Groove Theory (album)
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Groove Theory is the self-titled debut studio album from American R&B group Groove Theory, released October 24, 1995 on Epic Records.
The album peaked at number sixty-nine on the Billboard 200 chart. By October 1996, it was certified gold in sales by the RIAA, after sales exceeding 500,000 copies in the United States.
Background
"Well, I mean, inspiration was being young and green and having years and years of songs written before then, and never being in the studio before. It's a live combination of inexperience, excitement, innocence, and a lot to say, you know being years and years of writing stuff, and watching things, and I grew up at the time that the Native Tongues was really popular, that really influenced me. I think I grew up in the hey day of hip hop, the best hip hop, the late 80's, early 90's, so I had a lot of stuff to inspire musically that was going on. And it was inspirational for me as a songwriter to be able to have all my own material that I was writing, as opposed to being in a group where some things are written for you." [1]
— Amel Larrieux, 2009 interview with Nu-Soul Magazine
Release and reception
| Review scores | |
|---|---|
| Source | Rating |
| Allmusic |   [2] |
Stanton Swihart of Allmusic considered the effort "an exquisite, even innovative album. Not only did it (in retrospect) help to herald the progressive neo-soul movement, but its melding of decidedly hip-hop production techniques... with the emotional impulses and themes of soul was still a novel approach to making R&B at the time."[2]
The album was certified gold by October 1996.[3]
Track listing
All music by B. Wilson, A. Larrieux, and D. Brown except where noted.
| No. | Title | Music | Length |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | "10 Minute High" | B. Wilson, A. Larrieux, K. Deane | 4:06 |
| 2. | "Time Flies" | B. Wilson, A. Larrieux, L. Larrieux, I. Lee | 4:15 |
| 3. | "Ride" | B. Wilson, A. Larrieux, D. Brown, S. Jasper, I. Lee | 5:08 |
| 4. | "Come Home" | 4:40 | |
| 5. | "Baby Luv" | 4:48 | |
| 6. | "Tell Me" | 3:56 | |
| 7. | "Hey U" | 6:34 | |
| 8. | "Hello It's Me" | T. Rundgren | 5:03 |
| 9. | "Good 2 Me" | B. Wilson, A. Larrieux, D. Brown, L. Larrieux | 4:12 |
| 10. | "Angel" | 3:56 | |
| 11. | "Keep Tryin' " | B. Wilson, A. Larrieux, L. Larrieux | 4:20 |
| 12. | "You're Not the 1" | 4:25 | |
| 13. | "Didja Know" | B. Wilson, A. Larrieux, L. Larrieux | 3:55 |
| 14. | "Boy At the Window" | 5:13 |
Chart history
Album
| Chart (1995)[4] | Peak position |
|---|---|
| U.S. Billboard 200 | 69 |
| U.S. R&B Albums | 14 |
Singles
| Year | Single | Peak chart positions[5] | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| U.S. Billboard Hot 100 | U.S. Hot Dance Music/Maxi-Singles Sales | U.S. Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Singles & Tracks | U.S. Rhythmic Top 40 | U.S. Top 40 Mainstream | |||
| 1995 | "Tell Me" | 5 | 2 | 3 | 2 | 21 | |
| 1996 | "Keep Tryin'" | 64 | 36 | 24 | 29 | — | |
| "Baby Luv" | 65 | 18 | 23 | 14 | — | ||
"—" denotes releases that did not chart.
Personnel
Information taken from Allmusic.[6]
- a&r – Paris Davis
- art direction – Carol Chen
- bass – Darryl Brown, Eric "Ibo" Butler, Kirk Lyons
- design – Sean Evans
- drums – Ralph Rolle
- engineering – Eric "Ibo" Butler, Russell Elevado, Troy Hightower, Joe Hornof
- executive production – Jimmy Henchman, Amel Larrieux
- guitar – Darryl Brown, Mike "Dino" Campbell
- keyboard arrangements – Bryce Wilson
- keyboards – Darryl Brown, Kevin Deane, Gary Montoute, Bryce Wilson
- mastering – Chris Gehringer
- mixing – Ron Banks, Russell Elevado, Dave Kennedy, Angela Piva
- percussion – Jeff Haynes
- production – Lamont Boles, Amel Larrieux, Bryce Wilson
- production coordination – Donald Wood, Kim Lumpkin
- programming – Isiah Lee
- saxophone – Mike Phillips
- stylist – Jamie Kimmelman
- vocal arrangement – Amel Larrieux, Laru Larrieux, Trey Lorenz
- vocals – Amel Larrieux, Laru Larrieux
- vocals (background) – Sean Jasper, Jean, Amel Larrieux, Laru Larrieux, Trey Lorenz, Troy Montgomery
Notes
- ^ "Nu-Soul Magazine – Amel Larrieux Interview (2009)". Nu-Soul Magazine. 2009-04-21. Retrieved 2009-04-22.
{{cite web}}:|first=missing|last=(help); Italic or bold markup not allowed in:|publisher=(help) - ^ a b "allmusic ((( Groove Theory > Review )))". Allmusic. Retrieved 2010-05-17.
{{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in:|publisher=(help) - ^ "RIAA - Gold & Platinum - May 19, 2010 : Search Results - Groove Theory". RIAA. Retrieved 2010-05-19.
{{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in:|publisher=(help) - ^ "allmusic ((( Groove Theory > Charts & Awards > Billboard Albums )))". Allmusic. Retrieved 2010-05-17.
{{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in:|publisher=(help) - ^ "allmusic ((( Groove Theory > Charts & Awards > Billboard Singles )))". Allmusic. Retrieved 2010-05-17.
{{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in:|publisher=(help) - ^ "allmusic ((( Groove Theory > Credits )))". Allmusic. Retrieved 2010-05-18.
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