Never Say Never (Brandy album)

Background

After a lengthy musical break, which saw Norwood establishing a flourishing acting career with her sitcom Moesha. She eventually entered to the recording studios on October 1997, to begin working on her second studio album. Barely satisfied with the material that was presented to her. However, the recording of the album was postponed several times as Norwood felt that many songs wouldn't express what she wanted to tell at this point of her career. "Many of the songs I heard were not 'me'," the singer stated during a promotional interview with Jet in 1999, "And If I can't feel it, then I won't sing it. I'm not the little girl I was when I made my first record. My voice is a strong instrument now; my vocals come from both my heart and my diaphragm. My heart because I matured in the four years since the last album; I'm more emotionally there." One song written for Norwood was "Candy", but she didn't like the song, because "it was feeling that she was too old for that." Two years later, the song was given to a fellow pop star Mandy Moore, that has made her internationally a successful artist.

The song was originally written as "I'll be forever yours Love always, Brandy", but when it was given to Moore, it was changed to "I'll be forever yours Love always, Mandy". In 1997, Norwood requested Missy Elliott as one of the producers for her album. While Atlantic Records refused the approach to have Norwood work with Missy Elliott, Timbaland and their team on the album, the label consulted David Foster and then-newcomer Rodney "Darkchild" Jerkins to contribute to the project, the latter of who went on to craft the majority of the album and would evolve as the its executive producer. Norwood credited the chemistry with both producers with her musical growth: "They brought out the best in me, the vocals I didn't know I had," she said.

Contents

The album's opening track "Angel in Disguise" is a Rodney Jerkins-produced mid-tempo track that features backing vocals by fellow R&B single Joe. Set as the album's lead single, "The Boy Is Mine" was originally intended to be a solo song for Brandy, but due to Monica's success by that time it was conceived as a duet.

"Learn the Hard Way" is the album's fourth track. It is the third song on the album, and shares similarities with the song "Never Say Never". The Guy Roche-produced "Almost Doesn't Count" is the fifth track. Brandy performed the song in the 1999 film Double Platinum, starring Diana Ross and herself. The international single "Top of the World" is the album's sixth track. It is a collaboration with Mase and the song talks about Brandy as a popstar just trying to be her and not feeling like being in her own world. In the music video, directed by Paul Hunter, Brandy was featured incurring various supernatural phenomena. She spontaneously floated in the air, flipping and somersaulting above random objects; telephone poles and vehicles, as people stopped to stare. These strange phenomena also included balancing herself vertically and horizontally alongside skyscrapers and buildings. The Darkchild-produced "U Don't Know Me (Like U Used To)", which is the album's seventh and final single, is noted for its remix version with Shaunta and Da Brat. The remix was released as the lead single to the same-named EP. "Never Say Never", also produced by Rodney Jerkins, is the eighth song of the album. "Never Say Never" was released as a Germany single in 2000. "Truthfully", a ballad about a broken relationship, was penned by former Boyz II Men member, singer-songwriter Marc Nelson. Recorded in a single take, it took Nelson five different sessions to get Norwood in the recording studio as she felt initially nervous about working with him. Main production on the song was helmed by Harvey Mason, Jr. who received his first major placement as a producer on "Truthfully". Mason was consulted by Jerkins after he had shopped around several tracks for record executives.

The number-one-hit "Have You Ever?" was the tenth track. Brandy states that it was the first time she had been in the studio with a producer like David Foster. Her voice wasn't as developed as it is now and the song required what producers call ‘money notes' – the kind that get you a No. 1 on the charts. She says she was really nervous but it all worked just fine.", "Put That on Everything" a mid-tempo ballad is the albums eleventh track and was written by Brandy Norwood, L. Daniels, Fred Jenkins III, Rodney Jerkins and Joana Tejeda and is produced by Rodney Jerkins. The album's twelfth song is actually a phone conversation in the car between Brandy, Rodney and Fred Jerkins. "Happy", an R&B up-tempo-song, that was featured in the motion picture Double Platinum and received positive critics from The Rolling Stone magazine, was the album's thirteenth song. It also served as the theme song of the 2002 reality TV show Brandy: Special Delivery, which was aired on MTV. "One Voice", the fourteenth track, is the official UNICEF theme song in its 50th anniversary year. Entertainment Weekly describes her voice in the song as soft and smoky and as a gospel-fired ballad that find her effortlessly raising the roof. "Tomorrow", another ballad is the fifteenth track and is with almost 6 minutes the albums longest song. The final song is the Bryan Adams cover "(Everything I Do) I Do It for You". Although lacking video or promotion the song received a top thirty entry on New Zealand singles chart.

Critical reception

Never Say Never received mostly positive reviews from music critics. Stephen Thomas Erlewine from Allmusic gave the album four out of five stars and noted it a "better, more adventurous record than her debut," adding: "Brandy wisely decides to find a middle ground between Mariah Carey and Mary J. Blige — it's adult contemporary with a slight streetwise edge. [Her] delivery has improved and her subdued vocals can make mediocre material sound convincing. Still, what makes Never Say Never a winning record is the quality songs and production." Daryl Easlea from BBC Music felt that the collection of smooth, mid-paced jams provided a snapshot of commercial R&B from the era. He described Never Say Never "as the epitome of a mixed bag. However, given that a lot of R&B in the late 90s sounds like an ornate musical box revolving, the album is an intelligent brew that deviates sufficiently from that template and plays to Brandy and executive producer Rodney Jerkins's considerable strengths." The Spokesman-Review critic Richard Harrington was positive with the album, writing: "Brandy is co-writer on six of the album's 14 songs and no matter their achievement lyrically, she finds herself grown-up and confident, without taking any false steps."

Rolling Stone magazine was generally positive with the album, giving it three stars out of five stars rating, and wrote: "Brandy exudes more pizazz than the Hanson brothers combined and bursts with enough naive charm to make Jewel look like a jaded sailor. Her second album bubbles with that same effervescence [...]." J. D. Considine, reviewer for Entertainment Weekly, felt that Norwood's voice was lacking passion on the album. Although he indicated that it was "hard to argue with Brandy's deference to the rhythm, especially when she rides one of producer Rodney Jerkins itchily propulsive tracks," he also noted that it was flattening "its emotional range, until the romantic bliss of "Happy," the dogged determination of "Never Say Never," and the conflicted affection of "Angel in Disguise" all end up sounding pretty much the same." He gave the album a B rating. Angela Lewis, writer for The Independent was disappointed with the album, saying: "This is pop R&B without the soul, and could see Brandy without a future in the adult big league. She lacks real command of tracks like "Have You Ever?", showing she's better at playing by the rules than anything else." In his Consumer Guide, Robert Christgau gave the album a two-star honorable mention and picked out its three songs ("The Boy Is Mine", "U Don't Know Me" and "Almost Doesn't Count") while describing Brandy as "America's sweetheart, and why not?"

Commercial performance

Never Say Never debuted at number three on the Billboard 200, the official albums chart in the United States, on June 16, 1998. Selling approximately 160,000 units in its first week of release, it opened to Norwood's biggest week sales yet and, as of 2016, still retains the largest first-week seller within her discography. The following week, the album managed to climb up to its peak position on the chart, reaching number two, even though its sales had dipped slightly to 152,000 copies. The album sold 2.9 million copies in the US in by the end of the year. Never Say Never is the best-selling R&B album in the United States of 1998.In the end, Never Say Never spent a total of 72 weeks on the Billboard 200 — 28 of which were in the top 20 — and as of 2012 has sold more than 4.6 million copies in the United States according Nielsen Soundscan. The album also sold an additional 665,000 copies through BMG Music Club, bringing total sales of over 5.2 million copies in the United States. It was eventually certified quintuple platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) for more than 5 million shipped units,

Never Say Never debuted at number 21 on the UK Albums Chart on June 14. In its tenth week, the album climbed to a new peak of number 19. It was certified platinum by the British Phonographic Industry (BPI, denoting shipments of 300,000 copies. On the international front, Never Say Never received the following certifications: quadruple-platinum certification in Canada; double-platinum in Japan; platinum in Australia, New Zealand, and South Africa; and gold in Ireland, Germany, France, Denmark, Netherlands, the Philippines, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Macau, Singapore and Malaysia. To date, the album remains Norwood's biggest-selling effort with worldwide sales in excess of 16 million copies.

Accolades and impact

Never Say Never was nominated for four Grammy Awards at the 1999 ceremony including Best R&B Album and Record of the Year, Best R&B Song, and Best R&B Performance By a Duo or Group with Vocals for "The Boy Is Mine", winning the latter one. At the 2000 ceremony, it received another Grammy nomination for Best Female R&B Vocal Performance for "Almost Doesn't Count". At the 1998 MTV Video Music Awards, the album was nominated for Video of the Year and Best R&B Video for "The Boy Is Mine". The following year, "Have You Ever?" earned a Best R&B Video nomination at the 1999 ceremony. "The Boy Is Mine" won in the categories for Dance Maxi Sales Single of the Year, Hot 100 Sales Single of Year, and R&B Sales Single of the Year at the 1998 Billboard Music Awards. Never Say Never was nominated for Best Female R&B/Soul Album at the 1999 Soul Train Music Awards, while "The Boy Is Mine" while earned a nod in the Best R&B/Soul Single, Group, Band or Duo category. Internationally, it received a nomination in the Best-selling Album by an International Newcomer category at the 1999 Echo Awards in Germany.

In Britney Spears' very first interview in 1998, she referred to Brandy and her album Never Say Never, as one of her influences. Producer of Christina Aguilera's debut album revealed that the album also inspired Aguilera during her recording sessions for Christina Aguilera.

Singles

"The Boy Is Mine", a duet with singer Monica, was the first song to be lifted from Never Say Never in May 1998. Released to generally positive reviews from contemporary music critics, it became the first number-one pop record for both artists, both stateside and internationally. In the United States, "The Boy Is Mine" became the best-selling song of the year, spending 13 weeks on top of the US Billboard Hot 100 during the summer of 1998. It was certified double platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) and ranked eighth on Billboard's decade-end chart. Internationally, the single also achieved a strong charting, peaking at number-one in Canada, the Netherlands and New Zealand, while reaching the top five on most of the other charts on which it appeared. "Top of the World" featuring rapper Mase served as the album's second single. The uptempo song was less successful around the world, but reached number two on the UK Singles Chart. It was certified silver by the British Phonographic Industry (BPI) on October 23, 1998.

"Have You Ever?" was released as the album's third single throughout fall 1998. It became the second song from Never Say Never to reach the top position on both the Billboard Hot 100 and the New Zealand Singles Chart, while reaching the top twenty in most English-speaking countries. The ballad garnered a generally mixed reception from critics and was ranked 14th on Billboard's 1999 year-end chart. Midtempo track "Angel in Disguise" featuring prominent backing vocals by singer Joe, was released as a radio single on January 21, 1999 in the United States only. It reached the top twenty on the Billboard's Hot R&B Singles & Tracks chart based on airplay alone. "Almost Doesn't Count" was released in the second quarter of 1999, serving as the album's fifth single. The ballad reached the top 20 on the majority of all charts it appeared on was promoted by a performance in the 1999 film Double Platinum, starring Diana Ross and Brandy herself.

"U Don't Know Me (Like U Used To)" was selected the album's sixth single and marked the final single to be released from Never Say Never in North America. A minor commercial success, the uptempo track reached number 79 on the Billboard Hot 100 and the top thirty on the Hot R&B Singles & Tracks chart. In support of the single, a remix version of the track featuring female rappers Shaunta and Da Brat was released, accompanied by a remix EP entitled U Don't Know Me... Like U Used to – The Remix EP. In German-speaking Europe, "U Don't Know Me" appeared as a b-side on the single "Never Say Never". It failed to chart however. In Oceania, the Bryan Adams cover "(Everything I Do) I Do It for You" was released as the album's sixth single instead. It reached number 28 on the New Zealand Singles Chart.

Track listing

Credits adapted from the liner notes of Never Say Never.

^{^[A]} denotes additional producer

Personnel

Credits are taken from the album's liner notes.

Managerial

Musicians and vocalists

Technical and production

Certifications