Heart to Yours

Heart to Yours is the first solo album by American singer Michelle Williams. Released on April 16, 2002, by Sanctuary and Columbia Records it became the first solo release of any Destiny's Child member. Production of the album began in 2001, with Williams working with an array of producers, including her brother Erron Williams (who produced the title track), HR Crump and Warryn Campbell. Heart to Yours is primarily an urban contemporary gospel album, however it heavily incorporates elements of many other styles and genres such as; neo-soul, inspirational, R&B and even rock music. The album's lyrical content and subject matter is also diverse and ranges from songs that glorify and praise God to tributes dedicated to the victims of the September 11, 2001 attacks in the United States, which encourage those suffering in the aftermath of the attacks that the "sun will shine again".

Receiving generally positive reviews from critics, Heart to Yours peaked at number one on the US Billboard Gospel Albums chart with nearly 20,000 copies sold in one week, eventually becoming 2002's biggest selling album of the that genre in the U.S, selling over 203,000 copies.^[2] The album was also a success on another Billboard component chart, the Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums chart, where it peaked within the top 20 at number seventeen. However, the album failed to make as big of an impact on the US Billboard 200 as the debuts of Williams' bandmates, peaking at a moderate firty-seven.^[3] The album won Williams an award for "Best Gospel Act" at the 2002 MOBO Awards^[4] and its lead single "Heard A Word" was featured on the platinum-selling WOW Gospel 2003 compilation album.^[5][6][7]

Background and production

Williams began her singing career as a backing vocalist for R&B singer Monica in 1999 before joining Destiny's Child with Farrah Franklin (who would later leave) alongside original members Beyoncé Knowles and Kelly Rowland, replacing former members LeToya Luckett and LaTavia Roberson to much controversy in 2000.^[8]

In late 2000, while recording their third album, Survivor, Destiny's Child revealed that they would produce solo albums to be released "simultaneously" in the "hope" that they would "boost interest in Destiny's Child". Describing the stylistic differences of the albums' directions, Knowles said "We're going to all do different types of music and support each other's album" before saying "hopefully it will broaden our audience, so it will help us all out".^[9] The idea of individual releases emanated from the group's manager and Knowles' father, Mathew.^[10] After the release of Survivor, the group announced in late 2001 a temporary break-up to focus on solo projects, including working on their own albums.^[11] Before undertaking their respective solo projects, the group released a Christmas album, 8 Days of Christmas.^[12]

Williams worked in the studio with several musical collaborators, including Scott “Shavoni” Parker, Damon Elliott, Warren Campbell and gospel producer HR Crump. Williams' brother, Erron Williams, also produced some of the tracks on the album. Williams also co-wrote five of the songs.^[13] In speaking with Billboard about the album and its artistic direction, Williams said, "some people will do gospel when their career fails, but I chose to do it at the height of the popularity of Destiny's Child,". Williams explained, " I didn't want to do it because it was a fad. I wanted to do it because it's in me. It's in my heart."^[14]

Content and composition

Generally, the album consists of urban contemporary gospel music containing elements of R&B, neo-soul and traditional black gospel music, with inspirational lyrics about building, maintaining and appreciating a relationship with God which also encourage the listener that "everything is going to work out fine". The album's lead single, "Heard a Word", sums up the theme of the album, with its chorus: "I heard a word / Saying girl, you'll be fine / I heard a word that would ease my troubled mind / Took all the hurt away / Warmed me up inside like a summer day / So glad that you'd never break your promises". Other songs are tributes to the victims of the September 11, 2001, attacks in the United States; "Better Place", written by Michelle Williams, Damon Elliott and Kayla Parker, is one such example which was inspired by the catastrophic event and is an emotional tribute to those who died in the attack.^[13]

The album features guest vocals by various artists, including Williams' Destiny's Child band mates - Kelly Rowland and Beyoncé Knowles - on "Gospel Medley" (originally produced for the group's 2001 album, Survivor) which consists of an interpolation of Kirk Franklin's "Holy is the Lamb", the popular Anna B. Warner hymn "Jesus Loves Me" and concludes with the famous final section of Richard Smallwood's "Total Praise". Other guests include Carl Thomas on a remixed version of the BeBe & CeCe Winans classic, "Heaven",^[16] (featured as a bonus track on the album); Men of Standard's Isaac Carree and Lowell C. Pye on "You Care for Me"; Mary Mary on "So Glad"; and Shirley Caesar on "Steal Away to Jesus",^[13] which was herladed by most critics as "the album's high point"^[17] and was first included on Caesar's 2001 album, Hymns.^[18]

Release

While her musical cohorts were finishing their projects, Williams' management strategically planned a successive release of their albums to avoid "rivalry" on the charts.^[18] Over a period of one year, Williams released Heart to Yours on April 16, 2002, in the United States,^[13] ahead of Kelly Rowland's 2002 album, Simply Deep and Beyoncé Knowles' 2003 Dangerously in Love - all debut releases.

Critical reception

Heart to Yours received generally positive reviews from critics. William Ruhlmann of Allmusic complimented the non-hasty production of the album, noting that "there are different producers on nearly every track, and the arrangements for the most part are state-of-the-art urban contemporary efforts". Ruhlmann also described Williams' voice as "warm" and "kittenish" before writing that "by the time Williams is trading lines with Isaac Carree and Lowell Pye of Men of Standard" she "has transformed herself from kitten to tiger, belting out the words with absolute conviction".^[17] GospelCity.com also praised "Michelle's delicate vocals" - particularly on "You Care For Me" where Williams' "soulful chops" are said to "shine through brilliantly" - and noted that on "Heard A Word", Williams "demonstrates further versatility in Ella-like fashion", concluding the review by describing Heart to Yours as a "melodically pleasant, lyrically sound gospel project".^[21] Sal Cinquemani of Slant Magazine also described Williams' voice was "warm", noting that it recalls "the playful wisps of her R&B contemporaries (Jill Scott, Erykah Badu) and the breathy timbre of Diana Ross". Cinquemani then described the album as being "a mix of slick hip-hop-style beats, inspirational themes and catchy, pop-friendly hooks" with "admirable", "largely restrained arrangements", lending particular praise to the "surprisingly eloquent (and non-denominational) sentiment" that is featured within the lyrics of the album's title track ("Heart to Yours").^[20] Tracy Hopkins of Rolling Stone magazine gave the least favorable review however, stating that despite Williams' collaborations with contemporary gospel singers, they "only reinforce the thin-piped vocalist's shortcomings". Hopkins also wrote that although Williams "is in the right place", her vocals are "too quiet" and the production is too "tame to start a real Holy Ghost party".^[16] On the contrary, Mike Rimmer of Cross Rhythms gave a very favorable review of the album (10/10), describing "the quality" as being "superb throughout" and "Michelle's soulful laid back vocals" as being "delicious throughout".^[19]

Commercial reception

Although Heart to Yours failed to dominate the U.S. Billboard 200, it gained success on Billboard's components charts. The album entered the Billboard Top Gospel Albums chart at number one. Eventually spending a total of forty-six weeks on the chart, Heart to Yours became the best-selling gospel album of the year.^[22] On the main album chart in the U.S., the Billboard 200, the album reached number fifty-seven on May 4, 2002, spending fourteen weeks on the chart and also managed to peak within the top 20 of the Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums chart, at number seventeen, where the album spent twenty-four weeks.^[3] According to The New York Times, Heart to Yours sold 203,000 domestically.^[2] In addition to this, the album was listed at number six on the US Billboard Year-End Top Gospel Albums chart in 2002, making it one of the most successful gospel releases of the year.^[23]

Track listing

Notes

• "Steal Away To Jesus" is a completely re-worked cover of the Wallace Willis hymn which was arranged by Shirley Caesar (who also features on the track).
• "Rock With Me" contains resung elements from "Cornerstone" by Leon Patillo.
• "Gospel Medley" consists of an interpolation of Kirk Franklin's "Holy is the Lamb", the Anna Bartlett Warner hymn "Jesus Loves Me" and concludes with the final section of Richard Smallwood's "Total Praise".

Credits

Credits are taken from the album's linear notes.^[15]

Managerial

Performance credits

Visuals and Imagery

Instruments

Technical and Production

Chart Performance

Release history

Awards and nominations

References