Rapture (Anita Baker album)

Rapture
Studio album by Anita Baker
Released March 20, 1986
Genre
Length 37:09
Label Elektra
Producer
Anita Baker chronology
The Songstress
(1983)The Songstress1983		 Rapture
(1986)		 Giving You the Best That I Got
(1988)Giving You the Best That I Got1988

Rapture is the second album by the American vocalist Anita Baker. It was released in 1986, and became her breakout album, selling over 8 million copies worldwide (of which 5 million in the US[1]) and earning her two Grammy Awards. The album's first track, "Sweet Love", was a top 10 Billboard hit in addition to winning a Grammy Award. The music video for the track "Same Ole Love" was filmed and recorded at Baker's Keyboard Lounge.[2]

Release and reception

Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[3]
Encyclopedia of Popular Music[4]
MusicHound R&B4.5/5[4]
The Rolling Stone Album Guide[4]
The Village VoiceB–[5]

Rapture was released by Elektra Records in March 1986, peaking at number 11 on the Billboard 200 in the United States and number 13 on the UK Albums Chart.[6] Promoted with two hit singles in "Sweet Love" and "Caught Up in the Rapture",[6] the album received significant airplay on both black radio and Top 40 formats, unlike Baker's 1983 debut The Songstress.[7] By October 1987, Rapture had sold three million copies.[8] It propelled Baker to stardom in soul and pop music during the late 1980s, winning two Grammy Awards and eventually sold over six million copies worldwide.[6]

In a contemporary review for Rolling Stone, Rob Hoerburger regarded Rapture as a relatively "modest" album compared to more histrionic female singers, while praising the symbiotic relationship Baker shared with her band. Occasionally, he believed, the groove-based music lacked variety, and the singer drifted into "some superfluous scatting and pseudo-jazz harmony", but Hoerburger ultimately deemed her "an acquired but enduring taste".[9] At the end of 1986, Rapture was voted the 23rd best album of the year in the Pazz & Jop, an annual poll of American critics, published by The Village Voice.[10] Robert Christgau, the newspaper's lead music critic, was less impressed and viewed the record as merely a soulful, sexier version of soft rock and easy listening: "it's all husky, burnished mood, the fulfillment of the quiet-storm format black radio ... a reification of the human voice as vehicle of an expression purer than expression ever ought to be".[5]

In 1989, Rapture was ranked #36 on Rolling Stone's list of the 100 greatest albums from the 1980s.[11] In retrospect, AllMusic's Alex Henderson said, "Rapture's tremendous success made it clear that there was still a sizeable market for adult-oriented, more traditional R&B singing."[3] According to The Mojo Collection (2007), "when provocative new trends in black music were exploding from the street by the month, Baker kept her head and made a traditional (i.e., with its roots in the '70s) soul record with brooding, slow-burn minor tunes of romantic celebration and earthy longing."[6]

Track listing

  1. "Sweet Love" (Anita Baker, Louis A. Johnson, Gary Bias; Copyright Old Brampton Road Music-Jobete Music) – 4:26
  2. "You Bring Me Joy" (David Lasley; Copyright Almo Music Corp.) – 4:24
  3. "Caught Up in the Rapture" (Garry Glenn, Dianne Quander; Copyright WB Music Corp.-Silver Sun Music-DQ Music) – 5:07
  4. "Been So Long" (Baker; Copyright Baker's Tunes) – 5:07
  5. "Mystery" (Rod Temperton; Copyright RodSongs & Almo Music Corp.) – 4:56
  6. "No One in the World" (Ken Hirsch, Marti Sharron; Copyright ATV Music & Welbeck Music) – 4:10 *
  7. "Same Ole Love (365 Days a Year)" (Marilyn Mcleod, Darryl K. Roberts; Copyright Jobete Music) – 4:05
  8. "Watch Your Step" (Baker; Copyright Baker's Tunes) – 4:54

*Produced by Marti Sharron and Gary Skardina

Personnel

Production

Awards

Grammy Awards

Year Winner Category
1987 Rapture Best Female R&B Vocal Performance
"Sweet Love" Best R&B Song

Singles

Year Single Chart[12][13] Position
1986 "Sweet Love" U.S. Billboard Hot 100 8
U.S. Billboard R&B 2
U.S. Billboard AC 3
UK Singles Chart 13
"Caught Up in the Rapture" U.S. Billboard Hot 100 37
U.S. Billboard R&B 6
U.S. Billboard AC 9
UK Singles Chart 51
"Watch Your Step" U.S. Billboard R&B 23
1987 "Same Ole Love" U.S. Billboard Hot 100 44
U.S. Billboard R&B 8
U.S. Billboard AC 6
UK Singles Chart 100
"No One in the World" U.S. Billboard Hot 100 44
U.S. Billboard R&B 5
U.S. Billboard AC 9

Charts

Certifications

Region Certification Certified units/Sales
Canada (Music Canada)[24] Gold 50,000^
United Kingdom (BPI)[25] Platinum 300,000^
United States (RIAA)[26] 5× Platinum 5,000,000^

^shipments figures based on certification alone

See also

References

  1. ↑ http://www.riaa.com
  2. ↑ "People are talking about ...", Jet (April 6, 1987) p 53
  3. 1 2 Henderson, Alex. Rapture > review at AllMusic. Retrieved 2013-04-11.
  4. 1 2 3 "Rapture". Acclaimed Music. Retrieved March 25, 2017.
  5. 1 2 Christgau, Robert (February 3, 1987). "Consumer Guide". The Village Voice. Retrieved March 25, 2017.
  6. 1 2 3 4 Agarwal, Manish; et al. (2007). The Mojo Collection (4th ed.). Canongate Books. p. 501. ISBN 184767643X.
  7. ↑ Johnson, Connie (December 29, 1986). "Anita Baker Breaks Out Of Pop Pack". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved March 28, 2017.
  8. ↑ Hunt, Dennis (October 30, 1987). "Pop Lp Chart". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved March 28, 2017.
  9. ↑ Hoerburger, Rob (September 11, 1986). "Anita Baker: Rapture : Music Reviews". Rolling Stone. Archived from the original on 2008-05-12. Retrieved 2013-04-11.
  10. ↑ Anon. (March 3, 1987). "The 1986 Pazz & Jop Critics Poll". The Village Voice. Retrieved March 25, 2017.
  11. ↑ "Rapture CD Album". CD Universe. Retrieved March 25, 2017.
  12. ↑ Anita Baker Chart history-R&B.Billboar.com
  13. ↑ Anita Baker Chart history-Adult Contemporary.Billboard.com
  14. ↑ Kent, David (1993). Australian Chart Book 1970–1992. St Ives, NSW: Australian Chart Book. ISBN 0-646-11917-6.
  15. ↑ "Top Albums/CDs - Volume 45, No. 24" (PHP). RPM. 1987-03-14. Retrieved 2014-05-15.
  16. ↑ "charts.org.nz Anita Baker – Rapture" (ASP). Hung Medien. Recording Industry Association of New Zealand. Retrieved 2014-05-15.
  17. ↑ "swedishcharts.com Anita Baker – Rapture" (ASP) (in Swedish). Retrieved 2014-05-15.
  18. ↑ "Anita Baker > Artists > Official Charts". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 2014-05-18.
  19. 1 2 3 "Allmusic: Rapture : Charts & Awards: Billboard Albums". allmusic.com. Retrieved 2014-05-16.
  20. ↑ "Album Search: Anita Baker – Rapture" (in German). Media Control. Retrieved 2014-05-11.
  21. ↑ "Billboard.BIZ  – Year-end Charts – Billboard 200 – 1986". billboard.biz. Retrieved 2012-12-08.
  22. ↑ "Top Pop Albums of 1987". billboard.biz. Retrieved 2012-12-31.
  23. ↑ "Billboard.BIZ: Top Pop Albums of 1988". billboard.biz. Retrieved 2013-01-01.
  24. ↑ "Canadian album certifications – Anita Baker – Rapture". Music Canada.
  25. ↑ "British album certifications – Anita Baker – Rapture". British Phonographic Industry. Enter Rapture in the field Keywords. Select Title in the field Search by. Select album in the field By Format. Select Platinum in the field By Award. Click Search
  26. ↑ "American album certifications – Anita Baker – Rapture". Recording Industry Association of America. If necessary, click Advanced, then click Format, then select Album, then click SEARCH
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