''The Icon Is Love'' is the nineteenth studio album by American R&B singer

Barry White Barry Eugene Carter (September 12, 1944 – July 4, 2003), better known by his stage name Barry White, was an American singer and songwriter. A two-time Grammy Award winner known for his bass voice and romantic image, his greatest success came ...

, which was released on October 4, 1994 on

A&M Records A&M Records was an American record label founded as an independent company by Herb Alpert and Jerry Moss in 1962. Due to the success of the discography A&M released, the label garnered interest and was acquired by PolyGram in 1989 and began distr ...

. The album represented a major comeback for White both critically and commercially, and went on to become easily his most successful album since his 1970s heyday.

Composition

Production credits on the album were mainly shared by White variously with

Gerald Levert Gerald Edward Levert (July 13, 1966 – November 10, 2006) was an American singer-songwriter and producer. Levert was best known for singing with his brother, Sean Levert, and friend Marc Gordon of the vocal group LeVert. Levert was also a ...

, Jack Perry, Tony Nicholas and White's godson

Chuckii Booker Eugene Allen Booker, Jr. (born December 19, 1962), known professionally as Chuckii Booker, is an American producer, singer, songwriter, multi-instrumentalist and bandleader. Biography Booker emerged in the late 1980s as a prominent urban conte ...

. ''The Icon Is Love'' also includes two tracks ("I Only Want to Be with You" and "Come On") produced by

Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis James Samuel "Jimmy Jam" Harris III (born June 6, 1959) and Terry Steven Lewis (born November 24, 1956) are an American R&B/pop songwriting and record production team. They have enjoyed great success since the 1980s with various artists, most ...

and recorded at their Flyte Tyme studios in

Minnesota Minnesota () is a state in the upper midwestern region of the United States. It is the 12th largest U.S. state in area and the 22nd most populous, with over 5.75 million residents. Minnesota is home to western prairies, now given over to ...

, which are the only tracks ever recorded by White on which he does not have at least a co-production credit. The album contains a remix of "Super Lover", from White's 1989 album '' The Man Is Back!'' as a bonus track.

Critical reception

''The Icon Is Love'' was the first White album since the 1970s to garner almost universal critical acclaim in terms both of the quality of the material and its contemporary production standards and sound. The album won the 1995 Soul Train Music Award for Best R&B/Soul Album, Male, and in 1996 was nominated for a Grammy Award in the category

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 ...

, losing out to

TLC TLC may refer to: Arts and entertainment Television * ''TLC'' (TV series), a 2002 British situational comedy television series that aired on BBC2 * TLC (TV network), formerly the Learning Channel, an American cable TV network ** TLC (Asia), an A ...

's ''

CrazySexyCool ''CrazySexyCool'' is the second studio album by American girl group TLC, released on November 15, 1994, by LaFace and Arista Records. Following the group's record deal, they released their debut album '' Ooooooohhh... On the TLC Tip'' in 1992 ...

''.

Commercial performance

''The Icon Is Love'' was White's seventh album to top the US

R&B chart The Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart ranks the most popular R&B and hip hop songs in the United States and is published weekly by ''Billboard''. Rankings are based on a measure of radio airplay, sales data, and streaming activity. The chart had 100 p ...

, and its peak of #20 on the

pop chart A record chart, in the music industry, also called a music chart, is a ranking of recorded music according to certain criteria during a given period. Many different criteria are used in worldwide charts, often in combination. These include re ...

his highest placing there since 1977. It was also the first White album in 16 years to reach the UK top 50. Likewise, lead single "

Practice What You Preach ''Practice What You Preach'' is the third studio album by American thrash metal band Testament, released in August 1989 via Atlantic/ Megaforce. Propelled by the singles "Greenhouse Effect", "The Ballad" and the title track " Practice What You ...

" was White's biggest since 1977's "

It's Ecstasy When You Lay Down Next to Me "It's Ecstasy When You Lay Down Next to Me" is a hit song by American singer Barry White. The song was written by Ekundayo Paris and Nelson Pigford, and arranged by Barry White. Chart performance Released from his album '' Barry White Sings for ...

" on both the R&B and pop charts.

Track listing

# "

" (Barry White,

, Edwin Nicholas) – 5:59 # "There It Is" (White, Levert, Nicholas) – 7:03 # "I Only Want to Be With You" ( James Harris III, Terry Lewis, White) – 5:01 # "The Time Is Right" (White, Chuckii Booker) – 5:46 # "Baby's Home" (Barry Eastmond, Gary Brown, Jolyon Skinner) – 8:17 # "Come On" (Harris, Lewis, White, James Wright) – 5:50 # "Love Is the Icon" (White, Jack Perry) – 4:38 # "Sexy Undercover" (White, Booker) – 4:51 # "Don't You Want to Know?" (White, Michael Lovesmith) – 6:51 # "Whatever We Had, We Had" (White, Lovesmith) – 10:41 # "Super Lover (Undercover Mix)" (White, Perry, William Jones) – 5:49

Singles

* "Practice What You Preach" ( US Pop #18,

US R&B The Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart ranks the most popular R&B and hip hop songs in the United States and is published weekly by ''Billboard''. Rankings are based on a measure of radio airplay, sales data, and streaming activity. The chart had 100 p ...

#1, UK #20) *"Love Is the Icon" (US R&B #43) * "Come On" (US Pop #87, US R&B #12) * "I Only Want to Be with You" (UK #36) * "There It Is" (US R&B #54)

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Certifications

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Icon Is Love, The Barry White albums 1994 albums A&M Records albums