Fairytales (Alexander Rybak album) explained

Fairytales
Type:	studio
Artist:	Alexander Rybak
Cover:	Alexander Rybak - Fairytales (album, cover2).jpg
Released:	29 May 2009
Recorded:	2009 at Kitchen Studio in Oslo, Norway, Yla Studios and Lionheart Studio 2 in Malmö, Sweden
Label:	EMI (NOR, FIN, DEN, GER, AUT) Universal (RUS, GRE, CYP)
Producer:	Kim Edward Bergseth, Henrik Wikström, Amir Aly
Next Title:	No Boundaries
Next Year:	2010

Fairytales is the debut studio album by the Belarusian-Norwegian artist Alexander Rybak. It was released in Norway and most of Europe on 29 May 2009, and in the UK on 15 June. Most of the songs on the album are written and/or composed by Rybak himself.

The first single of this album is Rybak's "Fairytale", the winning song from the Eurovision Song Contest 2009. His entry broke the previous record of 292 in the festival and achieved a total of 387 points. All the participating countries (naturally excluding Norway) voted for the song.

Rybak wrote English lyrics for one Russian and one Norwegian song, for the album. The chorus in the song "Abandoned" (track #7), uses music by Kirill Moltchanov, from the theme from the 1968 Russian film Доживем до понедельника (en. We'll Live Till Monday). The song "If You Were Gone" (track #6), is an English version of the Norwegian song "Vårsøg", with music by Henning Sommerro.

Critical reception

On 27 May 2009 Norway's biggest newspaper Verdens Gang was the first to review the album giving it top score, 6 out of 6. "Alexander Rybak has not only become a star in no time, he deserves the status as well", the paper said.^[1] On the same day it was revealed that the album had been leaked illegally on the net. Norwegian newspaper Dagbladet was less enthused. "Rybak is seducing, but not entirely convincing" their critic stated, giving it 4 out of 6 points.^[2] Aftenposten gave it 5 out of 6 stars, calling Rybak "a complete artist."^[3] Swedish newspaper Aftonbladet, however, caused a stir by giving the record merely 1 star and hurling epithets like "violin hobbit" and "smurf hits" at the artist.^[4] TV2 in Norway gave the album 4 out of 6 stars, stating that Rybak was "no one-hit-wonder at all".^[5] NRK gave Rybak a good review saying that Rybak was "a good pop composer."^[6] Dagsavisen gave the record 5 points out of 6, exclaiming "the fairy tale continues!"^[7] The radio channel P4 Radio Hele Norge gave the album a rather poor review. Calling it a record for "13 year old girls and Eurovision enthusiasts" it got 2 stars.^[8] Bergensavisen was impressed by the record, especially by the album's "personal style", and gave it 5 stars.^[9]

Track listing

Bonus track

Bonus track

French edition

Russian edition bonus track

Russian winter edition

Fairytales – Зимняя сказка (en. Winter Fairytales)

Standard-Edition

Digipack-Edition

1. CD:Same songs as Standard-Edition

2. DVD:

Personnel

Musicians

• Alexander Rybak – lead vocals, violin, piano, strings. All string arrangements, song arrangements.
• Amir Aly – acoustic guitar (track #5), guitar (#1, #6), bass (#1, No. 5, #6), programming (#1, #6)
• Gunnar Flagstad – piano (#9)
• Henrik Wikström – keyboards (#5), programming (#5)
• Jorunn Hauge – background vocals (#2)
• Kai Morten Berg – percussion (#4)
• Karianne Kjærnes – background vocals (#2)
• Kim Edward Bergseth – background vocals (#4, #7), guitar (#3, No. 4, #7), bass (#2, No. 3, #4, #7), programming (#2, No. 3, #4, #8)
• Laila Samuels – background vocals (#7)
• Mattis Lerbak – drums (#3)
• Sylvie Loche – background vocals (French bonus track: "Fairytale")

Recording and production staff

• Amir Aly – producer (track No. 1, #5, #6), mixing (#1, No. 5, #6)
• Björn Engelmann Cutting Room Studios – mastering
• Henrik Wikström – producer (#5), mixing (#5)
• Kim Edward Bergseth – producer (#2, No. 3, #4, No. 7, #8)
• Ulf Ø. W. Holand – mixing (#2, No. 3, #4, No. 7, #8)

Album artwork

• Baard Lunde – photos
• Guro Synes – artwork, design
• Trond Kulterud – artwork, design

Charts

Chart (2009)	Peak position
Austrian Albums Chart^[10]	46
French Albums Chart^[11]	21
Belgian Albums Chart (Flanders)^[12]	13
Belgian Albums Chart (Wallonia)	62
Cyprus International Albums Chart^[13]	9
Dutch Albums Chart^[14]	29
Danish Albums Chart^[15]	15
Finnish Albums Chart^[16]	4
Irish Albums Chart^[17]	91
German Albums Chart^[18] ^[19]	16
Norwegian Albums Chart^[20]	1
Polish Albums Chart^[21]	7
Russian Albums Chart	1
Swedish Albums Chart	2
Swiss Albums Chart^[22]	65
European Top 100 Albums^[23]	18

Release history

Region	Date	Label	Format
Armenia^[24]	29 May 2009	Universal	CD
Austria^[25]		EMI	CD
Azerbaijan		Universal	CD
Belarus		Universal	CD
Belgium^[26]		V2/Universal	CD
Denmark		EMI	CD; Digital download
Finland^[27]		EMI	CD; Digital download
Germany^[28]		EMI	CD; Digital download
Kazakhstan		Universal	CD
Kyrgyzstan		Universal	CD
Luxembourg		V2/Universal	CD
Netherlands		V2/Universal	CD
Norway^[29]		EMI	CD
Russia		Universal	CD
Romania		Universal	CD
Switzerland^[30]		EMI	CD
Tajikistan		Universal	CD
Turkmenistan		Universal	CD
Uzbekistan		Universal	CD
Ukraine	Universal	CD
Cyprus	2 June 2009	Universal	CD
Greece		Universal	CD
Sweden^[31]	3 June 2009	Lionheart	CD
Estonia^[32]	June 4, 2009		CD
Ireland^[33] ^[34]	June 15, 2009	EMI	CD
United Kingdom^[35]	15 June 2009	EMI	CD
France^[36] ^[37]	17 August 2009	M6 Interactions	CD
Poland^[38]	21 August 2009	Universal	CD

Notes and References

1. Web site: Alexander Rybak: Fairytales – VG Nett om Melodi Grand Prix . Vg.no . October 20, 2011.
2. Web site: Forfører – men blender ikke – kultur . Dagbladet.no . May 27, 2009 . October 20, 2011.
3. Web site: SVEIN ANDERSEN Publisert: 28.05.09 08:21 . Eventyrlig debut – Oslo – Fairytales, Alexander Rybak, CD, pop, (EMI Norway/EMI) 9 låter, 35.00 Oslopuls.no . Oslopuls.aftenposten.no . October 20, 2011 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20111004224632/http://oslopuls.aftenposten.no/musikk/article204099.ece . October 4, 2011 . mdy .
4. Web site: Fiolhoben är för kass | Musik – Recensioner | Musik | Nöjesbladet | Aftonbladet . Aftonbladet.se . October 20, 2011.
5. Web site: ALEXANDER RYBAK – Slett ikke noe one-hit wonder – Side2 . Pub.tv2.no . October 20, 2011.
6. Web site: Klar hjemmeseier – Kultur-og-underholdning – NRK . May 28, 2009 . Nrk.no . October 20, 2011.
7. Web site: Eventyret fortsetter : Dagsavisen . Dagsavisen.no . October 20, 2011 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20090530210819/http://www.dagsavisen.no/kultur/musikk/article417866.ece . May 30, 2009 . mdy .
8. Web site: "For 13 år gamle jenter og Grand Prix-entusiaster" – P4 Radio Hele Norge . P4.no . May 27, 2009 . October 20, 2011.
9. Web site: Alexander Rybak . nb . ba.no . May 28, 2009 . October 20, 2011.
10. http://austriancharts.at/showitem.asp?interpret=Alexander+Rybak&titel=Fairytales&cat=a Alexander Rybak – Fairytales
11. http://acharts.us/album/43925 Alexander Rybak – Fairytales
12. https://www.ultratop.be/nl/album/1af8b/Alexander-Rybak-Fairytales Alexander Rybak – Fairytales
13. http://www.superfmradio.com/charts/musicalparadise.htm Alexander Rybak – Fairytales
14. http://www.dutchcharts.nl/showitem.asp?key=110475&cat=a Alexander Rybak – Fairytales
15. http://www.hitlisterne.dk/ Hitlisten.NU – Album Top-40
16. https://archive.today/20120918223201/http://www.yle.fi/lista/listat/tuote.php?id=9424 Suomen virallinen lista
17. Web site: >> IRMA << Irish Charts - Singles, Albums & Compilations >> . Irma.ie . October 13, 2011 . October 20, 2011 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20120415073756/http://www.irma.ie/aucharts.asp . April 15, 2012 . mdy .
18. http://newsticker.sueddeutsche.de/list/id/655253 Alexander Rybak in den Top 20
19. http://www.musicload.de/officialcharts?af_siteid=3752 Offizielle Charts
20. http://norwegiancharts.com/showitem.asp?interpret=Alexander+Rybak&titel=Fairytales&cat=a Alexander Rybak – Fairytales
21. Web site: Oficjalna lista sprzedaży :: OLiS – Official Retail Sales Chart . OLiS . October 20, 2011.
22. http://swedishcharts.com/showitem.asp?key=110475&cat=a Alexander Rybak – Fairytales
23. Alexander Rybak – Fairytales
24. https://www.facebook.com/pages/Alexander-Rybak/183104285643 Alexander Rybak – Official Facebook Page
25. http://www.emimusic.at/produkt/3253587,5099996631621/alexander_rybak-fairytales#1 Alexander Rybak – Fairytales
26. http://www.bol.com/nl/p/muziek/fairytales/1000004006591467/index.html#product_overview Fairytales, Alexander Rybak
27. http://cdon.fi/musiikki/rybak_alexander/fairytales-4202424 Fairytales – Rybak Alexander
28. https://www.amazon.de/dp/B00284SDY6 Fairytales: Alexander Rybak
29. http://cdon.eu/music/rybak_alexander/fairytales-4202424 Fairytales – Rybak Alexander
30. http://www.emimusic.ch/produkt/3253587,5099996631621/alexander_rybak-fairytales#1 Alexander Rybak – Fairytales
31. http://www.lionheart-int.se/fairytales(1).asp Fairytales – album
32. http://publik.delfi.ee/news/muusika/article.php?id=23451127 Alexander Rybaki "Fairytales" album ilmub 4. juunil
33. Web site: Alexander Rybak – Fairytales HMV Release Date . Hmv.com . December 15, 2005 . October 20, 2011.
34. https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B002AEB8P0 Fairytales – Alexander Rybak
35. https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B002AEB8P0 Fairytales – Alexander Rybak
36. https://www.amazon.fr/dp/B002D3I1WG Fairytales – Rybak Alexander
37. http://www.esctoday.com/news/read/14250 A French version of Fairytale
38. Web site: Merlin.Pl . Alexander Rybak – "Fairytales" . pl . Merlin.pl . October 20, 2011 . https://web.archive.org/web/20110720122220/http://merlin.pl/Fairytales_Aleksander-Rybak/browse/product/4,683045.html . July 20, 2011 . dead .