The album contains a blend of urban R&B and adult contemporary songs with additional dance/house tracks being include. It became her biggest-charting album on the US Billboard 200 yet, debuting and peaking at number 38, and remains her highest-charting album as of 2018. Commercially, the album was less successful than her previous album however. The Morning After album generated four singles, including "Mr. Lonely" and "Play Your Part". A 2-CD limited edition version of the album was released with additional dance remixes.
The Morning After earned mixed reviews from music critics. AllMusic rated the album three out of five stars and wrote: "Blessed with a voice that makes her sound like a fusion of Gladys Knight and Whitney Houston, Cox's impressive range is a big reason why she's been touted as one of pop music's brighter lights. When she isn't busy working the club side of the coin [...] the petite diva is easing into slow jams like "Play Your Part" and the title cut along with the groove-laden "2 Good 2 Be True"."[1]Entertainment Weekly noted that "the key to Cox's appeal on R&B radio and in gay discos is her melodramatic flair. On her third album, she infuses the best tunes with a fun combo of camp and conviction [...] but too often the bloodless sentiments fail her. She's a scenery-chewing actress without enough meaty roles."[2]
People wrote: "Alternating between light hip hop (with guest turns by rappers Kurupt and Jadakiss) and R&B-pop; ballads in the vein of her 1998 chart-topper "Nobody's Supposed to Be Here," the disc is more for chilling out the morning after a night on the town." The magazine concluded: "The result is nothing that Mary J,, Toni and Brandy haven't done before – and done better. Still, the cool mid-tempo groove of "Up & Down (In & Out)" will surely soothe any hangover."[7]Billboard editor Gail Mitchell noted that "Cox's strong suit still remains soaring ballads in the "Nobody's" vein [...] but Cox's more uptempo efforts yield mixed results." She found that her "current single “"Up & Down (In & Out)" and "Oh My Gosh" call to mind Toni Braxton and Whitney Houston rather than Cox, while her teaming with rapper Kurupt on "Just a Dance" is formulaic. Exceptions are Dupri's "2 Good 2 Be True" and Allen "Allstar" Gordon's sassy "Givin' It Up"."[8]
Commercial performance
The Morning After debuted and peaked at number 38 on the US Billboard 200 and number seven on the Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums chart.[3] It was Cox's highest-charting album yet as well as her first top ten album on the latter chart.[3] By November 2005, The Morning After had sold 200,000 in the United States, according to Nielsen SoundScan.[9]
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