IFPI Platinum Europe - Certifications for June 2004
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June's Platinum Awards honour four albums as they all reach the million-mark for sales across Europe for the first time.
For any band, their third album is traditionally seen as a difficult hurdle. Guilty is Blue's number three album and highlights the band's growth as vocalists and their maturity as songwriters. The four-piece display their talents on tracks ranging from up tempo floor-fillers to R&B and soaring ballads. Guilty achieves a million sales across Europe to gain its first Platinum Award.
The Soul Sessions is a collection of cover versions that Joss Stone recorded with the assistance of an array of classic and contemporary soul and hip-hop players. Covering lesser-known tunes by the genre's biggest names such as Carla Thomas's I've Fallen in Love With You, Isley Brothers' For the Love of You and Aretha Franklin's All the King's Horses, English-born Joss Stone also endeared herself to the MTV generation with her unique reworking of the White Stripes' hit Fell in Love With a Girl. Honoured with its first Platinum Europe Award, The Soul Sessions reintroduces the timeless depth of old-school soul by an artist with a truly phenomenal singing voice.
OutKast continues to push the boundaries of rap with its innovative blend of hip-hop and pop. Speakerboxx/The Love Below - a double CD - is OutKast's fifth album release and its emphasis is on individuality. Speakerboxx is Big Boi's offering and The Love Below Andre 3000's, allowing both artists to express themselves while remaining faithful to the established OutKast identity - and even featuring on each other's discs. Outkast is awarded a first ever Platinum Europe Award for Speakerboxx/The Love Below.
The Grammy Award-winning R&B singer Usher released his fifth album Confessions in March 2004 and June sees it honoured with a first Platinum Award. Essentially an autobiography of the artist's trials and tribulations to date, Confessions sees Usher combining his soulful background with the expertise of collaborators such as the pioneering Neptunes, Rich Harrison and R Kelly.
