| Heartbreaker | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | ||||
| Studio album by | ||||
| Released | July 27, 1993 | |||
| Recorded | 1993 | |||
| Genre | R&B, soul | |||
| Length | 50:47 | |||
| Label | EMI | |||
| Producer | Gerald Levert, Edwin Nicholas | |||
| The O'Jays chronology | ||||
| ||||
| Review scores | |
|---|---|
| Source | Rating |
| AllMusic |   [1] |
| Chicago Sun-Times |  [2] |
| The Encyclopedia of Popular Music | [3] |
| The Indianapolis Star | [4] |
Heartbreaker is an album by the American R&B group the O'Jays. [5] [6] It was released in 1993 on EMI. [7]
The album peaked at No. 75 on the Billboard 200. [8]
Gerald Levert, Eddie Levert's son, cowrote and produced two of the album's songs. [9] [10] Heartbreaker was the first album with Nathaniel Best, who had replaced Sammy Strain. [3]
AllMusic wrote that "many numbers aren't much different from the classic material that made them superstars in the '70s; that's both part of the music's charm and something that might trouble fans hoping the group would experiment with the vocal arrangements as well as the production." [1] The Washington Post thought that the album "makes up in savvy arrangements what it lacks in well-crafted lyrics, but its real appeal lies in the still smooth Philly soul harmonies and [Eddie] Levert's gritty testifying." [9] The St. Petersburg Times wrote that "while the CD is filled with gorgeous harmonies and melodies, the vocal performances sometimes are almost spoiled by tinny-sounding mechanical tracks with programed electronic drums." [11]
The O'Jays are an American R&B group from Canton, Ohio, formed in 1958 and originally consisting of Eddie Levert, Walter Lee Williams, William Powell, Bobby Massey and Bill Isles. The O'Jays made their first chart appearance with the minor hit "Lonely Drifter" in 1963, but reached their greatest level of success once Gamble & Huff, a team of producers and songwriters, signed them to their Philadelphia International label in 1972. With Gamble & Huff, the O'Jays emerged at the forefront of Philadelphia soul with "Back Stabbers" (1972), and topped the US Billboard Hot 100 the following year with "Love Train". Several other US R&B hits followed, and the O'Jays were inducted into the Vocal Group Hall of Fame in 2004, The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2005, and the Rhythm and Blues Music Hall of Fame in 2013.
LeVert was an American R&B vocal group from Cleveland, Ohio, United States. Formed in 1983, LeVert was composed of Sean and Gerald Levert and Marc Gordon.
Gerald Edward Levert was an American singer-songwriter, producer and actor. Levert was best known for singing with his brother, Sean Levert, and friend Marc Gordon of the vocal group LeVert. Levert was also a member of LSG, a supergroup comprising Keith Sweat, Johnny Gill, and himself. Levert is the son of Eddie Levert, who is the lead singer of the R&B/soul vocal group the O'Jays. He had released nine solo albums, six with LeVert, two with his father Eddie Levert, two with LSG, as well as discovering the R&B groups the Rude Boys, Men at Large and 1 of the Girls. Levert was also part of the R&B group Black Men United.
Back Stabbers is a studio album by Philadelphia soul group The O'Jays, released in August 1972 on Philadelphia International Records and the iTunes version was released and reissued under Epic Records via Legacy Recordings. Recording sessions for the album took place at Sigma Sound Studios in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania in 1972.
Edward Willis Levert is an American singer, best known as the lead vocalist of The O'Jays. He is the father of Gerald Levert (1966–2006) and Sean Levert (1968–2008)
"Baby Hold On to Me" is the song written by Gerald Levert and Edwin Nicholas.
In My Songs is the ninth studio album and the first posthumous album by American singer Gerald Levert. It was released posthumously on February 13, 2007, on Atlantic Records. Levert reteamed with longtime collaborator Edwin "Tony" Nicholas to work on the entire album which was completed shortly before his death from an apparent heart attack in November 2006. In My Songs debuted and peaked at number two on the US Billboard 200, becoming his highest-charting effort, and won Levert his first Grammy Award in the Best Traditional R&B Performance for the title track at the 50th awards ceremony.
Groove On is the second studio album by Gerald Levert. It was released by EastWest Records on September 6, 1994 in the United States. The follow-up to Levert's debut album, Private Line (1991), it reached number two on the US Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums and number 18 on the US Billboard 200. The first single from the album was the David Foster produced "I'd Give Anything", a cover of the 1993 song that was originally recorded by short lived country music group Boy Howdy. It was Levert's second top 40 crossover hit. The music video for the second single "How Many Times" was directed by actress Jada Pinkett. Two more singles included "Can't Help Myself" and "Answering Service".
Silk is the self-titled second studio album from American R&B group Silk, released November 28, 1995 on Elektra Records.
Sean Edward Levert was an American singer-songwriter and actor. Levert is best known as a member of the R&B vocal group LeVert. Levert was the son of O'Jays lead singer Eddie Levert and younger brother of singer Gerald Levert.
So Full Of Love is a 1978 album by The O'Jays. The album contains the #1 R&B hit "Use ta Be My Girl", and was awarded RIAA Platinum Certification for sales of 1,000,000 copies.
Ship Ahoy is a rhythm and blues album by Philadelphia soul group The O'Jays, released on November 10, 1973 on Philadelphia International Records. The album was a critical and commercial success, reaching #1 on Billboard's "Black Albums" chart and #11 on the "Pop Albums" chart and launching two hit singles, "For the Love of Money" and "Put Your Hands Together." Conceived as a theme album built around the title track, Ship Ahoy includes socially relevant tracks and love songs under a cover that is itself notable for its serious subject matter. The album, which achieved RIAA platinum certification in 1992 for over 1 million copies sold, has been reissued multiple times, including in a 2003 edition with a bonus track. Ship Ahoy was the highest selling R&B album on the Billboard Year-End chart for 1974.
Flame is the thirteenth studio album by American singer Patti LaBelle. It was released by MCA Records on June 24, 1997 in the United States.
Travelin' at the Speed of Thought is an album by the American R&B group the O'Jays, released in 1977 on Philadelphia International Records. Unusual for the time, there had been no advance single release from the album; the only single subsequently issued, "Work on Me", became a #7 R&B hit but failed to reach the pop listings, making this the first O'Jays PIR album without a top 100 pop single. Travelin' at the Speed of Thought peaked at #6 on the R&B chart and reached #27 on the pop chart. The album achieved a gold certification.
Identify Yourself is a 1979 album by American R&B group The O'Jays, released on the Philadelphia International Records label. It was recorded at Sigma Sound Studios in Philadelphia, with four tracks produced by Kenny Gamble and Leon Huff, three by group members Eddie Levert and Walter Williams and one by the esteemed Philadelphia producer and composer Thom Bell.
The 1995 Soul Train Music Awards was held on March 13, 1995, at the Shrine Auditorium in Los Angeles, California. The show honored the best in R&B, soul, rap, jazz, and gospel music from the previous year. The show was hosted by Anita Baker, Babyface, and Patti LaBelle.
Back on Top is a 1968 album by the all-male group The O'Jays, featuring their biggest hit for the Bell label, "I'll Be Sweeter Tomorrow ". Their hit "Look Over Your Shoulder" was also included on this album. George Kerr produced the album with Pat Jaques engineering. Richard Tee was the conductor and arranger.
Bloodline is the second album by the R&B group LeVert, released in 1986. It was their first album for Atlantic Records.
The Other Side is the only solo album by American R&B singer Sean Levert. It was released by Atlantic Records on June 20, 1995 in the United States. While Jermaine Dupri was recruited to work with the singer on the majority of the album, Levert also secured that his first album would showcase some "love-making music." Thus, he also worked with his LeVert bandmates, Marc Gordon and his brother Gerald Levert, as well as Edwin "Tony" Nicholas on several songs.
The Whole Scenario is the final studio album by the American R&B group LeVert, released in 1997.