| Brave | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Studio album by Jennifer Lopez | ||||
| Released | October 4, 2007 (see release history) |
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| Recorded | 2006–07 | |||
| Genre | Dance-pop, R&B | |||
| Length | 47:53 | |||
| Label | Epic | |||
| Producer | Bigg D, Bloodshy & Avant, Chuck Brody, Cory Rooney (exec.), Hit-Boy, Jennifer Lopez (exec.), Johnny Rodeo, Julio Reyes, J. R. Rotem, Lynn & Wade LLP, Midi Mafia, Ryan Tedder, The Clutch, The Platinum Brothers, Travis Cherry, Oak | |||
| Jennifer Lopez chronology | ||||
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| Singles from Brave | ||||
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Brave is the sixth studio album by American recording artist Jennifer Lopez, released on October 4, 2007 by Epic Records. It debuted at number twelve on the U.S. Billboard 200 with 53,000 copies sold in its first week. Though the album was generally praised by fans, it got mixed reviews from most critics and subsequently became Lopez's least commercially successful album to date. Brave is the last album Lopez released under Epic Records. It has sold 166,000 copies in the U.S., according to Nielsen SoundScan.[1]
Contents |
In a MTV News interview while on the music video set for "Me Haces Falta", Lopez promised fans "danceable music" on this album. This album returned Lopez to pop, R&B, and hip hop sound after her previous English-language studio album, Rebirth.[2] She stated the album would be "dance, funk, R&B, hip-hop, all that stuff, all mixed up together to make some great pop music".[2] She described Brave as "a little Jamiroquai, a little Sade. It's real feel-good music".[3] Lopez recruited producers including J. R. Rotem, Bloodshy & Avant, Midi Mafia, and Ryan Tedder.[3][4] On March 27, 2007, on Total Request Live, Lopez stated there would be no featured appearances and chose between four uptempo songs for the first single. The first single chosen was "Do It Well". Lopez played a track in Las Vegas in late April and stated she was going on her first tour with a mix of English and Spanish music.
"Do It Well" was released as the lead single from the album on September 25, 2007. The music video premiered a few weeks before the official release, on September 17, 2007. The song debuted No.1 on the U.S. Billboard Hot Dance Club Play. The song was considered somewhat successful, reaching the top ten in Italy and Brazil, the top twenty in the United Kingdom, Australia, Ireland, the Netherlands, Switzerland, Norway and the top 40 in the United States.
"Hold It, Don't Drop It" was released as the second and final single from the album on January 21, 2008. The single was never released in the United States, making "Do It Well," the only US single. The video premiered December 4, 2007.
The third single was set to be the title track "Brave", and it was even posted on Michael Haussman's official website that filming of the music video for the single had completed. However, it was never released as a single. The song reached No.1 on the South Korean chart, and held its place inside the top five for more than twenty-three weeks after its debut.
Due to digital sales, "Mile in These Shoes" charted in Finland at number sixteen on the singles chart[5] and number fourteen on the download chart.[6] The song was believed to be the fourth and final single from Brave until all promotion was cancelled. The song was the promotional song used for season four of Desperate Housewives.
| Professional ratings | |
|---|---|
| Review scores | |
| Source | Rating |
| Allmusic | [7] |
| Billboard | (positive)[8] |
| Entertainment Weekly | (C)[9] |
| The Guardian | [10] |
| New York Post | [11] |
| NOW | (2/4)[12] |
| PopMatters | (3/10)[13] |
| Rolling Stone | [14] |
| Slant Magazine | [15] |
| Yahoo! Music | (unfavorable)[16] |
| Yahoo! Music UK | [17] |
Reviews were generally mixed. Billboard said that "The album is another market-smart collection of radio fodder, rather than Lopez's artistic breakout. That said, no one does classy pop quite like she does".[18] Dotmusic said that "Brave is actually one of her strongest albums to date".[19] All Music said that "It's nothing more than modest music for mellow good times, but it's lively enough to be fleeting fun, with enough good tunes for a mild party, preferably one that's held at home".[20] Now Magazine said that "The songs are formulaic but catchy, and the production is meticulous".[21] The Guardian said that "The sound harks back to the genre's golden age at the turn of the century: chunky bass lines, disco strings and purring beats dominate, and the brassy melodies are engineered for maximum dancefloor impact".[22] Rolling Stone said that "J. Lo has turned away from the slick, minimalist future funk currently ruling the pop zeitgeist for chintzy production that screams 1990".[23]
Other reviews were negative. Entertainment Weekly stated that "Expensive beats and uplifting material are offset by listless vocals".[24] Vibe Magazine was in a similar agreement with Entertainment Weekly, "That Brave on the whole is almost unapologetically poor isn't surprising—Jenny's never made a viable Album of the Year. But never before has the fly-girl-cum-cover girl been so listless".[21] Yahoo Music's review said: "Given Jennifer Lopez's thin voice, it's hard to expect greatness when she puts out an album. But Brave disappoints even for J.Lo-adjusted standards. Chock full of tepid dance grooves, Lopez's voice has never sounded so weak and marginal as on this record."[25] PopMatters said that "Brave has neither a strong artistic personality nor boffo production, and as a result, ends up being just another disposable pop record with no redeeming value".[26] About.com said that "The tracks on Brave that try to be club records fall short, containing such light beats and unexciting vocals, that few will be drawn to the dance floor".[27] Entertainment Weekly placed the album at number 5 on their list of worst albums of 2007.[28]
| No. | Title | Writer(s) | Producer(s) | Length |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Stay Together" | Jonathan Rotem, Chasity Nwagbara, E. Kidd Bogart | J. R. Rotem | 3:30 |
| 2. | "Forever" | Balewa Muhammad, Candice Nelson, Ezekiel Lewis, Patrick Smith, Chauncey Hollis | Hit-Boy, The Clutch* | 3:39 |
| 3. | "Hold It Don't Drop It" | Kevin Risto, Waynne Nugent, Jennifer Lopez, Allen Phillip Lees, Tawana Dabney, Janet Sewell, Cynthia Lissette, Dennis Lambert, Brian Potter | Dirty Swift, Bruce Wayyne | 3:55 |
| 4. | "Do It Well" | Ryan Tedder, Leonard Caston, Jr., Anita Poree, Frank Wilson | Tedder | 3:05 |
| 5. | "Gotta Be There" | Adam Gibbs, Michael Chesser, Crystal Johnson, Travis Cherry, Leon Ware, Arthur Ross | The Platinum Brothers, Travis Cherry* | 3:57 |
| 6. | "Never Gonna Give Up" | Michelle Lynn Bell, Peter Wade Keusch, Lopez | Keusch, Bell, Julio Reyes | 4:21 |
| 7. | "Mile in These Shoes" | Nwagbara, Onique Williams | Oak | 3:16 |
| 8. | "The Way It Is" | Bell, Keusch, Lopez, Rhonda Robinson, Gennaro Leone, Bruce Rudd | Keusch, Bell | 3:07 |
| 9. | "Be Mine" | Bell, Keusch, Robinson, John Hill, Caleb Shreve, Lopez | Keusch, Bell, Johnny Rodeo, Chuck Brody | 3:19 |
| 10. | "I Need Love" | Bell, Keusch, Robinson, Hill, Schreve, Lopez | Bell, Keusch, Rodeo, Brody | 3:52 |
| 11. | "Wrong When You're Gone" | Lewis, Smith, Muhammad, Nelson, Keri Hilson | Bigg D, The Clutch | 3:58 |
| 12. | "Brave" | Christian Karlsson, Pontus Winnberg, Lewis, Muhammad, Smith, Nelson | Bloodshy & Avant, The Clutch | 4:21 |
| 13. | "Do It Well" (featuring Ludacris) | Tedder, Christopher Bridges, Caston, Poree, Wilson | Tedder | 3:33 |
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Total length:
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47:53 | |||
(*) Denotes co-producer
Notes
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