Always & Forever (Eternal album)

Always & Forever
Studio album by Eternal
Released 29 November 1993
Recorded 1992–93
Genre
Length 58:32
Label EMI
Producer Nigel Lewis
Eternal chronology

Always & Forever
(1993)		 Power of a Woman
(1995)
Singles from Always & Forever
  1. "Stay"
    Released: 20 September 1993
  2. "Save Our Love"
    Released: 3 January 1994
  3. "Just A Step From Heaven"
    Released: 18 April 1994
  4. "So Good"
    Released: 8 August 1994
  5. "Oh Baby I..."
    Released: 24 October 1994
  6. "Crazy"
    Released: 12 December 1994
Professional ratings
Review scores
Source Rating
Allmusic [1]
The Observer Negative[2]

Always & Forever is the debut album by the British R&B vocal group Eternal, released in 1993. The album became a sales success, selling over one million copies and yielding six single releases. It is the only Eternal album to feature Louise Nurding, who left to embark on a solo career before Eternal's follow up album Power of a Woman. The album had an American release in March 1994; it reached the lower 100s on the Billboard 200 album chart.

Single releases

Always & Forever yielded two Top 5 singles; "Stay" and "Oh Baby I..."[3] "Stay" was the first single to be released from the album, peaking at No. 4 in the UK Singles Chart. This was followed by "Save Our Love" and "Just A Step From Heaven", both of which peaked at No. 8. "So Good" was the next single, peaking at No. 13, followed by "Oh Baby I..." which reached No. 4. "Crazy" was the final single released from the album, peaking at No. 15 in the UK Singles Chart.

Sales

Always & Forever was a huge success, peaking at number 2 on the UK Albums Chart and was later certified 4x Platinum by the BPI for sales of over 1.2 million copies. It was 1994's third best-selling album in the UK,[4] spending over 76 weeks in the charts. The album broke records for being the first to sell over 1 million copies in the UK by a female group,[5] the only album by a debut act to contain six top 15 hits and the first album by a female group to be nominated for best album at the Brit Awards.

Track listing

  1. "Stay" – 3:56 (Bobby Khouzouri, Mark Steven)
  2. "Crazy" – 4:02 (BeBe Winans)
  3. "Save Our Love (West End Mix)" – 4:21 (Ann Preven, Eddie Chacon, Scott Cutler)
  4. "Oh Baby I..." – 5:29 (Lotti Golden, Tommy Faragher)
  5. "I'll Be There" – 5:13 (Geoffrey Williams, Simon Stirling)
  6. "Sweet Funky Thing" – 4:46 (Evelyn "Champagne" King, Lotti Golden, Tommy Faragher)
  7. "Never Gonna Give You Up" – 3:58 (Maria Christanson, Lotti Golden, Tommy Faragher)
  8. "Just a Step from Heaven" – 4:16 (Shepard Solomon, Wayne Cohen)
  9. "Let's Stay Together" – 4:38 (Al Green, Willie Mitchell, Al Jackson Jr.)
  10. "This Love Is for Real" – 3:44 (Lotti Golden, Robbie Nevil, Tommy Faragher)
  11. "So Good" – 3:57 (Easther Bennett, Vernie Bennett, Kéllé Bryan, Louise Nurding)
  12. "If You Need Me Tonight" – 4:00 (Dennis Charles, Easther Bennett, Vernie Bennett, Kéllé Bryan, Louise Nurding, Ronnie Wilson)
  13. "Don't Say Goodbye" – 4:14 (Dennis Charles, Easther Bennett, Vernie Bennett, Kéllé Bryan, Louise Nurding, Ronnie Wilson)
  14. "Amazing Grace" – 1:50 (John Newton)

Peak positions

Chart (1993-95) Peak
position
Australian Albums Chart[6] 48
Belgian (Flanders) Albums Chart[7] 35
Dutch Albums Chart[8] 12
European Albums Chart[9] 17
French Albums Chart[10] 43
German Albums Chart[11] 85
Japanese Albums Chart[12] 25
New Zealand Albums Chart[13] 46
UK Albums Chart[14] 2

Year-end charts

Chart (1994) Position
UK Albums Chart[15] 4
Chart (1995) Position
Dutch Albums Chart[16] 61
UK Albums Chart[15] 52

Certifications

Region Certification Sales/shipments
Ireland (IRMA)[17] Gold 7,500x
Japan (RIAJ)[18] N/A 86,940^
Netherlands (NVPI)[19] Gold 50,000^
United Kingdom (BPI)[20] 4× Platinum 1,200,000^
Summaries
Europe (IFPI)[21] Platinum 1,000,000*

*sales figures based on certification alone
^shipments figures based on certification alone
xunspecified figures based on certification alone

References

  1. ↑ Wynn, Ron. "Review: Always & Forever – Eternal". AllMusic. Retrieved 26 August 2009.
  2. ↑ Spencer, Neil. "Review: Eternal – Always & Forever (EMI CDEMD 1053)". The Observer Review (Guardian Media Group) (12 December 1993): 9.
  3. ↑ "Eternal". The Official Charts Company. Retrieved 27 September 2012.
  4. ↑ Spencer, Neil. "Feature: Arts Review Of 1994: Pop". The Observer Review (Guardian Media Group) (18 December 1994): 8.
  5. ↑ "Eternal". ArtInBase. Retrieved 27 September 2012.
  6. ↑ http://swisscharts.com/showitem.asp?interpret=Eternal&titel=Always+%26+Forever&cat=a
  7. ↑ http://swisscharts.com/showitem.asp?interpret=Eternal&titel=Always+%26+Forever&cat=a
  8. ↑ http://swisscharts.com/showitem.asp?interpret=Eternal&titel=Always+%26+Forever&cat=a
  9. ↑ "Hits of the World – Eurochart". Billboard. Nielsen Business Media, Inc. 21 January 1995. p. 49. Retrieved 25 July 2012.
  10. ↑ http://www.infodisc.fr/Albums_Runs.php
  11. ↑ Die ganze Musik im Internet: Charts, Neuerscheinungen, Tickets, Genres, Genresuche, Genrelexikon, Künstler-Suche, Musik-Suche, Track-Suche, Ticket-Suche – musicline.de
  12. ↑ http://www.oricon.co.jp/prof/artist/46926/ranking/cd_album/
  13. ↑ http://swisscharts.com/showitem.asp?interpret=Eternal&titel=Always+%26+Forever&cat=a New Zealand Archive.
  14. ↑ http://www.officialcharts.com/artist/_/eternal/
  15. ↑ 15.0 15.1 "Chart Archive – 1990s Albums". Retrieved 24 September 2011.
  16. ↑ "Dutchcharts.nl – Jahreshitparade 1995". Hung Medien. Retrieved 1 August 2010.
  17. ↑ "Irish album certifications – Eternal – Always & Forever". Irish Recorded Music Association. Retrieved 1 February 2013.
  18. ↑ "Japanese album certifications – Eternal – Always & Forever" (in Japanese). Recording Industry Association of Japan. Retrieved 25 July 2012.
  19. ↑ "Dutch album certifications – Eternal – Always & Forever" (in Dutch). Nederlandse Vereniging van Producenten en Importeurs van beeld- en geluidsdragers. Retrieved 15 July 2012.
  20. ↑ "British album certifications – Eternal – Always & Forever". British Phonographic Industry. Retrieved 25 July 2012. Enter Always & Forever in the field Keywords. Select Title in the field Search by. Select album in the field By Format. Select Platinum in the field By Award. Click Search
  21. ↑ "IFPI Platinum Europe Awards – 1995". International Federation of the Phonographic Industry.