''The Day'' is the fourth studio album by American R&B singer

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 ...

. It was released by

Epic Records Epic Records is an American record label owned by Sony Music Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Corporation of America Sony Corporation of America (SONAM, also known as SCA), is the American arm of the Japanese conglomerate Sony Group ...

on October 22, 1996, in the United States. The album peaked at number 6 on the US ''Billboard'' 200 and number 4 on the

Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums is a music chart published weekly by '' Billboard'' magazine that ranks R&B and hip hop albums based on sales in the United States and is compiled by Nielsen SoundScan. The chart debuted as Hot R&B LPs in the issue dated J ...

, also reaching the top ten on the

Dutch Albums Chart The Dutch Album Top 100 or Album Top 100 is a weekly hit list of music albums, compiled by Dutch Charts. List shows the 100 best-selling music albums of the moment in the Netherlands. The list has passed through various name changes and has expande ...

. ''The Day'' was certified

double 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 ...

by the

Recording Industry Association of America The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) is a trade organization that represents the music recording industry in the United States. Its members consist of record labels and distributors that the RIAA says "create, manufacture, and/o ...

(RIAA), and received

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 ...

nominations for

Album of the Year Album of the Year, often abbreviated to AOTY, may refer to: Awards * ARIA Award for Album of the Year, Australia * Brit Award for British Album of the Year, UK * Grammy Award for Album of the Year, US * Juno Award for Album of the Year, CA * Lati ...

and

Best R&B Album The Grammy Award for Best R&B Album is an honor presented at the Grammy Awards, a ceremony that was established in 1958 and originally called the Gramophone Awards, to recording artists for quality works on albums in the R&B music genre. Honors ...

respectively. From the album, the track "

Every Time I Close My Eyes "Every Time I Close My Eyes" is a song written, produced and performed by American musician Babyface. It was released as the second single from his fourth album, ''The Day'' (1996). Mariah Carey performs the backing vocals, after Babyface did the ...

" was nominated for

Best Male Pop Vocal Performance The Grammy Award for Best Male Pop Vocal Performance was a Grammy Award recognizing superior vocal performance by a male in the pop category, the first of which was presented in 1959. It was discontinued after the 2011 Grammy season. The award wen ...

. A duet with

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 ...

, titled "

How Come, How Long "How Come, How Long" is a song written, produced and performed by Babyface (Kenneth Edmonds). It was released as the third single from his fourth album, ''The Day'' (1996). It is a duet with American singer-songwriter Stevie Wonder. The lyrics d ...

", was also Grammy nominated for

Best Pop Collaboration with Vocals The Grammy Award for Best Pop Collaboration with Vocals was an honor presented at the Grammy Awards, a ceremony that was established in 1958 and originally called the Gramophone Awards, to recording artists for quality pop songs on which singers c ...

. Additionally, the singles "

This Is for the Lover in You "This Is for the Lover in You" is a song written by Howard Hewett, member of the trio Shalamar, and songwriter Dana Meyers. The track was originally recorded by Shalamar and appeared on their 1980 Platinum album, '' Three for Love''. The song wa ...

" and "Every Time I Close My Eyes" both reached number 6 on the US ''Billboard'' Hot 100.

Critical reception

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 ...

editor Leo Stanley found that ''The Day'' "confirms his skill for subtle, inventive songwriting and accessible, polished yet soulful production ..He is still compelling – his voice is as smooth as silk, and nearly as seductive – but it doesn't quite have the force of personality as his greatest productions. Nevertheless, ''The Day'' qualifies as state-of-the-art mid-'90s soul, featuring a handful of terrific songs, and a lot of extremely pleasurable filler." David Browne from ''

Entertainment Weekly ''Entertainment Weekly'' (sometimes abbreviated as ''EW'') is an American digital-only entertainment magazine based in New York City, published by Dotdash Meredith, that covers film, television, music, Broadway theatre, books, and popular cul ...

'' wrote that on the album, Babyface "immerses himself in the same hot-tub soul he's applied to everyone from

Toni Braxton Toni Michele Braxton (born October 7, 1967) is an American Contemporary R&B, R&B singer, songwriter, actress and television personality. She has sold over 70 million records worldwide and is one of the best-selling female artists in history. ...

Eric Clapton Eric Patrick Clapton (born 1945) is an English rock and blues guitarist, singer, and songwriter. He is often regarded as one of the most successful and influential guitarists in rock music. Clapton ranked second in ''Rolling Stone''s list of ...

. All the Babyface trademarks — the crisp, unobtrusive percussion, the silky guitars, the harmonies that blanket the melodies like a quilt — are laid out like a three-piece suit. But more so than any previous album he’s made, ''The Day'' is chockful of luscious, gently persuasive songs, from doe-eyed testimonials to his devotion to misty childhood reminiscences.

Track listing

Notes * denotes a co-producer * denotes an additional producer

Personnel

Credits adapted from the album's liner notes. * Engineered by Brad Gilderman and Thom Russo * Mixed by Jon Gass,

Mick Guzauski Nathan "Mick" Guzauski is an American multi-platinum mixing engineer and sound engineer. His work spans a wide range of styles, including jazz, R&B, Latin, rock, pop, easy listening, funk and hip hop. He won a 2002 Latin Grammy for Thalía's ...

and Bob Brockmann * Strings on "The Day" engineered by

Humberto Gatica Humberto Gatica is a Chilean-born American recording engineer, mixing engineer and record producer, best known for his work with Celine Dion, Chicago, Michael Jackson, Barbra Streisand, Andrea Bocelli, Josh Groban and Michael Bublé. Gatica's inter ...

* Background vocals on "

" engineered by Mike Scott * Mastered by Eddy Schreyer at Oasis Mastering * MIDI Programmer: Randy Walker * Production coordinator: Ivy Skoff * Art direction: Bennet/Novak and company * Design: Vincent Oto * Booklet and Spike Photography:

Anton Corbijn Anton Johannes Gerrit Corbijn van Willenswaard (; born 20 May 1955) is a Dutch photographer, film director and music video director. He is the creative director behind the visual output of Depeche Mode and U2,Pitman, Joanna"The silent partner"' ...

* Cover photography: Beisig and Taylor * Styling: Bernard C. Jacobs * Grooming: Melvonne * Hair: Tim Carter

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Certifications

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Day, The Babyface (musician) albums 1996 albums Albums produced by Babyface (musician)