Eye to the Telescope

Eye to the Telescope is the debut studio album by Scottish singer-songwriter KT Tunstall, originally released 13 December 2004 (see 2004 in British music), 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 America, along with a different cover and a bonus track.

Eye to the Telescope
Studio album by KT Tunstall
Released	13 December 2004
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)
KT Tunstall studio album chronology
Eye to the Telescope (2004) Drastic Fantastic (2007)
Alternative cover
American edition cover
Singles from Eye to the Telescope
"Black Horse and the Cherry Tree" Released: 21 February 2005 "Other Side of the World" Released: 9 May 2005 "Suddenly I See" Released: 29 August 2005 "Under the Weather" Released: 5 December 2005 "Another Place to Fall" Released: 13 March 2006

The album was a strong seller worldwide, and became the 50th best-selling album of the 2000s decade in the United Kingdom.[1]

Critical reception

Professional ratings

Aggregate scores
Source	Rating
Metacritic	76/100[2]
Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic	[3]
The Guardian	[4]
PopMatters	[5]
Slant Magazine	[6]
Yahoo! Music UK	[7]
Q Magazine	[8]

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.[5] Stephen Thomas Erlewine of AllMusic gave it three and a half stars out of five, calling it "a promising, satisfying debut".[3] On Metacritic, Eye to the Telescope has a score of 76 out of 100, indicating "generally favorable reviews".[2]

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,[9] and shipping 1.5 million copies in the UK, certifying it 5× platinum there as well.[10] It was also certified platinum in Canada in January 2007.[11] Worldwide, the album has sold 2.6 million copies.[12]

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.

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[13]

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

iTunes bonus track[14]

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

Japanese bonus track[15]

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

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".

Original edition track listing[16]

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

Personnel

• 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 and certifications

Charts Chart (2005–06) Peak position Australian Albums (ARIA)[17] 43 Austrian Albums (Ö3 Austria)[18] 41 Dutch Albums (Album Top 100)[19] 53 Finnish Albums (Suomen virallinen lista)[20] 7 German Albums (Offizielle Top 100)[21] 43 Irish Albums (IRMA) 4 Italian Albums (FIMI)[22] 37 New Zealand Albums (RMNZ)[23] 3 Norwegian Albums (VG-lista)[24] 11 Scottish Albums (OCC)[25] 2 Swiss Albums (Schweizer Hitparade)[26] 29 UK Albums (OCC)[27] 3 US Billboard 200[28] 33 US Top Rock Albums (Billboard)[29] 9

Year-end charts Chart (2005) Position UK Albums (OCC)[30] 7 Chart (2006) Position UK Albums (OCC)[31] 34 US Billboard 200[32] 74 US Top Rock Albums (Billboard)[33] 12 Chart (2007) Position US Billboard 200[34] 137 Certifications Region Certification Certified units/sales Canada (Music Canada)[11] Platinum 100,000^^ France (SNEP)[35] Gold 100,000^* Ireland (IRMA)[9] 5× Platinum 75,000^^ New Zealand (RMNZ)[36] Platinum 15,000^^ Switzerland (IFPI Switzerland)[37] Gold 20,000^^ United Kingdom (BPI)[38] 5× Platinum 1,682,867[39] United States (RIAA)[40] Platinum 1,300,000[41] Summaries Worldwide — 4,000,000[42] ^*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	Relentless	CD	CDREL06
	10 January 2005		CD + LP	CDRELX06 + LPREL06
United States	7 February 2006	Virgin	CD	507292
	12 September 2006		CD+DVD	747292

References

1. "Top Selling Albums of Decade in UK - U2 Feedback". www.u2interference.com.
2. "Metacritic: KT Tunstall – Eye to the Telescope". Metacritic. Retrieved 5 July 2008.
3. Erlewine, Stephen Thomas. Eye to the Telescope at AllMusic. Retrieved 4 April 2006.
4. Sullivan, Caroline (7 December 2004). "KT Tunstall, Eye to the Telescope > Album Review". The Guardian. Retrieved 5 April 2009.
5. Price, Mark A. (15 March 2006). "KT Tunstall: Eye to the Telescope > Album Review". PopMatters. Retrieved 4 April 2006.
6. Keefe, Jonathan (22 January 2006). "KT Tunstall Eye to the Telescope > Album Review". Slant Magazine. Archived from the original on 13 January 2010. Retrieved 4 July 2007.
7. Gennoe, Dan (4 January 2005). "KT Tunstall – Eye to the Telescope > Album Review". Yahoo! Music. Retrieved 4 July 2007.
8. "Eye to the Telescope". Q Magazine: 130. January 2005.
9. "The Irish Charts - 2005 Certification Awards - Multi Platinum". Irish Recorded Music Association.
10. "British certifications – KT Tunstall – Eye to the Telescope". British Phonographic Industry. Type Eye to the Telescope in the "Search BPI Awards" field and then press Enter.
11. "Canadian album certifications – KT Tunstall – Eye to the Telescope". Music Canada.
12. Cashmere, Paul (13 January 2007). "Undercover News: EMI Share Price Drops On Restructure Announcement". undercover.fm. Archived from the original on 3 April 2012. Retrieved 21 March 2011.
13. "Eye to the Telescope (US Deluxe Edition) – AllMusic". Retrieved 18 January 2013.
14. "iTunes – Music – Eye to the Telescope by KT Tunstall". Retrieved 18 January 2013.
15. "Amazon.com: Eye to the Telescope: Kt Tunstall: Music". Retrieved 18 January 2013.
16. "Amazon.com: Eye To The Telescope: Kt Tunstall: Music". Retrieved 18 January 2013.
17. "Australiancharts.com – KT Tunstall – Eye to the Telescope". Hung Medien.
18. "Austriancharts.at – KT Tunstall – Eye to the Telescope" (in German). Hung Medien.
19. "Dutchcharts.nl – KT Tunstall – Eye to the Telescope" (in Dutch). Hung Medien.
20. "KT Tunstall: Eye to the Telescope" (in Finnish). Musiikkituottajat – IFPI Finland.
21. "Offiziellecharts.de – KT Tunstall – Eye to the Telescope" (in German). GfK Entertainment Charts.
22. "Italiancharts.com – KT Tunstall – Eye to the Telescope". Hung Medien.
23. "Charts.nz – KT Tunstall – Eye to the Telescope". Hung Medien.
24. "Norwegiancharts.com – KT Tunstall – Eye to the Telescope". Hung Medien.
25. "Official Scottish Albums Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company.
26. "Swisscharts.com – KT Tunstall – Eye to the Telescope". Hung Medien.
27. "Official Albums Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company.
28. "KT Tunstall Chart History (Billboard 200)". Billboard.
29. "KT Tunstall Chart History (Top Rock Albums)". Billboard.
30. "Christie Scores Top Selling UK Single of 2005". contactmusic.com. 3 January 2006. Retrieved 30 August 2018.
31. "End of Year Album Chart Top 100 - 2006". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 30 August 2018.
32. "Top Billboard 200 Albums – Year-End 2006". Billboard. Retrieved 23 December 2020.
33. "Top Rock Albums – Year-End 2006". Billboard. Retrieved 23 December 2020.
34. "Top Billboard 200 Albums – Year-End 2007". Billboard. Retrieved 23 December 2020.
35. "French album certifications – KT Tunstall – Eye to the Telescope" (in French). Syndicat National de l'Édition Phonographique.
36. "New Zealand album certifications – KT Tunstall – Eye to the Telescope". Recorded Music NZ. Retrieved 26 May 2019.
37. "The Official Swiss Charts and Music Community: Awards (KT Tunstall; 'Eye to the Telescope')". IFPI Switzerland. Hung Medien.
38. "British album certifications – KT Tunstall – Eye to the Telescope". British Phonographic Industry. Select albums in the Format field. Select Platinum in the Certification field. Type Eye to the Telescope in the "Search BPI Awards" field and then press Enter.
39. Gumble, Daniel (14 November 2016). "Women In Music: Inspirational Artist KT Tunstall". Music Week.
40. "American album certifications – KT Tunstall – Eye to the Telescope". Recording Industry Association of America. If necessary, click Advanced, then click Format, then select Album, then click SEARCH. 
41. Sexton, Paul (4 September 2010). "KT Tunstall finds new musical edge on Tiger Suit". Reuters. Reuters. Retrieved 30 August 2018.
42. Inc, Nielsen Business Media (4 August 2007). "Billboard". Nielsen Business Media, Inc. – via Google Books.