Now & Forever (Kim Wilde album)

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Now & Forever

Studio album by Kim Wilde

Released

November 1995

Professional reviews

All Music Guide link

Kim Wilde chronology

Love Is
(1992)

Now & Forever
(1995)

Never Say Never
(2006)

Now & Forever is the ninth studio album by Kim Wilde, released in 1995.

After three albums featuring a consistent pop sound, Wilde decided it was time for another change and chose to make an album with a decided soul/R&B feel to it. Ricky Wilde still produced, but joined forces with CJ Mackintosh for four of the album's tracks and co-produced with the Serious Rope team for seven others.

Opening with "Breakin' Away", an obvious dance track, and including R&B tracks like "C'mon Love Me", "You're All I Wanna Do" and "Where Do You Go From Here", the album was a departure from the familiar Wilde sound and didn't please fans and audience. It was her first album not to chart in the UK, and Radio One refused to add "Breakin Away" to its airplay lists. The album was a daring move for Kim, who wanted to make something to please herself first and foremost. Her interest in music by artists such as Chaka Khan and Pebbles influenced this album heavily.

Lyrically, the songs were either very happy ("Sweet Inspiration", "Heaven", "High on you") or bordering on depression ("Now & Forever" (...Time will never mend this broken heart), "Hold On" (...In the day I can smile though I want to die). Two singles were released in the UK, the second being "This I Swear", a dubious choice given the array of more radio-friendly songs on the album. The flip-side, "Heaven", was remixed twice (once mix by Matt Darey) and helped sales, but "This I Swear" stalled at No. 46 in early 1996.

Now & Forever was Wilde's last album before she started working in the musical Tommy and wind down her pop career. During the twelve month run of the play, she remixed and released a version of the disco track "Shame", which had been recorded in the Now & Forever sessions but not included on the album. Disastrously, the record shops failed to stock the single on the publicised release date in the UK. Kim, who was ill at the time, could not promote the song and it subsequently became her only single not to chart in the Top 75, despite a prediction by the ITV Chart Show of a #25 entry in that week's chart.