A Love Story | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|
Studio album by | ||||
Released | November 12, 2002 | |||
Recorded | Various
| |||
Genre | R&B [1] | |||
Length | 57:42 | |||
Label | Columbia | |||
Producer |
| |||
Vivian Green chronology | ||||
| ||||
Singles from A Love Story | ||||
|
A Love Story is the debut studio album by American singer Vivian Green. It was released by Columbia Records on November 12, 2002 in the United States. Green worked with a variety of producers on the album, including Anthony Bell, Junius Bervine, Durrell Bottoms, Jamar Jones, Fred Kenney, Osunlade, and Thaddeus Tribbett II. The album debuted at 93 on the US Billboard 200 in December 2002 and later peaked at number 51, also reaching number 13 on the Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums chart. It was eventually certified gold by the Recording Industry Association of America.
Received to mixed reviews from music critics, A Love Story garnered Green three Lady of Soul Awards nominations for Best Solo R&B/Soul Single ("Emotional Rollercoaster"), Best Solo R&B/Soul Album of the Year, and Best Solo R&B/Solo or Rap New Artist, [3] also earning a BET Award nomination for Best R&B Female Artist: [4] The album spawned three singles including the US Billboard Hot 100 top 40 hit "Emotional Rollercoaster"; the Fred Kenney-produced "Fanatic" and the Osunlade-produced "What Is Love?".
In 2020, during an interview about her seventh album Love Absolute, Green revealed A Love Story was her least favorite album - despite being well received by her fans. [5]
Review scores | |
---|---|
Source | Rating |
AllMusic | [1] |
BBC Music | favorable [6] |
PopMatters | mixed [7] |
Rolling Stone | [8] |
Jack Smith from BBC Music called the album "a stunning and sublime debut." He wrote that A Love Story "is an inspired blend of seductive neo-soul coupled with a vocal maturity and emotional range of a young woman who's seen lifes up-and-downs." [6] Allmusic editor William Ruhlmann wrote that "a group of producers provide familiar instrumental beds to support those sentiments, nothing that hasn't been heard before [...] Maybe consumers are ready to accept yet another singer in this style, but even so, on her debut album, Green is far from the most compelling of the group." [1] Billboard declared the album a "properly titled" set on which "at times, Green attempts to do too much." [9]
Christian Hoard and Jon Caramanica, writing for Rolling Stone , felt that "the debut from the sexy, dulcet-voiced twenty-three-year-old is all about neosoul politesse – hip-hop-flavored and vaguely jazzy. Very good if that's your thing, but tofu-bland otherwise." [8] PopMatters critic J. Victoria Sanders remarked that "up-tempo is not Green's forte for a number of reasons. Mostly because her voice has more jazz in it than hip-hop, and she doesn't do well posing [...] Vivian Green's voice makes this journey through her heartbreak hotel worth the tour, but at the end of her girl meets boy story there's just too much left out of A Love Story to make it noteworthy." [7]
A Love Story debuted at number 93 on the US Billboard 200 in December 2002. [10] The album later peaked at number 51 on the same chart and reached number 18 on Billboard''s Top R&B/Hip Hop Albums chart for the week ending March 1, 2003. [10] The album was certified gold by Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) on May 6, 2003, indicating sales in excess of 500,000 copies, and stayed on the Billboard 200 chart for 27 consecutive weeks. [11] A Love Story has sold over 531,000 copies in the US alone, according to Nielsen Soundscan. [12]
The first single from the album, "Emotional Rollercoaster", peaked at number 39 on the US Billboard Hot 100 and at number 13 on the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart. The song also went to number 1 on the Dance Club Songs chart. [13] Second single "Fanatic" peaked at number 52 on the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart, [10] while third single "What Is Love?" also appeared on the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart, reaching number 75. [10]
No. | Title | Writer(s) | Producer(s) | Length |
---|---|---|---|---|
1. | "Wishful Thinking" |
| Bervine | 4:04 |
2. | "24 Hour Blue (Just One of Those Days)" |
| Bervine | 3:52 |
3. | "Superwoman" |
| Bervine | 4:17 |
4. | "What Is Love?" |
| Osunlade | 5:09 |
5. | "Music" |
|
| 4:04 |
6. | "Emotional Rollercoaster" |
| Bervine | 3:16 |
7. | "Final Hour" |
|
| 2:39 |
8. | "No Sittin' By the Phone" |
|
| 4:41 |
9. | "Affected" |
| Bell | 3:07 |
10. | "Fanatic" |
|
| 4:12 |
11. | "Ain't Nothing But Love" |
|
| 3:38 |
12. | "Be Good to You" |
| Bervine | 4:19 |
13. | "Complete" |
| Bell | 4:07 |
14. | "Keep on Going" |
|
| 6:07 |
Sample credits
Weekly charts
| Year-end charts
|
Region | Certification | Certified units/sales |
---|---|---|
United States (RIAA) [11] | Gold | 500,000^ |
^ Shipments figures based on certification alone. |
Free Yourself is the debut studio album by American singer Fantasia, released by on November 23, 2004. After winning American Idol, Fantasia signed to J Records with 19 Entertainment and began recording her debut album, working with a variety of writers and producers, including Louis Biancaniello, Craig Brockman, Bryan-Michael Cox, Clive Davis, Jermaine Dupri, Missy Elliott, Sean Garrett, Jazze Pha, Darkchild, Harold Lilly, Ric Rude, Soulshock & Karlin, The Underdogs, Sam Watters and Nigel Wright.
Vivian Sakiyyah Green is an American R&B singer-songwriter and pianist.
Back to Then is the first studio album by the American singer Darius Rucker, lead singer of Hootie & the Blowfish.
Anytime is the third studio album by American singer Brian McKnight. It was released by Mercury Records on September 23, 1997, in the United States. Following his moderately successful second album I Remember You (1995), McKnight consulted a wider range of collaborators to work with him on the album, including producers Sean Combs, Keith Thomas, Poke & Tone and songwriters Diane Warren, and Peter Black. While McKnight would provide most of the material by himself, Anytime deviated from the urban adult contemporary sound of his older work, with the former acts taking his music further into the hip hop soul genre.
Mary is the fourth studio album by American singer Mary J. Blige, released August 17, 1999, on MCA Records. The album debuted at number two on the Billboard 200 chart, selling 239,000 copies in its first week. It spent 57 weeks on the chart and produced five charting singles. Upon its release, Mary received acclaim from music critics. It has been certified double platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America for sales of two million units in the United States.
The Breakthrough is the seventh studio album by American singer Mary J. Blige. It was released by Geffen Records on December 20, 2005. Initially expected to be released in 2006, it switched release dates with Blige's first greatest hits album Reflections (2006) after fruitful collaborations with a host of songwriters and record producers, including 9th Wonder, Rodney Jerkins, Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis, Bryan-Michael Cox, J.U.S.T.I.C.E. League, Raphael Saadiq, Chucky Thompson, Cool & Dre, Ron Fair, and will.i.am, prompted Blige and her label to shift material from Reflections to The Breakthrough.
The Evolution of Robin Thicke is the second studio album by American singer-songwriter Robin Thicke. It was released on October 3, 2006, by Star Trak Records and Interscope Records. The production on the album was primarily handled by Pro J and Robin Thicke himself with additional production by The Neptunes. The album also features guest appearances from Faith Evans, Lil Wayne and Pharrell. In February 2007, a deluxe edition of the album was released, which included all three new bonus tracks.
Trey Day is the second studio album by American R&B recording artist Trey Songz. It was released on October 1, 2007, by Atlantic Records. Recording for the album began in mid-2006, with Songz again reteaming with longtime collaborator Troy Taylor. With the singer aiming for the album to be more mainstream-oriented than his debut album I Gotta Make It (2005), he also consulted a wider range of producers to work with him, including Bryan-Michael Cox, Danja, Stargate and R. Kelly.
A Love Supreme is the second album by American singer Chanté Moore, released on November 15, 1994, through Silas/MCA Records. The album peaked at number 20 on the UK R&B Albums chart and number 11 on the US Billboard Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums chart.
Soulful is the debut studio album from second-season American Idol winner Ruben Studdard, released on December 9, 2003 by J Records. The record received mixed reviews from critics divided over the quality of the track listing and Ruben's vocal performance. Soulful debuted at number one on the Billboard 200 and spawned two singles: "Sorry 2004" and "What If".
Love Always is the debut album of American R&B duo K-Ci & JoJo, released on June 17, 1997, by MCA Records. It was recorded at various studios in New York and the Los Angeles area in 1996 and 1997. It was produced by JoJo and several others, including DeVante Swing, Jon-John Robinson, James Mtume, and Jeff Redd. The duo were originally a part of Jodeci before this album.
So Damn Happy is the thirty-fifth studio album by American singer Aretha Franklin. Her first studio album in five years. The album featured the Grammy Award-winning track "Wonderful", a single co-written and produced by Ron "Amen-Ra" Lawrence and G Syier Hawkins Brown.
Who Knew? is the second studio album by American singer Keke Wyatt. It was released on February 23, 2010, by Shanachie Records. Containing material from Wyatt's previously shelved albums Emotional Rollercoaster (2005) and Ghetto Rose (2007), the album was preceded by the release of the title track "Who Knew?" as the lead single, which failed to chart commercially. Who Knew? charted at number 35 on Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums chart and number 30 on the Independent Albums chart.
Vivian is the second studio album by American neo soul singer Vivian Green, released by Columbia on May 31, 2005 in Japan and June 28, 2005 in the United States. The album involves production by Scott Storch and James Poyser with additional production from Anthony Bell, Junius Bervine, and Adam Black Stone, among others. Vivian spawned three singles: "Gotta Go Gotta Leave (Tired)", "I Like It " and "Cursed". The album debuted at number eighteen on the Billboard 200 chart on July 16, 2005 with first-week sales of 46,000 copies.
Libra Scale is the fourth studio album by American singer-songwriter Ne-Yo. It was released on October 27, 2010 in Japan, followed by a release in the United Kingdom on October 29, as well as a release in the United States on November 22, 2010 by Def Jam Recordings and Compound Entertainment. The album was preceded by three singles: its lead Europop-oriented single, and the UK number-one hit "Beautiful Monster", as well the R&B singles "Champagne Life" and "One in a Million".
Something About Faith is the sixth studio album by American singer Faith Evans. It was released on Prolific Music Group on October 5, 2010, in the United States. Distributed by E1 Music, the album marked Evans' first independent release, following her departure from Bad Boy in 2003 and her subsequent but short-lived engagement with Capitol Records in 2005. Evans who co-wrote and produced on the majority of Something About Faith, consulted a variety of collaborators to work with her on the album, including duo Carvin & Ivan, Chucky Thompson, Mike City, and Salaam Remi, as well as singer Keyshia Cole, and rappers Redman, Snoop Dogg and Raekwon.
The Light of the Sun is the fourth studio album by American singer Jill Scott. It was recorded after Scott's four-year break from her music career and departure from her former label, Hidden Beach Recordings. The Light of the Sun was recorded at several studios and produced primarily by Scott and JR Hutson, a songwriter and producer who had previously worked on her 2007 record The Real Thing: Words and Sounds Vol. 3. Music journalists noted The Light of the Sun for its neo soul sound, element of improvisation, and Scott's themes of emotion and womanhood.
Rated R: Remixed is the second remix album by Barbadian singer Rihanna. It was released on May 8, 2010, in Brazil and Europe and on May 24, 2010, in the United States by Def Jam Recordings. It contains remixes from her fourth studio album, Rated R (2009). The songs were solely remixed by Chew Fu. The majority of the remixes were remastered to incorporate influences from the genre of house music, and incorporate heavy usage of synthesizers as part of their instrumentation.
"Emotional Rollercoaster" is a song co-written and performed by American contemporary R&B singer Vivian Green, issued as the lead single from her debut studio album A Love Story. It is her only hit to date on the Billboard Hot 100, peaking at #39 in 2003. A remixed version of the song also peaked at #1 on the Billboard dance chart.
I Commit to Love is the debut solo studio album by American singer-songwriter Howard Hewett. It was released on June 25, 1986 via Elektra Records. The album serves his first release after he departed from the group Shalamar. Recording sessions for this ten-track album took place at nine various recording studios viz. Americayn Studios, Ground Control Studios, Larrabee Sound Studios, Le Gonks West, Mama Jo's, Nick's Place, Soundcastle, Studio 99 and Village Studios. Together with Hewett, George Duke, Stanley Clarke, Glen J. Barbee, Ross Vannelli and Monty Seward worked on the production of the album.