Heartbreaker (The O'Jays album) explained

Heartbreaker
Type:	Album
Artist:	The O'Jays
Cover:	Ojaysheartbreaker.jpg
Released:	July 27, 1993
Recorded:	1993
Genre:	R&B, soul
Length:	50:47
Label:	EMI
Producer:	Gerald Levert, Edwin Nicholas
Prev Title:	Emotionally Yours
Prev Year:	1991
Next Title:	Love You to Tears
Next Year:	1997

Heartbreaker is an album by the American R&B group the O'Jays.^{[1] [2]} It was released in 1993 on EMI.^[3]

The album peaked at No. 75 on the Billboard 200.^[4]

Production

Gerald Levert, Eddie Levert's son, cowrote and produced two of the album's songs.^[5] Heartbreaker was the first album with Nathaniel Best, who had replaced Sammy Strain.

Critical reception

AllMusic wrote that "many numbers aren't much different from the classic material that made them superstars in the '70s; that's both part of the music's charm and something that might trouble fans hoping the group would experiment with the vocal arrangements as well as the production." The Washington Post thought that the album "makes up in savvy arrangements what it lacks in well-crafted lyrics, but its real appeal lies in the still smooth Philly soul harmonies and [Eddie] Levert's gritty testifying."^[6] The St. Petersburg Times wrote that "while the CD is filled with gorgeous harmonies and melodies, the vocal performances sometimes are almost spoiled by tinny-sounding mechanical tracks with programed electronic drums."^[7]

Track listing

1. "Cryin' the Blues" (Edwin Nicholas, Gerald Levert) - 5:59
2. "One Wonderful Girl" (Alan Gordon) - 4:28
3. "Somebody Else Will" (Edwin Nicholas, Gerald Levert) - 6:27
4. "Show Me the Right Way" (Dwain Mitchell, Eddie Levert, Walter Williams) - 5:25
5. "Trouble" (Dwain Mitchell, Eddie Levert, Walter Williams) - 4:11
6. "Can't Let You Go" (Dwain Mitchell, Eddie Levert, Sherena Wynn, Walter Williams) - 4:10
7. "Decisions" (Dwain Mitchell, Eddie Levert, Sherena Wynn, Walter Williams) - 4:20
8. "No Can Do" (Dwain Mitchell, Eddie Levert, Sherena Wynn, Walter Williams) - 4:21
9. "Heartbreaker" (Dwain Mitchell, Eddie Levert, Sherena Wynn, Walter Williams) - 4:27
10. "He Loves You" (Dwain Mitchell, Eddie Levert, Walter Williams) - 7:59

Notes and References

1. Web site: The O'Jays | Biography & History. AllMusic.
2. News: Peters . Ida . What's Happening: O'Jays...new album...new tour...new member . Afro-American Red Star . 3 July 1993 . B6.
3. News: Robbins . Ira . Also Around Town Smooth Soul Music . Newsday . 1 Apr 1994 . B23.
4. Web site: The O'Jays. Billboard.
5. News: O'Jays, Stephanie Mills team for concert at Aladdin Theatre . Las Vegas Review-Journal . 28 July 1993 . 8C.
6. Web site: O'JAYS: SOUL-BARING ESSENTIALS . The Washington Post . 5 June 2021.
7. News: Jackson . Mike . O'Jays sound still plays well . St. Petersburg Times . 27 Aug 1993 . Weekend . 13.