Return (The Winans album)

Last updated

Return
Return (The Winans album).jpg
Studio album by
Released1990
Studio
  • Mastersound (Atlanta, Georgia)
  • Selah (Detroit, Michigan)
  • Creative Source Recorders (Hollywood, California)
  • Encore (Burbank, California)
  • Soundworks (New York City, New York)
  • Echoes (Sharpsburg, Maryland)
Genre
Length49:19
Label Qwest
Producer
The Winans chronology
Live at Carnegie Hall
(1988)
Return
(1990)
All Out
(1993)

Return is an album by the American musical group the Winans, released in 1990. [1] [2] It was their third album for Qwest Records. [3] The first single was "It's Time", which was re-edited to change the rap elements when gospel audiences objected. [4] [5] The Winans supported the album with North American tour. [6] Some critics dubbed the album's sound "new jack gospel". [7]

Contents

The album peaked at No. 90 on the Billboard 200. [8] It sold more than 500,000 copies. [9] Return was nominated for a Grammy Award for "Best Contemporary Soul Gospel Album". [10] It won the Soul Train Music Award for Best Gospel Album. [11]

Production

The album was produced primarily by Michael J. Powell. [12] Teddy Riley produced some of the album's new jack swing-influenced tracks. [13] Kenny G, Aaron Hall, and Stevie Wonder were among the album's guest musicians. [14] [15]

Critical reception

Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic Star full.svgStar half.svgStar empty.svgStar empty.svgStar empty.svg [16]
The Rolling Stone Album Guide Star full.svgStar full.svgStar empty.svgStar empty.svgStar empty.svg [17]

The Washington Post wrote that "the merger of their soaring sermonizing and [Riley's] decidedly secular new jack swing is heaven-sent." [13] The Austin American-Statesman opined that "It's Time" "is a tremendous leap... With its tough-talking rap and Teddy Riley-produced groove, it sounds more like a Bobby Brown single than a gospel tune." [18] Spin deemed the album "one of the hippest, tightest—all the words ending in est—gospel albums ever... Return cooks." [19]

AllMusic wrote: "A soul act on Motown sounds like one on Epic sounds like one on Qwest—all twinkling synthesizers, obnoxious drum machines doing the same programmed beats, all low smooth bass, all the same neatly arranged vocal harmonies. It's all very professional, all very formal, and one wonders, even with gospel acts like the Winans, whether there's any soul left after the gloss has leeched out the interesting wrinkles." [16]

Track listing

No.TitleWriter(s)Length
1."It's Time (feat. Teddy Riley)" Bernard Bell, Teddy Riley, Carvin Winans, Marvin Winans 5:19
2."Everyday the Same (feat. Stevie Wonder)"Marvin Winans4:56
3."Don't Leave Me"Carvin Winans, Marvin Winans, Michael Winans, Ronald Winans5:40
4."A Friend (feat. Aaron Hall)"Bell, Riley, Tammy Lucas5:54
5."Gonna Be Alright"Carvin Winans, Jennifer E. Brantley4:40
6."When You Cry (feat. Kenny G)"Carvin Winans, Leroy Hyter6:03
7."Together We Stand"Marvin Winans5:01
8."This Time It's Personal"Carvin Winans, Michael Winans, Regina Winans3:42
9."Free"Lanar Brantley4:23
10."Wherever I Go"Marvin Winans3:57

Personnel

References

  1. Darling, Cary (April 27, 1990). "Gospel with a new beat". Orange County Register. p. P39.
  2. "The Winans Biography by Steve Huey". AllMusic. Retrieved August 23, 2023.
  3. Powell, Mark Allan (2002). Encyclopedia of Contemporary Christian Music. Hendrickson Publishers. p. 1048.
  4. Campbell, Roy H. (July 15, 1990). "Winans Family". The Philadelphia Inquirer. p. J1.
  5. Curry, Pat (July 27, 1990). "Winans' Gospel Moves in Rap Way". Features Showtime. Sun-Sentinel. p. 18.
  6. Boehm, Mike (March 28, 1991). "A Heavenly Motown Sound". OC Live. Los Angeles Times. p. 4.
  7. Dyson, Michael Eric (December 22, 1991). "Out of the Church, into the Streets". The New York Times. p. A30.
  8. "The Winans". Billboard. Retrieved August 23, 2023.
  9. Harold, Claudrena N. (2020). When Sunday Comes: Gospel Music in the Soul and Hip-Hop Eras. University of Illinois Press.
  10. "Winans". Recording Academy. Retrieved August 23, 2023.
  11. Carpenter, Bill (2005). Uncloudy Days: The Gospel Music Encyclopedia. Backbeat Books. p. 499.
  12. Bream, Jon (September 20, 1991). "Music". Star Tribune. p. 11E.
  13. 1 2 "Critics Pick What Sticks". The Washington Post. December 28, 1990. p. N9.
  14. Gettelman, Parry (April 27, 1990). "Here's what is new in the record stores". Calendar. Orlando Sentinel. p. 25.
  15. Warner, Jay (2006). American Singing Groups: A History from 1940s to Today. Hal Leonard Corporation. p. 531.
  16. 1 2 "Return Review by Steven McDonald". AllMusic. Retrieved August 23, 2023.
  17. The Rolling Stone Album Guide. Random House. 1992. p. 778.
  18. Considine, J.D. (June 21, 1990). "Winans merge the sacred with soul". Onward. Austin American-Statesman. p. 14.
  19. Linden, Amy (October 1990). "Spins". Spin. Vol. 6, no. 7. p. 86.