| Special Love | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | ||||
| Studio album by | ||||
| Released | 1989 | |||
| Studio |
| |||
| Genre | Urban contemporary gospel, R&B, soul | |||
| Length | 49:07 | |||
| Label | MCA/Sparrow | |||
| Producer | Brad Westering, Roby Duke | |||
| Deniece Williams chronology | ||||
| ||||
Special Love is the second full-length gospel album by American R&B singer Deniece Williams released in 1989 on MCA/Sparrow Records. [1] [2] Special Love peaked at number 11 on the Billboard Top Christian Albums chart. [3]
Williams' then-husband Brad Westering produced the album. The track "Healing" from her 1986 album Hot on the Trail was re-recorded for this LP. A set of North American CD editions of Special Love contained her take on "Do You Hear What I Hear?" as a bonus track. This song first appeared on a 1988 Yuletide album entitled Christmas co-produced by Christian singer-songwriter Roby Duke and released on Sparrow Records. [4]
| Review scores | |
|---|---|
| Source | Rating |
| AllMusic |   [5] |
| Chicago Tribune | [2] |
In a review for the Chicago Tribune , Mitchell May rated the album three out of four stars. May wrote that Special Love avoids "excessive fanfare or overkill" and makes good use of Williams' "rich soprano" on every track. [2] In the New York Daily News, Hugh Wyatt wrote that the album has "a refreshing absence of soap opera lyrics and other pop-music trash." [6]
Williams was Grammy nominated alongside Natalie Cole in the category of Best R&B Performance by a Duo or Group for the track "We Sing Praises". [7]
| No. | Title | Writer(s) | Length |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Special Love" | Deniece Williams, Lee Ritenour, Greg Mathieson | 3:56 |
| 2. | "Fire Inside My Soul" | Russ Hollingsworth, Mark Baldwin | 3:54 |
| 3. | "Healing" | Jeremy Lubbock, Paul Gordon | 4:40 |
| 4. | "Free" | Sheldon Gooch | 5:34 |
| 5. | "Every Moment" | D. Williams, David Raynor | 4:13 |
| 6. | "Who's Who" | D. Williams, Brad Westering, Roby Duke | 4:03 |
| 7. | "His Eye Is on the Sparrow" | Civilla D. Martin, Charles H. Gabriel; arranged by D. Williams, G. Mathieson | 5:05 |
| 8. | "Give It All to You" | D. Williams, D. Raynor, Kenny Lamar | 4:58 |
| 9. | "Somebody Loves You" | D. Williams, Bob Baldwin, Porter Carroll, Jr. | 3:48 |
| 10. | "We Sing Praises" (duet with Natalie Cole) | D. Williams, D. Raynor, Jay Gruska | 4:50 |
| No. | Title | Writer(s) | Length |
|---|---|---|---|
| 11. | "Do You Hear What I Hear?" | Noël Regney, Gloria Shayne | 4:16 |
Note: "Do You Hear What I Hear?" was produced by Brad Westering and Roby Duke; all other tracks produced by Westering.
| Chart (1989) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| US Billboard Top Christian Albums [3] | 11 |
| Year | Singles | Peak positions | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| CCM AC [8] | CCM CHR [9] | US R&B [10] | ||
| 1989 | "Healing" | 1 | 3 | — |
| 1989 | "Every Moment" | 2 | 3 | 55 |
| 1990 | "We Sing Praises" (with Natalie Cole) | 7 | 23 | — |
| 1990 | "Somebody Loves You" | 7 | 8 | — |
| 1990 | "Fire Inside My Soul" | — | 9 | — |
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