Full Moon (Brandy album)
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Full Moon is the third studio album by American R&B/pop singer Brandy, released by Atlantic Records on February 25, 2002 outside North America, and on March 5, 2002 (see 2002 in music) in Canada and the United States. Brandy primarily worked with Rodney "Darkchild" Jerkins on the majority of the album's production.
History
Production and title
After a lengthy hiatus that saw the end of the Moesha television series, and a flurry of tabloid headlines discussing her bout with "dehydration", Brandy eventually entered recording studios in mid-2000 to start work on her then-untitled third album with producer Rodney Jerkins, and his Darkchild crew, among Fred Jerkins III, Nora Payne, and LaShawn Daniels.[1] While Jerkins contributed most to the album and moreover served as its executive producer, Norwood also worked with producers Keith Crouch, Mike City, Warryn Campbell, and Robert "Big Bert" Smith. In addition, she also recorded with Babyface, Soulshock & Karlin, The Neptunes, and rapper Ja Rule, but none of the songs written with them made the final tracklisting.[2][3]
Although the singer revealed that the album's "focus was very much on the technical", and "about how it sounded,"[4] Brandy regarded Full Moon as a pure concept album based on the development of a male-female relationship: "It's definitely the concept for the album--me falling in love, then going through some turbulence, and then, at the end, I find the person that I really want to be with--so it's a great concept and it's a great experience that I had."[5] In an interview with MTV News Norwood told, that she entitled the album Full Moon, because she had done a "complete circle" and felt "whole": "All of that's reflected in the music. It's autobiographical. Everything that I've gone through in the last three years is reflected."[6] The album was originally set to be released on November 20 2001, but plans were scrapped.[7]
Release and reception
Although Full Moon was nominated for a Grammy Award for "Best Contemporary R&B Album", media reception for the album was generally mixed. While most professional reviewers saw comparisons to Michael Jackson's 2001 studio album Invincible, the album was praised for Brandy and Jerkins' idea of "forward-thinking musical maturity" and the growth of Norwood's "now scratchy, evocative edge" in her voice. By contrast, Rolling Stone Magazine declared Full Moon as "frantic, faceless, fake-sexy R&B", and Andy Kellman from Allmusic cited the album "more mature and consistent" but "too lengthy." However, Brandy's third album became a global success: Full Moon debuted on top of the U.S. Billboard Top R&B/Hip-Hop albums chart, and at number two on the Billboard 200, approximately 160,000 copies in its first week of release.[8] Sales declined soon but uniformly continuous, and the album eventually received a platinum certification by the RIAA for more than one million copies shipped to stores.[9] While the album entered the top twenty on the majority of the charts it appeared on oustide the United States, it also reached the top ten in Switzerland, Germany, Canada, and the UK.
Track listing
# | Title | |
---|---|---|
1. | "B-Rocka Intro" | 1:19 |
2. | "Full Moon" | 4:08 |
3. | "I Thought" | 4:29 |
4. | "When You Touch Me" | 5:42 |
5. | "Like This" | 4:32 |
6. | "All in Me" | 4:00 |
7. | "Apart" | 4:27 |
8. | "Can We" | 4:43 |
9. | "What About Us?" | 4:12 |
10. | "Anybody" | 4:50 |
11. | "Nothing" | 4:48 |
12. | "It's Not Worth It" | 4:23 |
13. | "He Is" | 4:21 |
14. | "Come a Little Closer" | 4:32 |
15. | "Love Wouldn't Count Me Out" | 4:19 |
16. | "WOW" | 4:12 |
Bonus tracks
17. | "Die Without You" (with Ray-J) [U.S./Japan bonus] | 3:56 |
18. | "Another Day in Paradise" (with Ray-J) [EU bonus] | 4:12 |
19. | "I Wanna Fall in Love" [Japanese bonus] | 3:52 |
Credits and personnel
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Production
- Executive producers: Craig Kallmann, Brandy Norwood, Ron Shapiro
- Vocal producer: Brandy
- Vocal assistance: Ray-J, Joe Lewis Thomas Michael Jackson
- Engineers: Jim Bottari, Stuart Brawley, Reginald Dozier, Jan Fairchild, Thor Laewe, Michael "Wolf" Reaves
- Assistant engineers: J.D. Andrew, Kenneth B. Hertz, Michael Huff, Marc Stephen Lee, Steve Robillard, Javier Valverde
- Mixing: Jon Gass, Brad Gilderman, Manny Marroquin, Dave Pensado, Dexter Simmons
- Mastering: Tom Coyne
- A&R: Andrew Feigenbaum, Craig Kallman, Brandy Norwood
- Design: Thomas Bricker
- Art Direction: Thomas Bricker
- Photography: Marc Baptiste
Charts and certification
Chart (2002) | Provider | Peak position |
Certification | Sales |
---|---|---|---|---|
Australian Albums Chart | ARIA | 13[10] | ||
Austrian Albums Chart | Media Control | 54[10] | ||
Belgian Albums Chart | Ultratop/Nielsen | 26 | ||
Canadian Top 50 | CRIA/Nielsen SoundScan | 8 | Gold | 50,000+ |
Dutch Albums Chart | Nielsen | 23[10] | ||
French Albums Chart | SNEP/IFOP | 12[10] | ||
German Albums Chart | Media Control | 8[10] | ||
Japanese Albums Chart | Oricon | 15 | ||
New Zealand Albums Chart | RIANZ | 14[10] | ||
Norwegian Albums Chart | VG Nett | 24[10] | ||
Swedish Albums Chart | GLF | 20[10] | ||
Swiss Albums Chart | Media Control | 7[10] | ||
UK Top 75 Albums | BPI/The Official UK Charts Company | 9 | Gold | 100,000+ |
U.S. Billboard 200 | Billboard | 2 | Platinum | 1,250,000+ |
U.S. Billboard Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums | 1 | |||
U.S. Billboard Top Internet Albums | 2 |
References
- ^ "Brandy, Rodney Jerkins Hope To Repeat Chemistry". VH1.com. August 23, 2001. Retrieved on January 20, 2007.
- ^ "Brandy Finishing Album With Babyface". VH1.com. August 3, 2001. Retrieved January 20, 2007.
- ^ "Ja Rule Helps J. Lo Deliver Hot Crossover Joints". VH1.com. September 3, 2001. Retrieved January 20, 2007.
- ^ Afrodisiac. Net Music Countdown. Retrieved January 20, 2007.
- ^ "Jay-Z, Al Sharpton, Ananda Lewis & Others Turn Out For Brandy's Album-Release Party". Yahoo! Music. March 5, 2002. Retrieved January 20, 2007.
- ^ "Fans Will Get A New Taste Of Brandy On Full Moon". VH1.com. February 25, 2002. Retrieved January 20, 2007.
- ^ Rodney Jerkins On New Brandy - News Story | Music, Celebrity, Artist News | MTV News
- ^ Joe D'Angelo. Brandy Settles for #3. MTV.com. Retrieved on July 5, 2004.
- ^ Brandy To Release Greatest Hits Album. Yahoo.com. Retrieved on March 30, 2005.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i "Full Moon Chart History". Swisscharts. Retrieved 2007-10-28.