''Mission to Please'' is the 27th studio

album An album is a collection of audio recordings issued on compact disc (CD), Phonograph record, vinyl, audio tape, or another medium such as Digital distribution#Music, digital distribution. Albums of recorded sound were developed in the early ...

The Isley Brothers The Isley Brothers ( ) are an American musical group originally from Cincinnati, Ohio, that began as a vocal trio consisting of brothers O'Kelly Isley Jr., Rudolph Isley and Ronald Isley in the 1950s. With a career spanning over seven decades, ...

, released on May 14, 1996, on

Island Records Island Records is a multinational record label owned by Universal Music Group. It was founded in 1959 by Chris Blackwell, Graeme Goodall, and Leslie Kong in Jamaica, and was eventually sold to PolyGram in 1989. Island and A&M Records, anoth ...

. It was a return to commercial glory for the group in the years following their

platinum Platinum is a chemical element with the symbol Pt and atomic number 78. It is a dense, malleable, ductile, highly unreactive, precious, silverish-white transition metal. Its name originates from Spanish , a diminutive of "silver". Platinu ...

-certified album '' Between the Sheets'' (1983). Mission to Please also went platinum based on the strength of the charted singles "

Let's Lay Together "Let's Lay Together" is a single by R&B group, The Isley Brothers, released on March 19, 1996 for the soundtrack to the 1996 motion picture ''Don't Be a Menace to South Central While Drinking Your Juice in the Hood'' as well as the group's 27th al ...

," a new duet with

R. Kelly Robert Sylvester Kelly (born January 8, 1967) is an American singer, songwriter, record producer, and sex offender convicted of racketeering and multiple sex offenses. During his recording career, Kelly sold over 75 million records worldwid ...

after the success of " Down Low (Nobody Has to Know)" (1995); the

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 ...

-composed ballad "Tears"; "Floatin' on Your Love," featuring

Angela Winbush Angela Lisa Winbush (born January 18, 1955) is an American R&B/soul singer-songwriter, musician and record producer who rose to fame first in the 1980s R&B duo René & Angela, also scoring hits as a solo artist. To date, Winbush has sold over ...

(Ronald Isley and she were married from 1993 to 2002); and the mid-'90s quiet-storm radio staple "Mission to Please You." Some of the album's success was due to Ronald Isley cultivating a new image as the character of "Mr. Biggs" in a series of R. Kelly videos, starting with "Down Low," helping to introduce the music of the Isley Brothers to a new generation of R&B fans. ''Mission to Please'' is the last Isley Brothers album to feature youngest brother

Marvin Isley Marvin Isley (August 18, 1953 – June 6, 2010)
– accessed June 2010 was the youngest member of the family music grou ...

, who left the group in 1997 because of complications from diabetes; he died on June 6, 2010. ''Mission to Please'' also helped relaunch the Isley Brothers' label,

T-Neck Records T-Neck Records was a record label founded by members of the R&B/soul group The Isley Brothers in 1964, which became notable for distributing the first nationally-released recordings of Jimi Hendrix, their guitarist, and which later became a su ...

Track listing

#"Floatin' On Your Love" (Featuring Angela Winbush) ( Reggie Griffin, Ronald Isley,

) – 4:09 #"Whenever You're Ready" (Griffin, Isley, Winbush) – 4:50 #"

" (R. Kelly) – 4:32 #"Tears" (

) – 4:45 #"Can I Have a Kiss (For Old Time's Sake)?" (Kelly, Winbush) – 4:46 #"Mission to Please You" (Isley, Kelly, Winbush) – 4:27 #"

Holding Back the Years "Holding Back the Years" is a song by British soul and pop band Simply Red, released as the third single from their debut studio album, ''Picture Book'' (1985). It reached number one on the US ''Billboard'' Hot 100 and number two on the UK Sin ...

" (

Mick Hucknall Michael James Hucknall (born 8 June 1960) is an English singer and songwriter. Hucknall achieved international fame in the 1980s as the lead singer and songwriter of the soul-influenced pop band Simply Red, with whom he enjoyed a 25-year career ...

, Neil Moss) – 5:30 #"Make Your Body Sing" (Griffin, Isley, Winbush) – 4:06 #"Let's Get Intimate" (

Ernie Isley Ernest Isley (born March 7, 1952) is an American musician, best known as a member of the musical ensemble The Isley Brothers, and also the splinter group Isley-Jasper-Isley. Biography Ernie was born in Cincinnati, where his older brothers for ...

, R. Isley, Winbush) – 5:57 #"Slow Is the Way" (Emanuel Officer,

Keith Sweat Keith Sweat (born July 22, 1961) is an American singer, songwriter, record producer, and an early figure in the new jack swing musical movement. He is known for his collection of hits including "I Want Her", " Make It Last Forever", "I'll Give A ...

) – 4:55

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Certifications

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Mission To Please 1996 albums The Isley Brothers albums Albums produced by Angela Winbush Albums produced by R. Kelly Albums produced by Ronald Isley