Four Seasons of Love

Last updated
Four Seasons of Love
Four Seasons Of Love.jpg
Studio album by
Donna Summer
ReleasedOctober 11, 1976 (1976-10-11) [1]
RecordedAugust–September 1976 [2]
Studio Musicland Studios, Munich [2]
Genre
Length32:28
Label Casablanca
Producer
Donna Summer chronology
A Love Trilogy
(1976)		Four Seasons of Love
(1976)		 I Remember Yesterday
(1977)
Singles from Four Seasons of Love
  1. "Spring Affair"
    Released: August 24, 1976
  2. "Winter Melody"
    Released: January 9, 1977

Four Seasons of Love is the fourth studio album by American singer-songwriter Donna Summer. Released on October 11, 1976, this concept album became her third consecutive successful album to be certified gold in the US. It peaked at #29 on the Billboard 200. In addition, all the cuts on this album went to number one on the disco chart. [5]

Contents

Overview

This was the third concept album Summer had made, though unlike the previous two which had contained one long track on side one and a small selection of slightly shorter ones on side two, Four Seasons of Love was more equally balanced. The album told the story of a love affair by relating it to the four seasons. Side one contained "Spring Affair" and "Summer Fever", both disco tracks, and side two contained "Autumn Changes" (a slightly slower disco number) and "Winter Melody" (which had an even slower beat), plus a reprise of "Spring Affair". [6] This concept was reflected in the four photos of Summer, one for each season of the year, in a pull-out 1977 calendar included with the original LP album. [3] The photo on the cover was, fittingly, the Summer pic. Summer's "first lady of love" image came across strongly on this album, though her trademark moans and groans were slightly less evident than on previous work. Pics included "Winter" in a fur with a tear on her cheek; "Spring" in a Scarlett O'Hara style hoop skirt on a swing; and "Autumn" re-enacting Marilyn Monroe's famous scene from The Seven Year Itch with the billowing white dress over the subway grate. This is an allusion to her song "Love to Love You Baby", for which she cites Monroe as an inspiration. [6]

As with the previous two albums, Four Seasons of Love was distributed by different record labels in different countries, including Casablanca Records in the U.S. Edited versions of "Spring Affair" and "Winter Melody" were released in various places, but neither had a big impact on any charts (although the latter made the Top 30 on the UK singles chart). The album was also released as a Club Special Edition / Club Sonderauflage in West Germany on the Atlantic Records Label.

Critical reception

Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar empty.svgStar empty.svg [3]
The Rolling Stone Album Guide Star full.svgStar full.svgStar empty.svgStar empty.svgStar empty.svg [7]

Michael Freedberg of AllMusic called the album "rapture indeed", noting that "the rhythms push and go poof as delicately as ever", "the horn section mutes and jazzes the melody", the beats stop, run, and stop again whenever they damn please", and "Summer expresses private rapture in falsetto as she smooches, oohs, and ahs onto the mix like lipstick traces". [3]

Cashbox magazine reviewer stated that since there are only five songs on this album, at "first glance it seems a little slim", but "each tune, based on a season of the year, is pure Summer (Donna)". On the album, "accompanied by the Munich Machine, the sultry songstress runs the gamut of emotions, from lust to lustier", "the string parts are super-slick", and "the production makes full use of Summer's vocal abilities". [4]

Track listing

All tracks are written by Giorgio Moroder, Pete Bellotte and Donna Summer; all tracks produced by Moroder and Bellotte.

Side one
No.TitleLength
1."Spring Affair"8:29
2."Summer Fever"8:06
Side two
No.TitleLength
3."Autumn Changes"5:28
4."Winter Melody"6:33
5."Spring Reprise"3:51

Personnel

Technical

Charts

Certifications and sales

RegionCertification Certified units/sales
France (SNEP) [23] Gold100,000*
United Kingdom (BPI) [24] Silver60,000^
United States (RIAA) [25] Gold500,000^

* Sales figures based on certification alone.
^ Shipments figures based on certification alone.

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References

  1. ↑ Sexton, Paul (October 11, 2022). "'Four Seasons Of Love': Donna Summer's Year-Round Soul Affair". UDiscoverMusic . Retrieved July 3, 2023.
  2. 1 2 Donna Summer (1991). Four Seasons of Love (liner notes). US: Casablanca Records. 826 236-2.
  3. 1 2 3 4 Freedberg, Michael. Four Seasons of Love Review at AllMusic. Retrieved 29 August 2011.
  4. 1 2 "Album Reviews" (PDF). Cashbox . October 23, 1976. p. 26. Retrieved July 3, 2023.
  5. ↑ Whitburn, Joel (2004). Hot Dance/Disco: 1974–2003. Record Research. p. 249.
  6. 1 2 Wikane, Christian John (May 18, 2012). "She's a Rainbow: A Tribute to Donna Summer". PopMatters . Archived from the original on September 29, 2021. Retrieved July 3, 2023.
  7. ↑ The Rolling Stone Album Guide. Random House. 1992. p. 682.
  8. ↑ "International Best Sellers" (PDF). Cashbox . July 9, 1977. p. 47. Retrieved July 3, 2023.
  9. ↑ "Top RPM Albums: Issue 5177a". RPM . Library and Archives Canada. Retrieved July 3, 2023.
  10. ↑ "Hits of the World". Billboard . Vol. 89, no. 1. January 8, 1977. p. 55. ISSN   0006-2510 . Retrieved June 15, 2021– via Google Books.
  11. ↑ Pennanen, Timo (2021). "Donna Summer". Sisältää hitin - 2. laitos Levyt ja esittäjät Suomen musiikkilistoilla 1.1.1960–30.6.2021 (PDF) (in Finnish). Helsinki: Kustannusosakeyhtiö Otava. p. 250. Retrieved August 24, 2022.
  12. ↑ "Offiziellecharts.de – Donna Summer – Four Seasons of Love" (in German). GfK Entertainment Charts. Retrieved February 8, 2022.
  13. ↑ "Hits of the World". Billboard . Vol. 89, no. 5. February 5, 1977. p. 62. ISSN   0006-2510 . Retrieved June 15, 2021– via Google Books.
  14. ↑ "Hits of the World" (PDF). Billboard. July 9, 1977. p. 89. Retrieved November 17, 2021.
  15. ↑ Fernando Salaverri (2005). Sólo éxitos: año a año, 1959–2002 (1st ed.). Spain: Fundación Autor–SGAE. ISBN   84-8048-639-2.
  16. ↑ "Swedishcharts.com – Donna Summer – Four Seasons of Love". Hung Medien. Retrieved March 8, 2016.
  17. ↑ "Donna Summer Chart History (Billboard 200)". Billboard. Retrieved March 8, 2016.
  18. ↑ "Donna Summer Chart History (Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums)". Billboard. Retrieved February 8, 2022.
  19. ↑ "Cash Box Top 100 Albums" (PDF). Cashbox . December 18, 1976. p. 49. Retrieved July 3, 2023.
  20. ↑ "Top 75 R&B Albums" (PDF). Cashbox . December 18, 1976. p. 38. Retrieved July 3, 2023.
  21. ↑ "The Top 100 Albums of '77" (PDF). RPM . Vol. 28, no. 14. December 31, 1977. p. 15. ISSN   0315-5994 . Retrieved July 3, 2023– via Library and Archives Canada.
  22. ↑ "Top Billboard 200 Albums – Year-End 1977". Billboard. Archived from the original on October 30, 2021. Retrieved September 7, 2021.
  23. ↑ "French album certifications – Donna Summer – Four Seasons of Love" (in French). InfoDisc.Select DONNA SUMMER and click OK. 
  24. ↑ "British album certifications – Donna Summer – A Love Trilogy". British Phonographic Industry.
  25. ↑ "American album certifications – Donna Summer – Four Seasons of Love". Recording Industry Association of America.
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