Mistaken Identity (Delta Goodrem album)

Mistaken Identity is the second studio album by Australian singer Delta Goodrem. It was released in Australia on 8 November 2004, a day before Goodrem's twentieth birthday, by Epic and Daylight Records. Goodrem co-wrote all but one of the songs on the album, which was produced by Guy Chambers with Richard Flack and Steve Power. Mistaken Identity debuted at number-one on the Australian Albums Chart making it her second number-one album but the sales did not match up to her previous album Innocent Eyes (2003) which sold 4.5 million copies worldwide.

Mistaken Identity produced Goodrem two more number-one singles with "Out of the Blue" and "Almost Here", and the rest of the album's singles; "Mistaken Identity" and "A Little Too Late", became top twenty hits. The album features Goodrem's first duet, "Almost Here" (with Irish singer Brian McFadden). Goodrem toured the album with The Visualise Tour in 2005 and for its twenty-year anniversary in 2025.

Content

Music was one of the main comforts for Goodrem during the chemotherapy for her Hodgkin's lymphoma cancer diagnosis. Songs kept going around in her head: harmonies, melodies, lyrics, many deeper and darker than those that were on her debut album, Innocent Eyes. and quickly became the most added song to radio for that week. Goodrem performed the song live for the first time on 17 October 2004 at the eighteenth Annual ARIA Awards and that same night "Out of the Blue" made its debut in the charts at number-one, Goodrem's sixth consecutive number-one single in Australia. Debuting at number-one on its first week, the song also was certified platinum by ARIA and stayed at number-one for two more weeks. The song also reached the top ten in the UK and the top twenty in Greece, Ireland, and New Zealand. and became the second-most-added song to radio for that week. The music video for the song was directed by Michael Spiccia, released on 13 December 2004 and was based on the 1984 film The NeverEnding Story. on the Australian Singles Chart, the fifth highest entry for that week and was certified gold by ARIA.

"Almost Here" was the third song released from the album but was the second internationally, released on 31 January 2005. A song about a broken relationship, the video was filmed in a London airport between 27 and 29 October 2004. It became one of Goodrem's biggest hits, making it her seventh number-one single in Australia, her first in Ireland, and her fifth top ten hit in the UK, and was nominated for an ARIA Award in 2005 for "Highest Selling Single" but lost to "The Prayer" by Anthony Callea. The song was only released in Australia and did not chart like the other singles, debuting and peaking at number thirteen. The last song released from the album was "Be Strong", which was only released in Australia as a digital download on 17 October 2005.

Critical reception

AllMusic editor Matthew Chisling characterizes Mistaken Identity as a darker, introspective work shaped by Goodrem's battle with lymphoma, highlighting her vocal talent, artistic maturity, and personal resilience, though its somber tone may limit mainstream appeal. Unlike her debut album Innocent Eyes, Mistaken Identity only spent one week at the top, being knocked off by Eminem's album Encore, and falling to number two. and the thirtieth highest selling album for 2005. In 2005 the album was nominated for one ARIA Award, "Highest Selling Album" but lost to Missy Higgins album The Sound of White (2004). The album did not perform as well in the UK, debuting and peaking at number twenty-five and then falling to forty-four in its second week. It spent a total of ten weeks in the top seventy-five and accredited gold by BPI.

Tours

The Visualise Tour

In July 2005, Goodrem embarked on her first concert tour, The Visualise Tour, in support of Mistaken Identity and Innocent Eyes. She performed 10 arena shows in Australian capital cities. The show on 24 July at Acer Arena in Sydney was filmed for the live DVD The Visualise Tour: Live in Concert, which was released on 13 November 2005. The DVD peaked at number one on the Australian ARIA DVD Chart and was certified four times platinum for sales of 60,000 units.

Mistaken Identity – A Night of Celebration

In April 2025, to celebrate the 20 year anniversary of Mistaken Identity, Goodrem embarked on a retrospective tour with two shows at the Sydney Opera House in Sydney, Australia, and two shows at Hackney Empire in London, England. She performed the album in its entirety and original sequence, in addition to a medley of other songs from her catalogue.

Track listing

Personnel

Delta Goodrem – lead vocals (1–5, 7, 9–11, 14), backing vocals (1–5, 7, 9–11, 14), acoustic piano (1–4, 7, 10–12, 14), vocals (6, 8, 12, 13, 15)
Guy Chambers – acoustic piano (1, 14), acoustic guitar (1, 9, 10), electric guitar (1, 2, 4, 9, 14), bass guitar (1, 2, 9), keyboards (4, 7, 10), organ (9, 14), Moog synthesizer (9), autoharp (9)
Richard Flack – programming (1, 2, 4, 7, 9, 10, 14), tambourine (1), drum programming (2), percussion (10)
David Arch – acoustic piano (2, 4, 7, 10)
Vince Pizzinga – keyboards (4), electric guitar (4)
Matthew Vaughan – programming (4)
Gary Barlow – keyboards (5), programming (5)
Matthew Gerrard – keyboards (6), guitars (6), bass (6)
Marco Luciani – keyboards (6)
Tommy Barbarella – keyboards (13)
John Fields – keyboards (13), guitars (13), bass (13)
Phil Palmer – acoustic guitar (1, 2, 4, 7, 10, 14), electric guitar (7)
Eric Schermerhorn – electric guitar (1)
Paul Stanborough – electric guitar (2)
Tim Van der Kuil – electric guitar (2, 4, 7, 10)
Billy Mann – guitars (3, 11), backing vocals (3, 11), additional programming (11)
Chris Rojas – guitars (3, 11), strings (3, 11), additional programming (11)
Eliot Kennedy – guitars (5), bass (5)
Adam Phillips – guitars (8)
Paul Pimsler – guitars (11)
Peter Thorn – guitars (13)
Guy Pratt – bass guitar (2, 4, 7, 9)
Conrad Korsch – bass (3, 11)
Mark Smith – bass (8)
Dave CB – bass guitar (9, 14)
Phil Spalding – bass guitar (10)
Jim Anton – bass (13)
Brian MacLeod – drums (1, 2, 4, 7, 9, 10, 14)
Jason Dering – drums (3, 11)
Randy Cooke – drums (6)
Daniel Pearce – drums (7)
Ash Soan – drums (8)
Ian Thomas – drums (9)
Dorian Crozier – drums (13)
Frank Ricotti – glockenspiel (2), marimba (2), vibraphone (2, 9)
Ken Chastain – percussion (13)
The London Session Orchestra – strings (1, 4, 7, 10)
Stealth Strings – strings (3, 11)
Tessa Niles – backing vocals (2, 4, 7, 9)
Gary Nuttall – backing vocals (2, 9)
Ami Richardson – backing vocals (5)
Brian McFadden – vocals (8)
Andy Caine – backing vocals (9), additional backing vocals (14)

Arrangements

Guy Chambers – orchestral arrangements (1, 7, 10)
Billy Mann – arrangements (3, 11)
Chris Rojas – arrangements (3, 11)
Delta Goodrem – original arrangements (3)
Vince Pizzinga – original arrangements (3), orchestral arrangements (4)
Sally Herbert – orchestral arrangements (4, 7, 10)
Matthew Gerrard – arrangements (6)
Bridget Benenate – additional string arrangements (6)
Isobel Griffiths – orchestra contractor (1, 4, 7, 10)
Gavyn Wright – orchestra leader (1, 4, 7, 10)

Production

David Massey – A&R
David Gray – additional A&R
Guy Chambers – producer (1, 2, 4, 7, 9, 10, 14)
Richard Flack – producer (1, 2, 4, 7, 9, 10, 14)
Steve Power – producer (1, 2, 4, 7, 10, 14)
Billy Mann – producer (3, 11)
True North Music Company (Gary Barlow, Eliot Kennedy and Tim Woodcock) – producers (5)
Matthew Gerrard – producer (6)
Mark Taylor – producer (8)
Vince Pizzinga – producer (12, 15)
John Fields – producer (13)
Jenny Sullivan – design
Sheryl Nields – photography

Technical

Ted Jensen – mastering at Sterling Sound (New York, NY, USA)
Richard Flack – recording (1, 2, 4, 7, 9, 10, 14), mixing (1, 2, 4, 7, 9, 10, 14)
Mat Bartram – orchestra engineer (1, 4, 7)
Steve Price – orchestra engineer (1, 4, 7)
Jim Briggs – engineer (3, 11)
Billy Mann – engineer (3, 11)
Michael McCoy – engineer (3, 11)
Jason Rankins – engineer (3, 11)
Chris Rojas – engineer (3, 11)
Tom Lord-Alge – mixing (3, 11)
Robbie Adams – engineer (5)
Mark Endert – mixing (5, 6, 12)
Krish Sharma – piano and drums recording (6)
Ren Swan – mixing (8), Pro Tools editing (8)
Mark Taylor – mixing (8)
Phillip McKellar – engineer (12)
John Fields – recording (13), mixing (13)
Steven Miller – mixing (13)
Jim Brumby – additional engineer (1, 2, 4, 7, 10, 14), additional Pro Tools editing (14)
Paul Stanborough – additional Pro Tools editing (1, 2, 4, 7, 9, 10), additional engineer (9)
Daniel Porter – assistant engineer (1, 2, 4, 7, 9, 10, 14)
Tim Roe – mix assistant (2, 9)
Femio Hernandez – assistant engineer (3, 11)
Tom Paterson – mix assistant (4, 10)
Ryan Carline – assistant engineer (5)
Doug Tyo – assistant engineer (6)
Chris Wilcox – assistant engineer (7)
Alex Smith – Pro Tools editing assistant (8)
Michael Morgan – assistant engineer (12)
Matt Beckley – assistant engineer (13)

Charts

Weekly charts

{| class="wikitable sortable plainrowheaders"

|+ Weekly chart performance

!scope="col"|Chart (2004)

!scope="col"|Peak<br />position

!scope="row"|Australian ARIA Albums Chart

| style="text-align:center;"|1

!scope="row"|Austrian Albums Chart

| style="text-align:center;"|62

!scope="row"|European Top 100 Albums

| style="text-align:center;"|79

!scope="row"|German Albums Chart

| style="text-align:center;"|59

!scope="row"|Irish Albums Chart

| style="text-align:center;"|39

!scope="row"|New Zealand Albums Chart

| style="text-align:center;"|7

!scope="row"|Swiss Albums Chart

| style="text-align:center;"|50

!scope="row"|UK Albums Chart

|align="center"|64

!scope="row"| Australian Artist Albums (ARIA)

| style="text-align:center;"|350,000

!scope="row"|New Zealand

| style="text-align:center;"|Platinum

| style="text-align:center;"|15,000

!scope="row"|United Kingdom

| style="text-align:center;"|Gold

| 28 December 2004

| SMA Recordings

| Digital download

| N/A