Released July 29, 1987 Length 41:32 Hearsay
(1987) All Mixed Up
(1987) Release date August 1987 | Recorded 1986–1987 Producer Jimmy Jam
Terry Lewis Artist Alexander O'Neal Label Tabu Records | |
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Studio Flyte Time Productions, Inc. Studio A & B, Minneapolis, Minnesota Genres Rhythm and blues, Soul music, Funk Nominations Soul Train Music Award for Best R&B/Soul Album – Male Similar Alexander O'Neal albums, Soul music albums | ||
Alexander o neal what can i say to make you love me
Hearsay is the second solo studio album by the American recording artist Alexander O'Neal. It was originally released in July 1987, on the labels Tabu and Epic as the follow-up to O'Neal's critically and commercially successful 1985 album Alexander O'Neal. Hearsay explores similar genres to those of Alexander O'Neal including pop, R&B, soul, post-disco, funk, and adult contemporary music, while also incorporating a newer genre, new jack swing. The songs were largely recorded between 1986 and 1987 in sessions that took place at Flyte Time Productions, Inc. Studio A & B in Minneapolis, Minnesota, assisted by R&B songwriting and record production team Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis. It features contributions from guest musicians, including Cherrelle, David Eiland, and Lisa Keith, and is generally regarded as the culmination of the smoother, more adult-oriented sound of O'Neal's early work.
Contents
- Alexander o neal what can i say to make you love me
- Composition
- Critical reception
- Retrospective reviews
- In popular culture
- Track listing
- Personnel
- Peak positions
- Songs
- References
On release, the album was received favourably by the majority of music critics. O'Neal's most commercially successful solo album, it went on to peak at #29 on the Billboard 200 and reached #2 on Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums. The album launched seven charting singles in the UK. "Fake" peaked at #33 on the UK Singles Chart; "Criticize" peaked at #4; "Never Knew Love Like This" at #26; "The Lovers" at #28; "(What Can I Say) To Make You Love Me" at #27; "Sunshine" at #72. Several remixes of the album's songs also charted: "Fake '88", #16; "Hearsay '89", #56. Two of the tracks, "Fake" and "Criticize", were also popular anthems in UK dance clubs. The album was certified gold by the RIAA on October 20, 1987. In the UK, it sold more than 700,000 copies and was certified 3× Platinum by the BPI.
The album was re-released on 6 May 2013 on Tabu's new Re-born imprint featuring rare bonus content. The reissue is a 2-CD set with the original album digitally remastered from the original 1/2" mix tapes; the bonus content consists of associated 7", and 12" mixes.
Composition
Hearsay has the overtones of a concept album, being loosely set around the attendees of a house party being hosted by O'Neal. Over the course of the album, the themes that are played out include O'Neal's advances towards a particular woman in the room ("What Can I Say To Make You Love Me"), as well as his observations on other attendees of the party - for instance a courting couple ("The Lovers"), a spiteful gossip-monger ("Hearsay"), a loudmouth - implied to be a groupie ("Fake"), and a nagging ex-lover ("Criticize"), unrequited admiration ("Crying Overtime"), and culminating in the finale ("When the Party's Over"), where O'Neal finally persuades the woman to stay after the party is over. Interspersed between the tracks are "interludes" consisting of general background noise and conversation between the partygoers which sets up the theme of the next song.
Critical reception
Hearsay was well received by most critics, and was hailed as a major breakthrough for O'Neal, while receiving critical recognition. In his consumer guide for The Village Voice, Robert Christgau gave the album a B+ and commented that "Jam & Lewis are letting their love man play the nasty guy--"Fake" and "Criticize" take the offensive after "Hearsay" puts it sweetly." and also commented that "unlike Jam & Lewis's nasty girl, O'Neal has the vocal muscle (and biceps) to back his nasty up."
Retrospective reviews
Today, the album is still viewed in a positive light by critics some three decades later. Ron Wynn of AllMusic gave the album four and a half out of five stars and wrote that "Jam and Lewis linked the material with "party" dialogue and patter, providing their finest and tightest production for any O'Neal record." adding that "the beats were catchy, the songs hook-laden, and O'Neal's voice alternately explosive, sensitive and bemused." And Daryl Easlea of BBC iPlayer gave a positive review writing that it was "Dismissed by the cognoscenti but adored by the masses." noting that "Hearsay is very much of its time, but that doesn't mean it has dated. It sounds as fresh now as it did then. Had it been 20 years earlier, Alexander O'Neal would have been compared to Otis Redding."
In popular culture
In 2008, "Criticize" appeared on Grand Theft Auto IV's fictional Soul/R&B radio station The Vibe 98.8.
Track listing
All tracks written by James Harris and Terry Lewis, except where noted.
Personnel
Credits are adapted from the album's liner notes.
Peak positions
Songs
Intro0:35
(What Can I Say) To Make You Love Me4:25
Hearsay4:01