Embrya | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|
Studio album by | ||||
Released | June 30, 1998 | |||
Recorded | 1996–98 | |||
Genre | ||||
Length | 62:57 | |||
Label | Columbia | |||
Producer | Maxwell, Stuart Matthewman | |||
Maxwell chronology | ||||
| ||||
Singles from Embrya | ||||
|
Embrya is the second studio album by American recording artist Maxwell, released on June 30, 1998, by Columbia Records. As on his 1996 debut album Maxwell's Urban Hang Suite , he collaborated with record producer and Sade member Stuart Matthewman. A neo soul album, Embrya features heavy basslines, string arrangements, and an emphasis on groove over melodies. It has themes of love and spirituality.
With a lesser jazz emphasis than his debut album, Embrya continues the trend towards heavy basslines and string arrangements, and it focuses on themes such as love and spirituality. However, the album features more of an emphasis on groove than melodies. [2] Its production sound contains bassy, electronic and slight syncopated beats. [3] Maxwell has defined the album's title as "an approaching growing transition thought to be contained but destined for broader perception." [4]
Review scores | |
---|---|
Source | Rating |
AllMusic | [5] |
Chicago Sun-Times | [6] |
The Encyclopedia of Popular Music | [7] |
Entertainment Weekly | B+ [8] |
Los Angeles Times | [9] |
Pitchfork | 8.3/10 [10] |
Q | [11] |
Rolling Stone | [12] |
Spin | 7/10 [2] |
USA Today | [13] |
Embrya was originally received unfavorably by most critics. [14] In the Chicago Tribune , Greg Kot wrote that the record "functions primarily as background music, sustaining its contemplative tone and percolating groove almost too well". [15] Ann Powers of The New York Times called Maxwell "an expert seducer" and the music "the aural equivalent of lotion rubbed on one's back by someone interesting", but believed the lyrics lacked substance. [16] Greg Tate wrote in Spin that the album "comes off as a tad New Agey, art-rock pretentious, emotionally calculated, and sappy." [2] Dream Hampton, writing in The Village Voice , said that the "listless and unfocused" songwriting does not redeem the "ridiculous, loaded song titles" and found the music "lazy": "The band drones along as if in some somnambulant session that never ends." [17] In The Village Voice , Robert Christgau cited "Luxure: Cococure" as a "choice cut", [18] indicating "a good song on an album that isn't worth your time or money". [19] Stephen Thomas Erlewine deemed Embrya "a bit of a sophomore stumble, albeit one with promising moments", while writing in AllMusic, "[Maxwell] overstuffs his songs with ideas that lead nowhere". [5] In (The New) Rolling Stone Album Guide (2004), Arion Berger assigned the album two stars out of five, and found the songs monotonous and called the album "unfocused and pretentious ... full of overwrought, underwritten songs with obscure, fancy titles revolving around a sort of sexual gnosticism." [20]
In a positive review, Connie Johnson from the Los Angeles Times viewed Maxwell's music as unique and the album as an improvement from his debut album, which was "somewhat derivative". [9] Rob Sheffield of Rolling Stone magazine complimented its lush musical backdrops and found the songs "pretty wonderful, even though they're impossible to tell apart or to remember after they're done." [12] David Browne, writing in Entertainment Weekly , called the album "beautiful R&B background music" and felt that, despite vague and pretentious lyrics, it serves as "the culmination of the retro-soul movement that began taking shape several years ago." [8] Amy Linden of Vibe called it "neo-soul via ambience" and said that "like smoke, Maxwell's love songs drift away, fading ever so seductively into the background, where they stay." [1] Critics have since reappraised Embrya as a groundbreaking forerunner to later trends in Alternative R&B, and Columbia Records reissued the album in 2018 on its 20th anniversary. [21] Embrya was nominated for a Grammy Award for Best R&B Album, losing to Lauryn Hill's The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill (1998). [22] In 1999, it won the Soul Train Music Award for Best Male Soul/R&B Album. [23]
In 2024, Uncut ranked the album at number 110 in their list of "The 500 Greatest Albums of the 1990s", describing it as a "mighty smooth" record inspired by the "longform works" of Marvin Gaye and D'Angelo and writing that "the result is more distinct and enduring than was reckoned at the time." [24]
Embrya was released on June 10, 1998. [25] It sold more than one million copies and garnered Maxwell a new alternative fanbase, but confounded urban consumers. [14] On May 26, 1999, the album was certified platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA). [25]
All tracks are written by Maxwell (credited as Musze), except where noted
No. | Title | Writer(s) | Length |
---|---|---|---|
1. | "Gestation: Mythos" | 3:11 | |
2. | "Everwanting: To Want You to Want" | 7:30 | |
3. | "I'm You: You Are Me and We Are You (Pt. Me & You)" | 6:31 | |
4. | "Luxury: Cococure" | 5:30 | |
5. | "Drowndeep: Hula" | Stuart Matthewman, Musze | 5:39 |
6. | "Matrimony: Maybe You" | 4:37 | |
7. | "Arroz con pollo" | 2:55 | |
8. | "Know These Things: Shouldn't You" | Matthewman, Musze | 5:14 |
9. | "Submerge: Til We Become the Sun" | 6:24 | |
10. | "Gravity: Pushing to Pull" | Matthewman, Musze | 6:11 |
11. | "Eachhoureachsecondeachminuteeachday: Of My Life" | 5:51 | |
12. | "Embrya" | 3:04 | |
Total length: | 62:57 |
Notes:
Credits are adapted from Allmusic. [26]
Weekly charts
| Year-end charts
|
Region | Certification | Certified units/sales |
---|---|---|
United States (RIAA) [43] | Platinum | 1,000,000^ |
^ Shipments figures based on certification alone. |
Baduizm is the debut studio album by American singer-songwriter Erykah Badu. It was released on February 11, 1997, by Kedar Records and Universal Records. After leaving university in order to concentrate on music full-time, Badu then began touring with her cousin, Robert "Free" Bradford, and recorded a 19-song demo, Country Cousins, which attracted the attention of Kedar Massenburg. He set Badu up to record a duet with D'Angelo, "Your Precious Love," and eventually signed her to a record deal with Universal. Recording sessions for the album took place from January to October 1996 in New York City, Philadelphia, and Dallas.
Unleash the Dragon is the debut solo studio album by American R&B singer Sisqó of Dru Hill, released on November 30, 1999, on Def Soul. Sisqó recorded the album during Dru Hill's hiatus. It includes the hit songs "Got to Get It", "Incomplete", and "Thong Song". Previously, Sisqo had been the lead singer of the group Dru Hill. Recorded under Island Records, the group released two multi-platinum albums to date: Dru Hill (1996) and Enter the Dru (1998). In 2003, the album was certified quintuple platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) for shipment of five million copies in the United States.
The Tipping Point is the sixth studio album by American hip hop band the Roots, released July 13, 2004 on Geffen Records. It is named after Malcolm Gladwell's book of the same name (2000), and is the follow-up to Phrenology (2002). The album is a musical departure from their previous work, featuring a more diverse, yet pop-oriented sound, and it contains lyrics associated with rapping-prowess, political insight, and social commentary. The Tipping Point has been noted by music writers for exhibiting and emphasizing soul, jazz, and funk influences as well. The song "I Don't Care" was featured on the soundtrack of the game Gran Turismo 4.
The Cookbook is the sixth studio album by American rapper Missy Elliott, released on July 4, 2005, by The Goldmind Inc. and Atlantic Records in Germany and the United Kingdom, and on July 5 in the United States and Japan. To date, it is her final long play studio effort.
No More Drama is the fifth studio album by American singer Mary J. Blige, released on August 28, 2001, by MCA Records.
Born into the 90's [sic] is R. Kelly's collaboration album with his group Public Announcement. Released in January 1992, the album became an R&B hit with the success of singles such as "She's Got That Vibe", "Dedicated," and Kelly's first two #1 R&B hits: "Honey Love," and "Slow Dance ." Honey Love topped the Billboard R&B Singles chart for 2 weeks, while "She's Got That Vibe" and "Slow Dance " hit the Top 40 respectively. By June 1992, Born into the 90's was eventually certified platinum and picked up an American Music Award nomination for Favorite Soul/R&B Single. This would be R. Kelly's only album with Public Announcement as he separated from the group before he began recording his next album.
R. is the third solo album by American singer R. Kelly, released as a double album on November 10, 1998, by Jive Records. It marked the first time Kelly worked with other producers as opposed to producing the entire album himself. Its cover artwork uses the same image of Kelly from his 1993 debut 12 Play, only in silhouette form against a red and black background.
Chocolate Factory is the fifth studio album by American recording artist R. Kelly, released on February 18, 2003, by Jive Records. Recording sessions took place mainly at Rockland Studios and Chicago Recording Company in Chicago, Illinois, and the album was primarily written, arranged, and produced by R. Kelly. Originally titled Loveland, Chocolate Factory was conceived by Kelly amid controversy over his sex scandal at the time.
Gerald Maxwell Rivera, known mononymously as Maxwell, is an American singer, songwriter, and record producer. He rose to prominence following the release of his debut studio album Maxwell's Urban Hang Suite (1996), which received widespread acclaim and spawned the hit singles "Ascension " and "Sumthin' Sumthin'". Through the album and its follow ups, Maxwell has been cited—along with Lauryn Hill, D'Angelo, and Erykah Badu—for ushering in the neo soul movement and its sensibilities into mainstream popular music during the late 1990s.
Diamond Life is the debut studio album by English band Sade, released in the United Kingdom on 16 July 1984 by Epic Records and in the United States on 27 February 1985 by Portrait Records. After studying fashion design, and later modelling, Sade Adu began backup-singing with British band Pride. During this time Adu and three of the original members of "Pride"—Paul Anthony Cook, Paul Denman and Stuart Matthewman—left the group to form their own band called Sade. After various demos and performances, Sade received interest from record labels and signed to Epic.
Phrenology is the fifth studio album by American hip hop band the Roots, released on November 26, 2002, by MCA Records. Recording sessions for the album took place during June 2000 to September 2002 at Electric Lady Studios in New York. It was primarily produced by members of the band and features contributions from hip hop and neo soul artists such as Cody ChesnuTT, Musiq Soulchild, Talib Kweli, and Jill Scott.
Eve-Olution is the third studio album by American rapper Eve, released by Ruff Ryders Entertainment on August 27, 2002 and distributed through Interscope Records. Production was handled by frequent collaborators Dr. Dre, Swizz Beatz and also Irv Gotti, among others. The album spawned the internationally successful single "Gangsta Lovin'", which reached number two on the Billboard Hot 100 and R&B/Hip-Hop song charts as well as number four in Australia, and debuted at number six on the Billboard 200 with first-week sales of 133,000 copies while also reaching the top twenty in Canada, France, and Switzerland. For selling over 600,000 copies in the US, it was certified gold in sales by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA).
A Rose Is Still a Rose is the thirty-fourth studio album by American recording artist Aretha Franklin. It was released on March 24, 1998, by Arista Records. Conceived after a longer hiatus and a complete departure from her previous studio album What You See Is What You Sweat (1991), the album includes influences of 1990s hip hop as well as modern-day contemporary R&B and soul music. Throughout the project, Franklin worked with many famed hip hop producers and rappers, such as Lauryn Hill, Sean "Puffy" Combs, Jermaine Dupri, and Daryl Simmons. With the latter acts producing most of the album, A Rose Is Still a Rose deviated from the adult contemporary sound of Franklin's older work.
Planet Earth is the thirty-second studio album by American recording artist Prince. It was released on July 15, 2007, by NPG Records and distributed, in the UK, as a free covermount with The Mail on Sunday national newspaper. This was followed by the album's worldwide distribution. It features contributions from his newest protégée Bria Valente and former New Power Generation members Marva King, Sonny T., and Michael Bland, as well as Sheila E. and former Revolution members Wendy & Lisa. The CD package's liner notes credit the album to Prince & The New Power Generation. The album debuted at number 3 on the US Billboard 200 chart, selling 96,000 copies in its first week.
Now is the third studio album by American R&B singer Maxwell. It was released on August 14, 2001, by Columbia Records. Following the lukewarm critical reception of his 1998 record Embrya, Maxwell pursued a different direction while recording Now, abandoning the conceptual style of his previous albums.
Maxwell's Urban Hang Suite is the debut album by American R&B singer-songwriter Maxwell. It was recorded in 1994 and 1995, then released on April 2, 1996, by Columbia Records.
BLACKsummers'night is the fourth studio album by American recording artist Maxwell, released July 7, 2009 on Columbia Records. It is the follow-up to his third album Now (2001). Recording sessions for the album took place during 2003 to 2009 and production was handled entirely by Maxwell and Hod David.
Wake Up! is a collaborative studio album by American R&B recording artist John Legend and hip hop band the Roots, released September 21, 2010, by GOOD Music and Columbia Records. It is Legend's fourth studio album and the Roots' tenth. The album was produced by Legend with band members Ahmir "Questlove" Thompson and James Poyser, and features guest appearances by CL Smooth, Malik Yusef, Common, and Melanie Fiona, among others. Inspired by the 2008 United States presidential election, Legend and the Roots primarily covered 1960s and 1970s soul music songs for the album with social themes of awareness, engagement, and consciousness.
Art Official Age is the thirty-seventh studio album by American recording artist Prince. It was released on September 26, 2014 by NPG Records under a renewed license to Warner Bros. Records, marking the second collaboration of both parties since 1995's The Gold Experience.
blackSUMMERS'night is the fifth studio album by American R&B singer and songwriter Maxwell. He produced most of the record with longtime collaborator and multi-instrumentalist Hod David; two songs were also co-produced by Stuart Matthewman. The album was released on July 1, 2016, by Columbia Records and charted at number three on the Billboard 200 while garnering widespread acclaim from critics.