''Signed Sealed Delivered'' is the fifth studio album by English singer Craig David. It was his first and only album with

Universal Motown Universal Motown Records was an American record label that operated as a division of Universal Motown Republic Group. It was the contemporary incarnation of the legendary Motown Records label, and the "urban" half of UMG, although there were some ...

. It was released on 29 March 2010. The album consists primarily of covers. Two of the album's tracks sample hits from the

Motown Motown Records is an American record label owned by the Universal Music Group. It was founded by Berry Gordy Jr. as Tamla Records on June 7, 1958, and incorporated as Motown Record Corporation on April 14, 1960. Its name, a portmanteau of ''moto ...

era and give them a modern twist, as demonstrated with the first single from the album, "

One More Lie (Standing in the Shadows) "One More Lie (Standing in the Shadows)" is a song by British singer Craig David. It was written by David, Jerry Abbott, Grant Black, and Shridhar Solanki for his fifth studio album '' Signed Sealed Delivered'' (2010), while production was helmed ...

", whose chorus samples

The Four Tops ''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The'' is the m ...

' 1967 Motown classic "Standing in the Shadows of Love". The second is "All Alone Tonight (Stop, Look, Listen)" which samples

Diana Ross Diana Ross (born March 26, 1944) is an American singer and actress. She rose to fame as the lead singer of the vocal group the Supremes, who became Motown's most successful act during the 1960s and one of the world's best-selling girl groups o ...

and Marvin Gaye's version of " Stop, Look, Listen (To Your Heart)". The only original song is the album's last track, "This Could Be Love". ''Signed Sealed Delivered'' entered the

UK Albums Chart The Official Albums Chart is a list of albums ranked by physical and digital sales and (from March 2015) audio streaming in the United Kingdom. It was published for the first time on 22 July 1956 and is compiled every week by the Official Charts C ...

at number 13. As of January 2016, the album had sold 33,779 copies in the United Kingdom.

Background and composition

Craig David's first album with his new label,

, is a collection of

covers and songs with Motown samples, and is David's first album in three years. He covers

Stevie Wonder Stevland Hardaway Morris ( Judkins; May 13, 1950), known professionally as Stevie Wonder, is an American singer-songwriter, who is credited as a pioneer and influence by musicians across a range of genres that include rhythm and blues, Pop musi ...

, Otis Redding and

Marvin Gaye Marvin Pentz Gay Jr., who also spelled his surname as Gaye (April 2, 1939 – April 1, 1984), was an American singer and songwriter. He helped to shape the sound of Motown in the 1960s, first as an in-house session player and later as a solo ar ...

amongst others, and gives these classic songs a modern twist. ''Signed Sealed Delivered'' includes the single "

", an original song that samples

' hit "Standing in the Shadows of Love" in its chorus.

Critical reception

The album received generally negative reviews from music critics. One of the few positive reviews came from ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...

'' critic Carolinne Sullivan, who said that "Craig David's intention, on this Motown-dominated covers album, was to "sing the songs exactly as the original artists had", which he does, reproducing every falsetto and hiccup. The question, though, is why this still-agreeable soul star would want to make a karaoke record. It's a rum way to reignite a career – he needs to recover his mojo as an irresistibly slick R&B songwriter if he plans to return to the top of the charts".

Track listing

Personnel

Credits adapted from album's liner notes. *Jerry Abbott – producer, engineer, guitar, bass, keyboards (all tracks), programming (tracks 1–5, 7–12), handclaps (tracks 2–5, 7, 8, 10–12) *Grant Black – producer (tracks 1–5, 7–12), handclaps (tracks 2–8, 10–12) *Erkan Cetin – handclaps (tracks 2–8, 10–12) * Craig David – vocals (all tracks) *Benjamin Edwards – harmonica (track 6) *LaDonna Harley-Peters – backing vocals (tracks 2, 4, 6, 8, 9, 12) *Sharlene Hector – backing vocals (tracks 2, 4, 6, 8, 9, 12) *Wayne Hernandez – backing vocals (tracks 10, 11) *

Bob Ludwig Robert C. Ludwig (born c. 1945) is an American mastering engineer. He has mastered recordings on all the major recording formats for all the major record labels, and on projects by more than 1,300 artists including Led Zeppelin, Lou Reed, Qu ...

– mastering (all tracks) * Ali Tennant – backing vocals (tracks 6, 9) * Gay-Yee Westerhoff – whistle (track 7) *Jeremy Wheatley – mixing (all tracks)

Charts

References

{{Authority control 2010 albums Craig David albums Motown cover albums