A Woman Falling Out of Love is the thirty-seventh studio album by American singer Aretha Franklin. It was released by Franklin's own label Aretha's Records on May 3, 2011 in the United States. Sold exclusively through US retailer Walmart until June 3, it marked the singer's debut with her label following her departure from Arista Records and the release of the Christmas albumThis Christmas (2008). Featuring modern standards and familiar classics as well as guest vocalists Ronald Isley, Eddie Franklin, and Karen Clark-Sheard, Franklin produced most of the material herself.
Upon release, the album received a mixed reception by critics, many of whom praised Franklin's ambitions but found the sound of A Woman Falling Out of Love too generic and dated. With little promotion, the project debuted and peaked at number 54 on the US Billboard 200 album chart and dropped off the chart two weeks later. It also reached number 15 on the US Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums. The lead single, opening track "How Long I've Waited", peaked at number 91 on Billboard's R&B chart. A Woman Falling Out of Love would remain Franklin's sole release with Aretha's Records.
Though Clive Davis wanted her to stay with the label – following Arista's merger with the RCA Music Group of which he had become CEO – Franklin and him could not come to terms "on what things should be," leading to her departure.[5] While she spoke with several other record companies, Franklin eventually decided to found her own independent record label, Aretha's Records, to release further music on it.[5] Recording of A Woman Falling Out of Love began in 2006 and saw her working with producers Michael Powell and singers Shirley Caesar and Faith Hill.[6] Initially expected to be released in the first quarter of 2007,[6] its release was postponed and some early material, including Franklin's duets with Caesar and Hill as well as the title track and collaborations with Troy Taylor and Gordon Chambers,[7] eventually omitted in favor of newer songs that were recorded between 2007 and 2010, "off and on between concerts, between commercials."[5]
Evelyn McDonnell from The Los Angeles Times wrote that "Never one for restraint, [Franklin] piles on the strings and keyboards, matching her multi-octave melismas with lavish instrumentation. A Woman Falling Out of Love is like a gourmet Sunday brunch buffet, overflowing with opulent deliciousness – indulgent, fattening, sugary, and just in time for Mother's Day."[8]New York Daily News noted that the album "boasts some of Aretha's most acrobatic, sure and robust vocals in years. It's lively, funny and, if anything, overambitious."[12]Rolling Stone critic Will Hermes found that "there are magic moments [...] but unmemorable songs and overcooked arrangements suggest too many opportunities squandered. Here's hoping The Roots, T Bone Burnett and Rick Rubin all submit producer applications for Her Majesty's next outing."[9]
Washington Post editor Allison Stewart felt that the album "appears to indulge every wrong musical instinct Franklin has ever had. This is the sound of a legend doing exactly as she pleases, which in Franklin's case means plenty of lite R&B ballads and underdone covers of overdone standards [...] Franklin's miracle of a voice remains essentially intact, though she is no longer the matter-of-fact belter of old, relying instead on either Christina Aguilera-style oversinging or a weird, marble-mouthed mumble.[10]The Chicago Sun-Times remarked that on A Woman Falling Out of Love Franklin's "in retreat. The songwriting is '70s, the production is '80s, the arrangements are pure '90s smooth jazz. Instead of a contemporary queen, we get an unsettling Eartha Kitt-enish cougar anthem, clumsy jazz-club scat singing, an icy reading of "Theme from A Summer Place" and an overthought gospel rendition of "My Country 'Tis of Thee." [...] The album's two bright spots come late in the sequence, and they both feature the songwriting of the underappreciated Norman West."[11]
Chart performance
A Woman Falling Out of Love was made available exclusively at Walmart stores and Walmart.com, beginning on May 3, 2011.[1] The digital version of the album was offered on iTunes, Amazon and other digital retailers on June 3, 2011.[11] In the week of May 21, 2011, it debuted and peaked at number 54 on the US Billboard 200 with first-week sales of 10,070 units, also reaching number 15 on the US Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums.[13] This marked Franklin's lowest-chart debut for a regular studio album since What You See Is What You Sweat (1991).[13]A Woman Falling Out of Love dropped off the chart two weeks later.[13]
