fall" Released: 13 March 2006[5]

Eye to the Telescope is the debut studio album by Scottish singer-songwriter KT Tunstall, originally released on 13 December 2004 and re-released 10 January 2005 by Relentless Records. On 19 July 2005, it was nominated for the 2005 Mercury Music Prize in the United Kingdom. Tunstall promoted the album in the United States and Canada in December 2005. The album was released on 7 February 2006 in the US. Also, a special CD/DVD edition of the album was released in September 2006 in the United States, along with a different cover and a bonus track.

The album was a strong seller worldwide, and became the 50th best-selling album of the 2000s decade in the United Kingdom.^[6]

Critical reception

Professional ratings

Aggregate scores
Source	Rating
Metacritic	76/100[7]
Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic	[8]
The Guardian	[9]
PopMatters	[10]
Slant Magazine	[11]
Yahoo! Music UK	[12]
Q Magazine	[13]

Reviews for Eye to the Telescope were positive. Mark A. Price of PopMatters gave the album a score of 7 out of 10, noting that it manages to sound "both new and familiar", mixing influences from artists like Melissa Etheridge and Fiona Apple, while adding some originality of her own.^[10] Stephen Thomas Erlewine of AllMusic gave it three and a half stars out of five, calling it "a promising, satisfying debut".^[8] On Metacritic, Eye to the Telescope has a score of 76 out of 100, indicating "generally favorable reviews".^[7]

Chart performance

The album entered the UK album chart at 73 and quickly dropped out again (it originally entered the lower regions of the Top 200 in its debut week, but these placings are not officially recorded for statistical purposes). It re-entered at 66 a few weeks later, and its rise was both surprising and unique for a new album on the UK charts. It improved every week for four weeks before peaking at number 36, then dropping down as low as 63 again. It then resumed a somewhat meteoric rise, culminating in a peak of number seven before slowly shifting back down. The publicity surrounding Tunstall's Mercury Music Prize nomination sent it back up the charts to an eventual peak of No. 3, after which time it became a Top 20 mainstay for the rest of 2005. It dropped out of the Top 10 in the 61st week, and has dropped continually since, before ending its run at 72 weeks. After a several month absence, the album returned at No. 66 for a 73rd non-consecutive week in August 2006.

The singles from the album became increasingly more successful, with "Other Side of the World" spending almost five months on the chart and "Suddenly I See" remaining in the Top 40 for 10 weeks. The album's next single, "Under the Weather", entered the chart at No. 39, while the fifth and final single, "Another Place to Fall", became Tunstall's first single to miss the Top 40 after more than 1.3 million copies of the album had been sold. In total, Tunstall has spent 133 weeks so far on the British charts.

The album was certified 5× platinum by the Irish album chart selling about 75,000 copies,^[14] and shipping 1.5 million copies in the UK, certifying it 5× platinum there as well.^[15] It was also certified platinum in Canada in January 2007.^[16] Worldwide, the album has sold 2.6 million copies.^[17]

Track listing

All tracks produced by Steve Osborne, except for track 1, "Other Side of the World", which is produced by Osborne and Martin Terefe, and track 4, "Black Horse and the Cherry Tree", which is produced by Andy Green.

Original European release^[18]

No.	Title	Length
1.	"Other Side of the World"	3:34
2.	"Another Place to Fall"	4:11
3.	"Under the Weather"	3:37
4.	"Suddenly I See"	3:22
5.	"Miniature Disasters"	3:32
6.	"Silent Sea"	3:48
7.	"Universe & U"	4:01
8.	"False Alarm"	3:50
9.	"Heal Over"	4:27
10.	"Stoppin' the Love"	4:02
11.	"Through the Dark"	3:48
12.	"Black Horse and the Cherry Tree" (live on Later... with Jools Holland)	4:47

International release and European reissue

No.	Title	Writer(s)	Length
1.	"Other Side of the World"	KT Tunstall, Martin Terefe	3:34
2.	"Another Place to Fall"	Tunstall	4:11
3.	"Under the Weather"	Tunstall, Tommy D	3:37
4.	"Black Horse and the Cherry Tree"	Tunstall	2:51
5.	"Miniature Disasters"	Tunstall	3:32
6.	"Silent Sea"	Tunstall, Jimmy Hogarth	3:48
7.	"Universe & U"	Tunstall, Pleasure	4:01
8.	"False Alarm"	Tunstall, Terefe	3:50
9.	"Suddenly I See"	Tunstall	3:22
10.	"Stoppin' the Love"	Tunstall, Tommy D	4:02
11.	"Heal Over"	Tunstall	4:27
12.	"Through the Dark"	Tunstall, Terefe	3:48

CD/DVD bonus track^[19]

No.	Title	Writer(s)	Length
13.	"Immune" (live from One Night in Gaia)	Tunstall	4:51

iTunes bonus track^[20]

No.	Title	Length
13.	"Black & White"	2:45

Japanese bonus track^[21]

No.	Title	Writer(s)	Length
13.	"Boo Hoo" (Acoustic Extravaganza version)	Tunstall	4:56

Notes

• The original edition of the album, released in December 2004, had a slightly different track order and did not include the studio version of "Black Horse and the Cherry Tree"; the version of the track recorded on Later... with Jools Holland was included as a "bonus live track".

Personnel

Credits adapted from the album's liner notes.^[22]

• KT Tunstall – vocals (tracks 1–4, 6, 8–9, 11–12, Lead: 5, 7, 10), guitar (1–11), wurlitzer (1, 10), pianet (3, 7), Shelltone horn (3), piano (2, 5, 8, 12), Doepfer bass (4, 7), chimes (8), additional percussion (4)
• Steve Osborne – shelltone horn (tracks 1–2), bass (2, 5, 11), additional guitar (2, 7, 10–11), percussion (5), moog synthesizer (7), background vocals (7, 10), audio mixing (10)
• Arnulf Lindner – double bass (tracks 1–2), bass guitar (3, 6, 8–9), baritone guitar (6, 9)
• Luke Bullen – drums (tracks 1–3, 5–12), percussion (3–4, 9–10), cajon (5–6, 9–10)
• Martin Terefe – additional keyboards (track 1)
• Ian Burdge – cello (tracks 2, 10)

Charts

Weekly charts Chart (2005–2006) Peak position Australian Albums (ARIA)[23] 43 Austrian Albums (Ö3 Austria)[24] 41 Canadian Albums (Billboard)[25] 41 Dutch Albums (Album Top 100)[26] 53 French Albums (SNEP)[27] 7 German Albums (Offizielle Top 100)[28] 43 Irish Albums (IRMA)[29] 4 Italian Albums (FIMI)[30] 37 New Zealand Albums (RMNZ)[31] 3 Norwegian Albums (VG-lista)[32] 11 Scottish Albums (OCC)[33] 2 Swiss Albums (Schweizer Hitparade)[34] 29 UK Albums (OCC)[35] 3 US Billboard 200[36] 33 US Top Rock Albums (Billboard)[37] 9

Year-end charts Chart (2005) Position European Albums (Billboard)[38] 33 Irish Albums (IRMA)[39] 14 UK Albums (OCC)[40] 7 Chart (2006) Position European Albums (Billboard)[41] 55 New Zealand Albums (RMNZ)[42] 8 UK Albums (OCC)[43] 34 US Billboard 200[44] 74 US Top Rock Albums (Billboard)[45] 12 Chart (2007) Position UK Albums (OCC)[46] 149 US Billboard 200[47] 137 Decade-end charts Chart (2000–09) Position UK Albums (OCC)[48] 51 All-time charts Chart Position Irish Female Albums (IRMA)[49] 34

Certifications

Region	Certification	Certified units/sales
Canada (Music Canada)[16]	Platinum	100,000^^
France (SNEP)[50]	Gold	100,000^*
Ireland (IRMA)[14]	5× Platinum	75,000^^
New Zealand (RMNZ)[51]	Platinum	15,000^^
Switzerland (IFPI Switzerland)[52]	Gold	20,000^^
United Kingdom (BPI)[15]	5× Platinum	1,682,867[53]
United States (RIAA)[55]	Platinum	1,300,000[54]
Summaries
Europe (IFPI)[56]	2× Platinum	2,000,000^*
Worldwide	—	4,000,000[57]
^* Sales figures based on certification alone. ^^ Shipments figures based on certification alone.

Release history

Country	Release date	Label	Format	Catalogue
United Kingdom	13 December 2004 (2004-12-13)	Relentless	CD	CDREL06
	10 January 2005 (2005-01-10)		CD + LP	CDRELX06 + LPREL06
United States	7 February 2006 (2006-02-07)	Virgin	CD	507292
	12 September 2006 (2006-09-12)		CD+DVD	747292

References

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