×
Uh-oh, it looks like your Internet Explorer is out of date.
For a better shopping experience, please upgrade now.
Overview
Some of the interviews and press released in support of Anthony Hamilton's first RCA album (and sixth overall) were slightly misleading. Some readers might have been led to believe that Back to Love would offer a significant break from Hamilton's past work; the singer noted that he did not want to be pigeonholed as "the sad cat," that he was "ready to have some fun." Hamilton even talked about "taking things to the next level." Hamilton's previous release, 2008's The Point of It All, was as creative as any of his albums that came before it, and it had his highest first-week sales -- remarkable feats for a veteran, Grammy-winning artist. Regardless, Back to Love is clearly viewed as a fresh start, even though it offers no more surprises than Ain't Nobody Worryin' or The Point of It All. The lineup of collaborators is no shock, either, though longtime associate Mark Batson was not involved, and Babyface assists on three songs. Familiar names, including Salaam Remi, Kelvin Wooten, and Mike City, are more numerous than new ones. That Back to Love is not a major shake-up is not a bad thing. Most of the songs are instantly ingratiating in some way, with none of the lighter, upbeat numbers -- including the strutting, midtempo Southern soul of "Woo" and the thematically "Cool"-like blue-collar love song "Best of Me" -- the least bit out of character. There are some sad-cat moments that come very close to the standard Hamilton set with the instant classic "Charlene," led by the hushed "Life Has a Way" (produced and co-written by James Poyser), where the singer shuffles easily, if wearily, into that Bill Withers level of chilling relatability: "And my children still look up to me while their stomachs on empty/Oh, I need an angel to fall on me now." The way the song weaves Hamilton's raw, broken-spirited croon and spectral, multi-tracked melody is kind of crushing.
Product Details
Release Date: | 12/13/2011 |
---|---|
Label: | Rca |
UPC: | 0886979913622 |
catalogNumber: | 799136 |
Rank: | 29361 |
Customer Reviews
Related Searches
Explore More Items
RCA's Classical Music 101 is a clever execution of a timely concept, collecting (you guessed ...
RCA's Classical Music 101 is a clever execution of a timely concept, collecting (you guessed
it) 101 famous classical themes and associating them with the movies, television shows, and commercials that have brought them to the public at large. The ...
Though RCA released only three LPs and an EP of dedicated gospel material during the ...
Though RCA released only three LPs and an EP of dedicated gospel material during the
lifetime of Elvis Presley, it's likely that he sang more gospel than any other type of music. Late at night, after a session or a ...
Charles Gerhardt's Classic Film Scores series was a major revelation at the time of its ...
Charles Gerhardt's Classic Film Scores series was a major revelation at the time of its
formal beginning, at RCA in the early '70s -- true, none of the music was represented in its entirety, but unlike other, similar efforts to ...
Cuban-American rapper and showman Pitbull cemented his role as perennial party starter and wedding reception ...
Cuban-American rapper and showman Pitbull cemented his role as perennial party starter and wedding reception
fixture with his 2017 Greatest Hits collection. Following 2012's Original Hits -- which compiled singles from his early TVT era -- this stacked set features ...
Music has the strange ability to conjure up visual images. In Pictures at an Exhibition ...
Music has the strange ability to conjure up visual images. In Pictures at an Exhibition
Modest Mussorgsky commemorated an art exhibit by his late friend Victor Hartmann. Pictures is not just a musical representation of some fine drawings and paintings ...
This is a well-chosen 22-track, 68 1/2-minute, digitally remastered compilation of John McCormack's recordings of ...
This is a well-chosen 22-track, 68 1/2-minute, digitally remastered compilation of John McCormack's recordings of
Irish-oriented songs, ranging from traditional material to songs that were recently written when performed. Six of them feature only piano accompaniment; among the other tracks, ...
As suggested by its title, Snoop Dogg Presents Bible of Love is not so much ...
As suggested by its title, Snoop Dogg Presents Bible of Love is not so much
a Snoop Dogg album as it is a collection of tunes by gospel, blues, R&B, and hip-hop musicians handpicked by Snoop himself. Presiding as musical ...
Country music has been so inhospitable to black artists that to call Charley Pride the ...
Country music has been so inhospitable to black artists that to call Charley Pride the
preeminent African American in the genre is almost an insult -- Pride could have achieved a fraction of his success and still have lapped his ...