''Ready to Fly'' is the only studio album by German-American singer

Melanie Thornton Melanie Janene Thornton (May 13, 1967 – November 24, 2001) was an German-American pop and dance music singer. She was the lead singer of the Eurodance group La Bouche from 1994 to 2000, alongside American rapper Lane McCray. Their two most su ...

. It was released by

X-Cell Records Epic Records is an American record label owned by Sony Music Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Corporation of America, the North American division of Japanese conglomerate Sony. The label was founded predominantly as a jazz and classical mu ...

on May 7, 2001 in

German-speaking Europe This article details the geographical distribution of speakers of the German language, regardless of the legislative status within the countries where it is spoken. In addition to the German-speaking area (german: Deutscher Sprachraum) in Europe, ...

after Thornton's departure as the lead vocalist of the

Eurodance Euro-Dance (sometimes referred to as Euro-NRG, Euro-electronica or Euro) is a genre of electronic dance music that originated in the late 1980s in Europe. It combines many elements of hip hop, techno, Hi-NRG, house music, and Euro-Disco. This ...

electronic music duo

La Bouche La Bouche (French for "The Mouth", ) is a Germany, German-America, American Eurodance, Euro-Dance duo best known for the hits "Be My Lover (La Bouche song), Be My Lover", "Sweet Dreams (La Bouche song), Sweet Dreams", "You Won't Forget Me (song), ...

. Taking her solo work further into the

soul pop Pop music is a genre of popular music that originated in its modern form during the mid-1950s in the United States and the United Kingdom. The terms ''popular music'' and ''pop music'' are often used interchangeably, although the former describes a ...

and

dance pop Dance-pop is a popular music subgenre that originated in the late 1970s to early 1980s. It is generally uptempo music intended for nightclubs with the intention of being danceable but also suitable for contemporary hit radio. Developing from a ...

genres, Thornton worked with chief producers Mitchell Lennox and Julien Nairolf on the album, on which she co-wrote six tracks. Other collaborators include Todd Chisolm, Jay Tee Rogers, Martin Mayer, Rob Tyger, Raúl de Chile, and Bobby Stalker. Upon its original release, ''Ready to Fly'' was a lukewarm commercial success, debuting at number 18 on the

German Albums Chart The GfK Entertainment charts are the official music charts in Germany and are gathered and published by GfK Entertainment (formerly Media Control and Media Control GfK International), a subsidiary of GfK, on behalf of Bundesverband Musikindust ...

. Following Thornton's death in the crash of Swiss airline's

Crossair Flight 3597 Crossair Flight 3597 was a scheduled flight from Berlin Tegel Airport, Germany, to Zürich Airport, Switzerland. On 24 November 2001, the Crossair Avro RJ100 operating the route, registration crashed into a wooded range of hills near Bassersd ...

Bassersdorf Bassersdorf (High Alemannic: ''Baserschtoorff'') is a municipality in the Swiss canton of Zürich, located in the district of Bülach, and belongs to the Glatt Valley (German: ''Glattal''). History The name, mentioned in 1155 as ''Bazzelstorf' ...

on November 24, 2001, the album re-entered charts, eventually reaching the top five in Germany and Switzerland, where it was certified gold in 2002, pushed by a 2002 re-issue of ''Ready to Fly'' which included her posthumously released hit single " Wonderful Dream (Holidays Are Coming)", a

Coca-Cola Coca-Cola, or Coke, is a carbonated soft drink manufactured by the Coca-Cola Company. Originally marketed as a temperance drink and intended as a patent medicine, it was invented in the late 19th century by John Stith Pemberton in Atlanta ...

Christmas promotional song.

Critical reception

''Ready to Fly'' received generally positive reviews from music critics. ''

Laut.de laut.de is a German online magazine dealing exclusively with entertainment music, especially pop music, rock music, alternative music, alternative, Metal music, metal, hip-hop, jazz and Techno music, techno. It comprises record reviews, intervi ...

'' rated the album four out of five stars and wrote: "Truly tragic that such a promising solo career was brought to an abrupt end. ''Ready to Fly'' could have become a cult pop album in no time at all. At least it has what it takes."

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 databas ...

gave the album two and a half stars out of five.

Track listing

All tracks are produced by Mitchell Lennox and Julien Nairolf; except "Back On My Feet Again," co-produced by Rob Tyger.

Critical reception

Track listing

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Certifications

Release history

References