Love Songs (Destiny's Child album)

Love Songs
Compilation album by Destiny's Child
Released January 29, 2013
Recorded 1998–2013
Genre R&B
Label Columbia
Destiny's Child chronology

Playlist: The Very Best of Destiny's Child'
(2012)		 Love Songs
(2013)		 Destiny's Child Video Anthology
(2013)

Love Songs is the third compilation album by American R&B girl group Destiny's Child, released on January 29, 2013 through Columbia Records. The album differs from their first two compilations in that it features mostly album-only selections as well as the newly recorded song "Nuclear", the first original song from Destiny's Child since the group disbanded in 2005. The album cover is based on the single artwork from the band's 2004 single "Lose My Breath".

Development

Destiny's Child was formed in Houston, Texas in 1990, and its final line-up consisting of Beyoncé Knowles, Kelly Rowland and Michelle Williams dismantled in 2005.[1] Their reunion was rumored over the years.[2] In July 2012, Mathew Knowles, Beyoncé's father and the group's manager, confirmed that that Destiny's Child still have their joint venture with Sony Music and would be releasing two "records with new material".[3][4] The first was Playlist: The Very Best of Destiny's Child, which was released in October 2012. Knowles announced via her official website on January 10, 2013, that a compilation featuring new music entitled Love Songs, which would be the group's first album in over eight years, would be released.[5] She posted its official artwork, "I am so proud to announce the first original Destiny's Child music in eight years." It contains one new song entitled "Nuclear", which was produced by Pharrell Williams.[6]

Pharrell Williams (pictured) produced "Nuclear"

Apart from "Nuclear", the rest of the album consists of assorted previously recorded music, which Knowles, Rowland and Williams handpicked.[5][7] Williams said that Love Songs was made "for the fans", and told MTV News about recording the "Nuclear" track, "It was a bunch of fun. It was just picking up right where we left off. The harmonies and just us stacking [vocals] ... Beyoncé laid hers first, then I'd go and lay another note to the bottom, and I'm like, 'Wow, this is dope.' I literally got goose bumps."[7]

Critical response

Professional ratings
Review scores
Source Rating
Allmusic [8]
Consequence of Sound [9]
New York Daily News [10]

Upon its release, the public reaction to "Nuclear" was mixed. According to MTV News, "Those saying "no, no, no" called it too mid-tempo, underwhelming even, for an act that built its catalog on power anthems like "Survivor." But supporters fell hard for the drum-heavy Pharrell production."[11] Consequence of Sound's Amanda Koellner gave Love Songs a mixed review, noting that its material highlights "the group’s knack for harmony and emotion" and it is "a shot of nostalgia", but isn't an "essential collection".[9] Sarah Rodman of The Boston Globe was displeased with the lack of new material, calling the album "unnecessary" in the "digital world of playlist-making". Although, Rodman did praise "Nuclear" as a "modestly appealing trifle that features quasi-scientific nonsense about 'when two become one on a quantum level' and benefits from all the slow jam somnambulance preceding it by being slightly more alert."[12]

Jim Farber of the New York Daily News said the album's ballads which "didn't flatter Destiny's core persona" sounded like "extended runs rather than fully honed tunes." Farber, who had given the album an overall score of three out of five stars, went on to praise their "rich" vocal performances, writing "the way the voices of Kelly Rowland and Michelle Williams wrap around Beyoncé’s — encouraging ever higher flights, while jazzing up each other’s runs — proves this wasn’t just a one-woman show".[10]

Andy Kellman of Allmusic described the collection as "a sharp selection of deep album cuts, including one from Kelly Rowland's Simply Deep ("Heaven"), that demonstrates the group's depth behind the hits". Kellman gave particular praise to "Nuclear", calling it a "knockout" and writing, "it sounds more like something released in 1990 by the Chimes, Soul II Soul, or the Family Stand than any pop-R&B circa 2013".[8]

Chart performance

In the United States, Love Songs debuted at number 72 on the Billboard 200 chart, with sales of 6,000 copies.[13]

Track listing

No. TitleWriter(s)Producer(s) Length
1. "Cater 2 U"  
  • Jerkins
  • Rude
  • Knowles
 4:05
2. "Killing Time"  
Wiggins 5:07
3. "Second Nature"  
Wiggins 5:08
4. "Heaven" (Kelly Rowland)
  • Alonzo Jackson
  • T. "Aura" Jackson
  • Rowland
  • Todd Mushaw
Jackson 3:59
5. "Now That She's Gone"  
  • Ken "K-Fam" Fambro
  • Donnie "D-Mayor" Boynton
  • Tara Geter
  • Latrelle Simmons
  • Aleese Simmons
  • Fambro
  • Boynton
 5:33
6. "Brown Eyes"  
  • Afanasieff
  • Knowles (co)
 4:33
7. "If"  
  • Stinson
  • Knowles
 4:15
8. "Emotion"  
Knowles 3:55
9. "If You Leave" (featuring Next)
  • Elliott
  • Hunter
 4:33
10. "T-Shirt"  
  • Harris
  • Davis
  • Knowles
 4:39
11. "Temptation"  
Wiggins 4:03
12. "Say My Name" (Timbaland Remix)
Timbaland 5:01
13. "Love"  
  • Knowles
  • Rowland
  • Williams
  • Erron Williams
  • Beyincé
  • E. Williams
  • Knowles
 4:29
14. "Nuclear"  
  • P. Williams
  • Knowles
  • Bereal
 3:56
Total length:
 63:15

Charts

Chart (2013) Peak
position
Australian Albums Chart[14] 69
Australian Urban Albums Chart[15] 14
French Albums Chart[16] 149
Irish Albums Chart[17] 27
Italian Albums Chart[18] 69
Swiss Albums Chart[16] 89
UK Albums Chart[19] 44
UK R&B Albums Chart[20] 3
US Billboard 200[13] 72

Release history

Region Date Format
United States[21] January 29, 2013 CD, digital download
United Kingdom February 4, 2013

References

  1. ↑ Devenish, Colin (June 13, 2005). "Destiny's Child to Split". Rolling Stone. Wenner Media. Retrieved February 3, 2013.
  2. ↑ "Rumor Of Destiny's Child Reunion Was False". RTTNews. August 6, 2010. Retrieved February 3, 2013.
  3. ↑ Williams, Brennan (July 6, 2012). "Mathew Knowles Talks New Destiny's Child Album, Blue Ivy, Reality Television". The Huffington Post. Retrieved October 24, 2012.
  4. ↑ Dinh, James (July 6, 2012). "New Destiny's Child Albums On The Way, Beyonce's Dad Says". MTV News. MTV Networks. Retrieved October 24, 2012.
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 Miller, Julie (January 10, 2013). "A Close Reading of Destiny Child’s New Album Cover". Vanity Fair. Retrieved February 3, 2013.
  6. ↑ Walsh, Ayeesha (January 18, 2013). "Destiny’s Child new album artwork revealed by Beyonce". The Sun. Retrieved February 3, 2013.
  7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 Alexis, Nadeska (January 25, 2013). "Destiny's Child Proving They've 'Still Got It,' Michelle Williams Says". MTV News. Retrieved February 3, 2013.
  8. ↑ 8.0 8.1 Kellman, Andy (January 29, 2013). "Love Songs - Destiny's Child". Allmusic. Retrieved February 25, 2013.
  9. ↑ 9.0 9.1 Koellner, Amanda (February 1, 2013). "Album Review: Destiny’s Child – Love Songs". Consequence of Sound. Retrieved February 3, 2013.
  10. ↑ 10.0 10.1 Farber, Jim (January 27, 2013). "Album review: Destiny's Child, 'Love Songs'". New York Daily News. Daily News, L.P. Retrieved February 3, 2013.
  11. ↑ Thomas, Rebecca (January 29, 2013). "Destiny's Child Love Songs: Four Key Tracks!". MTV News. Retrieved February 3, 2013.
  12. ↑ Rodman, Sarah (January 28, 2013). "Not much new on Destiny’s Child’s ‘Love Songs’". The Boston Globe. The New York Times Company. Retrieved February 3, 2013.
  13. ↑ 13.0 13.1 Caulfield, Keith (February 6, 2013). "Beyoncé, Destiny's Child Album Sales Up 197% After Super Bowl". Billboard. Prometheus Global Media. Retrieved February 7, 2013.
  14. ↑ Ryan, Gavin (February 10, 2013). "Of Monsters And Men Top ARIA Chart". Noise11. Noise Network. Retrieved February 10, 2013.
  15. ↑ "ARIA Australian Top 40 Urban Albums Chart – February 11, 2013". ARIA Charts. Retrieved February 10, 2013.
  16. ↑ 16.0 16.1 "Destiny's Child – Love Songs" (in German). Schweizer Hitparade. Hung Medien. Retrieved February 8, 2013.
  17. ↑ "Top 100 Artist Albums, Week Ending February 7, 2013". Chart-Track. GfK. Retrieved February 9, 2013.
  18. ↑ "Albums – Classifica settimanale Week 6 (dal 04/02/2013 al 10/02/2013)" (in Italian). Federazione Industria Musicale Italiana. Archived from the original on February 20, 2013. Retrieved February 20, 2013.
  19. ↑ "Archive Chart". UK Albums Chart. Official Charts Company. Retrieved February 10, 2013.
  20. ↑ "Archive Chart". UK R&B Chart. Official Charts Company. Retrieved February 10, 2013.
  21. ↑ "Love Songs by Destiny's Child". iTunes, Apple, Inc. Retrieved February 3, 2013.

External links