Alex Loves...

Alex Loves...
Studio album by Alexander O'Neal
Released 28 January 2008
Studio
Genre Contemporary R&B
Length 1:01:24
Label EMI
Producer
  • Leigh Guest
  • Nat Augustin
  • Andy Whitmore
  • Nigel Lowis
Alexander O'Neal chronology

Live at the Hammersmith Apollo - London
(2005)
Alex Loves...
(2008)
Five Questions: The New Journey
(2010)
Professional ratings
Review scores
Source Rating
AllMusic [1]

Alex Loves... is the eighth studio album by American recording artist Alexander O'Neal. It was originally released in early 2008 by EMI as the follow-up to the 2002 album Saga of a Married Man. The album is considered to be a departure from O'Neal's sound, because it consists of cover versions mainly of standard R&B songs, with the exception of the last song "We're On Our Way", which was co-written by O'Neal.

The album was received negatively by the majority of music critics, while other reviewers noted good points to the album. The album peaked at #49 in the UK, and was his first charting album of new material for 15 years.[2]

Critical reception

In a retrospective review, Sharon Mawer of AllMusic gave the album two and a half out of five stars (his poorest star rating) and wrote that "the choice of songs on Alex Loves was rather a strange mixture and most simply didn't work" also adding that "Not an album to recommend except to the die-hard fans who kept his name alive while he was away."[1]

Track listing

No. TitleWriter(s) Length
1. "Secret Lovers" (Atlantic Starr cover from the album As the Band Turns) 4:28
2. "A Million Love Songs" (Take That cover from the album Take That & Party)Gary Barlow 3:24
3. "Right Here Waiting" (Richard Marx cover from the album Repeat Offender)Richard Marx 4:06
4. "Unbreak My Heart" (Toni Braxton cover from the album Secrets)Diane Warren 4:28
5. "Your Song"   4:01
6. "Saturday Love" (Remake; originally on the Cherrelle album High Priority) 5:01
7. "If You Were Here Tonight" (Remake; originally on the album Alexander O'Neal)Monte Moir 5:02
8. "What You Won't Do For Love" (Bobby Caldwell cover from the album Bobby Caldwell)
3:46
9. "When a Man Loves a Woman" (Percy Sledge cover from the album When a Man Loves a Woman)
3:03
10. "Babe" (Styx cover from the album Cornerstone)Dennis DeYoung 3:57
11. "Always & Forever" (Heatwave cover from the album Too Hot to Handle)Rod Temperton 4:38
12. "You're My First, My Last, My Everything" (Barry White cover from the album Can't Get Enough)
4:01
13. "Cherish" (Kool & the Gang cover from the album Emergency)
4:02
14. "I'll Make Love to You" (Boyz II Men cover from the album II)Babyface 3:27
15. "We're On Our Way"  
4:00
Total length:
1:01:24

Personnel

Credits are adapted from the album's liner notes.[3]

"Secret Lovers"
  • Nat Augustin - guitars, keyboards & programming, backing vocals
  • Leigh Guest - keyboards & programming
  • Mica Paris - backing vocals
  • Fay Jones - backing vocals
"A Million Love Songs"
  • Andy Whitmore - guitars, keyboards & programming
  • Leigh Guest - keyboards & programming
  • Nat Augustin - backing vocals
"Right Here Waiting"
  • Edward Stewart - guitars
  • Andy Whitmore - keyboards & programming
  • Leigh Guest - keyboards & programming
"Unbreak My Heart"
  • Edward Stewart - guitars
  • Andy Whitmore - keyboards & programming
  • Leigh Guest - keyboards & programming
  • James Davies - trumpet
  • Angelo Starr - backing vocals
  • Nat Augustin - backing vocals
  • Fay Jones - backing vocals
"Your Song"
  • Edward Stewart - guitars
  • Richard Denapoli - live drums
  • Andy Whitmore - keyboards & programming
  • Leigh Guest - keyboards & programming
"Saturday Love"
  • Bianca Lindgren - guest vocals, backing vocals
  • Edward Stewart - guitars
  • Andy Whitmore - keyboards & programming
  • Leigh Guest - keyboards & programming
  • Nat Augustin - backing vocals
  • Angelo Starr - backing vocals
"If You Were Here Tonight"
  • Nat Augustin - guitars, keyboards & programming, backing vocals
  • Leigh Guest - keyboards & programming
  • Ann Augustin - backing vocals
"What You Won't Do For Love"
  • Nat Augustin - keyboards & programming, trombone, backing vocals
  • Leigh Guest - keyboards & programming
  • James Davies - trumpet
  • Fay Jones - backing vocals
  • Angelo Starr - backing vocals

"When a Man Loves a Woman"
  • Andy Whitmore - guitars, keyboards & programming
  • Edward Stewart - guitars
  • Richard Denapoli - live drums
  • Pat Byrne - bass guitar
  • Leigh Guest - keyboards & programming
  • James Davies - trumpet
  • Nat Augustin - backing vocals
"Babe"
  • Andy Whitmore - guitars, keyboards & programming
  • Richard Denapoli - live drums
  • Leigh Guest - keyboards & programming
  • Angelo Starr - backing vocals
  • Nat Augustin - backing vocals
  • Fay Jones - backing voclas
"Always & Forever"
  • Nat Augustin - guitars, keyboards & programming, backing vocals
  • Richard Denapoli - live drums
  • Leigh Guest - keyboards & programming
  • Ann Augustin - backing vocals
"You're the First, the Last, My Everything"
  • Nat Augustin - guitars, backing vocals
  • Edward Stewart - guitars
  • Richard Denapoli - live drums
  • Pat Byrne - bass guitar
  • Leigh Guest - keyboards & programming
  • Andy Whitmore - keyboards & programming
  • James Davies - trumpet
  • Fay Jones - backing vocals
"Cherish"
  • Leigh Guest - keyboards & programming
  • Andy Whitmore - keyboards & programming
  • Angelo Starr - backing vocals
  • Nat Augustin - backing vocals
"I'll Make Love to You"
  • Nigel Lowis - keyboards & programming, string arrangements
  • Leigh Guest - keyboards & programming
  • Angelo Starr - backing vocals
  • Nat Augustin - backing vocals
"We're On Our Way"
  • Nat Augustin - guitars, keyboards & programming, backing vocals

Charts

Chart Peak
position
UK Albums Chart[2] 49

References

  1. 1.0 1.1 Mawer, Sharon. "Alex Loves". AllMusic. Retrieved January 26, 2015.
  2. 2.0 2.1 "UK Charts > Alexander O'Neal". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 2012-05-26.
  3. Alex Loves... liner notes. EMI. 2008.

External links