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In Love & War (Amerie album)

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In Love & War
Studio album by
Amerie
ReleasedNovember 3, 2009
Recorded2008–2009
Studio
  • Record Plant
    (Hollywood, California)
  • Unknown locations
    (Miami, Florida)
    (Atlanta, Georgia)
Genre
Length51:43
Label
Producer
Amerie chronology
Best 15 Things
(2009) 		In Love & War
(2009) 		Drive
(2016)
Singles from In Love & War
  1. "Why R U"
    Released: June 15, 2009
  2. "Heard 'Em All"
    Released: September 15, 2009
  3. "Pretty Brown"
    Released: October 20, 2009

In Love & War is the fourth studio album by American singer Amerie, released November 3, 2009, on Def Jam Recordings. Recording sessions for the album took place between 2008 and 2009 at Record Plant Studios in Hollywood, California and at other recording studios in Miami, Florida and Atlanta, Georgia. The album serves as Amerie's first release after leaving Columbia Records and forming her own label, Feenix Rising, which released the album under exclusive license and distribution through the Island Def Jam Music Group.

The album debuted at number forty-six on the US Billboard 200 chart, selling 12,500 copies in its first week. Upon its release, In Love & War received generally positive reviews from most music critics.

Background

[edit]

In January 2008, Entertainment Weekly reported that Amerie had left her record label, Columbia Records,[1] and in April 2008, Amerie's name was removed from the label's roster. Recording sessions for the album took place during 2008 to 2009 at Record Plant Studios in Hollywood, California, and at other recording studios in Miami, Florida and Atlanta, Georgia.[2] On her official Twitter account, Amerie revealed that she had been secretly recording new music in Atlanta, Georgia, and that a late summer July/August release date was in the works, with a possible first single in late May or early June.[3]

In multiple interviews, Amerie confirmed that Rich Harrison, who had produced her previous work, would not be contributing to the album. At the end of April, Amerie revealed on Twitter that the album's title to be changed from Breakups to Makeups to In Love & War.[4] She also announced that the album's first single is "Why R U", which she cited with "Higher" as one of two of her favorite tracks from the album.[5]

Music

[edit]

Amerie has described the album's sound as "a fusion of hip hop, soul and old school rock".[6] She spoke about the concept of In Love & War in an interview with The Green Magazine, stating:

Conceptually, I just really wanted to write about the tumultuous times of a relationship. Not so much like everything is so perfect, but looking at the more imperfect sides of love and relationships. And that’s where I came up with the title In Love & War. I also recorded a record called 'Love & War'. When I was writing it, I wasn’t really thinking about the album title, but as I was vocaling, I was just thinking 'the whole concept of love and war really encapsulates everything that I was trying to get across as far as a theme for the album.'[6]

— Amerie

The album features collaborations with rapper Fabolous and singer Trey Songz. The latter has a guest appearance on "Pretty Brown", which samples R&B group Mint Condition's "Breakin' My Heart (Pretty Brown Eyes)" (1991).[7] The song was produced by Australian hip hop producer M-Phazes.[7]

Title and artwork

[edit]

The album was originally titled Breakups to Makeups. However, in April 2009, Amerie announced that the album's title would be In Love & War via her official Twitter account. The full-length album artwork was illustrated by David Bray and photographed by Tim Bret-Day.[8] Album sampler EP's artwork is different from the album's. The sampler was titled Prelude to In Love & War and was released in September 2009.

Release and promotion

[edit]

After several delays of the album's release date in August and September, it was announced on August 13, 2009, that the album would be released November 3, 2009. Amerie had stated via her Twitter account that she was satisfied with the release date and that it has a special meaning to her.[9] On September 27, 2009, Amerie premiered the album cover on her official Twitter page.[10] In Love & War was released on November 3, 2009, in the United States under exclusive license by Amerie's own imprint label, Feenix Rising, which distributed it through the Island Def Jam Music Group.[11]

Three singles were released in promotion of the album, including "Why R U" on June 15, 2009,[12] "Heard 'Em All" on September 15, 2009,[13] and "Pretty Brown" on October 20, 2009.[14][15] Def Jam released a six-track album sampler containing snippets of "Higher", "Tell Me You Love Me", "Pretty Brown", and "Red Eye", as well full versions of "Heard 'Em All" and "Why R U", which had been remastered.[16] Amerie performed "Heard 'Em All" and "Higher" in November 2009 on Jimmy Kimmel Live!.[17] A music video for "More Than Love" featuring Fabolous, directed by Taj was released in January 2010.[18]

She released a remix version of the song "Heard 'Em All" for the Asian edition of In Love & War where she will collaborate with Korean girl group 4minute and rapper Junhyung of Korean boy band BEAST[19]

Commercial performance

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In the United States, In Love & War debuted at number forty-six on the U.S. Billboard 200 and at number three on the Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums chart.[20] By November 9, 2009, it had sold 12,421 copies in the United States,[21] resulting in sales of 12,500 in its first week.[22] The album also charted in the United Kingdom on the UK R&B Albums at number twenty-nine on November 15, 2009.[23] In 2010, it peaked at number eighteen on the South Korean Gaon Albums Chart.

Critical reception

[edit]
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[24]
Christgau's Consumer Guide(3-star Honorable Mention)(3-star Honorable Mention)(3-star Honorable Mention)[25]
Entertainment WeeklyB[26]
The Guardian[27]
Hot Press3.5/5[28]
Rolling Stone[29]
Slant Magazine[30]
USA Today[31]

Upon its release, the album received generally positive reviews from most music critics.[32] At Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating out of hundred to reviews from mainstream critics, the album received an average score of seventy-eight, based on eight reviews, which indicates "generally favorable reviews".[32] About.com's Mark Edward Nero gave it 3½ out of five stars and called it "a hip, energetic album that properly showcases her singing talent".[33] Alex Denney of Yahoo! Music gave In Love & War a rating of eight out of ten and lauded Amerie for her "old-skool virtues" and sound, while calling the album "an exemplary exercise in R&B songwriting and performance, brim-full of verve, spark and vigour".[34] Hot Press writer Patrick Freyne gave the album a rating of three and a half out of five, writing "Amerie’s got the standard range and power of the production line diva but there’s also an appealingly raw, in need-of-some-Calpol-edge to her voice which gives everything that little bit more power".[28] The Irish Times gave it three out of four stars, writing that Amerie "approaches In Love & War with much gusto".[35]

In contrast, Steve Jones of USA Today gave the album 2½ out of four stars and expressed a mixed response towards its ballads, stating "The sassy funk numbers serve her best, while the mushy stuff only slows her down".[31] Despite writing favorably of its uptempo tracks, Rolling Stone's Christian Hoard gave the album three out of five stars and perceived its slower material as a weakness.[29] Boston Herald writer Lauren Carter gave In Love & War a B− rating and commended its "ambient, hip-hop-infused R&B" tracks, but wrote that "monotonous lyrics about rocky or recently ended relationships dominate the album".[36] However, AllMusic's Andy Kellman gave the album four out of five stars and wrote favorably of its ballads, calling them "as well constructed as anything earlier in the set".[24] In his consumer guide for MSN Music, critic Robert Christgau gave it a rating of honorable mention ((3-star Honorable Mention)(3-star Honorable Mention)(3-star Honorable Mention)),[25] indicating "an enjoyable effort consumers attuned to its overriding aesthetic or individual vision may well treasure".[37]

Track listing

[edit]
In Love & War – Standard edition
No.TitleWriter(s)Producer(s)Length
1."Tell Me You Love Me"
  • Riley
  • Scott
3:07
2."Heard 'Em All"
3:23
3."Dangerous"
  • Rogers
  • Jeberg
2:48
4."Higher"
Campbell2:52
5."Why R U"
3:17
6."Pretty Brown" (featuring Trey Songz)
4:02
7."More Than Love" (featuring Fabolous)
  • Del Pearson
  • Nicholson
4:14
8."Swag Back"
  • Jonsin
  • Love
4:29
9."You're a Star" (Interlude)
  • Rogers
  • Nicholson
  • Rogers
  • Nicholson
1:52
10."Red Eye"
  • Rogers
  • Cox
4:11
11."The Flowers"
5:16
12."Different People"
  • Rogers
  • Landon
M-Phazes3:55
13."Dear John"
  • Rogers
  • TrackNova
4:12
14."Heard 'Em All" (Remix featuring Lil Wayne) (bonus track)
  • Garrett
  • Hudson
3:56
Total length:51:43
In Love & War – Korean edition (bonus track)[38]
No.TitleWriter(s)Director(s)Length
15."Heard 'Em All" (Remix featuring 4Minute and Beast)
  • Garrett
  • Hudson
3:29
Total length:62:35
In Love & War – iTunes Store edition (bonus music videos)[39]
No.TitleWriter(s)Director(s)Length
15."Why R U"
  • Rogers
  • Johnson
  • Miller
  • Thornton
  • Rooney
Ray Kay3:22
16."Heard 'Em All"
  • Rogers
  • Garrett
  • Hudson
Anthony Mandler4:01
Total length:59:06

Sample credits

Personnel

[edit]

Credits for In Love & War adapted from liner notes.[40]

Musicians

[edit]
  • Amerie – Lead vocals, producer, co-writer
  • Trey Songz – featuring artist, co-writer
  • Fabolous – featuring artist, co-writer
  • Lil Wayne – featuring artist, co-writer
  • Francesco Romano – guitar
  • David Siegel – keyboards
  • Sean Windsor – guitar
  • Larry Sommerville – keyboards
  • She McElroy- background vocals, co-writer

Production

[edit]

Charts

[edit]
Chart performance for In Love & War
Chart (2009–2010) Peak
position
Japanese Albums (Oricon)[41] 89
South Korean Albums (Gaon)[42] 4
South Korean International Albums (Gaon)[43] 1
UK R&B Albums (OCC)[44] 29
US Billboard 200 (Billboard)[45] 46
US Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums (Billboard)[46] 3

Release history

[edit]
List of release dates, showing region, edition, record label(s), format(s), catalog number and reference(s).
Region Date Edition Label(s) Format(s) Catalog Ref.
Various September 16, 2009 Album sampler Def Jam CD REV1 10021 [16][47]
United States November 3, 2009 Standard
  • Feeniix Rising
  • Def Jam
B001322502 [11][48]
Germany November 6, 2009 Universal Music 06025271133645 [49][8]
United Kingdom November 9, 2009
[50][8]
Canada November 10, 2009 Universal Music B002DSM8TS [51]
Japan November 11, 2009 UICD 6166 [52][53]
Poland November 12, 2009 06025271133645 [54][8]
Hong Kong November 20, 2009 — [55]

References

[edit]
  1. ^ Halperin, Shirley (January 2, 2008). "All the acts that lost major label deals in 2007". Entertainment Weekly. Archived from the original on March 9, 2009. Retrieved December 11, 2021.
  2. ^ Amerie, The Green Magazine Archived September 13, 2009, at the Wayback Machine, September 5, 2009
  3. ^ Amerie [@itsmeAmerie] (April 18, 2009). "New album, Breakups to Makeups, coming this June/July!!! ;)" (Tweet). Archived from the original on February 16, 2014. Retrieved September 27, 2009 – via Twitter.
  4. ^ Amerie [@itsmeAmerie] (April 30, 2009). "Decided to change the album title. It is now called In Love & War" (Tweet). Archived from the original on February 16, 2014. Retrieved December 11, 2021 – via Twitter.
  5. ^ Amerie [@itsmeAmerie] (May 9, 2009). "Hey everyone! I just mixed the first single! :) "Why R U" I'm sooo excited!" (Tweet). Archived from the original on February 16, 2014. Retrieved December 11, 2021 – via Twitter.
  6. ^ a b The Green Magazine, Amerie Archived 2011-07-17 at the Wayback Machine, September 2, 2009
  7. ^ a b "NEW AMERIE VIDEO TO PREMIERE ON BET: 'Why R U' marks singer's return after two year hiatus". EURweb.com. June 4, 2009. Archived from the original on August 3, 2009. Retrieved September 27, 2009.
  8. ^ a b c d "Amerie – In Love & War (CD, Album) at Discogs". Discogs.com. November 6, 2009. Retrieved November 10, 2016.
  9. ^ Amerie [@itsmeAmerie] (August 12, 2009). "Very happy w/my album date! Got the one I wanted. :) So I'm officially putting it out there: In Love & War -- November 3..." (Tweet). Archived from the original on February 16, 2014. Retrieved December 11, 2021 – via Twitter.
  10. ^ Amerie [@itsmeAmerie] (September 27, 2009). "In Love & War cover!:) A" (Tweet). Archived from the original on February 16, 2014. Retrieved September 27, 2009 – via Twitter.
  11. ^ a b "In Love & War: Amerie: Music". Amazon. Retrieved December 11, 2021.
  12. ^ "Why R U". Island Def Jam. June 15, 2009. Archived from the original on July 21, 2011. Retrieved October 31, 2009.
  13. ^ "Heard 'Em All (Single)". Island Def Jam. September 15, 2009. Archived from the original on July 21, 2011. Retrieved October 31, 2009.
  14. ^ "Single Cover: Amerie – 'Pretty Brown'". Rap-Up.com. Retrieved October 15, 2009.
  15. ^ "Radio1 – USA Forthcoming Singles". Radio1.gr. Archived from the original on October 18, 2015. Retrieved October 26, 2009.
  16. ^ a b "In Love & War Sampler". Island Def Jam. September 16, 2009. Archived from the original on January 7, 2010. Retrieved September 27, 2009.
  17. ^ "Dont Miss Amerie Performing Live Tonight On Jimmy Kimmel Live On ABC!". Island Def Jam. November 10, 2009. Archived from the original on July 21, 2011. Retrieved February 27, 2010.
  18. ^ "Video: Amerie More Than Love Feat. Fabolous". Island Def Jam. January 6, 2010. Archived from the original on July 21, 2011. Retrieved February 27, 2010.
  19. ^ "에이머리(Amerie)와 포미닛, 새 앨범서 환상 호흡!". The Star.chosun.com (in Korean). February 4, 2010. Archived from the original on March 12, 2010. Retrieved July 18, 2010.
  20. ^ "Music Albums, Top 200 Albums & Music Album Charts". Billboard.com. Retrieved November 14, 2009.
  21. ^ Previous Album Sales Chart: 11/09/2009 Archived January 26, 2013, at archive.today. HITS Daily Double. Retrieved on November 27, 2009.
  22. ^ Columnist. US Charts Review Archived August 15, 2011, at the Wayback Machine. Trace TV. Retrieved on November 27, 2009.
  23. ^ UK Top 40 RnB Albums: 15 November 2009. BBC Radio 1. Retrieved on November 27, 2009. Non-archived. BBC
  24. ^ a b Kellman, Andy. Review: In Love & War. Allmusic. Retrieved on November 5, 2009.
  25. ^ a b Christgau, Robert. "Consumer Guide: In Love & War". MSN Music: January 2010.
  26. ^ Vozick, Simon. Review: In Love & War Archived October 13, 2013, at the Wayback Machine. Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved on November 5, 2009.
  27. ^ Sullivan, Caroline. Review: In Love & War. The Guardian. Retrieved on November 5, 2009.
  28. ^ a b Freyne, Patrick. Review: In Love & War. Hot Press. Retrieved on November 27, 2009.
  29. ^ a b Hoard, Christian. Review: In Love & War[dead link‍]. Rolling Stone. Retrieved on November 5, 2009.
  30. ^ Keefe, Jonathan. Review: In Love & War Archived November 10, 2009, at the Wayback Machine. Slant Magazine. Retrieved on November 8, 2009.
  31. ^ a b Jones, Steve. Review: In Love & War. USA Today. Retrieved on June 17, 2010.
  32. ^ a b In Love & War (2009): Reviews. Metacritic. Retrieved on November 5, 2009.
  33. ^ Nero, Mark Edward. Review: In Love & War Archived October 20, 2011, at the Wayback Machine. About.com. Retrieved on November 6, 2009.
  34. ^ Denney, Alex. Review: In Love & War. Yahoo! Music. Retrieved on November 17, 2009.
  35. ^ Carroll, Jim. Review: In Love & War. The Irish Times. Retrieved on November 27, 2009.
  36. ^ Carter, Lauren. Review: In Love & War Archived April 2, 2012, at the Wayback Machine. Boston Herald. Retrieved on November 6, 2009.
  37. ^ Christgau, Robert. CG Keys to Icons. Robert Christgau. Retrieved on December 29, 2009.
  38. ^ "In Love & War (Korea)". Spotify.
  39. ^ "In Love & War de Amerie en Apple Music – iTunes". itunes.apple.com (in Spanish). November 6, 2009. Retrieved November 10, 2016.
  40. ^ In Love & War (Media notes). Amerie. Def Jam Recordings. 2009. 6-02527-13364-5.{{cite AV media notes}}: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link)
  41. ^ イン・ラヴ&ウォー | エイメリー [In Love & War | Amerie] (in Japanese). Oricon. Archived from the original on May 11, 2022. Retrieved May 11, 2022.
  42. ^ "2010 Week 13 Album Chart". Gaon Music Chart (in Korean). KMCIA. Archived from the original (see #4) on October 31, 2021. Retrieved April 16, 2022.
  43. ^ "2010 Week 13 Album Chart (International)". Gaon Music Chart (in Korean). KMCIA. Archived from the original (see #1) on November 4, 2021. Retrieved April 16, 2022.
  44. ^ "Official R&B Albums Chart Top 40". Official Charts Company. Retrieved April 17, 2023.
  45. ^ "Amerie Chart History (Billboard 200)". Billboard. Archived from the original on November 17, 2021. Retrieved April 17, 2023.
  46. ^ "Amerie Chart History (Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums)". Billboard. Archived from the original on November 17, 2021. Retrieved April 17, 2023.
  47. ^ "Amerie – Prelude To Love & War (CD) at Discogs". Discogs.com. September 16, 2009. Retrieved November 10, 2016.
  48. ^ "Amerie – In Love & War (CD, Album) at Discogs". Discogs.com. October 30, 2009. Retrieved November 10, 2016.
  49. ^ "In Love & War: Amerie: Amazon.de: Musik". Amazon.de. Retrieved October 26, 2009.
  50. ^ HMV UK release date September 3, 2009
  51. ^ "In Love & War: Amerie: Amazon.ca: Music". Amazon.ca. Retrieved October 29, 2009.
  52. ^ In Love & War (CD) – Amerie. Retrieved November 7, 2009.
  53. ^ "Amerie – In Love & War (CD, Album) at Discogs". Discogs.com. November 11, 2009. Retrieved November 10, 2016.
  54. ^ "In Love & War: Amerie: Fan.pl". Fan.pl.
  55. ^ AMERIE – IN LOVE & WAR Archived January 28, 2016, at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved November 7, 2009.
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