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The Icon Is Love
Studio album by
Barry White
ReleasedOctober 4, 1994
Recorded1993–1994
StudioRecord One (Sherman Oaks, California)
Flyte Tyme, (Edina, Minnesota)
Genre
Length73:46
LabelA&M/PolyGram Records
540 115
Producer
Barry White chronology
Put Me in Your Mix
(1991) 		The Icon Is Love
(1994) 		Staying Power
(1999)
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusiclink
Cash Box(favorable)[1]
Robert Christgau[2]

The Icon Is Love is the nineteenth studio album by American R&B singer Barry White, which was released on October 4, 1994, on A&M Records. 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, Jack Perry, Tony Nicholas and White's godson Chuckii Booker. 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 and recorded at their Flyte Tyme studios in Minnesota, 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, losing out to TLC's CrazySexyCool.

Commercial performance

The Icon Is Love was White's seventh album to top the US R&B chart, and its peak of #20 on the pop chart 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" was White's biggest since 1977's "It's Ecstasy When You Lay Down Next to Me" on both the R&B and pop charts.

Track listing

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

Singles

Charts

Certifications

Region Certification Certified units/sales
Canada (Music Canada)[12] Gold 50,000^
United States (RIAA)[13] 2× Platinum 2,000,000^

^ Shipments figures based on certification alone.

See also

References

  1. ^ Martinez, M.R. (October 22, 1994). "Urban — Reviews" (PDF). Cash Box. Retrieved March 6, 2022.
  2. ^ Christgau, Robert. "Robert Christgau: CG: Barry White". robertchristgau.com. Retrieved January 7, 2023.
  3. ^ "Results - RPM - Library and Archives Canada". www.collectionscanada.gc.ca. Archived from the original on 2014-10-20.
  4. ^ "Dutchcharts.nl – Barry White – The Icon Is Love" (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved January 22, 2021.
  5. ^ "Offiziellecharts.de – Barry White – The Icon Is Love" (in German). GfK Entertainment Charts. Retrieved January 22, 2021.
  6. ^ "Official Albums Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved January 22, 2021.
  7. ^ "Barry White Chart History (Billboard 200)". Billboard. Retrieved January 22, 2021.
  8. ^ "Barry White Chart History (Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums)". Billboard. Retrieved January 22, 2021.
  9. ^ "Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums – Year-End 1994". Billboard. 2 January 2013. Retrieved January 22, 2021.
  10. ^ "Top Billboard 200 Albums – Year-End 1995". Billboard. 2 January 2013. Retrieved January 22, 2021.
  11. ^ "Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums – Year-End 1995". Billboard. 2 January 2013. Retrieved January 22, 2021.
  12. ^ "Canadian album certifications – Barry White – The Icon Is Love". Music Canada.
  13. ^ "American album certifications – Barry White – The Icon Is Love". Recording Industry Association of America.
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