Tender Lover

Tender Lover
Studio album by Babyface
Released	July 30, 1989
Recorded	1988–1989 at Elumba Galaxy Sound M'Bila (Hollywood, California)
Genre	R&B, quiet storm, new jack swing
Length	48:51
Label	SOLAR, Epic
Producer	L.A. Reid & Babyface
Babyface chronology
Lovers (1986) Tender Lover (1989) A Closer Look (1991)

Tender Lover is the second studio album by American R&B singer-songwriter and musician Babyface. It is the follow-up to his debut Lovers (1986). It was his first album with SOLAR (Sound of Los Angeles Records) after the label entered into a distribution deal with Epic Records. Tender Lover is notable for being one of the recordings where the album tracks received more attention than the singles released in the Quiet Storm radio format.

Tender Lover was a critical and commercial success, reaching number fourteen on the US Billboard 200 and opened at number one on the Top R&B Albums chart. Babyface received numerous nominations for Favorite Soul/R&B New Artist at the 17th American Music Awards and three Grammy nominations, the top-ten US singles "Whip Appeal" received a nomination for Best Male R&B Vocal Performance, "It's No Crime" for Best R&B Instrumental Performance and a nomination for Producer of the Year with L.A. Reid.

A couple of songs from this album have been covered by a few artists. Short lived A&M Records group B.B.O.T.I. covered "Where Will You Go" from their first and only album Bad Boyz of the Industry in 1993. Singer Bobby Valentino covered "Soon As I Get Home" on his 2007 second album Special Occasion. "Soon as I Get Home" also appeared in the 2010 film, Our Family Wedding which starred Forest Whitaker and America Ferrera.

Reception

Professional ratings
Review scores
Source	Rating
Allmusic	[1]
Robert Christgau	B[2]
The Rolling Stone Album Guide	[3]

Released midsummer 1989, it contained his debut Top 10 hit, "It's No Crime", which reached #7 on the U.S. Hot 100 and later single "Whip Appeal", which reached #6 in the same chart. To date, Tender Lover is his highest charting R&B album as it topped that chart for eight nonconsecutive weeks; "Tender Lover" and "It's No Crime" were #1 R&B singles from this album.

Track listing

1. "It's No Crime" (Kenneth "Babyface" Edmonds, Antonio "L.A." Reid, Daryl Simmons) – 4:02
2. "Tender Lover" (Edmonds, Reid, Perri "Pebbles" Reid) – 4:19 *
3. "Let's Be Romantic" (Edmonds, Simmons) – 5:01
4. "Can't Stop My Heart" (Edmonds, A. Reid, Simmons) – 4:31
5. "My Kinda Girl" (Edmonds, A. Reid, Simmons) – 4:39
6. "Where Will You Go [Prelude]" (Edmonds) – 0:40
7. "Whip Appeal" (Edmonds, P. Reid) – 5:49
8. "Soon as I Get Home" (Edmonds) – 5:09
9. "Given a Chance" (Edmonds) – 4:21
10. "Sunshine" (Edmonds) – 5:11
11. "Where Will You Go" (Edmonds) – 5:09
12. "Tender Lover [Dub L.A.]" – 5:53 **
13. "My Kinda Girl [12" Version]" – 7:06 ** a.k.a. "My Kinda Girl" [Scratch Mix]
14. "Whip Appeal [12" Version] – 5:31 ** a.k.a. "Whip Appeal" [The Ultimate Whip]

* Perri "Pebbles" Reid is credited as Perri Smith in the original liner notes of Tender Lover.
** bonus tracks on the 2001 reissue of Tender Lover