Kiss And Tell

Kiss & Tell is the debut studio album by American band Selena Gomez & The Scene. It was released on September 29, 2009 by Hollywood Records. Gomez formed the band as she stated she did not want to become a solo artist quite yet. The band worked with several writers and producers on the album including Gina Schock of the Go-Go's. Their work with Schock received a warm reception from musical critics, most of which praised the tracks worked on by Schock. The album was praised by music critics, however, several critics had a somewhat negative reception towards Gomez's vocal performance, in light of a critically panned performance on Dancing With The Stars, in which the band performed to promote the album.&nbsp

The album has spawned two singles, the lead single Falling Down, and the follow up Naturally. "Falling Down" failed to chart well, however, it did peak at number 82 on the Billboard Hot 100. The single has become a hit in Japan, peaking at number 15, their only Top 20 hit in the country to date. The follow up single, "Naturally" proved to be more successful. It topped the Hot Dance Club Play chart in the US, as well as peaked at number 29 on the Billboard Hot 100, making it their first Top 40 hit in that country. The single was also an international success, reaching the Top 20 in 14 countries, including Germany, Canada, and the United Kingdom, where it became the first Disney Channel act to enter to Top 10 since Hillary Duff and her 2005 single, "Wake Up".

The album was met with a strong commercial performance. Kiss & Tell debuted at number nine on the US Billboard 200 selling 66,000 copies in the first week. It later climbed to a peak of 47 on the Year-End Album Chart. It peaked at number twenty-two on the Canadian Albums Chart, after the success of "Naturally". The album was a worldwide success as well, entering the Top 10 in countries such as Spain and Greece. The album also entered the Top 10 in Argentina. In Germany, the album peaked at number 19. In March 2010, the album was certified Gold in the US, for shipments of 500,000 copies. As of August, 2011, Kiss & Tell has sold 778,000 copies in the United States.

Production
Gomez first announced the album publicly in late July 2008 on an interview with Jocelyn Vena of MTV News, stating, "I'm going to be in a band — no Selena Gomez stuff. I'm not going to be a solo artist. I think that I don't want my name attached to it." She also said that if her music doesn't make people wanna move or maybe just shake their head, then she has failed. After two years of recording and going over one-hundred songs, Gomez announced the name of her band. She explained,

Gomez has said in several interviews (including one with Z100 New York) that the band was formed through a long, exhausting audition process. She said it was worth it, though, because she has a great band. However, not long after joining the band, keyboardist Nick Foxer left for unknown reasons, and was replaced by Dane Forrest. Gomez also re-recorded her first charting single, Tell Me Something I Don't Know, for the album because she recorded the original version when she was about fifteen years old. undefined She calls herself a "huge, huge fan" of Fefe Dobson, to the extent that she included a cover of the Toronto, Canada native's "As a Blonde," which was a song for Dobson's unreleased album Sunday Love on the disc. Writers on the album include Ted Bruner, Trey Vittetoe and Gina Schock of the Go-Go's; who've contributed to the lead single on the album. Gomez co-wrote one song on the album, undefined titled "I Won't Apologize".

Composition
Musically, the album drew influences from different artists such as Demi Lovato, Lady Gaga, and Avril Lavigne.Gomez said the music is "fun, energetic, empowering." "I'm still new and still figuring out where I want to be musically. But I think this is a good start ... hopefully."undefinedSongs like " Falling Down " are a upbeat pop songs that contains a strong use of drums and electric guitars with predominant "bloopy synths." Gomez elaborated on the concept of "Falling Down" during an interview, saying "[...] it's basically about Hollywood and what people think about it and essentially how plastic it is sometimes. It's fun and I think girls can relate to it somewhat, for me it was because of Hollywood, but it can really relate to a mean girl, an ex-boyfriend, to whoever."undefinedOn the song "As a Blonde," originally a Fefe Dobson song, Gomez sings in regards to trying different things and changing up her personality "I basically want to make music that is fun and that parents and kids can jump around to and have a good time to," she said. "I will be singing, and I'm learning drums and playing electric guitar." — Gomez, on the album's compositionKiss & Tell is composed of songs with pop-rock, electro-rock.undefined"Kiss & Tell" is the first song on the album that tells of a supposed friend that tells her secrets and is described as a feisty electro-rock and punk pop number with punkish guitars, hand claps, shouts of "Hey!" and even a touch of Adam and the Ants jungle drums and bass figures.undefined"I Won't Apologize" is a synth-rock song, co-written by Gomez. It tells about not changing yourself to fit someone else's approval.undefined"Falling Down" is the first single off the album that, along with “Kiss & Tell”, have an aggressive, almost bratty, attack that borrows equally from punk attitude and pop melody. "[...] it's basically about Hollywood and what people think about it and essentially how plastic it is sometimes. It's fun and I think girls can relate to it somewhat, for me it was because of Hollywood, but it can really relate to a mean girl, an ex-boyfriend, to whoever."undefined“I Promise You” is a pop-rock song with synth-pop characteristics. "Crush" is an aggressive rock song that vocally and lyrically sound close to that of Avril Lavigne. "Naturally" is electropop song that has a juicy and instantly memorable vocal hook.

"The Way I Loved You" is the ballad of the album.undefined“More” is a party/dance song. "As a Blonde" is a synthy pop-punk cover of the original by Fefe Dobson. “I Don’t Miss You At All” is an electropop song with techno beat and synthesizer influences about post-break-up and sounds similar to that of the worldwide hit "Untouched" and "This Is How It Feels" by The Veronicas. “Stop and Erase” is an electro-rock song about a painful past with bullies and teasing. "I Got U" is a pop-rock song that, according to Bill Lamb of About.com, is a “mix of sweetness and intensity that seems distinctively Selena Gomez.”undefined" Tell Me Something I Don't Know " is a song that was originally recorded for the soundtrack for  Another Cinderella Story , but was re-recorded for this album.

Release & promotion
Kiss & Tell was released digitally and physically on September 29, 2009 in both Canada and the United States by Hollywood Records. The album was released in Australia by Universal Music on October 16, 2009. In India, the album was not released until 2010, when Universal Music released the album as a physical release only on April 3, 2010. In the United Kingdom, the album was released by Fascination Records in April 19, 2010, with both a physical and digital release.

Radio Disney premiered some songs from the album from Monday, September 21, 2009 to Friday, September 25: "Kiss and Tell," "Naturally," "Crush," "I Promise You" and "More." undefined On September 26, the station premiered the entire album, with a rebroadcast the next day.The group also performed both "Falling Down" and "Naturally" at the 2009 Teletón in Mexico.They also performed at PopCon in February, along with Justin Bieber. They have also performed live on televised events. On September 29, prior to the record release party, Selena Gomez & the Scene performed live on the ninth season of Dancing With The Stars, to which they received a negative reaction, mainly due to Gomez's vocals. The group haven't performed the song televised since. However, "Naturally" was performed multiple times, including a performance on The Ellen DeGeneres. The song, along with "More" were performed on Dick Clarks's New Year's Rockin' Eve With Ryan Seacrest in 2010. Gomez performed both of those songs yet again on Good Morning America, to promote the album. In the UK, the single was performed live on Studio Five, where Gomez also was interviewed.

Tour
Gomez and her band also performed songs from the album on their concert tour, Selena Gomez & The Scene: Live in Concert. The tour featured 19 dates, one of which was in Europe. Spanning from November 15, 2009 to October 10, 2010, the tour saw the band appearing in places such as San Diego, California, Dallas Texas, as well as Hot Francisco. Four shows on the tour were cancelled due to vocal injuries sustained by Gomez. Among the cancelled shows were stops in Holmdel Township, New Jersey, and Hartford, Connecticut. The tour set-list saw Gomez performing all of the songs from the album, excluding "As A Blonde" and "I Got U". During the first leg of the tour, the band covered the song "I Want It That Way", a song by the Backstreet Boys from their 1999 album, "Millennium". They also performed a cover of the recent hit by Katy Perry, "Hot n Cold", from her 2008 album One Of The Boys. The band also performed the song "Magic", which Gomez had recorded as a solo artist for the Wizards Of Waverly Place film, which premiered on Disney Channel. The second leg of the tour saw an edited set-list, featuring both singles from the band's sophomore album. The new set-list also featured the band performing the Taylor Swift hit, "You Belong With Me". Gomez also requested that they perform the song "Love Is a Battlefield" by Pat Benatar for the tour. They also performed the hit single In My Head by artist Jason Derulo, from his eponymous debut album.