The Meaning of Love (album)

Reception and legacy

Lynsey Hanley in The Telegraph wrote: "This whole record smacks of boil-in-the-bag songwriting and lazy, hasty production tarted up with cheesy strings." She stated that McManus's singing "lack[s] any discernible 'wow' factor" and is on par with "a karaoke regular or, at best, a provincial cabaret turn." Guardian journalist Caroline Sullivan also saw McManus's vocals as lacking the "wow" factor, which, she said, "could have enlivened some of these sub-Celine Dion torchers". An entertainment.ie critic said that McManus, whose vocal performances "never rise far above the level of a very average club singer", made fellow reality television music competition winners Will Young and Alex Parks "look like worldbeaters by comparison".

Fiona Shepherd in The Scotsman delivered a track-by-track assessment of the record in which she criticised the quality of the material and described McManus as "another chicken-in-a-basket diva" with an "unremarkable" voice. Shepherd expressed a particular loathing for the cover version of Nina Simone's "Feelin' Good", which according to her, had "the guts ripped out of it". The track was derided by multiple reviewers; Herald journalist Beth Pearson pointed to this cover as evidence that McManus "just can't sing soulfully", which, combined with the album's "tinny production and synths imported direct from the 1980s", made for a "thoroughly boring, unambitious debut".

Some reviewers, while unfavourable, were more receptive to McManus's vocals. Sharon Mawer in AllMusic saw the bulk of the material as "very bland, tuneless, and unmemorable", but commended McManus's "undoubted talent". She did, however, argue that McManus gained publicity more for "her outsized weight" than her singing. Daily Mirror critic Gavin Martin stressed that she "can actually sing", but observed "some of the most horrifying material ever", with songwriting that is "drowned in cliche, seemingly knocked off with barely a thought". BBC News writer Tom Bishop was impressed by McManus's "soulful" singing on Pop Idol, but felt her vocals sound "muffled and restrained by pedestrian production" on this "dull" album. A Daily Mail reviewer saw McManus as a "talented cabaret singer rather than one with real potential", and said her "ultra-safe" debut record had been "rushed out in haste".

Deviating from critical consensus, BBC Music journalist Ruth Mitchell wrote that the album is "packed full of dreamy songs", and "surprisingly sounds like a very competent and unhurried effort indeed."

The Meaning of Love won "Worst British Album" at the 2005 Naomi Awards. In a 2007 online poll, it was voted the seventh-worst album ever made by a Scottish artist.

Chart performance

The Meaning of Love debuted at #3 on the UK Albums Chart on the 22 February 2004. It fell to #14 in its second week and lasted a further three weeks in the UK Top 40. The record made number one on the Scottish Albums Chart and number 64 on the Irish Albums Chart. It went on to receive a Gold certification from the British Phonographic Industry for sales of over 200,000 in the UK.