In Love & War is the fourth studio album by American singer Amerie, released November 3, 2009, on Def Jam Recordings. Recording sessions for the album took place between 2008 and 2009 at Record Plant Studios in Hollywood, California and at other recording studios in Miami, Florida and Atlanta, Georgia. The album serves as Amerie's first release after leaving Columbia Records and forming her own label, Feenix Rising, which released the album under exclusive license and distribution through the Island Def Jam Music Group.
The album debuted at number forty-six on the US Billboard 200 chart, selling 12,500 copies in its first week. Upon its release, In Love & War received generally positive reviews from most music critics.
Background In January 2008, Entertainment Weekly reported that Amerie had left her record label, Columbia Records, and in April 2008, Amerie's name was removed from the label's roster. Recording sessions for the album took place during 2008 to 2009 at Record Plant Studios in Hollywood, California, and at other recording studios in Miami, Florida and Atlanta, Georgia.Amerie, The Green Magazine , September 5, 2009 On her official Twitter account, Amerie revealed that she had been secretly recording new music in Atlanta, Georgia, and that a late summer July/August release date was in the works, with a possible first single in late May or early June.
In multiple interviews, Amerie confirmed that Rich Harrison, who had produced her previous work, would not be contributing to the album. At the end of April, Amerie revealed on Twitter that the album's title to be changed from Breakups to Makeups to In Love & War. She also announced that the album's first single is "Why R U", which she cited with "Higher" as one of two of her favorite tracks from the album.
Music Amerie has described the album's sound as "a fusion of hip hop, soul and old school rock". She spoke about the concept of In Love & War in an interview with The Green Magazine, stating:
The album features collaborations with rapper Fabolous and singer Trey Songz. The latter has a guest appearance on "Pretty Brown", which samples R&B group Mint Condition's "Breakin' My Heart (Pretty Brown Eyes)" (1991). The song was produced by Australian hip hop producer M-Phazes.
Title and artwork The album was originally titled Breakups to Makeups. However, in April 2009, Amerie announced that the album's title would be In Love & War via her official Twitter account. The full-length album artwork was illustrated by David Bray and photographed by Tim Bret-Day. Album sampler EP's artwork is different from the album's. The sampler was titled Prelude to In Love & War and was released in September 2009.
Release and promotion After several delays of the album's release date in August and September, it was announced on August 13, 2009, that the album would be released November 3, 2009. Amerie had stated via her Twitter account that she was satisfied with the release date and that it has a special meaning to her. On September 27, 2009, Amerie premiered the album cover on her official Twitter page. In Love & War was released on November 3, 2009, in the United States under exclusive license by Amerie's own imprint label, Feenix Rising, which distributed it through the Island Def Jam Music Group.
Three singles were released in promotion of the album, including "Why R U" on June 15, 2009, "Heard 'Em All" on September 15, 2009, and "Pretty Brown" on October 20, 2009. Def Jam released a six-track album sampler containing snippets of "Higher", "Tell Me You Love Me", "Pretty Brown", and "Red Eye", as well full versions of "Heard 'Em All" and "Why R U", which had been remastered. Amerie performed "Heard 'em All" and "Higher" in November 2009 on Jimmy Kimmel Live!. A music video for "More Than Love" featuring Fabolous, directed by Taj was released in January 2010.
A remix version of "Heard 'em All" was released for the Asian edition of In Love & War where she collaborated with Korean girl group 4minute and rapper Junhyung of Korean boy band BEAST.
Commercial performance In the United States, In Love & War debuted at number forty-six on the U.S. Billboard 200 and at number three on the Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums chart. By November 9, 2009, it had sold 12,421 copies in the United States,Previous Album Sales Chart: 11/09/2009 . HITS Daily Double. Retrieved on November 27, 2009. resulting in sales of 12,500 in its first week.Columnist. US Charts Review . Trace TV. Retrieved on November 27, 2009. The album also charted in the United Kingdom on the UK R&B Albums at number twenty-nine on November 15, 2009.UK Top 40 RnB Albums: 15 November 2009. BBC Radio 1. Retrieved on November 27, 2009. Non-archived. BBC In 2010, it peaked at number eighteen on the South Korean Gaon Albums Chart.
Critical reception
Upon its release, the album received generally positive reviews from most music critics. At Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating out of hundred to reviews from mainstream critics, the album received an average score of seventy-eight, based on eight reviews, which indicates "generally favorable reviews".In Love & War (2009): Reviews . Metacritic. Retrieved on November 5, 2009. About.com's Mark Edward Nero gave it 3½ out of five stars and called it "a hip, energetic album that properly showcases her singing talent".Nero, Mark Edward. Review: In Love & War . About.com. Retrieved on November 6, 2009. Alex Denney of Yahoo! Music gave In Love & War a rating of eight out of ten and lauded Amerie for her "old-skool virtues" and sound, while calling the album "an exemplary exercise in R&B songwriting and performance, brim-full of verve, spark and vigour".Denney, Alex. Review: In Love & War . Yahoo! Music. Retrieved on November 17, 2009. Hot Press writer Patrick Freyne gave the album a rating of three and a half out of five, writing "Amerie’s got the standard range and power of the production line diva but there’s also an appealingly raw, in need-of-some-Calpol-edge to her voice which gives everything that little bit more power". The Irish Times gave it three out of four stars, writing that Amerie "approaches In Love & War with much gusto".Carroll, Jim. Review: In Love & War. The Irish Times. Retrieved on November 27, 2009.
In contrast, Steve Jones of USA Today gave the album 2½ out of four stars and expressed a mixed response towards its ballads, stating "The sassy funk numbers serve her best, while the mushy stuff only slows her down".Jones, Steve. Review: In Love & War. USA Today. Retrieved on June 17, 2010. Despite writing favorably of its uptempo tracks, Rolling Stones Christian Hoard gave the album three out of five stars and perceived its slower material as a weakness. Boston Herald writer Lauren Carter gave In Love & War a B− rating and commended its "ambient, hip-hop-infused R&B" tracks, but wrote that "monotonous lyrics about rocky or recently ended relationships dominate the album".Carter, Lauren. Review: In Love & War . Boston Herald. Retrieved on November 6, 2009. However, AllMusic's Andy Kellman gave the album four out of five stars and wrote favorably of its ballads, calling them "as well constructed as anything earlier in the set". In his consumer guide for MSN Music, critic Robert Christgau gave it a rating of honorable mention (),Christgau, Robert. "". MSN Music: January 2010. indicating "an enjoyable effort consumers attuned to its overriding aesthetic or individual vision may well treasure".Christgau, Robert. CG Keys to Icons. Robert Christgau. Retrieved on December 29, 2009.
Track listing
Sample credits "Why R U" contains a sample of "Ego Trippin'" by Ultramagnetic MCs. "More Than Love" contains a sample of "Summer Madness (Live)" by Kool & the Gang. "Pretty Brown" contains a sample of "Breakin' My Heart (Pretty Brown Eyes)" by Mint Condition.
Personnel Credits for In Love & War adapted from liner notes.
Musicians Amerie – Lead vocals, producer, co-writer Trey Songz – featuring artist, co-writer Fabolous – featuring artist, co-writer Lil Wayne – featuring artist, co-writer Francesco Romano – guitar David Siegel – keyboards Sean Windsor – guitar Larry Sommerville – keyboards She McElroy- background vocals, co-writer
Production
Karma – producer Eric Hudson – producer L.A. Reid – executive producer Teddy Riley – producer, engineer J. Peter Robinson – art direction Delroy Pearson – producer Deborah Mannis-Gardner – sample clearance Vernon Mungo – engineer James M. Wisner – engineer Warryn Campbell – producer Chris Atlas – marketing Walter "Mucho" Scott – producer Cornell Brown – engineer Mike Houge – engineer Bryan-Michael Cox – producer Jim Jonsin – producer Bruce Buechner – engineer
Amy Neiman – photo coordination Lenny "Linen" Nicholson – producer, executive producer, management Sam Thomas – engineer Tim Bret Day – art direction Herb Power Jr. – mastering Sean Garrett – producer Victor Abijaudi – engineer Rico Love – producer Miles Walker – engineer Mark "Exit" Goodchild – engineer Jordan "DJ Swivel" Young – engineer Jonas Jeberg – producer Graham Marsh – engineer David Bray – art direction, illustrations Daniel "2Dark" Richards – instrumentation Lee Stuart – art direction
Charts + Chart performance for In Love & War Chart (2009–2010) Peakposition Japanese Albums (Oricon)89 South Korean Albums (Gaon)4 South Korean International Albums (Gaon)1US Billboard 200 (Billboard)46US Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums (Billboard)3
Release history + List of release dates, showing region, edition, record label(s), format(s), catalog number and reference(s). Region Date Edition Label(s) Format(s) Catalog Various September 16, 2009 Album sampler Def Jam CD REV1 10021 United States November 3, 2009 Standard B001322502 Germany November 6, 2009 Universal Music 06025271133645 United Kingdom November 9, 2009 HMV UK release date September 3, 2009 Canada November 10, 2009Universal Music B002DSM8TS Japan November 11, 2009 UICD 6166 In Love & War (CD) – Amerie. Retrieved November 7, 2009. Poland November 12, 2009 06025271133645 Hong Kong November 20, 2009 AMERIE – IN LOVE & WAR . Retrieved November 7, 2009.
References
External links Album sampler at Island Def Jam Music Group Amerie’s ‘In Love & War’ Sets Benchmark For Rihanna’s ‘Rated R’ at BlackBook Magazine