''Spellbound'' is the second studio album by American singer

Paula Abdul Paula Julie Abdul (born June 19, 1962) is an American singer, dancer, choreographer, actress, and television personality. She began her career as a cheerleader for the Los Angeles Lakers at the age of 18 and later became the head choreograph ...

, released in May 1991. The album was an international success and spawned major radio hits with the singles "Rush Rush", "The Promise of a New Day", "Blowing Kisses in the Wind", "Vibeology" and "Will You Marry Me?". The album went

triple platinum Music recording certification is a system of certifying that a music recording has shipped, sold, or streamed a certain number of units. The threshold quantity varies by type (such as album, single, music video) and by nation or territory (see ...

in the United States and peaked at No. 1 on the ''Billboard'' 200. ''Spellbound'' won a

Grammy Award The Grammy Awards (stylized as GRAMMY), or simply known as the Grammys, are awards presented by the Recording Academy of the United States to recognize "outstanding" achievements in the music industry. They are regarded by many as the most pres ...

for Best Recording Package. The album art was art directed by Melanie Nissen, designed by Inge Schaap, and lettered by Margo Chase.

Critical reception

In 2003, staff at ''

Slant Magazine ''Slant Magazine'' is an American online publication that features reviews of movies, music, TV, DVDs, theater, and video games, as well as interviews with actors, directors, and musicians. The site covers various film festivals like the New York ...

'' included ''Spellbound'' in its list of "50 Essential Pop Albums".

Commercial performance

The album debuted at number five on the ''Billboard'' 200 in its first week and rose four spots to number one the following week. It stayed at the summit for two consecutive weeks, selling 88,000 and 89,000 units respectively. The album distinguished itself by becoming the lowest selling number-one album in the Nielsen SoundScan era at the time of its release—a distinction it held until 2004, when Outkast's ''

Speakerboxxx/The Love Below ''Speakerboxxx/The Love Below'' is the fifth studio album by American hip hop duo Outkast. It was released on September 23, 2003, by Arista Records. Issued as a double album, its length of over two hours is spread across solo albums from both ...

'' sold 86,000 copies while at number one. This was primarily due to the newly implemented SoundScan tracking system, which had not been implemented into every major music chain, thus sales were not entirely accurate. Nevertheless, the album became a best-seller and emerged as the best selling album for the month of June, spending 16 weeks within the top 10, and was certified three-times platinum by the RIAA in January 1992. Overall, the album spent 70 weeks on the ''Billboard'' 200 chart and was ranked as the 18th best-seller of the year.

Track listing

Notes * denotes a song mixed using

QSound QSound is the original name for a positional three-dimensional (3D) sound processing algorithm from QSound Labs that creates 3D audio effects from multiple monophonic sources and sums the outputs to two channels for presentation over regular ster ...

Production

*Produced by Peter Lord, Paisley Park, V. Jeffrey Smith, Jorge Corante and Don Was *Engineers: Wolfgang Aichholz,

Ed Cherney Edward Cherney (1950 – October 22, 2019) was an American recording engineer and record producer, based in Los Angeles, California, United States. Over his career, he earned four Grammy awards, one Emmy Award, and five TEC Awards. Cherney was a ...

, Don Feinerg, Arne Frager, Rod Hull, Michael Koppelman, Greg Laney, Dave Pensado

Personnel

*Paula Abdul - lead vocals, Synclavier II *Sweet Pea Atkinson, Sir Harry Bowens, Sally Dworsky, Colin England,

The Family Stand The Family Stand is an American soul and R&B group based in New York City, active since the late 1980s, consisting of Sandra St. Victor, Peter Lord Moreland, and V. Jeffrey Smith. Evon Geffries & The Stand Their first incarnation was called ...

, Peter Lord,

Arnold McCuller Arnold McCuller (born August 26, 1950) is an American vocalist, songwriter, and record producer, born and raised in Cleveland, Ohio. He was active as a solo artist and session musician, but is perhaps best known for his work as a touring back- ...

Sandra St. Victor Sandra Kay Matthews, known professionally as Sandra St. Victor, is a Dallas-born singer-songwriter most known for her work as lead singer of The Family Stand and their international hit single "Ghetto Heaven". She attended the now famous Booke ...

- backing vocals * Mike Campbell,

Mark Goldenberg Mark Goldenberg (born April 10, 1952) is an American guitarist and songwriter, noted for his session work and composition of successful songs for Linda Ronstadt, the Pointer Sisters, and others. Biography Early career Raised in Chicago, Illin ...

, Randy Jacobs, Clifford Moonie Pusey, V. Jeffrey Smith - guitar *Jorge Corante, Tom Hammer, Peter Lord,

Ivan Neville Ivan Neville (born August 19, 1959) is an American multi-instrumentalist musician, singer, and songwriter. He is the son of Aaron Neville and nephew to members of The Neville Brothers. Career He has released four solo (music), solo albums and ha ...

, V. Jeffrey Smith - keyboards *

Jamie Muhoberac Benjamin Edward "Jamie" Muhoberac is an American session keyboardist with numerous credits. He is best known for his work with Seal and Was (Not Was). Biography Muhoberac has worked with acts including The All-American Rejects, Fleetwood Mac, Bob ...

- organ *

Tim Drummond Timothy Lee Drummond (20 April 1940 – 10 January 2015) was an American musician from Canton, Illinois. Drummond's primary instrument was bass guitar and he toured and recorded with many notable artists, including Conway Twitty, Bob Dylan, James ...

- bass *

Curt Bisquera Curt "Kirkee B." Bisquera is an American drummer known for his extensive work as a touring and session musician. Biography Bisquera has worked with Johnny Cash, Josh Groban, Mick Jagger, Seal, Sarah McLachlan, Elton John, Johnny Hallyday an ...

, Rocky Bryant - drums * Paulinho Da Costa - percussion * Greg Adams - trumpet *

Steve Grove ''yes'Steve is a masculine given name, usually a short form (hypocorism) of Steven or Stephen Notable people with the name include: steve jops * Steve Abbott (disambiguation), several people * Steve Adams (disambiguation), several people * Steve ...

- tenor saxophone *

Stephen Kupka Tower of Power is an American R&B and funk based band and horn section, originating in Oakland, California, that has been performing since 1968. There have been a number of lead vocalists, the best-known being Lenny Williams, who fronted the ...

- baritone saxophone *

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 ...

- harmonica * Stuart Canin - violin *Billy Heaslip - lighting director *Robert Lobetta - photography

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Certifications

References

{{Authority control 1991 albums Paula Abdul albums Virgin Records albums New jack swing albums Hip hop soul albums Albums produced by Don Was Albums produced by Prince (musician) Albums recorded at Greene St. Recording Albums recorded at Sunset Sound Recorders