''Keep the Faith'' is the second album by American singer

Faith Evans Faith Renée Evans (born June 10, 1973) is an American singer and actress. Born in Lakeland, Florida, and raised in New Jersey, she relocated to Los Angeles in 1991 for a career in the music business. After working as a backing vocalist for Al ...

. It was released by

Bad Boy Records Bad Boy Records (or Bad Boy Entertainment) is an American record label founded in 1993 by rapper Sean "Puffy" Combs. It operates as an imprint of Epic Records, a division of Sony Music Entertainment. It has been home to many artists, including ...

on October 27, 1998 in the United States. Almost entirely written and produced by Evans, the album garnered generally mixed to positive reviews by music critics, with

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databa ...

noting it "without a doubt a highlight of 1990s soul-pop music." Also enjoying commercial success, it went platinum and produced the top ten singles " Love Like This" and " All Night Long," prompting Evans to start an 18-city theater tour with

Dru Hill Dru Hill is an American R&B group, whose repertoire included soul, hip hop soul and gospel music. The group was founded in Baltimore in 1992 and is still active. Dru Hill recorded seven Top 40 hits, and is best known for the R&B number-one hits ...

and Total the following year.

Background

Two years in the making, Evans' second solo effort, ''Keep the Faith'', was released during October 27, 1998. Almost entirely written and produced by her, Evans considered the album difficult to complete as she had initially felt discouraged about the progress at first.

Critical reception

editor Jose F. Promis rated the album three stars out of five. He found that "Evans shines when she sings fast or mid-tempo songs, but the ballads weigh too heavily on this otherwise fine album ..However, the classy Ms. Evans possesses a beautiful voice, is a gifted songwriter, and happily steers clear of the tacky clichés that burden so much contemporary R&B. So despite the heavy reliance on ballads, this is actually a fine album, and is without a doubt a highlight of 1990s soul-pop music." Matt Diehl from ''

Entertainment Weekly ''Entertainment Weekly'' (sometimes abbreviated as ''EW'') is an American digital-only entertainment magazine based in New York City, published by Dotdash Meredith, that covers film, television, music, Broadway theatre, books, and popular cu ...

'' noted that ''Keep the Faith'' "remains commercial R&B, all bedroom strings and

Babyface Babyface or Baby Face can refer to: Nicknames * Lester Joseph Gillis a.k.a. Baby Face Nelson, an infamous 1930s bank robber * Roosevelt "Baby Face" Willette (1933–1971), an American hard bop and soul-jazz musician * "Baby Face", Jimmy McLarnin ...

-style acoustic accents. What sets Evans apart is that she, like her soul sista

Mary J. Blige Mary Jane Blige ( ; born January 11, 1971) is an American singer, songwriter, and actress. Often referred to as the " Queen of Hip-Hop Soul" and " Queen of R&B", Blige has won nine Grammy Awards, a Primetime Emmy Award, four American Music Award ...

, investigates her pain in a way that contradicts the lush sonics ..It’s a far richer palette than her slicker peers offer; then again, we forget that Stevie, Marvin, and Aretha's soul was considered 'com-mercial' too. While Evans hasn’t hit their heights, efforts like this give us faith that she might. ''

Los Angeles Times The ''Los Angeles Times'' (abbreviated as ''LA Times'') is a daily newspaper that started publishing in Los Angeles in 1881. Based in the LA-adjacent suburb of El Segundo since 2018, it is the sixth-largest newspaper by circulation in the U ...

'' noted that "however heartfelt Evans’ intentions may be in this homage to her late husband, the Notorious B.I.G., she seems more concerned with soliciting our empathy than with creating compelling R&B."

Yahoo! Music Yahoo! Music was a brand under which Yahoo! provided a variety of music services, including Internet radio, music videos, news, artist information, and original programming. Previously, users with Yahoo! accounts could gain access to hundreds o ...

critic Billy Johnson, Jr. felt that "only a few ''Keep the Faith'' songs have the potential to keep the talented vocalist at the top of the charts." Ernest Hardy from ''

Rolling Stone ''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner, and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. It was first known for its ...

'' felt that the album lacked song worthy of Evans' talent. He felt thath she "deserves to be known as more than the femme fatale in some bullshit hip-hop feud, and ''Keep the Faith'' is a strong reminder that she has the talent. All she lacks are the songs." Similarly, Craig Seymour remarked in his review for ''

Village Voice ''The Village Voice'' is an American news and culture paper, known for being the country's first alternative newsweekly. Founded in 1955 by Dan Wolf, Ed Fancher, John Wilcock, and Norman Mailer, the ''Voice'' began as a platform for the cr ...

'': "Though there's much great singing on ''Keep the Faith'', there are too few great or even good songs. While the mostly self-penned tunes on her debut at least had a fluid quality befitting her dewy vocals, on ''Keep the Faith'' they just seem aimless. If you're not paying attention to every twist and turn of her spiraling melismas, the album passes by like a summer breeze, pleasant but neither distinctive nor memorable."

Commercial performance

''Keep the Faith'' debuted and peaked at number six on the US ''Billboard'' 200 in the week of November 14, 1998. Evans' first top ten album, it scored first week sales of 85,000 copies. By December 1998, the album had sold 251,000 units. On July 29, 1999, ''Keep the Faith'' was cerified Platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA).

Track listing

Samples * "Keep the Faith" samples "Never Alone" by

Yolanda Adams Yolanda Yvette Adams (born August 27, 1961) is an American gospel singer, actress, and host of her own nationally syndicated morning gospel show. She is one of the best-selling gospel artists of all time, having sold over 10 million albums ...

* "Life Will Pass You By" samples "Gotta Make It Up to You" by

Angela Bofill Angela Tomasa Bofill (born May 2, 1954) is an American singer-songwriter of Cuban- Puerto Rican origins. A New York native, Bofill began her professional career in the mid-1970s. Bofill is most known for singles such as, "This Time I'll Be Sweet ...

* "Love Like This" samples "Chic Cheer" by

Chic Chic (; ), meaning "stylish" or "smart", is an element of fashion. It was originally a French word. Pronounced Chick. Etymology '' Chic'' is a French word, established in English since at least the 1870s. Early references in English diction ...

* "Sunny Days" samples "I'm Back for More" by Al Johnson and

Jean Carne Jean Carn, also spelled Jean Carne (born Sarah Jean Perkins; March 15, 1947) is an American jazz and pop singer. In mid career, she added a final ''e'' to her name. Carn is a vocalist credited with a five octave vocal range. Biography Carn was ...

* "All Night Long" samples "I Hear Music in the Streets" by

Unlimited Touch Unlimited Touch was an American, New York-based post-disco group, most active in the early 1980s. The group's most famous song in its short lifespan was "I Hear Music in the Streets", which made number 6 on US Dance chart in 1981. Overview The ...

Personnel

Performers and musicians *

– arranger, vocal arrangement, vocals, vocals (background) * Michael Thompson – guitar * Michael Hart Thompson – guitar *

–

drum programming Programming is a form of music production and performance using electronic devices and computer software, such as sequencers and workstations or hardware synthesizers, sampler and sequencers, to generate sounds of musical instruments. These ...

, keyboards, vocals (background) * Damon Thomas – drum programming, keyboards * Mike Mason – piano, strings *

Greg Phillinganes Gregory Arthur Phillinganes (born May 12, 1956) is an American keyboardist, singer-songwriter, and musical director based in Los Angeles, California. A prolific session musician, Phillinganes has contributed the role of keyboards to numerous alb ...

– piano * Nathan East – bass guitar *

Ricky Lawson William Riser III (November 8, 1954 – December 23, 2013), better known as Ricky Lawson, was an American drummer and composer. A native of Detroit, Michigan, he worked extensively as a session musician, collaborating with Stevie Wonder, Mich ...

– drums * 112 – arranger, performer, vocal arrangement * Diddy – performer * Kelly Price – arranger, vocal arrangement, vocals (background) * Axel Niehaus – arranger, vocal arrangement * Carl Thomas – vocal arrangement * Kenya Ivey – vocals (background) * Tavia Ivey – vocals (background) * Lorne Rawls – arranger * DJ Rodgers – arranger *

Mario Winans Mario Mendell Winans ( Brown; born August 29, 1974) is an American singer, songwriter, and record producer best known for his 2004 song " I Don't Wanna Know", which reached number 2 in the United States and number 1 in the United Kingdom. Wina ...

–

overdubs Overdubbing (also known as layering) is a technique used in audio recording in which audio tracks that have been pre-recorded are then played back and monitored, while simultaneously recording new, doubled, or augmented tracks onto one or more av ...

Technical * Charles "Prince Charles" Alexander –

engineer Engineers, as practitioners of engineering, are professionals who invent, design, analyze, build and test machines, complex systems, structures, gadgets and materials to fulfill functional objectives and requirements while considering the limit ...

, mixing * Tony Black – engineer, mixing * Axel Niehaus – engineer, mixing *

Paul Boutin Paul Boutin (born December 11, 1961 in Lewiston, Maine) is an American magazine writer and editor who writes about technology in a pop-culture context. Boutin, who began writing for ''Wired'' in 1997, wrote for ''The New York Times'' from 2003 ...

– engineer * Tom Cassel – engineer * Joe "Smilin' Joe" Perrera – engineer * Rob Paustian – engineer * Thom Russo – engineer * Doug Wilson – engineer * E'lyk – assistant engineer, mixing * Jon Gass – mixing * Tony Maserati – mixing * Michael Patterson – editing * Herb Powers – mastering * Gwendolyn Niles – project manager *

– executive producer, producer *

Sean "Puffy" Combs Sean Combs (born Sean John Combs; November 4, 1969), also known by his stage names Puff Daddy, P. Diddy, Puffy, or Diddy, is an American rapper, actor, record producer, and record executive. Born in New York City, he worked as a talent direct ...

– executive producer, producer * Deric "D-Dot" Angelettie – associate executive producer *

– producer * Mike Mason – producer * Ron Lawrence – producer * Carl Thompson – producer *

David Foster David Walter Foster (born November 1, 1949) is a Canadian musician, composer, arranger, record producer and music executive who chaired Verve Records from 2012 to 2016. He has won 16 Grammy Awards from 47 nominations. His music career spans mor ...

– producer, vocal producer * Richard "Younglord" Frierson – producer * Todd Russaw – associate executive producer * Jesse Rivera – project coordinator * Albert Watson – photography * Gwynnis Mosby – make-up * Klya Wright – hair stylist

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Certifications

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Keep the Faith (Faith Evans album) 1998 albums Faith Evans albums Bad Boy Records albums Albums produced by Babyface (musician) Albums produced by Sean Combs