Inspiration (William Hung album)
| Company type | Studio album |
|---|---|
| Industry | Music |
| Founded | 2004 |
| Founder | William Hung |
| Products | Music album |
Inspiration, which was initially named True Idol, marks the first studio album by William Hung, known for his participation on American Idol. The project was recorded at Fantasy Studios and released in 2004 through Koch Entertainment, now operating as Entertainment One. The album leveraged Hung's viral audition fame despite receiving largely unfavorable reviews, mainly due to his vocal abilities and the use of karaoke-style instrumentals.
Development
After his early 2004 audition on Idol, where he became a cult sensation for his passionate yet off-key performance of "She Bangs", Hung—then a 20-year-old civil engineering student—proceeded to record this album. The release date was April 6, 2004, under Koch Entertainment, with production completed in just five weeks. Vocals were laid over digital MIDI tracks, supplemented occasionally by live instrumentation. Included in the album package was a 40-minute documentary titled A Day in the Life of a Small William Hung.
Release and commercial performance
Four tracks were made available as a "Pre-Release Teaser" via iTunes two weeks prior to the album’s launch, achieving 25,000 downloads. To promote the release, Hung performed at a Golden State Warriors game before an audience of 20,000 on April 6 and made appearances on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno and The Today Show, delivering his rendition of "She Bangs."
Inspiration entered the Billboard 200 chart at position No. 34 with initial sales reaching 37,676 copies during its first week. It also secured the top spot on the Billboard Independent Album chart. Within retail outlets, it ranked fifth at Trans World stores and fourteenth at Tower Records, accumulating total sales near 200,000 units.
Critical reception
Stephen Thomas Erlewine from Allmusic awarded Inspiration one out of five stars, describing it as a source of amusement for those interested in humor due to its inclusion of "some of the worst singing ever captured on record." He recommended that the album might have been better suited as a four-track single or EP since only four songs were notably memorable. IGN’s Chris Cale gave it a score of 0.5 out of ten, condemning Hung for "systematically ruining every hit he covered," labeling the music as a "cacophony of wrong-notes, stoic delivery and shoddy rhythm," and discouraged purchasing it. David Browne from Entertainment Weekly assigned an F rating, commenting that the album "adds a particularly ugly race card" to the lineage of novelty acts such as William Shatner and Wesley Willis.
Track listing
- "Words of Gratitude" (original monologue by Hung)
- "She Bangs" (originally by Ricky Martin)
- "Bailamos" (originally by Enrique Iglesias)
- "Inspirational Thoughts: Passion" (original monologue by Hung)
- "I Believe I Can Fly" (originally by R. Kelly)
- "Hotel California" (originally by Eagles)
- "Can You Feel the Love Tonight" (originally by Elton John)
- "Two Worlds" (originally by Phil Collins)
- "Inspirational Thoughts: Perseverance" (original monologue by Hung)
- "Rocket Man" (originally by Elton John)
- "Free" (original song written by Hung and Saul Alvarez)
- "Circle of Life" (originally by Elton John)
- "Inspirational Thoughts: Be Yourself"
- "Y.M.C.A." (featuring The Gonnabees) (originally by The Village People)
- "Shake Your Bon-Bon" (originally by Ricky Martin)
Personnel
- William Hung – lead vocals, songwriter (tracks 1, 4, 9, 11)
- Joshua Gilfand – bass, guitar
- Oba Frank Lords – percussion, backing vocals
- Saul Alvarez – drums, songwriter (track 11)
- Giuseppe D. – synthesizer player, producer
- Pepe, Mauro DeSantis, Christopher Young – additional producers
- The Gonnabees, Jesika Pate, N'Gai – background vocals
Charts
| Chart (2004) | Highest ranking |
|---|---|
| Australian Albums Chart | 89 |
| Billboard 200 | 34 |
| Billboard Independent Albums | 1 |