Calling All Hearts

For the song by DJ Cassidy, see Calling All Hearts (song).
Calling All Hearts
Studio album by Keyshia Cole
Released December 21, 2010
Recorded 2009–2010
Genre R&B, hip hop soul, hip hop, soul
Length 43:09 (standard)
54:50 (deluxe)
Label Geffen, Interscope
Producer J.U.S.T.I.C.E. League, Toxic, Mave (N8 Tha Maven), Song Dynasty, Big WY, Tweek Beats, Ron Fair, Jimmy Jam & Terry Lewis, Justa Beast, Big D, Renan Harrigan Chink Santana, Timbaland, Dontae Winslow, Eddie & KC Hustle
Keyshia Cole chronology

A Different Me
(2008)		 Calling All Hearts
(2010)		 Woman to Woman
(2012)
Singles from Calling All Hearts
  1. "I Ain't Thru"
    Released: December 7, 2010
  2. "Take Me Away"
    Released: February 1, 2011

Calling All Hearts is the fourth studio album by American R&B singer Keyshia Cole, released on December 21, 2010 in the United States by Geffen Records.[1] Appearances on the album include Nicki Minaj, Tank, Faith Evans, Timbaland and Yvonne Cole.

Background

Calling All Hearts is made of songs composed before and after Cole met her fiancée, Daniel Gibson. Shortly after revealing that she was pregnant with her first child, Cole went into a short hiatus. She made her first appearance since the birth of her son at the 2010 BET Awards performing "Airplanes" with B.o.B. In October 2010, Cole leaked an unmastered version of her single, "I Ain't Thru" to her Twitter followers in celebration of her birthday. The single was digitally mastered and then officially released. During this time, Cole shot the video for the single as well as for the promo single "Long Way Down".

Release and Promotion

Two editions of the album were composed and released on December 21, 2010—a standard and deluxe edition. The standard edition was revealed to preview on Cole's Myspace Music page on December 16, 2010.[2]

To promote the album, Cole made appearances on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno, The Mo'Nique Show, and The Wendy Williams Show. She also made an appearance on 106 and Park on December 20 in which she did a 30 minute special performance.[3] Cole also opened for music act R. Kelly for the second time on his 2011 summer Love Letter Tour.

Singles

Reception

Commercial performance

The album debuted at number 9 on the US Billboard 200 chart, with first-week sales of 128,000 copies.[11] It also entered at number five on Billboard's R&B/Hip-Hop Albums and number fourteen on the Digital Albums chart.[12][13] In its second week, the album dropped to number ten on the Billboard 200 selling 36,600 copies.[14]

Critical response

Professional ratings
Review scores
Source Rating
Allmusic [15]
The New York Times (mixed)[16]
Rolling Stone [17]
USA Today [18]

Calling All Hearts received mixed to positive reviews from most music critics.[19] At Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, the album received an average score of 66, based on 4 reviews, which indicates "generally favorable reviews".[19] Allmusic writer Andy Kellman gave it a gave it three-and-a-half out of five stars and commented that the album "drags in spots, due in part to an absence of a "Let It Go"-type track to break up all the introspection and pain", but it is the kind of album "for those who want to hear a moody, emotional outpouring".[15] Jon Pareles of The New York Times viewed that the album had a standard mix of featured artists and producers, but "after an initial bit of competitive posturing... the songs slip into the background".[16] Rolling Stone‍ '​s Jonah Weiner gave it three-and-a-half out of five stars and wrote that "Cole is at her best when she's slugging".[17] Steve Jones of USA Today gave the album three out of four stars and commented that "Her passionate vocals still pack a wallop, even though they are no longer fueled by angst".[18]

Track listing

Standard edition[20]
No. TitleWriter(s)Producer(s) Length
1. "I Ain't Thru" (featuring Nicki Minaj)Keyshia Cole, R. Gonzalez,
Onika Maraj		The ARE, Ron Fair 3:59
2. "Long Way Down"  Cole, E. Ortiz, K. Crowe, S. JordanJ.U.S.T.I.C.E. League 3:59
3. "Tired of Doing Me" (featuring Tank)Cole, M. Nathaniel Qahhaar, F. Taylor, D. Babbs, J. Franklin, R. Newt, J. Valentine, K. StephensMave (N8 Tha Maven), Toxic, Ron Fair, Song Dynasty 3:30
4. "If I Fall in Love Again" (featuring Faith Evans)Cole, W. Dillon, M. Myers, O. Harvey, C. Wallace, B. Bacharach, H. DavidBig WY, Tweek Beats 3:29
5. "So Impossible"  Cole, J. Harris III, T. Lewis, C. CarterJimmy Jam & Terry Lewis 4:35
6. "Sometimes"  Cole, J. Graham, D. Hendrickson, R. HarriganJustin "Justa Beast" Graham, DeShawn "Big D" Hendrickson, Renan Harrigan 3:47
7. "Take Me Away"  Cole, Teray Jones, I. GottiChink Santana, Irv Gotti 3:47
8. "What You Do to Me"  Cole, SantanaChink Santana 4:19
9. "Last Hangover" (featuring Timbaland)Cole, T. Mosely, J. Harmon, C. Nelson, T. Clayton, J. BeanzTimbaland 4:18
10. "Thank You" (featuring Dr. Yvonne Cole)Cole, E. Clement, K. ClementEddie Hustle, KC Hustle 3:28
11. "Better Me"  Diane WarrenSong Dynasty, Ron Fair 3:56
Sample credits

Personnel

Credits for Calling All Hearts adapted from Allmusic.[23]

  • Drew Adams – assistant
  • The ARE – producer
  • Burt Bacharach – composer
  • Matt Bang – engineer
  • Jim Beanz – vocal producer
  • Big Wy – producer
  • Carla Carter – vocals (background)
  • Ariel Chobaz – engineer
  • Cary Clark – engineer
  • Kahron Clement – assistant
  • Deron Cole – hair stylist
  • Keyshia Cole – A&R, executive producer, vocal producer
  • Hal David – composer
  • Reginald Dowdley – make-up
  • Ron Fair – additional production, executive producer, guitar, producer, string arrangements,
    string conductor, vocal producer
  • Ashley Fox – marketing
  • Chris Galland – assistant
  • Chris Godbey – engineer, mixing
  • Irv Gotti – producer
  • Alicia Graham – A&R
  • Justin "Justa Beast" Graham – producer
  • Bernie Grundman – mastering
  • Manny Halley – A&R, executive producer
  • Renan Harrigan – producer, keyboards
  • Deshawn Hendrickson – producer, keyboards
  • Tal Herzberg – engineer, pro-tools
  • Ghaz Horani – assistant
  • Buffy Hubelbank – A&R
  • Eddie Hustle – engineer, producer
  • KC Hustle – producer
  • Jimmy Jam – instrumentation, producer
  • Tiffany Johnson – product manager
  • Sly Jordan – vocal producer
  • J.U.S.T.I.C.E. League – producer
  • Chris Lecky "Lucky" – engineer
  • Terry Lewis – producer
  • Onika Maraj – composer
  • Matt Marrin – mixing
  • George McWilliams – art direction, design
  • Peter Mokran – mixing
  • James Musshorn – assistant
  • Mave (N8 Tha Maven) – producer
  • David Nakaji – engineer
  • Seanitta Parmer – stylist
  • Dave Pensado – mixing
  • Bill Pettaway – guitar
  • Tresa Sanders – publicity
  • Kam Sangha – producer
  • Chink Santana – producer
  • Allen Sides – engineer
  • David Slijper – photography
  • Song Dynasty – producer
  • Eric Stenman – engineer
  • Timbaland – producer
  • Kyle Townsend – vocal producer
  • Toxic – producer
  • Tweek Beats – producer
  • Van Nakari – assistant
  • Diane Warren – composer
  • Eric Weaver – assistant
  • Tremaine Williams – drum programming, engineer
  • Frank Wolf – engineer

Charts

Chart (2010) Peak
position
US Billboard 200[11] 9
US Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums[12] 5

Release history

Region Date Format(s) Label Edition(s)
United Kingdom December 21, 2010 CD, digital download Polydor Records Standard, deluxe
United States Geffen Records, Interscope Records

References

  1. ↑ Calling All Hearts in stores now!
  2. ↑ Calling All Hearts album premiere on Myspace!
  3. ↑ Keyshia Cole on BET Monday December 20th!
  4. ↑ New Music: Keyshia Cole f/ Nicki Minaj
  5. ↑ Chart History: Calling All Hearts. Billboard. Retrieved on 2011-02-03.
  6. ↑ "Keyshia Cole Album & Song Chart History". Billboard. Retrieved 2012-07-14.
  7. ↑ "Keyshia Cole – Take Me Away Lyrics and Video". Musicloversgroup.com. 2011-01-21. Retrieved 2011-02-23.
  8. ↑ "Conan Show Schedule: Upcoming Guests On "Conan" @". Teamcoco.com. Retrieved 2011-02-23.
  9. ↑ "Keyshia Cole Music News & Info". Billboard.com. Retrieved 2011-03-03.
  10. ↑ "News : Don't miss the premiere of "Take Me Away" on 106 & Park Monday!". Keyshia Cole. 2011-04-17. Retrieved 2012-02-09.
  11. ↑ 11.0 11.1 Caulfield, Keith (December 29, 2010). "Taylor Swift Gets Christmas Boost on Billboard 200, Foxx Earns Highest Debut". Billboard. Retrieved December 29, 2010.
  12. ↑ 12.0 12.1 R&B/Hip-Hop Albums – Week of January 08, 2011. Billboard. Retrieved on 2010-12-30.
  13. ↑ Digital Albums – Week of January 08, 2011. Billboard. Retrieved on 2010-12-30.
  14. ↑ Langhorne, Cyrus. Eminem Gets A Swift Kick To No. 2, Nicki Minaj Reclaims Top 5, Drake & Kid Cudi Rage Back Onto The Chart. SOHH. Retrieved on 2011-01-05.
  15. ↑ 15.0 15.1 Kellman, Andy (December 21, 2010). Review: Calling All Hearts. Allmusic. Retrieved on 2010-12-21.
  16. ↑ 16.0 16.1 Pareles, Jon (December 20, 2010). Review: Calling All Hearts. The New York Times. Retrieved on 2010-12-21.
  17. ↑ 17.0 17.1 Weiner, Jonah. Review: Calling All Hearts. Rolling Stone. Retrieved on 2010-12-21.
  18. ↑ 18.0 18.1 Jones, Steve (December 21, 2010). Review: Calling All Hearts. USA Today. Retrieved on 2010-12-22.
  19. ↑ 19.0 19.1 Calling All Hearts (2010): Reviews. Metacritic. Retrieved on 2011-01-21
  20. ↑ "Calling All Hearts: Keyshia Cole: Music". Amazon.com. Retrieved 2011-02-23.
  21. ↑ "Calling All Hearts [Deluxe Edition]: Keyshia Cole: Music". Amazon.com. Retrieved 2011-02-23.
  22. ↑ "CD Reviews | Spark missing on latest from Keyshia Cole | The Columbus Dispatch". Dispatch.com. 2010-12-21. Retrieved 2011-02-23.
  23. ↑ Credits: Calling All Hearts. Allmusic. Retrieved on 2010-12-12.