''The Comfort Zone'' is the second studio album by American singer and actress

Vanessa Williams Vanessa Lynn Williams (born March 18, 1963) is an American singer, actress, and fashion designer. She gained recognition as the first African-American woman to receive the Miss America title when she was crowned Miss America 1984. She resigne ...

, released on August 20, 1991, by

Mercury Mercury commonly refers to: * Mercury (planet), the nearest planet to the Sun * Mercury (element), a metallic chemical element with the symbol Hg * Mercury (mythology), a Roman god Mercury or The Mercury may also refer to: Companies * Merc ...

's Wing Records Label.

Singles

The first single from the album was "

Running Back to You "Running Back to You" is the lead single from American singer and actress Vanessa Williams' second studio album, '' The Comfort Zone'' (1991). It features samples from The J.B.'s " The Grunt" (1970) and John Davis and the Monster Orchestra's "I ...

", an uptempo song that peaked at number one on the ''Billboard''

Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs 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 ...

chart and number 18 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 chart. " The Comfort Zone", the second single, peaked at number 62 on the Hot 100 and number two on the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart. " Save the Best for Last" reached number one on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 for five consecutive weeks. "Just for Tonight" was the fourth single from the album, reaching number 26 on the Hot 100, followed by "

Work to Do "Work to Do" is a 1972 funk song by the Isley Brothers, released on their T-Neck imprint. The song, written and produced by the group, was issued on their 1972 album, '' Brother, Brother, Brother'', and charted at #51 pop and #11 R&B upon its ...

", which achieved moderate success.

Critical reception

The album was nominated for five

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 ...

Best R&B Vocal Performance, Female The Grammy Award for Best Female R&B Vocal Performance (previously called Best Rhythm and Blues Solo Vocal Performance, Female) was an honor presented at the Grammy Awards, a ceremony established in 1958 and originally called the Gramophone Award ...

for "Runnin' Back to You" in 1992;

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

Record of the Year The Grammy Award for Record of the Year is presented by the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences of the United States to "honor artistic achievement, technical proficiency and overall excellence in the recording industry, without reg ...

and " Song of the Year" for "Save the Best for Last" and

for "The Comfort Zone" in 1993.

Commercial performance

The album peaked at number 17 on the US ''Billboard'' 200 and reached number one on the ''Billboard''

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 ...

chart. In the United Kingdom, it peaked at number 24 upon its release in April 1992 before quickly falling out of the top 50. The album has since been certified triple platinum 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 gold by the

Canadian Recording Industry Association Music Canada (formerly Canadian Recording Industry Association (CRIA)) is a non-profit trade organization that was founded 9 April 1963 to represent the interests of companies that record, manufacture, produce, and distribute music in Canada. It a ...

(CRIA).

Track listing

The tracks "Work to Do" and "What Will I Tell My Heart?" both appeared in the film ''

Harley Davidson and the Marlboro Man ''Harley Davidson and the Marlboro Man'' is a 1991 American neo-Western biker film starring Mickey Rourke and Don Johnson, with a supporting cast including Chelsea Field, Tom Sizemore, Daniel Baldwin, Giancarlo Esposito, and Vanessa Williams w ...

''; the latter also appeared on the film's soundtrack album.

Personnel

Musicians

*DJ L.A. Jay, Dr. Jam, Mark Hammond,

Harvey Mason Sr. Harvey William Mason (born February 22, 1947) is an American jazz drummer, record producer, and member of the band Fourplay. Mason, who attended Berklee in the 1960s, received an Honorary Doctorate at Berklee's 2015 Commencement Ceremony fo ...

- drums *Dave Darlington, DJ L.A. Jay, Trevor Gale, Kenni Hairston, Mark Hammond, Reggie Stewart, Keith Thomas - drum programming *D.J. LA Jay, Bob Rosa, Rob Von Arx - "beats" *Phase 5, Bob Rosa, Rob Von Arx - samples *Greg Arnold, Derek Bramble, Merv DePyere, DJ L.A. Jay, Dr. Jam, David Frank, Trevor Gale, Kenni Hairston,

Fred McFarlane Frederick Craig McFarlane (November 14, 1959 – September 3, 2016) was an American R&B songwriter, record producer and multi-instrumentalist. McFarlane's career as a songwriter and producer spanned more than 30 years. He wrote or co-wrote a nu ...

, Monty Seward, Keith Thomas - keyboards *Jorgen Kaufma,

Brian McKnight Brian Kelly McKnight (born June 5, 1969) is an American singer, songwriter, actor, record producer, radio host and multi-instrumentalist. He is most recognized for his strong head voice, high belting range and melisma. McKnight is known for h ...

Randy Waldman Randy Waldman (born September 8, 1955, Chicago, Illinois, United States) is an American pianist, arranger, composer, and conductor. In 2019, Waldman's arrangement of the " Spider-Man Theme" on his ''Superheroes'' album garnered the Grammy Award f ...

- piano *

Stanley Clarke Stanley Clarke (born June 30, 1951) is an American bassist, film composer and founding member of Return to Forever, one of the first jazz fusion bands. Clarke gave the bass guitar a prominence it lacked in jazz-related music. He is the first jaz ...

, Cornelius Mims,

Jimmie Lee Sloas Jimmie Lee Sloas is an American session musician, producer, and songwriter, who plays bass guitar. History Jimmie Lee Sloas, born in Ashland, Kentucky, grew up in Fairborn, Ohio and Isonville, Kentucky. His father, Dave, was a member of the p ...

, Keith Thomas - bass *David Frank - synthesized bass *

Dann Huff Dann Lee Huff (born November 15, 1960) is an American record producer and songwriter. For his work as a producer in the country music genre, he has won several awards, including the ''Musician of the Year'' award in 2001, 2004, and 2016 at the Co ...

Paul Jackson, Jr. Paul Milton Jackson Jr. (born December 30, 1959) is an American fusion/urban jazz composer, arranger, producer and guitarist. He was born and raised in Los Angeles. Jackson knew by the age of fifteen that he wanted to become a professional musi ...

, Jerry McPherson,

Wah Wah Watson Melvin M. Ragin (December 8, 1950 – October 24, 2018), known professionally as "Wah Wah Watson", was an American guitarist who was a member of The Funk Brothers, the studio band for Motown Records. Career A native of Richmond, Virginia, Melvi ...

- guitar *Jerry McPherson - mandolin *

Gerald Albright Gerald Albright is an American jazz saxophonist. He earned Grammys for 24/7 in 2012 and Slam Dunk in 2014 and has been nominated for New Beginnings in 2008 and for Sax for Stax in 2009. Biography Born in Los Angeles, Albright grew up in its ...

Pete Christlieb Pete Christlieb (born February 16, 1945) is an American jazz bebop, West Coast jazz and hard bop tenor saxophonist. Biography Christlieb was born in Los Angeles, California, United States, and is the son of bassoonist Don Christlieb. Christlieb ...

, Mark Douthit, Thomas Haas, Scott Mayo - saxophone *Fernando Pullum - trumpet *Duane Benjamin - trombone *

Hubert Laws Hubert Laws (born November 10, 1939) is an American flutist and saxophonist with a career spanning over 40 years in jazz, classical, and other music genres. Laws is one of the few classical artists who has also mastered jazz, pop, and rhythm- ...

- flute *The Nashville String Machine - strings *Horns arranged by Scott Mayo *Strings arranged by Keith Thomas *Debbie Cole, Dres, Lori Fulton, Vicki Hampton, Kipper Jones, Valerie Mayo, Donna McElroy, Rick Nelson,

Tata Vega Tata or TATA may refer to: Places * Jamshedpur, a city in Jharkhand, India also known as Tatanagar or Tata * Tata, Hungary, a town in Hungary * Tata Islands, a pair of small islands off the coast of New Zealand * Tata, Morocco, a city in Tata ...

- backing vocals *Vocals arranged by Gerry Brown, Kipper Jones, Brian McKnight, Mark Stevens, Keith Thomas and Vanessa Williams

Technical

*Produced by Vanessa Williams (also executive), Ed Eckstine (executive), Keith Thomas, Brian McKnight, Kenni Hairston, Derek Bramble,

Gerry Brown Gerry “The Gov.” Brown is a recording engineer, mixer and music producer based in Los Angeles, best known for his work with artists including Whitney Houston, John Legend, Earth, Wind & Fire, Madonna, Sting, Prince, Phil Collins, Marcu ...

, Bruce Carbone, Dave Darlington, DJ L.A. Jay, Kipper Jones, Phase 5, Mark Stevens and Reggie Stewart *Engineers – Derek Bramble, Claude Demers, Joe Schiff, Will Schillinger, Allen Sides, Kieran Walsh, Matt Wells,

*Assistant engineers – Steve Charles, Foley, Roy Gamble, Marty Lester, Todd Moore, Gary Paczosa, Mike Piersante, Brian Soucey *Mixing –

, Bruce Carbone, Dave Darlington,

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 ...

, Bill Whittington, Vanessa L. Williams *Mix assistants – Jeff Gledt, John Kunz, John David Parker, Brian Soucey *Mastering – Herb Powers

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Certifications

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References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Comfort Zone, The 1991 albums Albums produced by Brian McKnight Mercury Records albums New jack swing albums Vanessa Williams albums Wing Records albums