Dido released her second album on September 29th 2003. Life For Rent has a lot to live up to after the mammoth success of her debut album and it did not disappoint selling almost as much as No Angel did. Preceded by the huge no.2 hit White Flag the album also houses 3 other top 40 hits including the title track which also went into the top ten. At the time of release, this chart topping album became the fastest selling album by a female artist shifting over 400k in one week. It was the biggest selling album of 2003.

 

This was one of the first albums I ever owned and I was always in awe of Dido. She just has a way that capture me completely and this album was constantly played by me throughout 2004. The highlight of the album for me is Stoned which I have included below even though it wasn’t a single because y’all deserve to hear it!

 

The singles:

 

 

 

 

 

Edited April 12, 20205 yr by Leanne 🧘🏻‍♀️

I actually adore White Flag! It’s easy to forget how massive that era was

I honestly never heard of Dido before I came to Buzzkack and you stanned her so hard lmao. White Flag is indeed a massive song :clap:

White Flag is gorgeous but there are so many more gems on here!

I've heard this album so many times :lol:

 

Don't Leave Home has to be my favourite from it, though White Flag and Sand In My Shoes are both great too!

This is bringing back so many memories :cry: Incredible album and I remember having a cassette and listening to it SO many times.

Edited April 21, 20205 yr by Condebola*

Great album - my faves are Stoned and Sand In My Shoes.

One of my favourite all time albums :heart: :heart: :heart:

I got this for Christmas 2003 with Busted - A Present For Everyone & Atomic Kitten - Ladies Night.

 

Brings back SO many memories. :wub:

 

I love 'Life For Rent' and I adore 'Mary's In India'! I keep meaning to give this album another listen. It's so lovely.

Dont leave home remains my fave dido single/song. Great 2bdcalbum and I prefer it to her debut. White flag is great aswell.

Amazing album, highlights for me were: White flag, Life for rent, Sand in my shoes, Mary's in India and my absolute favourite was this little gem towards the end of the album: See the Sun.

 

I actually adore White Flag! It’s easy to forget how massive that era was

 

 

BUMP.

 

I was very annoyed when the BEP's Where Is The Love beat White Flag to No.1. :(

 

Life For Rent is even better than No Angel which was saying something.

Superb album - my fave is Sand In My Shoes.

I prefer No Angel as an album, but this is a more than worthy follow-up!

 

'Don't Leave Home' is my favourite Dido song, and 'Stoned' is really quite an out-there recording for her!

No Angel is still one of my favourite albums ever, but this isn’t too far behind!

Love seeing this bumped. What an album. As much as I need a new Dido album, I need a reissue of this on vinyl. Living the No Angel one!

'Dido - Life For Rent' - It has been years since I listened to this, from what I remember it was a stellar album & 'White Flag' was everywhere at the time. Gonna give this a listen & rate every track out of 10:

01. White Flag - 10/10 - Amazing opener, probably one of Dido's most well known hits - the soft synths & the sweeping strings before the mellow beats kicks in. Dido's soft & warm vocals sounds relaxed & everything just comes together flawlessly.

02. Stoned - 10/10 - Once again opening with some synths, yet there's harder dance beats going on here & its glorious. Something quite different for Dido & quite refreshing at the same time. Also love the twinkling pianos at the end.

03. Life For Rent - 08/10 - A very graceful number with gentle acoustic guitar strums as Dido shows off her flawless vocals over a beautful but rather plodding beat. Nice song but feels rather safe.

04. Mary's In India - 10/10 - This sees more acoustic guitar strumming over a rather folksy number with Dido's rather restrained yet strong vocals with some gentle percussion joining in occasionally. A sweet mellow number that offers something a little different to what we've heard so far.

05. See You When You're 40 - 09/10 A sombre ballad sung beautifully over some nice trip-hop beats. The song builds about half-way through with piano, synths & guitars that creates a rather lovely & melodic track.

06. Don't Leave Home - 10/10 - One of my firm faves with bleeping synths & strumming guitars that builds towards a strong chorus with confident vocals. Great track.

07. Who Makes You Feel - 09/10 - Soulful & tender track which opens with a looped sample as Dido's delicate vocals blends perfectly with the slinky hip-hop beats that creates that perfect chilled out vibe.

08. Sand In My Shoes - 10/10 - Opening with the sounds of waves & seagulls in the background before an acoustic guitar pulls you into the catchy house beats, gentle bass & of course Dido's vocals sound perfect against the polished production. A wonderful summery pop track.

09. Do You Have A Little Time - 08/10- Featuring some sad yet beautiful strings, which the hip-hop back beats & lyrics compliments each other on this wonderfully downbeat track. Dido's vocals works really well with this kind of style.

10. This Land Is Mine - 07/10 - Simplistic and sparse with twinkling pianos & warm guitars underline Dido's folkier vocals. The beat is really nice here, very soft and mellow & glides through the verses with ease. Not all not memorable unfortunately.

11. See The Sun - 08/10- This opens with a growing synthscape before giving way to bass and strings. A lovely little number where the acoustic guitars tenderly lead the string section through to the safety of the chorus. This was actually billed as the final track on the CD tracklist & it would have made a lovely closer, but there's a hidden track after this.

12. Closer - 06/10 - A simple little number which begins with that strumming guitar set against the very stripped back production of just vocals & guitar. An okay track but not something worthy of closing a magnificent album like this. Certainly the weakest track on here, but there's so many other strong moments on here, one little meh moment is not enough to spoil your enjoyment of this amazing body of work.


Overall a pretty fantastic album with the obvious highlights being - 'White Flag', 'Stoned', 'Don't Leave Home', 'Sand In My Shoes' & 'Mary's In India', & there's other several great moments on here as-well. Okay there could have been a little bit more variety, but that's just me being picky. A solid effort & a worthy follow-up to her first mammoth album.

Avg.8.75

This is such a stunning album

 

I have a very vivid memory of getting this album - I had just started uni and had pre-ordered it to my non-uni address. My mum was forwarding it on to me and I was soooo excited!

 

All the singles are great (White Flag would have been a number one if it had not been released against the biggest song of the year!). Mary’s In India was always a fave of mine - I loved the story telling aspect of it

I too wish this was on vinyl :(

Maybe there will be a 20th anniversary edition next year? It would be 20 yers right?