''Takin' My Time'' is the second studio album by R&B trio
After 7. It peaked at #76 on the
''Billboard'' 200. It was their first album to be released under Virgin Records after being acquired by
EMI Music in 1992. The album is notable for being their first and only album without any songs produced by
L.A. Reid
Antonio Marquis "L.A." Reid (born June 7, 1956) is an American record executive, A&R representative, and record producer. He is the founder and served as co-chairman of Hitco Entertainment. He also previously served as the chairman and CEO of Ep ...
and
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 ...
. Instead, they contribute as writers, with Reid co-writing the songs "Can He Love U Like This" and "G.S.T.", and Babyface writing "Truly Something Special" and "Love By Day/Love By Night". The production was handed over to
Daryl Simmons
Daryl L. Simmons is an American R&B musician, songwriter and record producer, who worked with the production duo of L.A. Reid and Kenneth "Babyface" Edmonds. In 1977–1980 Daryl, with Manchild (band) recorded 2 soul & funk albums & the mino ...
&
Kayo, who co-produced and co-wrote many of the songs on their
self-titled debut.
Other songs on the album were produced by
Jimmy Jam & 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 ...
associate Randy Ran and producer
Dallas Austin
Dallas L. Austin (born December 29, 1970) is an American musician, songwriter, record producer, and film producer.
Biography
Early life
During a 2019 interview with DJ Vlad, Dallas Austin detailed previously unknown or unconfirmed events in ...
, who was fresh off the successes of the debut albums he worked on by
Boyz II Men,
Another Bad Creation and
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 ...
. As a result, this gave ''Takin' My Time'' a decidedly "
new jack swing" sound and feel. Three singles were released from the album; the first was "Kickin' It", followed by a
medley of
The Originals' song "
Baby I'm for Real" and
Bloodstone's "
Natural High". The third single "Can He Love U Like This" featured a music video that was directed by
Charles Stone III
Charles Stone III (born 1966) is an American film director. He is best known for ''Drumline (film), Drumline'' starring Nick Cannon, ''Mr. 3000'' starring Bernie Mac, and ''Paid in Full (2002 film), Paid in Full''.
Stone directed the video to " ...
. The album was certified Gold by the
RIAA.
Track listing
#"All About Love" (Dallas Austin, H. Randall Davis, Michael Weinstein) 4:47
#"Kickin' It" (Dallas Austin, H. Randall Davis, Langston Ell Richey) 4:52
#"Can He Love U Like This" (Daryl Simmons, Antonio "L.A." Reid) 5:19
#"Truly Something Special" (Kenneth "Babyface" Edmonds,
Boaz Watson) 5:01
#"
Baby, I'm for Real/
Natural High" (
Anna Gordy Gaye
Anna Ruby Gaye (née Gordy; January 28, 1922 – January 31, 2014) was an American businesswoman, composer and songwriter. An elder sister of Motown founder Berry Gordy, she became a record executive in the mid-to-late 1950s distributing records ...
,
Marvin Gaye, Charles McCormick) 5:08
#"Takin' My Time" (Interlude) 0:53
#"No Better Love" (Dallas Austin, H. Randall Davis) 4:15
#"Takin' My Time" (H. Randall Davis, Danny Williams) 5:24
#"G.S.T." (Toby Rivers, Kevin Roberson, Daryl Simmons, Antonio "L.A." Reid) 4:55
#"Love By Day, Love By Night" (Daryl Simmons, Kenneth "Babyface" Edmonds, Kevin Roberson) 4:54
#"He Said, She Said" (Dallas Austin, H. Randall Davis, Michael Weinstein) 4:05
#"Takin' My Time" (Reprise) 2:32
Personnel
Credits adapted from liner notes.
[After 7 - Takin' My Time (CD liner notes). Virgin Records America, Inc. 0777 7 86349 2 2]
* Lead and background vocals - After 7
* Drum Programming - Dallas Austin, Daryl Simmons, Randy Ran, L.A. Reid, Donald Parks
* Drums - L.A. Reid
* Keyboards - Dallas Austin, Daryl Simmons, Randy Ran
* Synthesizer - Babyface, Bo Watson, Vance Taylor
*
Synclavier Programming - Donald Parks
*
MIDI
MIDI (; Musical Instrument Digital Interface) is a technical standard that describes a communications protocol, digital interface, and electrical connectors that connect a wide variety of electronic musical instruments, computers, and ...
Programming &
Fairlight Synthesizer - Rick Sheppard
*
Fender Bass Guitar &
Moog Source
The Moog Source is a monophonic Z80 microprocessor-controlled analog synthesizer manufactured by Moog Music from 1981 to 1985. The Source was Moog's first synthesizer to offer patch memory storage. The design was also the first (and only) Moog sy ...
Bass - Kayo
* Violin - Sonya Robinson
* Saxophone -
Kirk Whalum
Kirk is a Scottish and former Northern English word meaning "church". It is often used specifically of the Church of Scotland. Many place names and personal names are also derived from it.
Basic meaning and etymology
As a common noun, ''kirk' ...
* Recording engineer - Darin Prindle, Thom Kidd, Jim Zumpano
* Mixing - Steve Hodge, Barney Perkins, Jim Zumpano, Alan Meyerson, Dallas Austin,
Dave Way
Dave Way is an American producer, mixer and audio engineer based in Los Angeles, California, United States. He has worked with Fiona Apple, Sheryl Crow, Kesha, Pink, Christina Aguilera, Macy Gray, Ringo Starr, Shakira, Phoebe Bridgers, John Doe, Sa ...
* Executive Producer -
Gemma Corfield, After 7
* Photography - Daniela Federici, Louise Obrien, Daniel Schridde
* Art Direction - Mick Haggerty
* Design - Tom Dolan
Charts
Weekly charts
Year-end charts
References
{{Authority control
1992 albums
After 7 albums
Virgin Records albums