Brave (Jennifer Lopez album)

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Brave
Studio album by
Jennifer Lopez
ReleasedOctober 4, 2007 (2007-10-04)
Recorded2006–2007
Genre
Length47:53
LabelEpic
Producer
Jennifer Lopez chronology
Como Ama una Mujer
(2007) 		Brave
(2007) 		Love?
(2011)
Singles from Brave
  1. "Do It Well"
    Released: August 21, 2007
  2. "Hold It Don't Drop It"
    Released: October 26, 2007

Brave is the sixth

Bloodshy, Lynn & Wade LLP, The Clutch and others, while also working with long-time collaborator Cory Rooney
throughout the album.

The album received a mixed reception from critics, with some complimenting its production, calling the album one of her strongest albums to date, while many called it a formulaic and bland album. The album underperformed commercially, becoming her first album to miss the top ten on the Billboard 200 chart, while also missing the top twenty in the UK, Australia, and other markets. It has sold only 650,000 copies worldwide.

The album spawned two worldwide singles: "

co-headlining tour with Marc Anthony
.

Background and development

After releasing her fourth studio album,

Get Right" and became a moderate success on the charts,[1] Jennifer Lopez announced in 2006 that she was going to record her first Spanish album. According to the album's producer Estéfano, the album "will prove critics wrong" from its "big songs that require a voice".[1] Como Ama una Mujer was released in March 2007, opening to a mixed reception,[2] but with moderately high sales and a hit single, "Qué Hiciste".[3][4]

In a MTV News interview while on the music video set for "Me Haces Falta", the album's second single, Lopez announced she was working on the follow-up to "Como Ama una Mujer" and her first English-language album since Rebirth. According to Jayson Rodriguez of MTV News, the album would see Lopez returning into the pop, R&B, and hip hop world.[5] Lopez stated, "My Spanish album was kind of an opportunity to get away from what I do on my English [albums], to kind of express a different side of myself. This [next] album is more of what people and my fans are used to — you know, just kind of a dance, funk, R&B, hip-hop, all that stuff, all mixed up together to make some great pop music. Basically it's just danceable music," she said.[5]

Production and music

While on early stages, it was announced that Lopez was working once again with music producer

Bloodshy as further collaborators.[7] She described Brave as "a little Jamiroquai, a little Sade. It's real feel-good music and not what everyone's expecting."[6]

Brave is a

Britney before she went off the reservation. I thought, `I know I can write just as well as (their songwriters).' She heard it, flipped out, and it became the first single."[18]

"Gotta Be There" samples the intro of Michael Jackson's 1971 Motown hit "I Wanna Be Where You Are"[14] and references hip-hop dancefloor burner "Puerto Rico",[15] while "Never Gonna Give Up" begins with almost two minutes of her voice weaving in and out of a string orchestra,[19] with lyrics discussing about finding closure after a difficult breakup, which was alleged to be about her ex-fiancée Ben Affleck, especially the lyrics, "Forgiving him was the first thing I had to do in order to move on/Forgetting him was not as easy to do."[20] The rock-etched "Mile in These Shoes" features spare verses, which seem to emerge from a "dank, empty warehouse", according to Slant Magazine's Eric Henderson, before the chorus opens up with a hip-hop/rock barrage of drums.[16] Lyrically, the song thrusts a middle finger at the haters,[9] with J.LO singing about they can't truly understand what it's like to be her until they walk a mile in her shoes.[16] The midtempo synth-overloaded "The Way It Is" follows,[12] with lively drums and string flourishes building toward a wall of synths,[17] while midtempo "Be Mine" has "make-it-up-as-you-go-along" lyrics, including "Looking through a coffee table book at a small café on Broadway."[16] In "I Need Love," Lopez convinces herself it's time to quit partying and settle down[12] over zippy strings and percussion lifted from Bill Withers' "Use Me."[14] The piano-spiked ballad "Wrong When You’re Gone"[13] has softly clapping production,[19] while the title track "Brave" finds Lopez singing about a newfound fearlessness, set to a steady beat and triumphant strings.[15] The album closes with a remix of "Do It Well" featuring Ludacris.[13]

Promotion

The album's cover art was unveiled on September 5, 2007,

Jennifer Lopez and Marc Anthony en Concierto
", on September 29 in New Jersey and concluded it on November 3 in Miami.

Singles

"

UK Singles Chart for three weeks, reaching a peak of 72.[30] The video directed by Melina Matsoukas, which featured a pregnant Lopez, premiered December 4, 2007.[31]

Other charted songs

Due to digital sales, "Mile in These Shoes" charted in Finland at number sixteen on the singles chart[32] and number fourteen on the download chart.[33] The album's title track "Brave" reached the 4th position in the Russian airplay chart.[34]

Critical reception

Professional ratings
Aggregate scores
SourceRating
Metacritic52/100[35]
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[8]
Billboard(positive)[15]
Entertainment WeeklyC[9]
The Guardian[11]
New York Post[36]
NOW[37]
PopMatters(3/10)[13]
Rolling Stone[12]
Slant Magazine[16]
Yahoo! Music(7/10)[38]

Brave received mixed reviews from most

J to tha L-O!."[36] Alex Macpherson of The Guardian praised the album for its "chunky bass lines, disco strings and purring beats", noting that "while marriage may have made Lopez happier than ever-the production bounces with positivity-it has not diminished her capacity for being a diva in the slightest."[11]

Stephen Thomas Erlewine of

About.com commented that "the beats are so light and the lyrics so bland that only a few tracks give us a glimpse of what once was an exciting dance floor diva."[17] In a more negative tone, Mike Joseph of PopMatters wrote that the album "has neither a strong artistic personality nor boffo production, and as a result, ends up being just another disposable pop record with no redeeming value."[13] Jonathan Bernstein of Entertainment Weekly commented that "even expensive beats and uplifting material are offset by listless vocals."[9] Eventually, Entertainment Weekly placed the album at number 5 on their list of worst albums of 2007.[39]

Commercial performance

Brave was generally viewed as a commercial disappointment.

UK, it missed the top-twenty, debuting at number 24,[47] remaining on the charts for only two weeks.[48] In Australia, "Brave" only spent one week on the charts, debuting and peaking at number 46.[49] Brave has sold 650,000 copies worldwide as of 2013.[50] Critic Anna Barbarella suggested that the album "performed catastrophically on the charts because [Lopez] embraces a hardness which alienated the public."[51]

Track listing

Brave – Standard edition
No.TitleWriter(s)Producer(s)Length
1."Stay Together"
3:30
2."Forever"
3:39
3."Hold It Don't Drop It"
  • Kevin Risto
  • Waynne Nugent
  • Jennifer Lopez
  • Allen Phillip Lees
  • Frankie Storm
  • Janet Sewell
  • Cynthia Lissette
  • Dennis Lambert
  • Brian Potter
  • Dirty Swift
  • Bruce Wayyne
  • Rooney[a]
  • Philosophy[c]
3:55
4."Do It Well"
  • Tedder
  • Rooney[a]
3:05
5."Gotta Be There"
3:57
6."Never Gonna Give Up"
4:21
7."Mile in These Shoes"
  • Nwagbara
  • Onique Williams
3:16
8."The Way It Is"
  • Keusch
  • Bell
  • Rooney[a]
3:07
9."Be Mine"
  • Bell
  • Keusch
  • Robinson
  • John Hill
  • Caleb Shreve
  • Lopez
  • Bobby Hebb
  • Keusch
  • Bell
  • Johnny Rodeo
  • Chuck Brody
  • Rooney[a]
3:20
10."I Need Love"
  • Bell
  • Keusch
  • Robinson
  • Hill
  • Schreve
  • Lopez
  • Bell
  • Keusch
  • Johnny Rodeo
  • Brody
  • Rooney[a]
3:52
11."Wrong When You're Gone"
3:58
12."Brave"
  • Christian Karlsson
  • Pontus Winnberg
  • Lewis
  • Muhammad
  • Smith
  • Nelson
4:21
13."Do It Well" (featuring Ludacris) (bonus track)
  • Tedder
  • Rooney[a]
3:33
Total length:47:53
Brave — Digital edition (bonus track)
No.TitleWriter(s)Producer(s)Length
14."Do It Well" (Moto Blanco radio mix)
  • Tedder
  • Caston
  • Poree
  • Wilson
  • Tedder
  • Rooney[a]
3:01
Total length:50:52
Brave — US iTunes Store and international digital edition (bonus track)
No.TitleWriter(s)Producer(s)Length
15."Frozen Moments"
  • Bell
  • Keusch
  • Keusch
  • Bell
  • Rooney[a]
3:43
Total length:54:28
Brave — Deluxe edition (DVD)
No.TitleLength
1."
Get Right" (featuring Fabolous)
3:49
2."Hold You Down" (featuring Fat Joe)4:31
3."Qué Hiciste"4:18
4."Me Haces Falta"3:35

Notes

Personnel

  • Pedro Alfonso – violin, viola
  • Jim Annunziato – engineer
  • Scott Barns – make-up
  • Michelle Lynn Bell – producer, vocal arrangement, vocals (background)
  • Big D – producer
  • Chuck Brody – producer
  • CFOS – mixing assistant
  • Travis Cherry – producer
  • Clutch – producer
  • Alec Deruggiero – engineer
  • Oak Felder – producer
  • William Garrett – keyboards, engineer
  • Larry Gold – conductor, string arrangements
  • Alexei Hay – photography
  • John Hill – producer, mixing
  • Keri Hilson – vocals (background)
  • Hit Boy – programming, producer, instrumentation
  • Peter Wade Keusch – synthesizer, programming, producer, engineer, vocal arrangement, writing
  • Gelly Kusuma – assistant engineer, mixing assistant
  • Jennifer Lopez – executive producer
  • Manny Marroquin – mixing
  • Josh McDonnell – guitar, engineer
  • Candice Nelson – vocals (background)
  • Chasity Nwagbara – vocals (background)
  • Ken Paves – hair stylist
  • Philosophy – producer
  • Herb Powers – mastering
  • Julio C. Reyes – engineer, string arrangements, vocal producer
  • Jared Robbins – mixing assistant
  • Corey Rooney – executive producer, brass arrangement, vocal producer
  • José Juan Sánchez – engineer
  • Sizzler Ponderosa – vocals (background)
  • Chris Soper – mixing assistant
  • Corey Stocker – engineer
  • Bruce Swedien – mixing
  • Ryan Tedder – programming, producer, instrumentation
  • Mike Tschupp – assistant engineer, mixing assistant
  • Peter Wade – synthesizer, guitar, programming, mixing, writing
  • Chasity Wagbara – vocals (background)
  • Bruce Waynne – producer, engineer
  • Monique Williams – vocals (background)

Charts

Chart (2007) Peak
position
Australian Albums (ARIA)[49] 46
Austrian Albums (Ö3 Austria)[52] 35
Belgian Albums (Ultratop Flanders)[53] 36
Belgian Albums (Ultratop Wallonia)[54] 18
Nielsen SoundScan)[55]
 13
Dutch Albums (Album Top 100)[56] 24
French Albums (
SNEP)[57]
 28
German Albums (Offizielle Top 100)[58] 41
Italian Albums (FIMI)[46] 10
Japanese Albums (Oricon)[59] 6
Mexican Albums (Top 100 Mexico)[60] 36
Polish Albums (ZPAV)[61] 31
Scottish Albums (OCC)[62] 41
Spanish Albums (PROMUSICAE)[63] 21
Swedish Albums (Sverigetopplistan)[64] 59
Swiss Albums (Schweizer Hitparade)[65] 6
UK Albums (OCC)[47] 24
UK R&B Albums (OCC)[66]
 6
US Billboard 200[67] 12
US
Digital Albums[68]
 12
US Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums (Billboard)[69] 7

Certifications

Region Certification Certified units/sales
Russia (
NFPF)[70]
 2× Platinum 40,000*

* Sales figures based on certification alone.

References

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