''Life's Aquarium'' is the fourth studio album by American R&B group

Mint Condition Mint condition is an expression used to denote the quality of a pre-owned good as displaying virtually no imperfections and being in pristine condition relative to its original production state. Originally, the phrase related to the way collect ...

. The album was released on November 16, 1999, and it is their first album released for

Elektra Records Elektra Records (or Elektra Entertainment) is an American record label owned by Warner Music Group, founded in 1950 by Jac Holzman and Paul Rickolt. It played an important role in the development of contemporary folk and rock music between the 1 ...

Background

''Life's Aquarium'' is their first studio recording after their departure from

Perspective Records Perspective Records is an American record label, launched in 1991 by the producing team Jimmy Jam & Terry Lewis, through a joint venture with A&M Records—which Jam & Lewis had had a prosperous working relationship with throughout the 1980s, wit ...

, the record company that produced their three previous albums. They made their debut as Elektra artists on the

soundtrack A soundtrack is recorded music accompanying and synchronised to the images of a motion picture, drama, book, television program, radio program, or video game; a commercially released soundtrack album of music as featured in the soundtrack o ...

to the motion picture '' Why Do Fools Fall in Love'' with the song "Love is for Fools". They were originally signed to Elektra subsidiary

East West Records East West Records (stylized as east''west'') is a record label formed in 1955, distributed and owned by Warner Music Group, headquartered in London, England. History Upon its creation in 1955 by Atlantic Records, the label had one hit with th ...

, but were later moved to Elektra proper for the release of ''Life's Aquarium''. Released in November 1999, the album was originally scheduled for release in October of that year. The month-long pushback was due to the label's wait for the reception to the album's first single "If You Love Me". The song originally appeared as a solo track by

Stokley Williams Stokley Williams (born July 15, 1967) also known simply as Stokley, is an American singer, record producer, and percussionist. Williams is best known as the lead singer and studio drummer of the band Mint Condition. Career In 2011, he was feat ...

on the

to the 1998

Jada Pinkett Smith Jada Koren Pinkett Smith (; née Pinkett; born September 18, 1971) is an American actress and talk show host. She is co-host of the Facebook Watch talk show '' Red Table Talk'', for which she has received a Daytime Emmy Award. ''Time'' named ...

film ''

Woo Woo, WoO, WOO, W.O.O. and variants may refer to: People Woo or Wu, romanization of several East Asian names: * Hu (surname): 胡, 瓠, 護, 戶, 扈, 虎, 呼, 忽, 斛 * Wu (surname): 吳, 伍, 武, 仵, 烏, 鄔, 巫 * Ng (name): 吳, 伍 * Woo ...

''. The song was re-recorded with the band and a featured a string section that was arranged and composed by conductor

Clare Fischer Douglas Clare Fischer (October 22, 1928 – January 26, 2012) was an American keyboardist, composer, arranger, and bandleader. After graduating from Michigan State University (from which, five decades later, he would receive an honorary doctorate ...

. The music video was directed by

Bille Woodruff Bille Woodruff is a director of film, television and music videos, noted for directing many videos for a number of R&B and hip-hop artists since the mid-1990s. These artists include Joe (singer), Joe, for whom Woodruff has directed 9 music video ...

. "If You Love Me" peaked at number 30 on the Billboard Hot 100 and 5 on the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Singles & Tracks. A second single was released- "Is This Pain Our Pleasure" and peaked at number 42 on the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Singles & Tracks chart. The low charting of the song was due primarily to a music video never being made for the song. Upon release, ''Life's Aquarium'' charted at number 64 on the Billboard 200 and number 7 on the R&B albums charts. To date, it is the lowest selling Mint Condition album released on a major label. ''Life's Aquarium'' is notable for being their last album as a sextet. One year after its release, keyboardist

Keri Lewis Mint condition is an expression used to denote the quality of a pre-owned good as displaying virtually no imperfections and being in pristine condition relative to its original production state. Originally, the phrase related to the way collect ...

would leave the band – reducing the band to a quintet. It is also notable for being their last album released on a major label – as they went independent for their subsequent releases.

Track listing

; Note * The hidden tracks "DeCuervo's Revenge" and "If We Play Cards" appear at the end of the song "Leave Me Alone".

Personnel

Credits adapted from liner notes.Mint Condition - Life's Aquarium. Elektra Entertainment Group, Inc. 7559-62353-2 * Stokley Williams - lead and background vocals, bass synth,

drums A drum kit (also called a drum set, trap set, or simply drums) is a collection of drums, cymbals, and other Percussion instrument, auxiliary percussion instruments set up to be played by one person. The player (drummer) typically holds a pair o ...

, keyboards, guitar, bass * Keri Lewis -

piano The piano is a stringed keyboard instrument in which the strings are struck by wooden hammers that are coated with a softer material (modern hammers are covered with dense wool felt; some early pianos used leather). It is played using a keyboa ...

, keyboards,

guitar The guitar is a fretted musical instrument that typically has six strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming or plucking the strings with the dominant hand, while simultaneously pressing selected stri ...

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 mus ...

, moog keyboard, background vocals * O'Dell - drum programming, keyboards, guitar, background vocals * Lawrence El - keyboards,

fender rhodes The Rhodes piano (also known as the Fender Rhodes piano) is an electric piano invented by Harold Rhodes, which became popular in the 1970s. Like a conventional piano, the Rhodes generates sound with keys and hammers, but instead of strings, th ...

, accordion, background vocals * Jeffrey Allen - saxophone, fender rhodes, keyboards, background vocals * Ricky Kinchen -

bass Bass or Basses may refer to: Fish * Bass (fish), various saltwater and freshwater species Music * Bass (sound), describing low-frequency sound or one of several instruments in the bass range: ** Bass (instrument), including: ** Acoustic bass gui ...

, background vocals * Chris "Daddy" Dave - drums * Dei Dei Dionne, Esther Godinez - additional vocals * Clare Fischer - string arrangement *

Prince Charles Alexander Charles Alexander (born April 2, 1958), known professionally as Prince Charles Alexander, is an American record producer and audio engineer. He received a Grammy for Best Contemporary Soul Gospel Album in 2003. Background Alexander was born in B ...

- record engineering * Jeff “Madjef” Taylor - record engineering * Xavier Smith - record engineering *

Tony Maserati Tony Maserati is an American record producer and audio engineer specializing in mixing. He was involved in the development of the New York R&B and hip-hop scene in the 1990s, working with Mary J. Blige, Notorious B.I.G., Puff Daddy, and Queen ...

- mixing * Steve Hodge - mixing * Prince Charles Alexander - mixing * Jeff “Madjef” Taylor - mixing * Warren Riker - mixing * Herb Powers - mastering * Scott Schafer -

photography Photography is the art, application, and practice of creating durable images by recording light, either electronically by means of an image sensor, or chemically by means of a light-sensitive material such as photographic film. It is employed ...

Background

Track listing

Personnel

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

References

Further reading