White Lilies Island

White Lilies Island is the second album by Australian singer Natalie Imbruglia released by RCA Records in the United Kingdom on 5 November 2001. The name of this album comes from the location of Imbruglia's home in Windsor,[2] on a peninsula of that name between the Clewer Mill Stream and the main stream of the river Thames. The album is also notable for being the first to include copy protection software on compact disc pressings, though the software was later removed due to consumer and industrial outcry surrounding unintended technical faults.

White Lilies Island
Studio album by Natalie Imbruglia
Released	5 November 2001
Recorded	2001
Genre	Pop[1]
Length	51:29
Label	RCA
Producer	Gary Clark Pascal Gabriel Ian Stanley Phil Thornalley
Natalie Imbruglia chronology
Left of the Middle (1997) White Lilies Island (2001) Counting Down the Days (2005)
Singles from White Lilies Island
"That Day" Released: 29 October 2001 "Wrong Impression" Released: 29 January 2002 "Beauty on the Fire" Released: 22 July 2002

Singles

• "That Day" was released on 29 October 2001 as the lead single of the album. It peaked at number 11 at the UK Singles Chart.[3]
• "Wrong Impression" was released on 29 January 2002 as the second single of the album. It peaked at number 7 at the U.S. Billboard Adult Top 40, and number 10 in the United Kingdom.
• "Beauty on the Fire" was released on 22 July 2002 as the third and last single of the album. It peaked at number 26 at the UK Singles Chart.

Copy protection

White Lilies Island is notable for being the first album to implement copy protection on compact disc. To prevent consumers from illicitly copying the album, a 24.5 megabyte data file is included on the disc that interferes with the methods by which personal computers read the twelve audio tracks. Instead of reading outwards from the center, PC CD-ROM drives usually start reading inwards from the outermost end of the data track. The copy protection scheme takes advantage of this difference by offering them a separate data session and appearing as a CD-ROM instead of an Audio CD. The data section contains a second, highly compressed representation of the same music content, which allows playback on PCs, but with a greatly reduced audio quality compared to the actual CDDA data (at a data rate of 80 kbit/s rather than the standard 1.4 mbit/s).[4] Additionally, the copy protection software prevents some Macintosh computers and all Philips CD recorders from reading the disc and causes other Macs to avoid playing track one; this latter fault is also present when trying to play the disc on a PlayStation 2 video game console. No message exists on the disc's packaging that it is copy protected.[4] The various technical faults caused by the CD's copy protection software resulted in significant public backlash. Among others, a spokesman from Philips stated that "any changes that put a disc outside the CD standard result in a disc that should no longer be described or marketed as a CD" in reference to White Lilies Island,[4] while Julian Midgeley, a spokesman for the Campaign for Digital Rights, stated that "all they are doing is annoying a lot of people who cannot do with it what they want to do, which is just listen to it."[5] The outcry ultimately forced Bertelsmann Music Group to reissue the album on CD with the software removed and offer free replacement discs to affected buyers.[4][6] A hotline was set up where buyers could order replacement discs starting 19 November 2001.[7]

Critical reception

Professional ratings

Aggregate scores
Source	Rating
Metacritic	54/100[8]
Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic	[1]
Blender	[9]
Entertainment Weekly	B−[10]
Mojo	[8]
Q	[8]
Rolling Stone	[11]
Uncut	[8]
The Village Voice	(unfavorable)[12]
Yahoo! Music UK	[13]

The album met with mixed reviews. At Metacritic it received a score of 54 out of 100.[8] AllMusic gave the album a rating of 3.5 out of 5 stars saying: "Imbruglia has made a brilliant pop record -- contemporary, yet timeless. White Lilies Island would have suffered without Natalie Imbruglia's perfectionism, and it would have lost sight of the elegance it so perfectly exudes."[1] Blender gave a rating of 2 out of five stars, commenting: "White Lilies Island skips from one song to the next without leaving any great impression or displaying a single sentiment Jessica Simpson would find distressing. If, however, she was trying to remake Jagged Little Pill, it's all gone horribly wrong."[9] Entertainment Weekly gave a positive review and said: "The disc continues in the same vein of agreeable pop-radio fodder as 'Torn', with an all-new group of distraught romantics and connection seekers singing creamy choruses."[10] Rolling Stone gave the album a negative review and said it's "a great brother of her debut."[11] Yahoo! Music UK gave the album a rating of 8 out of ten stars and said: "She's certainly on the way to achieving her goal. She chips in a hefty wedge of the lyric sheet to the album in the shape of confessional lovesick outpourings that, despite lapses, bind the gutsy album cohesively giving it sophistication, direction and genuine feeling."[13]

Commercial performance

In Australia the album debuted at number 3 and was certified Gold, despite enjoying only a small resurgence in sales with subsequent singles. The album debuted at number 15 on the UK Albums Chart with 21,000 in sales before dropping out of the top 75 in its fourth week. It re-entered the top 30 with the release of the second single "Wrong Impression" and sold eventually nearly 200,000 copies in the UK overall. In the US the album debuted at number 35 with 35,000 in sales and dropped out of the Top 200 after seven weeks, eventually selling 215,000 overall. Worldwide, White Lilies Island has sold around a million copies.

Track listing

All tracks are written by Natalie Imbruglia and Gary Clark, except where noted.

No.	Title	Length
1.	"That Day" (writers: Imbruglia, Patrick Leonard)	4:44
2.	"Beauty on the Fire" (writers: Imbruglia, Clark, Mat Wilder)	4:21
3.	"Satellite" (writers: Imbruglia, Phil Thornalley)	3:08
4.	"Do You Love?"	4:43
5.	"Wrong Impression"	4:17
6.	"Goodbye" (writers: Imbruglia, Wilder)	5:01
7.	"Everything Goes"	4:01
8.	"Hurricane"	3:38
9.	"Sunlight"	5:01
10.	"Talk in Tongues" (writers: Imbruglia, Thornalley)	3:29
11.	"Butterflies"	4:56
12.	"Come September"	4:10

Japanese bonus track

No.	Title	Length
10.	"Shikaiya (for Billy)"	3:41

Credits

• Natalie Imbruglia – vocals
• Ian Tilley – bass guitar
• John Dunne – guitar, programming
• Maz – drums
• David Munday – electric guitar, mellotron, flute
• Rej Rheinallt Ap Gywneed – bass guitar
• Marc Fox – percussion
• Paul Statham – guitar
• Ian Stanley – keyboards
• Geoff Dugmore – drums
• Phil Thornalley – keyboards, bass guitar, acoustic guitar
• Guy Pratt – bass guitar
• Neil Taylor – guitar
• Gary Clark – keyboards, guitar, backing vocals
• Chuck Sabo – drums
• Ged Grimes – bass guitar
• Tessa Niles – backing vocals
• Viveen Wray – backing vocals
• Hannah Robinson – backing vocals

Charts

Chart (2001)	Peak position
Australian Albums (ARIA)[14]	3
Austrian Albums (Ö3 Austria)[15]	59
Canadian Albums (Jam!)[16]	37
French Albums (SNEP)[17]	43
German Albums (Offizielle Top 100)[18]	49
Irish Albums (IRMA)[19]	44
Italian Albums (FIMI)[20]	21
Scottish Albums (OCC)[21]	17
Swiss Albums (Schweizer Hitparade)[22]	23
UK Albums (OCC)[23]	15
US Billboard 200[24]	35

Certifications

Region	Certification	Certified units/sales
Australia (ARIA)[25]	Gold	35,000^^
United Kingdom (BPI)[26]	Gold	100,000^^
United States	—	171,000[27]
Summaries
Worldwide	—	1,000,000[28]
^^ Shipments figures based on certification alone.

References

1. MacKenzie Wilson (27 November 2001). "White Lilies Island - Natalie Imbruglia". AllMusic. Retrieved 25 May 2010.
2. "Q The Interview: Natalie Imbruglia". The Independent (London). Archived from the original on 24 September 2019. Retrieved 22 December 2007.
3. "Official Singles Chart Top 100 04 November 2001 - 10 November 2001". Official Charts. 10 November 2001. Archived from the original on 8 April 2016. Retrieved 8 January 2017.
4. https://www.newscientist.com/article/dn1586-fans-get-free-replacement-of-copy-protected-cd/
5. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/1651544.stm
6. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 17 February 2010. Retrieved 24 August 2009.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
7. http://ukcdr.org/lists/ukcdr/2001-November/001068.html
8. "Critic Reviews for White Lilies Island". Metacritic. Retrieved 25 May 2010.
9. "White Lillies Island". Blender. 27 November 2001. Retrieved 25 May 2010.
10. David Browne (25 February 2002). "White Lilies Island Review". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved 25 May 2010.
11. Pat Blashill (28 February 2002). "Natalie Imbruglia: White Lilies Island : Music Reviews". Rolling Stone. Archived from the original on 17 November 2007. Retrieved 29 September 2012.
12. Emma Pearse (9 April 2002). "Girls with the Most Pie". The Village Voice. Retrieved 29 September 2012.
13. Chris Heath (5 November 2001). "Natalie Imbruglia - 'White Lilies Island'". Yahoo! Music UK. Archived from the original on 7 May 2004. Retrieved 25 May 2010.
14. "Australiancharts.com – Natalie Imbruglia – White Lilies Island". Hung Medien. Retrieved 20 September 2016.
15. "Austriancharts.at – Natalie Imbruglia – White Lilies Island" (in German). Hung Medien. Retrieved 20 September 2016.
16. "Arianet: The Aria Report". Pandora Archive (page 24). Retrieved 2 February 2009.
17. "Lescharts.com – Natalie Imbruglia – White Lilies Island". Hung Medien. Retrieved 20 September 2016.
18. "Offiziellecharts.de – Natalie Imbruglia – White Lilies Island" (in German). GfK Entertainment Charts. Retrieved 20 September 2016.
19. "GFK Chart-Track Albums: Week 45, 2001". Chart-Track. IRMA. Retrieved 20 September 2016.
20. "Italiancharts.com – Natalie Imbruglia – White Lilies Island". Hung Medien. Retrieved 20 September 2016.
21. "Official Scottish Albums Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 20 September 2016.
22. "Swisscharts.com – Natalie Imbruglia – White Lilies Island". Hung Medien. Retrieved 20 September 2016.
23. "Natalie Imbruglia | Artist | Official Charts". UK Albums Chart. Retrieved 20 September 2016.
24. "Natalie Imbruglia Chart History (Billboard 200)". Billboard. Retrieved 20 September 2016.
25. "ARIA Charts – Accreditations – 2001 Albums". Australian Recording Industry Association. Archived from the original on 10 August 2020. Retrieved 30 August 2019.
26. "British album certifications – Natalie Imbruglia – White Lilies Island". British Phonographic Industry. Retrieved 30 August 2019. Select albums in the Format field. Select Gold in the Certification field. Type White Lilies Island in the "Search BPI Awards" field and then press Enter.
27. "Imbruglia 'Days' Away From Third Album". Billboard. 24 February 2005. Retrieved 30 August 2019.
28. "What comes Natalie". The Age. 8 December 2002. Retrieved 30 August 2019.