Scissor Sisters (album)

Scissor Sisters is the debut studio album by American glam rock band Scissor Sisters, first released on February 2, 2004. It was released by Polydor Records in the United Kingdom and Universal Motown Records in the United States.

Scissor Sisters
Studio album by Scissor Sisters
Released	February 2, 2004
Recorded	2003
Genre	Glam rock electroclash nu-disco
Length	43:02
Label	Polydor Universal Motown
Producer	Scissor Sisters
Scissor Sisters chronology
The Demo Album (2003) Scissor Sisters (2004) Remixed! (2004)
Singles from Scissor Sisters
"Laura" Released: October 27, 2003 "Comfortably Numb" Released: January 19, 2004 "Take Your Mama" Released: March 29, 2004 "Mary" Released: October 11, 2004 "Filthy/Gorgeous" Released: January 3, 2005

Scissor Sisters reached number 1 on the UK and Irish albums charts and was the best-selling album of 2004 in the UK. Since its release, it been certified 9× Platinum in the UK, selling over 2,700,000 copies in the country alone.[1] In Ireland, it has been certified 5× Platinum. The album was not as successful in their native USA, peaking at number 102 on the Billboard 200. As of February 2007, it has sold 299,000 copies in United States.[2] Scissor Sisters has sold 3,300,000 copies worldwide,[3] and is listed as one of 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die in the book of the same name, edited by Robert Dimery.[4]

The album won Best International Album at the 2005 BRIT Awards. In July 2006 it was named by Attitude as the top "gay album" of all time.[5]

Critical reception

Professional ratings

Aggregate scores
Source	Rating
Metacritic	81/100[6]
Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic	[7]
Blender	[8]
The Guardian	[9]
Mojo	[10]
NME	9/10[11]
Pitchfork	8.3/10[12]
Q	[13]
Rolling Stone	[14]
Uncut	[15]
The Village Voice	B+[16]

At Metacritic, which assigns a normalised rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, the album received an average score of 81, which indicates "universal acclaim".[6]

Track listing

No.	Title	Writer(s)	Producer(s)	Length
1.	"Laura"	Scott Hoffman, Jason Sellards	Scissor Sisters	3:36
2.	"Take Your Mama"	Hoffman, Sellards	Scissor Sisters	4:31
3.	"Comfortably Numb" (Pink Floyd cover)	David Gilmour, Roger Waters	Scissor Sisters	4:25
4.	"Mary"	Hoffman, Sellards	Scissor Sisters	4:43
5.	"Lovers in the Backseat"	Hoffman, Sellards	Scissor Sisters	3:15
6.	"Tits on the Radio"	Hoffman, Ana Lynch, Sellards	Scissor Sisters	3:16
7.	"Filthy/Gorgeous"	Hoffman, Lynch, Sellards	Scissor Sisters	3:46
8.	"Music Is the Victim"	Derek Gruen, Hoffman, Sellards	Scissor Sisters	2:57
9.	"Better Luck"	Gruen, Hoffman, Sellards	Scissor Sisters	3:08
10.	"It Can't Come Quickly Enough"	Hoffman, Sellards	Scissor Sisters	4:42
11.	"Return to Oz"	Hoffman, Sellards	Scissor Sisters	4:34

UK bonus tracks

No.	Title	Writer(s)	Producer(s)	Length
12.	"A Message from Ms. Matronic" (unlisted hidden track)	Hoffman, Sellards	Scissor Sisters	0:31
13.	"The Skins"	Hoffman, Sellards	Scissor Sisters	2:55
14.	"Get It Get It"	Hoffman, Sellards, Michael Nyman	Scissor Sisters	3:47

U.S. iTunes bonus track

No.	Title	Writer(s)	Producer(s)	Length
12.	"Get It Get It"	Hoffman, Sellards, Nyman	Scissor Sisters	3:47

Personnel

• Jake Shears – lead vocals, piano on "Laura"
• Babydaddy – bass guitar, keyboards, guitar, backing vocals
• Ana Lynch – lead vocals
• Del Marquis – guitar, bass guitar
• Paddy Boom – drums, percussion

Charts and certifications

Weekly charts

Chart (2004) Peak position Australian Albums Chart 7 Austrian Albums Chart 75 Belgium Albums Chart (Flanders) 81 Danish Albums Chart 18 Dutch Albums Chart 67 Finnish Albums Chart 40 French Albums Chart 100 Irish Albums Chart 1 Norwegian Albums Chart 33 Portuguese Albums Chart 19 Spanish Albums Chart 70 Swedish Albums Chart 13 UK Albums (OCC)[17] 1 US Billboard 200 102 US Top Electronic Albums 1

Year-end charts Chart (2004) Peak position UK Albums Chart 1 Chart (2005) Peak position UK Albums Chart 17 Decade-end charts Chart (2004) Peak position Chart (2000–2009) Position UK Albums Chart 9 Certifications Region Certification Certified units/sales Australia (ARIA)[18] Platinum 70,000^^ Denmark (IFPI Denmark)[19] Gold 20,000^^ Ireland (IRMA)[20] 5× Platinum 75,000^^ United Kingdom (BPI)[21] 9× Platinum 2,760,000[22] Summaries Europe (IFPI)[23] 3× Platinum 3,000,000^* ^*sales figures based on certification alone ^^shipments figures based on certification alone

Release history

Country	Date
United Kingdom	February 2, 2004
United States	July 27, 2004

References

1. Platinum Awards Search
2. Mitchell, Gail (10 February 2007). "The Rock Roster". Billboard. Retrieved 27 June 2018.
3. Archived April 2, 2015, at the Wayback Machine
4. Dimery, Robert; Lydon, Michael (23 March 2010). 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die: Revised and Updated Edition. Milford, Connecticut: Universe Publishing. ISBN 978-0-7893-2074-2.
5. "Beatles Top Gay Album". Contactmusic. Leeds. 30 July 2006. Archived from the original on 14 November 2011. Retrieved 1 June 2006.
6. "Reviews for Scissor Sisters by Scissor Sisters". Metacritic. Retrieved May 14, 2016.
7. Loftus, Johnny. "Scissor Sisters – Scissor Sisters". AllMusic. Retrieved May 14, 2016.
8. Harrison, Andrew (August 2004). "Scissor Sisters: Scissor Sisters". Blender (28): 141. Archived from the original on August 3, 2004. Retrieved July 6, 2016.
9. Lynskey, Dorian (January 30, 2004). "Scissor Sisters, Scissor Sisters". The Guardian. Retrieved May 14, 2016.
10. "Scissor Sisters: Scissor Sisters". Mojo (125): 102. April 2004.
11. Jonze, Tim (February 6, 2004). "Scissor Sisters : Scissor Sisters". NME. Archived from the original on January 8, 2016. Retrieved May 14, 2016.
12. Plagenhoef, Scott (March 10, 2004). "Scissor Sisters: Scissor Sisters". Pitchfork. Retrieved May 14, 2016.
13. "Scissor Sisters: Scissor Sisters". Q (212): 111. March 2004.
14. Walters, Barry (August 19, 2004). "Scissor Sisters: Scissor Sisters". Rolling Stone. Archived from the original on March 9, 2009. Retrieved May 14, 2016.
15. "A Cut Above". Uncut (81): 70. February 2004. Archived from the original on July 24, 2019. Retrieved July 24, 2019.
16. Christgau, Robert (March 22, 2005). "Consumer Guide: DJ Kicks". The Village Voice. Retrieved May 14, 2016.
17. "Official Albums Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company.
18. "ARIA Charts – Accreditations – 2005 Albums". Australian Recording Industry Association. Archived from the original on 10 August 2020.
19. "Guld og platin" (in Danish). IFPI Danmark. Archived from the original on January 17, 2015. Retrieved June 28, 2019.
20. "2005 Certification Awards – Multi Platinum". Irish Recorded Music Association. Archived from the original on June 4, 2009. Retrieved 28 June 2019.
21. "British album certifications – Scissor Sisters – Scissor Sisters". British Phonographic Industry. Select albums in the Format field. Select Platinum in the Certification field. Type Scissor Sisters in the "Search BPI Awards" field and then press Enter.
22. Copsey, Rob (13 October 2018). "The UK's Top 40 biggest studio albums of time". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 23 November 2018.
23. "IFPI Platinum Europe Awards – 2006". International Federation of the Phonographic Industry. Retrieved 28 June 2019.