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The Boy Who Knew Too Much (album)

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2009 studio album by Mika
The Boy Who Knew Too Much
Studio album by Mika
Released21 September 2009
RecordedJune 2008–2009
StudioCapitol Studios
(Los Angeles, California)
Olympic Studios
(London, England)
Rocket Carousel Studio
(Los Angeles, California)
GenrePop
Length41:06
Label
Producer
Mika chronology
Songs for Sorrow
(2009) 		The Boy Who Knew Too Much
(2009) 		The Origin of Love
(2012)
Singles from The Boy Who Knew Too Much
  1. "We Are Golden"
    Released: 7 September 2009
  2. "Rain"
    Released: 23 November 2009
  3. "Blame It on the Girls"
    Released: 15 February 2010

The Boy Who Knew Too Much is the second studio album by British singer-songwriter Mika. It was released on 21 September 2009, under Casablanca/Universal Republic in the United States and Island in the United Kingdom.

Background

Mika worked with producer Greg Wells, who also produced his debut album Life in Cartoon Motion. The album was written in Olympic Studios, London, which began in June 2008. In September 2008 he moved to Rocket Carousel Studios, Los Angeles, where the album was recorded. Mika has described the album's themes as dealing with his teenage years, and "in a sense is kind of part two" of his first album. In contrast to his first album, which "contained innocent fairytales", Mika pitches the new album's songs as "gothic Tim Burton-esque fantasies."

The album was originally titled We Are Golden after the first single from the album, "We Are Golden". On 20 July 2009 in an on-air interview with DJ Jo Whiley on BBC Radio 1, Mika revealed he was considering renaming the album, because he wanted "something a little more ridiculous." On 6 August 2009 it was confirmed that the album's title would change to The Boy Who Knew Too Much. As with Mika's debut album Life in Cartoon Motion, the album artwork has been designed by Mika's sister (who works under the nom de plume DaWack), the Australian illustrator Sophie Blackall, Airside collaborator Richard Hogg and Mika himself. The artwork has been inspired by children's picture books from the 1940s to 1970s.

Critical response

Professional ratings
Aggregate scores
SourceRating
Metacritic70/100
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic
The A.V. ClubA−
Entertainment WeeklyA
The Guardian
Los Angeles Times
The Observer
PopMatters
Rolling Stone
Slant
Spin
The Times

The album received generally positive reviews from music critics, based on an aggregate score of 70/100 from Metacritic.

Singles

  • "We Are Golden" was the first single from the album. It received its UK radio debut on BBC Radio 2 on 20 July 2009. It peaked at number 4 on the UK Singles Chart.
  • "Rain" was the second UK and German single, released on 23 November 2009 in both digital and physical format. It peaked at number 72 on the UK Singles Chart, making it Mika's first UK single to miss the top 40. In Germany it peaked at number 56. It was released as the third UK single, on 15 February 2010.
  • "Blame It on the Girls" was the second American and Japanese single from the album. It peaked at number one in Japan but failed to make any impact in the United States. It was released as the third UK single, on 15 February 2010. It peaked at number 72.
  • The song "Good Gone Girl" charted within the Romanian Top 100 on airplay only, without being released as a single.

Track listing

Standard edition
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
1."We Are Golden"Mika3:58
2."Blame It on the Girls"Mika3:34
3."Rain"Mika, Jodi Marr3:43
4."Dr. John"Mika3:44
5."I See You"Mika, Walter Afanasieff4:17
6."Blue Eyes"Mika2:50
7."Good Gone Girl"Mika, Jodi Marr3:02
8."Touches You"Mika3:19
9."By the Time"Mika, Imogen Heap3:21
10."One Foot Boy"Mika, Rob Davis2:58
11."Toy Boy"Mika, Jodi Marr2:56
12."Pick Up Off the Floor"Mika3:24
Deluxe edition bonus tracks
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
13."Lady Jane"Mika3:20
14."Lover Boy"Mika3:13
Japanese edition bonus track
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
13."We Are Golden" (Acoustic)Mika3:08
Summer edition bonus tracks
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
13."Kick Ass (We Are Young)"Mika, Jodi Marr, RedOne3:12
14."Lover Boy"Mika3:13
15."Lady Jane"Mika3:20
16."Lonely Alcoholic"Mika3:08
17."Rain" (Acoustic)Mika3:06
18."Poker Face" (BBC Radio 1 Live Lounge Session)Stefani Germanotta, Nadir Khayat3:09
19."Satellite"David J. Matthews4:14
20."Ring Ring"Mika2:48
UK deluxe edition bonus disc: Mika: Live at Sadler's Wells
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
1."Grace Kelly"Mika, Jodi Marr, John Merchant, Dan Warner4:24
2."Lady Jane"Mika3:04
3."Stuck in the Middle"Mika6:06
4."Lonely Alcoholic"Mika3:17
5."Blue Eyes"Mika3:34
6."Toy Boy"Mika, Jodi Marr3:55
7."Billy Brown"Mika3:32
8."Good Gone Girl"Mika, Jodi Marr3:10
9."Over My Shoulder"Mika4:11
10."Big Girl (You Are Beautiful)"Mika4:12
11."Love Today"Mika3:45
12."Blame It on the Girls"Mika6:18
13."Happy Ending"Mika5:22
14."Lollipop"Mika7:08
15."My Interpretation"Mika, Jodi Marr, Richie Supa3:15
16."Rain"Mika5:07
17."Relax, Take It Easy"Mika5:38
American deluxe edition bonus DVD: The Boy Who Didn't Know Enough
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
1."We Are Golden" (The Making of the Video)Mika3:00
2."We Are Golden" (Video)Mika4:02
3."Making the Parc Des Princes Show" (Video)Mika15:00
4."Grace Kelly" (Live from Parc Des Princes)Mika, Jodi Marr, John Merchant, Dan Warner4:35
5."Lollipop" (Live from Parc Des Princes)Mika6:22
6."Love Today" (Live from Parc Des Princes)Mika7:08
Asian deluxe edition bonus disc: B-Sides & Rarities
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
1."Kick Ass (We Are Young)"Mika, Jodi Marr, RedOne3:14
2."We Are Golden" (Calvin Harris Remix)Mika6:58
3."Rain" (Benny Benassi Remix)Mika6:10
4."Blame It on the Girls" (Not on the Starsmith Remix)Mika6:53
5."Poker Face" (BBC Radio 1 Live Lounge Session)Stefani Germanotta, Nadir Khayat3:05
6."Kick Ass (We Are Young)" (Cutmore Remix)Mika, Jodi Marr, RedOne3:53
7."Relax, Take It Easy" (Ashley Beedle's Castro Vocal Discomix)Mika6:18
8."Grace Kelly" (Tom Neville Full Vocal Remix)Mika, Jodi Marr, Dan Warner9:03
9."Love Today" (Switch Remix)Mika5:31
10."Happy Ending" (Kleerup Mix)Mika6:31
11."Rain" (P Zombies Remix)Mika6:34
Summer deluxe edition bonus disc: The Best of Life in Cartoon Motion
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
1."Any Other World"Mika4:19
2."Grace Kelly"Mika, Jodi Marr, Dan Warner3:07
3."Lollipop"Mika3:03
4."My Interpretation"Mika, Jodi Marr3:35
5."Relax, Take It Easy"Mika3:44
6."Love Today"Mika3:55
7."Happy Ending" (The LA Edit)Mika3:54
8."Over My Shoulder"Mika4:45

Personnel

  • Mika – vocals, piano, keyboards, background vocals, background violin
Additional musicians
  • Walter Afanasieff – percussion, keyboards
  • The Andrae Crouch Choir – background vocals
  • Lorna Bridge – background vocals
  • Paul Buckmaster – strings
  • Matt Chamberlain – drums, percussion
  • Andrew Dermanis – additional vocals
  • Gary Grant – horns
  • Jerry Hey – horns
  • Imogen Heap – drums, background vocals, keyboard
  • Dan Higgins – horns
  • Alex Millar – background vocals
  • Audrey Moukataff – background vocals
  • Chris Nicolaides – background vocals
  • Cherisse Osei – drums
  • Owen Pallett – violin
  • Tim Pierce – guitar
  • Fortune Penniman – background vocals
  • Paloma Penniman – background vocals, additional vocals
  • Zuleika Penniman – background vocals
  • Bill Reichenbach Jr. – horns
  • Dan Rothchild – bass guitar, background vocals
  • Fabien Waltmann – keyboards
  • Martin Waugh – guitar, background vocals
  • Greg Wells – keyboards, drums, bass, percussion, guitar
  • Ida Falk Winland – background vocals
  • Lyle Workman – guitar

Charts and certifications

Weekly charts

Chart (2009) Peak
position
Argentine Albums (CAPIF) 6
Australian Albums (ARIA) 10
Austrian Albums (Ö3 Austria) 9
Belgian Albums (Ultratop Flanders) 3
Belgian Albums (Ultratop Wallonia) 3
Canadian Albums (Billboard) 14
Danish Albums (Hitlisten) 24
Dutch Albums (Album Top 100) 5
French Albums (SNEP) 1
German Albums (Offizielle Top 100) 6
Greek Albums (IFPI Greece) 45
Irish Albums (IRMA) 14
Italian Albums (FIMI) 10
Mexican Albums (AMPROFON) 29
New Zealand Albums (RMNZ) 30
Norwegian Albums (VG-lista) 29
Portuguese Albums (AFP) 17
Spanish Albums (PROMUSICAE) 7
Swedish Albums (Sverigetopplistan) 14
Swiss Albums (Schweizer Hitparade) 2
UK Albums (OCC) 4
US Billboard 200 19

Year-end charts

Chart (2009) Position
Belgian Albums (Ultratop Flanders) 40
Belgian Albums (Ultratop Wallonia) 41
Dutch Albums (Album Top 100) 77
European Top 100 Albums (Billboard) 49
French Albums (SNEP) 12
Swiss Albums (Schweizer Hitparade) 60
UK Albums (OCC) 99
Chart (2010) Position
French Albums (SNEP) 27

Certifications

Region Certification Certified units/sales
Canada (Music Canada) Gold 40,000
Belgium (BEA) Platinum 30,000
France (SNEP) 3× Platinum 300,000
Italy (FIMI) Platinum 70,000
Switzerland (IFPI Switzerland) Gold 15,000
United Kingdom (BPI) Platinum 300,000

Sales figures based on certification alone.
Shipments figures based on certification alone.
Sales+streaming figures based on certification alone.

Release history

Country Date
Hong Kong 5 September 2009
Netherlands 16 September 2009
France 18 September 2009
Australia
Germany
Italy
Ireland
United Kingdom 21 September 2009
Argentina
Mexico
South Korea
United States 22 September 2009
Brazil
Canada
South Korea (Korean Special Edition) 27 May 2010
Hong Kong (Asia Tour Edition) 2 June 2010
South Korea (Asia Tour Edition) 15 June 2010

References

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External links

Mika
Discography
Studio albums
Compilation albums
Extended plays
Singles
Concert tours
DVDs
Categories: