Revolution

## Singles

1. "Get Back"
August 25, 2013
2. "Maneater"
October 24, 2013
3. "Rehab"
December 5, 2013
4. "Gimme More"
February 11, 2014
5. "Sticky Dough"
February 11, 2014
6. "Bounce"
May 8, 2014
7. "Get In The Zone"
May 8, 2014

***Revolution*** is the second studio album by American recording artist Rachel Woods, released by Fach Records on October 31, 2013. It's lead single, "Get Back", premiered at the 2013 MTV Video Music Awards. The performance was one of the biggest acts of that night, showing that Woods was coming back way more focused.

The album sold more than 400,000 copies in the United States on its first week, debuting at number one on the Billboard 200. On CSAV Album Charts it sold 610,000 copies on its first week, making a huge debut that week. It has sold more than 1,3 million copies worldwide in its first week.

*Revolution* had seven singles released from its original version, which were "Get Back", "Maneater", "Gimme More", "Bounce", "Get In The Zone", "Rehab" and "Sticky Dough". The album was a huge success around the world and Woods became one of the most famous names in the world. All TV shows wanted her to interviews, performances and stuff like that, which made *Revolution* become the most promoted album in the history of the United States.

Woods became respected as a singer and won many awards such as VMAs, EMAs, Billboards and much more. The Revolution Tour had 104 shows and visited all six continents of the globe, including two legs on the US, totalizing eight months on tour.

## Background and development

Woods visited Egypt during vacation after promotion from her debut album Epic ended. She felt very inspired by Egyptian culture and all the local beauty, so she invited the most famous and respected producers at that time and told them about that experience. She then defined that she wanted the second album to be totally different from the first one, which was all pop. Woods wanted to reach a more urban sound, to make people dance and have fun, and that the songs could be huge radio hits.

Recording of *Revolution* took seven months to finish, and the album was actually finished three weeks prior to its release. Woods wanted one more impactful before finishing the album, so "Maneater" was only recorded one month prior to the release of Revolution. Woods was the executive producer of the album and it became one of the most acclaimed works of her career.

## Music and lyrics

*Revolution* ended up being a pop and urban album, with r&b influences on many songs. Woods explored the Queen of Egypt theme, focusing on the Illuminati idea on the artwork of the album. *Revolution* is a very diverse album, with lyrics speaking of feminism, love, partying, drinking, cannibalism and power.

## Release and promotion

*Revolution* was heavily promoted during all its era. On the release week Woods performed on several TV shows, including the iconic "Maneater" performance on the desert which was broadcasted by Good Morning America. Woods has also performed in front of the fountains at the Belaggio Hotel in Vegas, a performance that was broadcasted on Jimmy Kimmel Live. The singer has also performed on top of Luxors Hotel sphinx, and the show was broadcasted by MTV.

The album was promoted in every continent of the world, and Woods was seen almost every day on TV. The singer appeared 98 magazine covers from the era's being until its end, becoming a sensation around the globe. Everyone wanted to know the next step of the pop star.

## Singles

"Get Back" was released as the album's lead single. The song reached good numbers on charts around the globe, including a top 5 on the United States, number 3 in the United Kingdom and number 1 in Canada. All the Illuminati controversy and the VMAs performance generated a lot of buzz to the song, helping it become viral.

"Maneater" was released as the second single from the album. It was well received by critics, most of whom have praised the lyrics and the production. The single achieved greater success than "Get Back" by topping the charts in almost all the countries it was released to. It peaked at number one on the Billboard CSAV Chart, staying at the position for two consecutive weeks. It became one of Woods' signature songs, and one of her biggest hits to date.

"Rehab" was released as the third single off the album and reached good position on the charts. However, the song died very quickly because of the rise of "Gimme More", which was released as the fourth single off the album soon after. The former reached the top 20 in the US and the UK, and the latter was a big hit worldwide, peaking at number 2 in the US and number 1 in the UK.

"Sticky Dough" was released as the fifth single from the album to please the fans, who were crazy about the song. The song received massive airplay on the US radios, staying within the US Billboard Hot 100 top 10 for many weeks. The song also performed in South America, especially on Brazil.

"Bounce" was released as the sixth single from the album to very moderate success. The song was well received by critics by the album's release, because of it's catchy lyrics. "Bounce" peaked at number 19 on the US, 24 on the UK and 8 in Australia.

"Get In The Zoe" was a released as the seventh and final single from the album. It proved to be more successful than "Bounce", so Fach Records decided to release a remix version of the song featuring Duchess. The song reached the top 15 in most charts it appeared.

## Review scores

### Spin

★★★★☆

*Revolution* received generally positive reviews from music critics; it holds an average score of 71 out of 100 at aggregate website Metacritic. *The Guardian* called it "slick, smart and surprising" while *Q* found most of it to be "an inventive, urban-pop-inflected delight." Kelefa Sanneh of *The New York Times* wrote that "the music and the lyrics are mainly aimed at dance floors, and yet this album keeps reminding listeners that a dance floor is one of the most complicated places on earth." In its review, AllMusic wrote "Woods finally express herself as an artist. It's a very strong pop record, full of potential hits that sounds like an evolution from her debut effort and stay true to her personality."

In a mixed review, Nick Catucci of *The Village Voice* felt that Woods "sauces up a bit too murky" and lacks "personality" with the songs sounding like it could be sung by any pop act. In his consumer guide for *The Village Voice*, Robert Christgau gave the album a "B" and named it "dud of the month", indicating "a bad record whose details rarely merit further thought." Christgau viewed that its dance-oriented tracks "might accomplish Woods' great plan on the dance-floor. But as songs, they're not much".

## Commercial performance

The album debuted at number one on the US *Billboard* 200 chart, making it Woods' first album to top the chart with first-week sales of 400,000; it was certified platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) and ranked twenty-five on the *Billboard* 2013 year-end chart. *Revolution* exited the US top ten in December 2013 but re-entered it in February 2014, and according to Nielsen SoundScan in October 2014, it had sold three million units. The album ranked five on the *Billboard* 2014 year-end chart.

In the United Kingdom, *Revolution* entered the albums chart at number two; in its second week, it reached number one, and it was certified double platinum for shipments to retailers of more than 600,000 copies. As of September 2014, it had sold roughly 911,000 copies in the UK. The record was certified two times platinum in Australia for more than 140,000 units shipped; it reached number one there and was placed forty-fourth on the Australian Australian Recording Industry Association (ARIA) list of 2013 bestsellers. The album entered the chart in Germany at number three, spent a record forty-nine weeks in the German top ten, and was certified five times platinum. *Revolution* reached number one on the European Top 100 Albums chart in early 2014, spending eight non-consecutive weeks at number one. By June 2014, it had been certified gold or platinum in twenty-five countries. According to a Fach Records press release, *Revolution* had sold more than ten million copies by November 2014.