Reflection (Fifth Harmony album)

Reflection
Studio album by Fifth Harmony
Released	January 30, 2015 (2015-01-30)
Recorded	2014
Genre	Pop R&B
Length	37:35
Label	Epic Syco
Producer	The Family Joe London Daylight Taylor Parks Jonas Jeberg Harvey Mason, Jr. Stargate Ori Kaplan Dr. Luke Cirkut Parker Tommy Brown Travis Sayles J.R. Rotem T-Collar Victoria Monet Julian Bunetta Chris "Flict" Appari Deon Sanders Meghan Trainor Kid Ink
Fifth Harmony chronology
Better Together (2013) Reflection (2015)
Singles from Reflection
"Boss" Released: July 7, 2014 "Sledgehammer" Released: October 28, 2014 "Worth It" Released: March 3, 2015[1]

Reflection is the debut studio album by American girl group Fifth Harmony; it was released on January 30, 2015, by Syco Music and Epic Records.

The album's lead single, "Boss" was released on July 7, 2014. It peaked at number 43 on the US Billboard Hot 100 and was certified gold by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) for selling 500,000 copies. The album's second single, "Sledgehammer" premiered on October 28, 2014. It peaked at number 40 on the Billboard Hot 100 and it also became a certified gold by the RIAA for selling 500,000 copies. The album's third single "Worth It" was released in March 2015, and has peaked at number 32 on the Billboard Hot 100.

The album was a commercial success, debuting at number five on the US Billboard 200 chart with 80,000 units sold. The album also debuted at number one on the Billboard Digital Albums Chart, becoming the first ever girl group to achieve this feat. The album was supported by the group's first major headlining tour, the Reflection Tour.^[2]

Background

After finishing in third place on the second season of The X Factor and releasing their debut EP titled Better Together, Fifth Harmony announced they would be releasing a full-length album in the winter of 2015.^[3] The album features production contributions from executive multiplatinum producer-songwriter Julian Bunetta, Stargate, Dr. Luke, and was released by Syco Music and Epic Records.^[4]

During the recording sessions, Fifth Harmony stated that the album will signal a more mature sound for the group, with the lyrical content and production said to be less pop than Better Together.^[5] During the voting stages of the 2014 MTV Video Music Awards where Fifth Harmony was nominated in the Artist to Watch category, fans were asked to vote for the group a certain number of times to help unlock the cover art for the album.^[6] The title and the cover of the album were unveiled on Fifth Harmony's official website on August 12, 2014.^[7] After receiving negative feedback from fans, the group revealed a new album cover on August 23, 2014.^[8]

The album's release date was delayed a number of times during the last quarter of 2014 and early 2015.^[9] The album was ultimately released on February 3, 2015 in the US.^[10]

Singles

"Boss" was released as the lead single on July 7, 2014, with the music video released a day later on Vevo.^[11][12] The song debuted at number 43 on the US Billboard Hot 100 chart with first-week sales of 75,000 and was certified gold, only three months later.^[13]

"Sledgehammer" was released as the second single on October 28, 2014 and the music video was released on November 25, 2014 on Vevo.^[14] It peaked at number 40 on the Billboard Hot 100, making it the group's second highest-charting single in the United States. "Worth It" featuring Kid Ink was released as the third single on March 3, 2015.^[1] The song has since peaked at number 32 on the Billboard Hot 100.^[15]

Promotion

After releasing "Boss", the group debuted another song from the album, "We Know", during sessions for Idolator and Billboard.^[16][17] They performed several songs from the album before its release during Austin Mahone's tour in the summer of 2014. The new songs performed include "Reflection", "We Know" and "Going Nowhere".^[18] Fifth Harmony announced a headlining 23-date tour, The Reflection Tour, commencing on February 27, 2015. Opening acts are Jacob Whitesides, Jasmine V and Mahogany LOX.^[19] Upon the release of Reflection, MTV will air on February 6, 2015, the "Fifth Harmony Album Release Party Presented By COVERGIRL" at the New York's Webster Hall, where the group will be "taking the stage for a private performance, which will be filmed by the fans in attendance and turned into a music video," followed by an interview.^[20] Fifth Harmony appeared as guests on VH1's Big Morning Buzz Live for the entire week of February 16, 2015, doing interviews and performing on the show.^[21]

Critical reception

Professional ratings
Aggregate scores
Source	Rating
Metacritic	78/100[22]
Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic	[23]
Billboard	[24]
The New York Times	8/10[25]
Pitchfork Media	7.2/10[26]
Rolling Stone	[27]
Spin	7/10[28]

Reflection received generally positive reviews from music critics. At Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, the album received an average score of 78, which indicates "generally favorable reviews."^[22] Writing for TIME, Jamieson Cox states in a positive review that the group is "agile, and have intuitive understanding of how their differences in vocal texture and range can impact their songs by introducing surprise and tension." He continues to say that, "Reflection is certainly enjoyable on a purely musical level, but Fifth Harmony's perspective and positivity is often even more exciting."^[29] Matt Collar, from AllMusic, gave the album four out of five starts saying that it "is a slick production showcasing the group's multi voiced approach to contemporary R&B." He notes the diversity of musical genres, "from electronic-infused dance music to synthy, rhythmically bumptious hip-hop, to retro-'90s R&B," although adding that "it is very much a savvy pop product of the moment."^[30]

Brittany Spanos, from Rolling Stone, gave the album three and a half starts out of five, calling the lyrics "infectious" and the track "Like Mariah" a standout.^[31] Jason Lipshutz, from Billboard, gave the album four out of five starts saying that "most of the songs work." He adds that the group shows "that they are capable of slick synth-pop, grungy hip-hop and fluttering R&B, the latter clearly indebted to the girl groups of the '90s." Lipshutz also compares the group's message to Rihanna, Nicki Minaj, and Katy Perry's, noting that "the back half of Reflection is basically a misandrist constitution, with the 5H ladies brushing off lazy dudes on "Suga Mama," game-players on "We Know" and the flight-before-fight bros on "Going Nowhere."^[32] Writing for Spin, Brennan Carley gives a rating of seven out of ten, calling the album "cohesive and modern," and "self-aware fun." He highlights Meghan Trainor's work by saying that "her feel-good songwriting and female empowerment jams provide some of Reflection's highest peaks."^[28]

Writing for Idolator, Christina Lee gives the album three and a half starts out of five, saying that Fifth Harmony "nails every song with absolute precision, as if its members had known each other for far longer than just three years since The X Factor." She also predicted that the group is "bound to move on to the next round in this pop game" with a "No. 1 single, at the very least."^[33] Rebecca Mattina, from ANDPOP, gave the album three and a half stars out of five, saying that "the lyrics are fun, strong and full of swagger, and their vocals are always on-point. If they can really hone in on their sound, it won’t be long before they’re dominating the charts." She notes that "Boss" "might just be one of the best female empowerment songs since Destiny’s Child’s “Independent Women" and calls the lyrics of "Brave Honest Beautiful" one of the group's most powerful.^[34] From Sugarscape, Carl Smith gave the album four out of five stars, calling it "fierce, feisty, and fresh," and complimenting the group for bringing "that injection of girl power in an industry saturated with boybands and dad-rock."^[35]

Commercial performance

After a full week of sales, Reflection entered the US Billboard 200 at number five with 80,000 equivalent units (with 62,000 of that coming from traditional album sales).^[36] This gave Fifth Harmony the highest first week sales of any girl group since the Pussycat Dolls in 2008 with Doll Domination, as well as the highest first week sales of a US reality television act since 2012.^[36][37][38] It also debuted at number one on the Billboard Digital Albums Chart, becoming the first ever girl group album to top the Digital Albums Chart.^[39]

Track listing

Notes^[40]

• "Worth It" contains a remixed sample of "Why You Treat Me So Bad", as performed by Club Nouveau.
• "Like Mariah" contains a sample of "Always Be My Baby", as performed by Mariah Carey.
• "We Know" contains a sample of "A Dream", as performed by DeBarge.
• "Brave Honest Beautiful" contains elements of "Bootylicious", as performed by Destiny's Child.

Personnel and credits

Credits for Reflection adapted from AllMusic.^[41]

Charts

Release history

References