Hook Me Up is the second studio album by Australian duo the Veronicas, which was released on 3 November 2007 (see 2007 in music) by Sire Records. It debuted on the Australian ARIA Albums Chart at number two and has since been certified double platinum."About The Veronicas" . Theveronicas.com. Retrieved 29 June 2008. The singles issued from the album were "Hook Me Up", "Untouched", "This Love", "Take Me on the Floor", and "Popular". For the album, the Veronicas were nominated for three awards at ARIA Music Awards of 2008: "Highest Selling Album", "Highest Selling Single", and "Best Pop Release".
Writing and development The album was mainly written and recorded in the girls' home in Los Angeles with German songwriter Toby Gad. Jessica Origliasso states "It was really great. Toby works on a simplified set-up on his Mac computer. It takes all the pressure out of being in a recording studio. We were able to take our time and get it right and not stress about time ticking."Sally Browne "The Veronicas take to the road with their new album" . Herald Sun. Retrieved 13 November 2007. When working on the album the girls knew exactly which songwriters they wanted to work with including Billy Steinberg (who has worked with Madonna) and John Feldmann (who has worked with Good Charlotte and The Used). The songwriting saw the girls write about personal things in life mainly to do with love. The song "Revenge Is Sweeter (Than You Ever Were)" is about a person who Lisa Origliasso dated overseas, she states "When it comes down to it, that song's about cheating. A lot of people have been through it, like I've been through it, so it was very easy to relate to that situation. And I saw that whole situation go on, so it wasn't hard to write that song with her." Another personal song includes "In Another Life", is the most emotional song they've ever written. Lisa states that "While recording this song we couldn't sing it properly because we were bawling our eyes out". Jess says, "You actually hear me sniffing in the background".
In the song "Take Me on the Floor", the girls state that they "want to kiss a girl". Lisa states "Yeah, there's a sexual undertone to that song, but when we were writing it we were thinking about having fun, going to a club, being on the dancefloor. You can interpret it how you like."Cameron Adams "The Veronicas dish the dirt" . Herald Sun. Retrieved 30 November 2007. Jessica stated: It would have been so easy to have made a record just like the first, with unison voices on the verse and chorus. It worked for us on the first record; it became a trademark sound. Not degrading it, we loved it, but at some point you have to grow as an artist or you get stuck. According to Lisa: We made that record [The Secret Life Of...] two years ago. It would be so dated to do it again. I feel we're staying current but staying ourselves. It was a natural progression. We wanted a challenge, to take it somewhere new. People had become used to our sound. Other artists released that sound using songs we'd written. We get asked, "Did you get pushed into this sound?" We were doing the pushing!
Critical reception and commercial performance
K. Ross Hoffman of Allmusic gave the album a positive review,[ K. Ross Hoffman "Allmusic – Album review"]. Allmusic. Retrieved 13 November 2007. stating that the band "decided to take a page from the t.A.T.u. playbook". Hoffman praised that the album "is an improvement upon its predecessor in almost every regard, consolidating its strengths while making bold and exploratory forward leaps that verge on a wholesale stylistic reinvention." He states the songs at their core are "expertly crafted pop/rock tunes" and anyone who enjoyed their previous studio album would "embrace this album". Hoffman ends the review stating that the album is the "finest teen pop releases of the year." Cameron Adams of The Herald Sun also gave the album a positive review, stating that "this is one twisted, subversive pop album."Cameron Adams "Hook Me Up – Album review". Herald Sun. Retrieved 28 January 2007. He also states "It's not as laden with obvious hits as their debut, and takes more risks than most young pop stars would. In a word: brash."
Hook Me Up was commercially successful in Australia and New Zealand. In November 2007, it debuted at number two on the Australian ARIA Albums Chart with sales of 9,531 copies.Cashmere, Paul, (12 November 2007). "Eagles Long Road Out of Eden Increases Sales in Australia" . Undercover Media. Retrieved 13 November 2007. The album certified gold in its first week and was kept off the top spot by The Eagles album Long Road Out of Eden (2007). The album dropped off the chart after eleven months, spending a total of fifty-one weeks in the top fifty."Hook Me Up – Australian Chart Run" . Australian-charts.com. Retrieved 28 January 2008. The Australian Recording Industry Association awarded the album double platinum certification for shipping 140,000 copies and became the twenty-eighth highest selling album in Australia for 2007."ARIA Charts – End Of Year Charts – Top 100 Albums 2007" . Australian Recording Industry Association. Retrieved 29 June 2008. At the 2008 ARIA Awards, the album was nominated for "Highest Selling Album" and "Best Pop Release" but lost both awards to Delta by Delta Goodrem and Lessons to Be Learned by Gabriella Cilmi respectively."2008: 22nd Annual ARIA Awards" . ARIA Awards. Retrieved 26 October 2008. In New Zealand, the album debuted at number thirty-two on the New Zealand Albums Chart, and went to peak at number eight, spending a total of twenty-six weeks on the chart."Hook Me Up – New Zealand Chart Run". charts.org.nz. Retrieved 16 April 2008. The RMNZ certified the album platinum.
The album made its first appearance on the U.S. Billboard charts on 13 September 2008 at number eleven on the Billboard Top Heatseekers chart."Top Heatseekers – Chart Listing For The Week Of 13 Sep 2008". Billboard. Retrieved 8 May 2009. It then went to debut on the Billboard 200 on 17 January 2009 at number one hundred and forty-seven, and peaked at number one hundred and seven."The Billboard 200 – Chart Listing For The Week Of 17 Jan 2009". Billboard. Retrieved 8 May 2009. "The Billboard 200 – Chart Listing For The Week Of 9 May 2009". Billboard. Retrieved 8 May 2009. It has spent fourteen weeks on the chart. The album was certified gold by the Recording Industry Association of America on August 8, 2024. Hook Me Up also peaked at number one hundred and thirty-four on the French Albums Chart where it spent two weeks on the chart."Hook Me Up – France Chart Run" . Lescharts.com. Retrieved 8 May 2009.
Singles "Hook Me Up" was released as the album's lead single on 22 September 2007. The single made its debut at number five and after seven weeks on the charts made its peak at number-one making it their first number-one hitHook Me Up Charts. THE VERONICAS – HOOK ME UP (SONG) australian-charts.com. Retrieved 26 October 2009. The song received an ARIA Music Award nomination for Highest Selling Single in 2008 but lost to Gabriella Cilmi.ARIA Awards. Gabriella Cilmi wins big at 2008 ARIA Awards News.com.au. Retrieved 26 October 2009.
"Untouched" was released as the second single in Australia and as the lead single in New Zealand, North America and Europe. It was received well peaking at number two in AustraliaUntouched Charts. The Veronicas – Untouched (song) australian-charts.com. Retrieved 26 October 2009. and making their Billboard Hot 100 debut in the charts peaking at number twelve.Untouched Charts. [ Billboard Hot 100 Singles Chart] Billboard.com. Retrieved 26 October 2009. It also peaked at number nine in New Zealand,Untouched Charts. The Veronicas – Untouched (song) charts.org.nz. Retrieved 26 October 2009. number eight in the UKUntouched Charts. Official Charts Company – Veronicas – Untouched Chart Stats. Retrieved 26 October 2009. and became their first number one hit, outside of Australia, in Ireland.Untouched Charts. The Veronicas – Untouched – Music Charts acharts.us. Retrieved 26 October 2009. The song was also nominated for the ARIA Music Award for Highest Selling Single.
"This Love" was released as the third single in Australia and second single in New Zealand. The single reached number ten in AustraliaThis Love Charts. THE VERONICAS – THIS LOVE (SONG) australian-charts.com. Retrieved 26 October 2009. and number fourteen in New Zealand.This Love Charts. THE VERONICAS – THIS LOVE (SONG) charts.org.nz. Retrieved 26 October 2009.
"Take Me on the Floor" was released as the fourth single in Australia, the third single in New Zealand and the second single in the United States and Canada. In Australia it became their fourth consecutive top ten hit from the album peaking at number seven.TMOTF Charts. THE VERONICAS – TAKE ME ON THE FLOOR (SONG) australian-charts.com. Retrieved 26 October 2009. It also peaked at number twenty-nine in New Zealand,TNOTF Charts. THE VERONICAS – TAKE ME ON THE FLOOR (SONG) charts.org.nz. Retrieved 26 October 2009. number fifty-four in Canada.TMOTF Charts. [ The Veronicas Album and Song Chart history] Billboard.com. Retrieved 26 October 2009. and number eighty-one in the US.
"Popular" was released as the fifth single in Australia. The single only received airplay and didn't chart on the ARIA Charts Top 50 singles but peaked at number eleven on the Australian Airplay Chart.
"4ever" was released as the album's second single in the UK and Ireland and re-released as the third single in the US. The single has so far peaked at number 17 in the UK4ever Charts. Official Charts Company – Veronicas – 4ever Chart Stats. Retrieved 26 October 2009. and number 20 in Ireland.4ever Charts. The Veronicas – 4ever – Music Charts acharts.us. Retrieved 26 October 2009.
Promotion The Veronicas made several TV appearances around the world to promote the album including So You Think You Can Dance in Australia and the United States and on Australian TV series Neighbours and Rove. The Veronicas also performed and they were presenters with Ashley Tisdale at the Z100 Jingle Ball on 13 December 2008 due to their success on the stationThe Veronicas hook fans up, twice and co-hosted MTV's New Year's Eve party with Miley Cyrus. While in Europe they performed on BBC Radio 1 Live Lounge, GMTV, Capital FM, TRL Italy and they will perform at the Capital FM Jingle Bell Ballon 6 December. The Jingle Bell Ball – Saturday 5 December & Sunday 6 December – London's O2 Arena
They have also filmed an episode of 90210 called Zero Tolerance where they performed Untouched and also performed the song at the Miss USA 2009 pageant. "Untouched," alongside their songs "Popular" and "Revenge Is Sweeter (Than You Ever Were)" have all appeared on the reality series The Hills.
The album received further promotion when they embarked on their Hook Me Up Tour in 2007 and Revenge Is Sweeter tour in 2009Revenge is Sweeter Tour NZ. The Veronicas to Tour NZ with P-Money Generation Q. Retrieved 18 November 2008.The Veronicas Tours They were also supposed to tour with Morningwood in 2009, but the tour fell through.
Track listing
Personnel The Veronicas Jessica Origliasso – lead vocals, background vocals, writer, main artist Lisa Origliasso – lead vocals, background vocals, writer, main artist
Additional personnel
Jeff Aldrich – A&R Josh Alexander – digital editing, production, recording, keyboard, programming, guitar Matt Appleton – engineering Joel Bajrech – logo design Dean Butterworth – drums Donny Campion – beats John Feldmann – engineering, production, mixing, guitar, bass, keys, string arrangement, percussion Jens Gad – drums Toby Gad – mixing, instruments, mastering Chris Garcia – digital editing Brian "Big Bass" Gardner – mastering Gersh – drum tech Michael Goldstone – A&R Nick Haussling – A&R Coordinator Brandon Kilgour – mixing Steve Martin – programming Kyle Moorman – engineering Erik Ron – engineering