1. Background

2. Recording

3. Release and reception

4. Track listing

5. Charts
    Weekly charts  Year-end charts 

6. Certifications and sales

7. References

8. Works cited

Just for You is the seventh studio album by Lionel Richie, released on March 8, 2004 in the UK, and May 4, the same year in the US. Released shortly after Richie's divorce from his second wife, the album featured Richie in collaboration with singers and musicians from different backgrounds. It received mixed reviews, with much of the criticism targeted at the album's lyrics. It sold 207,000 copies and peaked at #22 on the American Billboard 200.

Background

Richie, previously a member of the Commodores, had become a solo artist in the early 1980s. With the release of Can't Slow Down in 1983, he became one of the biggest solo acts in the country before leaving the industry in 1987. He began working towards a comeback in the late 1990s but saw little success.{{sfn|Huey, Lionel Richie}}

Following the release of his hit compilation album The Definitive Collection in 2003 and his daughter Nicole's appearance in The Simple Life, Richie returned to public attention.{{sfn|Erlewine, Just For You}} Shortly before producing Just for You Richie and his wife, Diane, were divorced; the separation was bitter and very public.{{sfn|Huey, Lionel Richie}}

Recording

For the album Richie brought singers and musicians from different genres. Lenny Kravitz and Daniel Bedingfield sang duets with him, while songwriters Paul Barry and Mark Taylor – who were best known for light works – wrote several songs.{{sfn|Feliciano 2004, Reviews}} Another guest songwriters and producers were Tim & Bob, 7 Aurelius, of Murder, Inc.{{sfn|Hoard and Caramanica 2004, Lionel Richie}}

In a 2004 interview with NBC, Richie stated that he had been approached to record Just for You by his manager in London. He found it easy to write, because "all I had to do was play myself."{{sfn|Norville 2004, Lionel Richie}} In another interview, Richie said that – as opposed to "Three Times a Lady", which he had dedicated to his ex-wife Brenda – Just for You was dedicated to himself, an "introverted perspective" on what had excited him.{{sfn|Kelly 2004, Lionel Richie}}

Release and reception

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Just for You was released on March 8, 2004 in the United Kingdom{{sfn|Colley, Lionel Richie}} and May 4, of that same year in the United States.{{sfn|Erlewine, Just For You}} The album debuted at #47 on Billboard 200 and #22 on the publication's R&B Chart. Three singles from the album, "Just for You", "Just for You (The Dance Remixes)", and "Long Way To Go", charted: "Just for You" performed best of these, peaking at #6 on the Adult Contemporary chart.{{sfn|AllMusic, Just for You}} {{As of|May 2012}}, the album has sold 207,000 copies in the United States, according to Nielsen SoundScan.{{sfn|Caulfield 2012, Lionel Richie's 'Tuskegee'}} Richie's subsequent releases have shown a consistent increase in sales, beginning with 2006's Coming Home.{{sfn|Caulfield 2012, Lionel Richie's 'Tuskegee'}}

Just for You received mixed reviews. Dominic Darrah of Soul Shine Magazine gave the album four out of five stars, praising its mix of "sweet ballads" and "new sounds".{{sfn|Darrah 2004, Lionel Richie}} He concludes that Richie's fans will "fall on their knees" after hearing the album.{{sfn|Darrah 2004, Lionel Richie}} The Guardian{{'s}} Dave Simpson found that Richie was "disturbingly in tune with the times", mixing "boy band anthems" with funk, rock, and soul.{{sfn|Simpson 2004, Lionel Richie}}

Stephen Thomas Erlewine, writing for Allmusic, gave Just for You three out of five stars, considering the album "well-crafted" and consistent in sound quality and cohesive. He found, however, that the album was weaker than Richie's work in the 1980s.{{sfn|Erlewine, Just For You}} Marcus Reeves of Vibe likewise gave the album three stars, finding that several tracks – such as "She's Amazing" – to be reflective of Richie's earlier work, although he dismissed the "cheesy, clichéd lyrics" of the "we-are-the-world social anthems" included.{{sfn|Reeves 2004, Lionel Richie}} He concluded that, although the album was well made, it would please only Richie's existing fans.{{sfn|Reeves 2004, Lionel Richie}}

Jack Smith of BBC Music found Just for You "far better than many would ofdreamed {{sic}} possible", highlighting the album's two duets as among its best and describing "Just To Be With You Again" as "sensitively produced and performed to absolute perfection".{{sfn|Smith 2004, Lionel Richie}} Clare Colley of musicOMH described the album as a "back to basics record", with "Do Ya" and "If You Belong To Me" as its best tracks.{{sfn|Colley, Lionel Richie}} Ultimately she was disappointed with the release; she criticized the lyrics as generally "mawkish", with the album overall "chronically underdeveloped and bland".{{sfn|Colley, Lionel Richie}}

Christian Hoard and Jon Caramanica of Rolling Stone gave the album two stars out of five, writing that Richie had not "stray[ed] too far from his strengths" in producing the work.{{sfn|Hoard and Caramanica 2004, Lionel Richie}} Kristina Feliciano of Entertainment Weekly was highly critical of the album, writing that its lyrics were "flaccid", with the sound unproportional.{{sfn|Feliciano 2004, Reviews}} Katie Moten of RTÉ.ie found the album "disappointing", lacking originality; she considered "Do Ya" the only good song.{{sfn|Moten 2004, Lionel Richie}}

Track listing

All songs written by Lionel Richie, co-writers were indicated:

• ^{{{note|a|[a]}}} signifies an additional producer
• ^{{{note|b|[b]}}} signifies a co-producer
• ^{{{note|c|[c]}}} signifies an original producer

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Certifications and sales

References

Works cited

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