Right Now (Atomic Kitten album)

Right Now is the debut studio album by English girl group Atomic Kitten, released on 16 March 2000. The first release of the album originally peaked at number 39, putting the group at risk of being dropped by their record label. Following the departure of Kerry Katona in January 2001, the album was re-released on 6 August 2001 featuring vocals from new member Jenny Frost with additional new tracks featured on the album. The re-release was a success, peaking at number 1. Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark members and Atomic Kitten founders, Andy McCluskey and Stuart Kershaw, were among the album's principal songwriters.

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Background

There are three versions of the album: the rare original Japanese release, the original UK edition which peaked at number thirty-nine, and the re-issue which topped the UK Albums Chart.

Atomic Kitten embarked on an Asian tour early on in their career and the album was first released in Japan. One of the early ideas for Atomic Kitten was that of an animated pop band influenced by Japanese anime and manga; leading to the original version of Right Now being highly bubblegum pop-oriented. Right Now was subsequently released in the United Kingdom on 23 October 2000 with a slightly modified track listing, but at first there were no plans to focus on the worldwide market. When Kerry Katona left the band during the promotion of "Whole Again", she was replaced by Jenny Frost. After the success of "Whole Again", the video was reshot and the album was re-released globally except for the United States with Frost's vocals added to a number of tracks, including a newly-recorded cover song, "Eternal Flame", as well as an additional single for the European, Australian, South African and New Zealand audiences, "You Are", giving the album a more mature pop sound.

A combination of tracks from this album and their next album Feels So Good were later included on a 2003 compilation album for the United States entitled Atomic Kitten.

Critical reception

Professional ratings
Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic	^[10]
NME	^[11] (original)
NME	^[12] (reissue)
RTÉ	^[13]

Right Now received generally mixed reviews from music critics. AllMusic rated the album four out of five stars.^[10] Andrew Wagstaff from British music website NME called Right Now "a fizzing pop album; unashamedly fun, funky and shot through with class. Really. It’s a belter." He found that "instead of padding out the [latter] half an hour or so with boring, boring ballads and ill-conceived cover versions, there are at least four or five [more] songs on Right Now that would make great singles [...] Atomic Kitten have scored a brilliant victory for pure pop."^[11]

In a less enthusiastic review of the 2001 re-release of Right Now, his colleague Steven Wells wrote that "the fact is that Atomic Kitten have conquered the ickle girl, camp gay and dirty ole man markets and, for this week (and this week only), they are the cock-a-hoop, lustily crowing ding-dong King Kongs of Britpop. Which leaves only one (hugely irrelevant) question: is the rest of the album any frikkin’good? And the answer is (of course): No, don’t be daft. It’s shite."^[12] John Raftery, writing for RTÉ, found that "the album is a 14-track wade through the most risible, sugary mess you could ever find yourself in [...]The fact that three young women are performing it does not excuse the excruciating boredom and, frankly, disquiet, that listening to the orgasmic pleadings of these three creates [...] This album may be the first sign of the decline of Western civilisation as we know it – or just the worst record of the new millennium."^[13]

Chart performance

The original version of the album debuted at number thirty-nine, dropping to seventy-four in its second week.^[14] It spent a total of four weeks on the chart. It was re-issued due to the success of "Whole Again", where it topped the charts. It stayed in the top 100 for thirty-seven weeks.^[14] It was eventually certified double platinum. In Switzerland, the album debuted at number twenty-six. However, it wasn't until fourteen weeks later that the album reached its peak position of number four. This was around the time of the release of "Eternal Flame". It was certified gold. The album was also peaked at number four and was certified gold in Denmark. The album also reached the top ten in Germany, Austria, Belgium, and the Republic of Ireland. In New Zealand the album was certified platinum in and it peaked at number twelve, managing to spend twenty-five weeks on the chart. In Australia, the album peaked at number eighty-six, something the group was not expecting after "Whole Again" was certified double platinum. The album peaked at sixty-one in France.

Editions

There are three versions of the album: the original Japanese edition and the original UK edition were released with the original line-up featuring Kerry Katona, while the re-issue was released with the second line-up featuring Jenny Frost.

The original Japanese edition was released first and features rare versions of various tracks. The album features an exclusive song entitled "Real Life", the final mix version of "Holiday" (included as the B-side to the single "Whole Again" in demo form), demo versions of "Cradle", "I Want Your Love" (titled "All the Right Things"), and "Whole Again" (mainly featuring Katona speaking all of the verses), and an exclusive remix of "Right Now".

The original UK edition features a different track listing. Replacing "Holiday" and "Real Life" are "Get Real", "Turn Me On" and the fourth single "Follow Me". Also included are new versions of "I Want Your Love", "Cradle", and "Whole Again" (where the verses are sung by Natasha Hamilton and Liz McClarnon); the latter song reaching No. 1 on the UK Singles Chart when released as a single. The Japanese edition was re-released to match the UK edition and featured a bonus cover of the Monkees' "Daydream Believer".

Due to the success of "Whole Again" and Katona's departure from the group, a re-issue was released in the UK featuring a new track order and re-recordings of songs to feature Frost performing Katona's solo parts, such as "Right Now" and "Whole Again". "See Ya" and "I Want Your Love" were not re-recorded and were relegated to bonus tracks at the end of the album, while "Do What You Want" was excluded in favour of new songs "Tomorrow & Tonight", "You Are" and the re-issue's lead single (sixth overall), "Eternal Flame", which would become another big hit for the group, becoming their second No. 1. "Bye Now" was also re-recorded with a new arrangement and newly added vocals from Frost. "Cradle" was not re-recorded, but was slightly remixed for the reissue.

The UK re-issue is the only edition available through digital outlets like iTunes. However, this edition replaces the ballad-like album version of "Eternal Flame" with the commercial mid-tempo single version ("You Are" remains the album version).

Track listing

Original Japan release (2000)^[15]
No.	Title	Writer(s)	Producer(s)	Length
1.	"Right Now"	Stuart Kershaw Andy McCluskey	Absolute	3:35
2.	"See Ya"	Kershaw McCluskey Liz McClarnon	Engine Pete Craigie Cutfather & Joe^[a]	2:52
3.	"Hippy"	Kershaw McCluskey	Engine	2:50
4.	"All The Right Things"	Kershaw McCluskey McClarnon Bill Drummond Jimmy Cauty Ricardo Lyte Jerome Moross	Damien Mendis Stuart Bradbury	3:19
5.	"Whole Again"	Kershaw McCluskey	Engine	3:19
6.	"Cradle"	Kershaw McCluskey Peter Strudwick	Simon Franglen	3:18
7.	"Real Life"	Kershaw McCluskey Jan Carr	Engine	3:18
8.	"Do What You Want"	Kershaw McCluskey	Engine	3:43
9.	"Bye Now"	Kershaw McCluskey	Engine Pete Cragie	3:57
10.	"Holiday"	Kershaw McCluskey	Cutfather & Joe	3:05
11.	"Strangers"	Kershaw McCluskey	Engine	2:49
12.	"Right Now" (Dance Man Remix)	Kershaw McCluskey	Absolute Dance Man^[a]	4:10

Original UK release (2000)
No.	Title	Writer(s)	Producer(s)	Length
1.	"Right Now"	Kershaw McCluskey	Absolute	3:35
2.	"Follow Me"	Lucy Abbot Sara Eker Dawn Joseph Steve Robson Peter Kearney	Trevor Steel John Holliday Quiet Money^[a]	3:15
3.	"Cradle"	Kershaw McCluskey Strudwick	Quiz & Larossi	3:45
4.	"I Want Your Love" (album version)	Kershaw McCluskey McClarnon Drummond Cauty Ricardo Lyte Moross	Mendis Bradbury	3:15
5.	"See Ya"	Kershaw McCluskey McClarnon	Engine Craigie Cutfather & Joe^[a]	2:52
6.	"Whole Again"	Kershaw McCluskey Bill Padley Jem Godfrey	Engine Padley^[a] Godfrey^[a]	3:03
7.	"Bye Now"	Kershaw McCluskey	Engine Cragie	3:57
8.	"Get Real"	Kershaw McCluskey	Engine	3:39
9.	"Turn Me On"	Kershaw McCluskey	Engine	3:40
10.	"Do What You Want"	Kershaw McCluskey	Engine	4:02
11.	"Hippy"	Kershaw McCluskey	Engine	2:48
12.	"Strangers"	Kershaw McCluskey	Engine	2:44

Japanese bonus track
No.	Title	Writer(s)	Producer(s)	Length
13.	"Daydream Believer"	John Stewart	K-Muto	3:07

UK reissue (2001)
No.	Title	Writer(s)	Producer(s)	Length
1.	"Right Now" (1)	Kershaw McCluskey	Absolute Engine^[b]	3:35
2.	"Follow Me" (2)	Abbot Eker Joseph Robson Kearney	Steel Holliday Quiet Money^[a]	3:15
3.	"Whole Again" (1)	Kershaw McCluskey Padley Godfrey	Engine Padley^[a] Godfrey^[a]	3:05
4.	"Eternal Flame" (1)	Billy Steinberg Tom Kelly Susanna Hoffs	Ray Ruffin	3:30
5.	"Tomorrow and Tonight" (1)	Kershaw McCluskey Ray Ruffin	Ruffin Engine^[b]	3:26
6.	"Get Real" (2)	Kershaw McCluskey	Engine	3:40
7.	"Turn Me On" (2)	Kershaw McCluskey	Engine	3:42
8.	"Hippy" (1)	Kershaw McCluskey	Engine	2:50
9.	"You Are" (1)	Steve Mac Wayne Hector Ali Tennant Paul Gendler	Mac	3:33
10.	"Cradle" (alternate mix) (2)	Kershaw McCluskey Strudwick	Quiz & Larossi Ruffin^[b]	3:50
11.	"Bye Now" (1)	Kershaw McCluskey	Engine Spiral^[b]	3:32
12.	"Strangers" (2)	Kershaw McCluskey	Engine Craige^[b]	2:44
13.	"See Ya" (2)	Kershaw McCluskey McClarnon	Engine Craigie	2:52
14.	"I Want Your Love" (album version) (2)	Kershaw McCluskey McClarnon Moross	Mendis Bradbury Engine^[b]	3:15

Notes

^a signifies remix and additional production
^b signifies additional production
^c signifies a vocal producer
¹ features vocals by Jenny Frost
² features vocals by Kerry Katona

Charts

Weekly charts

Original version
Chart (2000)	Peak position
UK Albums (OCC)^[16]	39

Re-issue version
Chart (2001)	Peak position
Australian Albums (ARIA)^[17]	86
Austrian Albums (Ö3 Austria)^[18]	8
Belgian Albums (Ultratop Flanders)^[19]	8
Danish Albums (Hitlisten)^[20]	4
Dutch Albums (Album Top 100)^[21]	44
European Top 100 Albums (Billboard)^[22]	6
French Albums (SNEP)^[23]	61
German Albums (Offizielle Top 100)^[24]	6
Icelandic Albums (Tonlist)^[25]	1
Irish Albums (IRMA)^[26]	9
New Zealand Albums (RMNZ)^[27]	12
Scottish Albums (OCC)^[28]	1
Swiss Albums (Schweizer Hitparade)^[29]	4
UK Albums (OCC)^[16]	1

Year-end charts

Chart (2001)	Position
Austrian Albums (Ö3 Austria)^[30]	48
Belgian Albums (Ultratop Flanders)^[31]	62
German Albums (Offizielle Top 100)^[32]	52
Swiss Albums (Schweizer Hitparade)^[33]	45
UK Albums (OCC)^[34]	42

Chart (2002)	Position
UK Albums (OCC)^[35]	126

Certifications


Region	Certification	Certified units/sales
Denmark (IFPI Danmark)^[36]	Gold	25,000^{^}
Germany (BVMI)^[37]	Gold	150,000^{^}
New Zealand (RMNZ)^[38]	Platinum	15,000^{^}
South Africa (RISA)^[39]	Gold	25,000^*
Switzerland (IFPI Switzerland)^[40]	Gold	25,000^{^}
United Kingdom (BPI)^[41]	2× Platinum	600,000^{^}
^* Sales figures based on certification alone. ^{^} Shipments figures based on certification alone.

Release history

*Right Now* release history
Region	Date	Edition	Label
Japan	16 March 2000	Original	Virgin
United Kingdom	23 October 2000	Original	Innocent Virgin
Worldwide	6 August 2001	Re-issue	Innocent Virgin

References

^ "ライト・ナウ | アトミック・キトゥン" [Right Now | Atomic Kitten] (in Japanese). Oricon. Retrieved 30 January 2024.
^ "New Releases – For Week Starting 29 November, 1999: Singles". Music Week. 27 November 1999. p. 23.
^ "New Releases – For Week Starting March 27, 2000: Singles". Music Week. 25 March 2000. p. 35.
^ "New Releases – For Week Starting July 3, 2000: Singles". Music Week. 1 July 2000. p. 23.
^ "デイドリーム・ビリーヴァー | アトミック・キトゥン" [Daydream Believer | Atomic Kitten] (in Japanese). Oricon. Retrieved 30 January 2024.
^ "New Releases – For Week Starting October 9, 2000". Music Week. 7 October 2000. p. 29.
^ "New Releases – For Week Starting January 29, 2001: Singles". Music Week. 27 January 2001. p. 39.
^ "New Releases – For Week Starting July 23, 2001: Singles". Music Week. 21 July 2001. p. 27.
^ Evans, Beverley (12 January 2002). "Airborne". Music & Media. Vol. 20, no. 2–3. p. 12.
^ ^a ^b Right Now at AllMusic
^ ^a ^b Wagstaff, Andrew. "Atomic Kitten : Right Now". NME. Retrieved 16 July 2021.
^ ^a ^b Wells, Steven. "Atomic Kitten : Right Now". NME. Retrieved 16 July 2021.
^ ^a ^b Raftery, John (13 September 2001). "Atomic Kitten - Right Now". Raidió Teilifís Éireann. Retrieved 16 July 2021.
^ ^a ^b "The Official Charts Company - Atomic Kitten - Right Now". 18 October 2012.
^ "Atomic Kitten Right Now Japanese Promo CD album (CDLP) (167838)". eil.com.
^ ^a ^b "Atomic Kitten | Artist | Official Charts". UK Albums Chart. Retrieved 16 January 2017.
^ Ryan, Gavin (2011). Australia's Music Charts 1988–2010. Mt. Martha, VIC, Australia: Moonlight Publishing.
^ "Austriancharts.at – Atomic Kitten – Right Now" (in German). Hung Medien. Retrieved 16 January 2017.
^ "Ultratop.be – Atomic Kitten – Right Now" (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved 16 January 2017.
^ "Danishcharts.dk – Atomic Kitten – Right Now". Hung Medien. Retrieved 16 January 2017.
^ "Dutchcharts.nl – Atomic Kitten – Right Now" (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved 16 January 2017.
^ "Atomic Kitten Blasts Onto European Chart". billboard.biz. Retrieved 25 September 2010.
^ "Lescharts.com – Atomic Kitten – Right Now". Hung Medien. Retrieved 16 January 2017.
^ "Offiziellecharts.de – Atomic Kitten – Right Now" (in German). GfK Entertainment Charts. Retrieved 16 January 2017.
^ "Tonlist Top 10". Fréttablaðið. Retrieved 9 February 2017.
^ "Irish-charts.com – Discography Atomic Kitten". Hung Medien. Retrieved 16 January 2017.
^ "Charts.nz – Atomic Kitten – Right Now". Hung Medien. Retrieved 16 January 2017.
^ "Official Scottish Albums Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 16 January 2017.
^ "Swisscharts.com – Atomic Kitten – Right Now". Hung Medien. Retrieved 16 January 2017.
^ "Jahreshitparade Alben 2001". austriancharts.at. Retrieved 15 October 2021.
^ "Jaaroverzichten 2001". Ultratop. Retrieved 11 August 2021.
^ "Top 100 Album-Jahrescharts (2001)". Retrieved 10 October 2016.
^ "Schweizer Hitparade - Album Charts 2001". Retrieved 10 October 2016.
^ "2001 UK Albums Chart" (PDF). ChartsPlus. Retrieved 18 May 2015.
^ "UK Year-End Charts 2002" (PDF). UKChartsPlus. Retrieved 10 April 2021.
^ "Danish album certifications – Atomic Kitten – Right Now". IFPI Danmark.
^ "Gold-/Platin-Datenbank (Atomic Kitten; 'Right Now')" (in German). Bundesverband Musikindustrie.
^ "New Zealand album certifications – Atomic Kitten – Right Now". Recorded Music NZ.
^ "Atomic Kitten at Canal Walk". Retrieved 14 August 2010.
^ "The Official Swiss Charts and Music Community: Awards ('Right Now')". IFPI Switzerland. Hung Medien.
^ "British album certifications – Atomic Kitten – Right Now". British Phonographic Industry.

External links

Right Now at Discogs (list of releases)

v t e Atomic Kitten
Liz McClarnon Natasha Hamilton Jenny Frost Kerry Katona Heidi Range
Studio albums	Right Now Feels So Good Ladies Night
Compilation albums	Atomic Kitten The Greatest Hits The Collection
Singles	"Right Now" "See Ya" "I Want Your Love" "Follow Me" "Whole Again" "Eternal Flame" "You Are" "It's OK!" "The Tide Is High (Get the Feeling)" "The Last Goodbye" "Be with You" "Love Doesn't Have to Hurt" "If You Come to Me" "Ladies Night" "Someone like Me" / "Right Now 2004" "Cradle 2005" "All Together Now (Strong Together)" "Anyone Who Had a Heart" "I Wish It Could Be Christmas Everyday" "Southgate You're the One (Football's Coming Home Again)"
DVDs	So Far So Good Right Here, Right Now Be with Us (A Year With...) The Greatest Hits Live at Wembley Arena The Big Reunion Live 2013
Related articles	Discography

This page was last edited on 30 January 2024, at 22:32

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