Love Is (Ruben Studdard album)
Encyclopedia
Love Is is the fourth album by R&B
-pop artist and American Idol
winner Ruben Studdard
that was released on May 19, 2009. The album debuted and peaked at #36 in the Billboard 200, with 15,000 copies sold in its first week of release. It featured production from Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis
and Stargate
. The first single, "Together", was released on March 26, 2009. It exists a leaked demo - version of the song, which has caused a lot of debate. It's the writer of the song, Taj Jackson, who is singing it, and not Lee Carr or Ne-Yo. The album features original songs but also includes a few covers, such as Michael Jackson's "I Can't Help It" and Extreme's "More Than Words".
Amazon bonus track:
iTunes bonus tracks:
Target bonus tracks:
Wal-Mart bonus tracks:
Mikael Wood of Entertainment Weekly
noted, "The bear-huggable American Idol champ is in predictably fine voice on his fourth studio set, a romance-themed mix of crafty originals and sturdy covers (including The Long and Winding Road). Yet Ruben Studdard also takes some unexpected stylistic chances here."
Jonathan Takiff of the Philadelphia Daily News
gave the disc a B+ grade, writing that "[p]roduced in understated fashion by Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis, the set revels in a creamy, sunlit variant on quiet-storm music. Studdard often seems to be picking up where the late Luther Vandross left off, but occasionally he veers into a Ray-Charles-gone-country vein. His lilting, seemingly effortless vocals are consistently a treat on balmy originals like "More Than Words" and the big showpiece, "We Got Love (That's Enough)," plus familiars like "The Long and Winding Road
" and the meanders-down-the-country-lane "My Love Is a Rock" and "For the Good Times.""
Contemporary R&B
Contemporary R&B is a music genre that combines elements of hip hop, soul, R&B and funk.Although the abbreviation “R&B” originates from traditional rhythm and blues music, today the term R&B is most often used to describe a style of African American music originating after the demise of disco in...
-pop artist and American Idol
American Idol
American Idol, titled American Idol: The Search for a Superstar for the first season, is a reality television singing competition created by Simon Fuller and produced by FremantleMedia North America and 19 Entertainment...
winner Ruben Studdard
Ruben Studdard
Christopher Theodore Ruben Studdard , best known as Ruben Studdard, is an American R&B, pop, and gospel singer. He rose to fame as winner of the second season of American Idol...
that was released on May 19, 2009. The album debuted and peaked at #36 in the Billboard 200, with 15,000 copies sold in its first week of release. It featured production from Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis
Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis
James Samuel "Jimmy Jam" Harris III and Terry Steven Lewis are an American R&B and pop-music songwriting and record production team...
and Stargate
Stargate (production team)
This is a list of songs written and produced by the Norwegian production team Stargate.-Produced singles:-1999:5ive - Invincible*05. "Two Sides to Every Story"*06. "You Make Me a Better Man"Noora Noor - Curious*01. "Curious"...
. The first single, "Together", was released on March 26, 2009. It exists a leaked demo - version of the song, which has caused a lot of debate. It's the writer of the song, Taj Jackson, who is singing it, and not Lee Carr or Ne-Yo. The album features original songs but also includes a few covers, such as Michael Jackson's "I Can't Help It" and Extreme's "More Than Words".
Track listing
- "Together" (Mikkel S. Eriksen, Tor Erik Hermansen, Phillip Taj Jackson and Martin Kleveland) – 4:26
- "More Than WordsMore Than Words"More Than Words" is a ballad written and originally performed by the rock band Extreme. It is built around acoustic guitar work by Nuno Bettencourt and the vocals of Gary Cherone . Released in 1990 on the album Extreme II: Pornograffiti, the song marked a departure from the funk metal that had...
" (cover, originally recorded by ExtremeExtreme (band)Extreme is an American rock band, headed by frontmen Gary Cherone and Nuno Bettencourt, that reached the height of their popularity in the late 1980s and early 1990s.Among some of Extreme's musical influences are Queen and Van Halen...
) (Gary Cherone; Nuno Bettencourt) – 4:24 - "Song for Her" (Harris, James III, John Jackson, Ruben Studdard, Terry Lewis) – 3:49
- "How You Make Me Feel" (Mikkel S. Eriksen, Tor Erik Hermansen, Phillip Taj Jackson and Martin Kleveland) – 3:51
- "Don't Make 'Em Like U No More" (Getayveus Ealey PKA Dontae Peeps; Perry, R. PKA Syience) – 3:18
- "I Can't Help It" (cover, originally recorded by Michael JacksonMichael JacksonMichael Joseph Jackson was an American recording artist, entertainer, and businessman. Referred to as the King of Pop, or by his initials MJ, Jackson is recognized as the most successful entertainer of all time by Guinness World Records...
) (Stevie Wonder; Susaye Greene) – 4:06 - "Just Because" (Larry Addison) – 4:11
- "My Love Is a Rock" (Bob DiPiero; Ruben Studdard; Tom Shapiro) – 3:47
- "The Long and Winding RoadThe Long and Winding Road"The Long and Winding Road" is a ballad written by Paul McCartney that originally appeared on The Beatles' album Let It Be. It became The Beatles' 20th and last number-one song in the United States on 23 May 1970, and was the last single released by the quartet...
" (cover, originally recorded by The BeatlesThe BeatlesThe Beatles were an English rock band, active throughout the 1960s and one of the most commercially successful and critically acclaimed acts in the history of popular music. Formed in Liverpool, by 1962 the group consisted of John Lennon , Paul McCartney , George Harrison and Ringo Starr...
) – 3:51 - "For the Good Times" (cover) (Kris Kristofferson) – 4:50
- "We Got Love (That's Enough)" (Barry Dean; Bill Luther; Ruben Studdard) – 3:21
- "Footprints in the Sand" (Lars Halvor Jensen; P.J. Morton; Ruben Studdard; Warren Campbell) – 3:57
Amazon bonus track:
- "Wet Pillow"
iTunes bonus tracks:
- "Love's in the Balance"
- "Celebrate Me HomeCelebrate Me Home (song)"Celebrate Me Home" is a song written by Bob James and Kenny Loggins, and recorded by Loggins as the title track of his 1976 debut solo album Celebrate Me Home.-The Song:...
" (cover, originally recorded by Kenny Loggins) - "Happy Feelin's" (cover)
Target bonus tracks:
- "Someday We'll All Be FreeSomeday We'll All Be Free"Someday We'll All Be Free" is a 1973 song by Donny Hathaway from the album Extension of a Man. The song was released as the flipside to the single "Love, Love, Love"...
" (cover) - "It's Your LoveIt's Your Love"It's Your Love" is a song by Tim McGraw, released as the first single from his album Everywhere. The song, featuring wife Faith Hill, reached number one on Billboards Hot Country Songs chart in its fifth week on the chart. The song stayed there for six weeks, and became McGraw's and Hill's first...
" (cover)
Wal-Mart bonus tracks:
- "HeavenHeaven (Bryan Adams song)"Heaven" is a power ballad written by Bryan Adams and Jim Vallance and performed by Bryan Adams. The song first appeared on the A Night in Heaven soundtrack album in 1983 and was later included on Adams' album Reckless in 1984...
" (cover, originally recorded by Bryan Adams) - "One Day I'll Fly AwayOne Day I'll Fly Away"One Day I'll Fly Away" is a song with music by Joe Sample and words by Will Jennings, performed by Randy Crawford and released in 1980.Joe Sample created the chorus based on Impromptus, D...
" (cover, originally recorded by Randy Crawford)
Critical response
Stephen Thomas Erlewine of allmusic reviewed, "These are songs of longtime relationships, not new love, and the music is appropriately settled, grounded in quiet storm but drifting into adult contemporary all of which helps give the album a bit of a retro-vibe... This could be called resignation, but it's really an acceptance of what Ruben Studdard's peculiar strengths are: he's a smooth soul singer... it's so relaxed it can sometimes be sleepy and Ruben's upper register, which he relies upon too much, can sometimes seem whiny—but as a whole this is the best recorded representation of Ruben's talents to date."Mikael Wood of Entertainment Weekly
Entertainment Weekly
Entertainment Weekly is an American magazine, published by the Time division of Time Warner, that covers film, television, music, broadway theatre, books and popular culture...
noted, "The bear-huggable American Idol champ is in predictably fine voice on his fourth studio set, a romance-themed mix of crafty originals and sturdy covers (including The Long and Winding Road). Yet Ruben Studdard also takes some unexpected stylistic chances here."
Jonathan Takiff of the Philadelphia Daily News
Philadelphia Daily News
The Philadelphia Daily News is a tabloid newspaper that serves Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. The newspaper is owned by Philadelphia Media Holdings which also owns Philadelphia's other major newspaper The Philadelphia Inquirer. The Daily News began publishing on March 31, 1925, under...
gave the disc a B+ grade, writing that "[p]roduced in understated fashion by Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis, the set revels in a creamy, sunlit variant on quiet-storm music. Studdard often seems to be picking up where the late Luther Vandross left off, but occasionally he veers into a Ray-Charles-gone-country vein. His lilting, seemingly effortless vocals are consistently a treat on balmy originals like "More Than Words" and the big showpiece, "We Got Love (That's Enough)," plus familiars like "The Long and Winding Road
The Long and Winding Road
"The Long and Winding Road" is a ballad written by Paul McCartney that originally appeared on The Beatles' album Let It Be. It became The Beatles' 20th and last number-one song in the United States on 23 May 1970, and was the last single released by the quartet...
" and the meanders-down-the-country-lane "My Love Is a Rock" and "For the Good Times.""