A Time to Love (album)

A Time to Love
Studio album by Stevie Wonder
Released October 18, 2005 (2005-10-18)
Recorded 2004–2005
Genre Ballad, R&B
Length 77:41
Label Motown
Producer Stevie Wonder
Stevie Wonder chronology
Natural Wonder
(1995)Natural Wonder1995		 A Time to Love
(2005)

A Time to Love is the twenty-third studio album by Stevie Wonder, his first since 1995's Conversation Peace. Originally to have been completed in 2004, it was finally released to stores on October 18, 2005, following an exclusive digital release on Apple's iTunes Music Store on September 27.

The first single, issued in April 2005, was "So What the Fuss", which featured Prince on guitar and En Vogue on backing vocals. Follow-up singles included "Positivity" with his daughter Aisha Morris, "From the Bottom of My Heart" and "Shelter in the Rain".

The song "Shelter in the Rain" was in tribute to his first wife, singer Syreeta Wright, who died of cancer the year before this album was released. Wonder was quoted as saying he would've had Wright singing lead on "Shelter", had she have lived.

Wonder makes a brief reference to singer Minnie Riperton in the song "Positivity".

Reception

Professional ratings
Aggregate scores
SourceRating
Metacritic66/100[1]
Review scores
SourceRating
Allmusic[2]
Blender[3]
Robert ChristgauA−[4]
Entertainment WeeklyC[5]
Los Angeles Times[6]
New York Timesmixed[7]
PopMattersfavorable[8]
Rolling Stone[9]
Slant[10]
StylusB−[11]

His first new studio album in a decade, the album was received with generally positive reviews, despite its having been delayed several times during the year of its release. In 2005, Wonder won the Best Male Pop Vocal Performance in the Grammy Awards for "From the Bottom of My Heart". This was his fourth win in this category. Wonder last won this award twenty-nine years earlier in 1976 for Songs in the Key of Life. His other wins in this category were in 1973 ("You Are the Sunshine of My Life") and 1974 (Fulfillingness First Finale).

Track listing

All tracks written by Stevie Wonder, except where noted.

No.TitleWriter(s)Length
1."If Your Love Cannot Be Moved" (featuring Kim Burrell) 6:11
2."Sweetest Somebody I Know" 4:31
3."Moon Blue"Wonder, Akosua Busia6:44
4."From the Bottom of My Heart" 5:11
5."Please Don't Hurt My Baby" 4:40
6."How Will I Know" (featuring Stevie's daughter Aisha Morris) 3:39
7."My Love Is on Fire" (featuring Hubert Laws on flute) 6:16
8."Passionate Raindrops" 4:50
9."Tell Your Heart I Love You" 4:30
10."True Love" 3:32
11."Shelter in the Rain" (featuring Kirk Franklin) 4:19
12."So What the Fuss" (featuring En Vogue on backing vocals and Prince on guitar) 5:04
13."Can't Imagine Love Without You" 3:45
14."Positivity" (featuring Aisha Morris) 5:07
15."A Time to Love" (featuring India.Arie and Paul McCartney on guitar)Wonder, India Arie Simpson9:17

Charts

Weekly charts

Chart Position
Belgian Albums Chart (Wallonia)[12] 93
Danish Albums Chart [13] 15
Dutch Albums Chart[14] 51
Finnish Albums Chart[15] 27
French SNEP Albums Chart[16] 19
German Media Control Albums Chart[17] 43
Italian Albums Chart[18] 16
Japanese Oricon Albums Chart[19] 12
Norwegian VG-lista Albums Chart[20] 9
Spanish Albums Chart[21] 81
Swedish Albums Chart[22] 9
Swiss Albums Chart[23] 24
UK Albums Chart[24] 24
U.S. Billboard 200 [25] 5

Certifications

Region Certification Certified units/Sales
Japan (RIAJ)[26] Gold 88,000[27]
United Kingdom (BPI)[28] Silver 60,000^
United States (RIAA)[29] Gold 469,000[30]

^shipments figures based on certification alone

References

  1. ↑ "Critic Reviews for A Time to Love". Metacritic. Retrieved February 20, 2013.
  2. ↑ "Allmusic review".
  3. ↑ "Blender review".
  4. ↑ "Robert Christgau review".
  5. ↑ "Entertainment Weekly review". October 24, 2005.
  6. ↑ "Los Angeles Times review".
  7. ↑ Ratliff, Ben (October 17, 2005). "New York Times review". The New York Times.
  8. ↑ "PopMatters review".
  9. ↑ "Rolling Stone review".
  10. ↑ "Slant review". Archived from the original on 2008-05-06.
  11. ↑ "Stylus review". Archived from the original on 2009-05-26.
  12. ↑ "ultratop.be Stevie Wonder – A Time 2 Love" (ASP). Hung Medien (in French). Ultratop. Retrieved 2011-11-07.
  13. ↑ "danishcharts.com Stevie Wonder – A Time 2 Love" (ASP). danishcharts.com. Retrieved 2012-01-11.
  14. ↑ "dutchcharts.nl Stevie Wonder – A Time 2 Love" (ASP). Hung Medien. MegaCharts. Retrieved February 20, 2013.
  15. ↑ "finnishcharts.com Stevie Wonder – A Time 2 Love" (ASP). Hung Medien. Retrieved January 29, 2012.
  16. ↑ "lescharts.com Stevie Wonder – A Time 2 Love" (ASP). Hung Medien (in French). Syndicat National de l'Édition Phonographique. Retrieved 2012-01-25.
  17. ↑ "Album Search: Stevie Wonder – A Time 2 Love" (in German). Media Control. Retrieved February 20, 2013.
  18. ↑ "italiancharts.com Stevie Wonder – A Time 2 Love" (ASP). Hung Medien. Recording Industry Association of New Zealand. Retrieved 2012-01-25.
  19. ↑ "Highest position and charting weeks of A Time to Love by Stevie Wonder (スティービー・ワンダー-リリース-ORICON STYLE-ミュージック)". oricon.co.jp (in Japanese). Oricon Style. Retrieved 2012-01-16.
  20. ↑ "norwegiancharts.com Stevie Wonder – A Time 2 Love" (ASP). Hung Medien. VG-lista. Retrieved February 20, 2013.
  21. ↑ "Stevie Wonder – A Time 2 Love" (ASP). Spanishcharts.com. Retrieved January 29, 2012.
  22. ↑ "swedishcharts.com Stevie Wonder – A Time 2 Love" (ASP) (in Swedish). Retrieved January 29, 2012.
  23. ↑ "Stevie Wonder – A Time 2 Love – hitparade.ch" (ASP). Hung Medien (in German). Swiss Music Charts. Retrieved February 20, 2013.
  24. ↑ "Chart Stats – Stevie Wonder – A Time 2 Love" (PHP). UK Albums Chart. Retrieved February 20, 2013.
  25. ↑ "allmusic ((( A Time to Love > Charts & Awards > Billboard Albums )))". allmusic.com. Retrieved February 20, 2013.
  26. ↑ "Japanese album certifications – スティーヴィー・ワンダー – タイム・トゥ・ラヴ" (in Japanese). Recording Industry Association of Japan. Select 2005年12月 on the drop-down menu
  27. ↑ Oricon Album Chart Book: Complete Edition 1970-2005. Roppongi, Tokyo: Oricon Entertainment. 2006. ISBN 4-87131-077-9.
  28. ↑ "British album certifications – Stevie Wonder – A Time to Love". British Phonographic Industry. Enter A Time to Love in the field Keywords. Select Title in the field Search by. Select album in the field By Format. Select Silver in the field By Award. Click Search
  29. ↑ "American album certifications – Stevie Wonder – A Time to Love". Recording Industry Association of America. Retrieved February 20, 2013. If necessary, click Advanced, then click Format, then select Album, then click SEARCH
  30. ↑ "Wonder Embarking On Rare Tour In Late Summer". billboard. Retrieved January 7, 2013.
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