Groove Theory (album)

Groove Theory is the eponymous debut studio album by the American R&B duo Groove Theory, released on October 24, 1995 by Epic Records. The album peaked at number sixty-nine on the US Billboard 200 chart. In October 1996, it was certified gold by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) for surpassing 500,000 copies in the United States.

Groove Theory
Studio album by
Groove Theory
ReleasedOctober 24, 1995
Recorded1994-1995
Genre
Length59:14
LabelEpic
ProducerJimmy Henchman (exec.), Amel Larrieux (exec.), Lamont Boles(exec.), Bryce Wilson
Singles from Groove Theory
  1. "Tell Me"
    Released: September 5, 1995
  2. "Keep Tryin'"
    Released: January 23, 1996
  3. "Baby Luv"
    Released: July 16, 1996

Background

"Well, I mean, inspiration was being young and green and having years and years of songs written before then, and never being in the studio before. It's a live combination of inexperience, excitement, innocence, and a lot to say, you know being years and years of writing stuff, and watching things, and I grew up at the time that the Native Tongues was really popular, that really influenced me. I think I grew up in the hey day of hip hop, the best hip hop, the late 1980s, early 1990s, so I had a lot of stuff to inspire musically that was going on. And it was inspirational for me as a songwriter to be able to have all my own material that I was writing, as opposed to being in a group where some things are written for you." [1]

— Amel Larrieux, 2009 interview with Nu-Soul Magazine

Release and reception
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
Allmusic[2]

Stanton Swihart of Allmusic considered the effort "an exquisite, even innovative album. Not only did it (in retrospect) help to herald the progressive neo-soul movement, but its melding of decidedly hip-hop production techniques... with the emotional impulses and themes of soul was still a novel approach to making R&B at the time."[2]

The album was certified gold by October 1996.[3]

Track listing

All music by B. Wilson, A. Larrieux, and D. Brown except where noted.

No.TitleMusicLength
1."10 Minute High"B. Wilson, A. Larrieux, K. Deane4:06
2."Time Flies"B. Wilson, A. Larrieux, L. Larrieux, I. Lee4:15
3."Ride"B. Wilson, A. Larrieux, D. Brown, S. Jasper, I. Lee5:08
4."Come Home" 4:40
5."Baby Luv" 4:48
6."Tell Me" 3:56
7."Hey U" 6:34
8."Hello It's Me"T. Rundgren5:03
9."Good 2 Me"B. Wilson, A. Larrieux, D. Brown, L. Larrieux4:12
10."Angel" 3:56
11."Keep Tryin' "B. Wilson, A. Larrieux, L. Larrieux4:20
12."You're Not the 1" 4:25
13."Didja Know"B. Wilson, A. Larrieux, L. Larrieux3:55
14."Boy At the Window" 5:13

Chart history

Album
Chart (1995)[4] Peak
position
U.S. Billboard 200 69
U.S. R&B Albums 14

Singles
Year Single Peak chart positions[5]
U.S. Billboard Hot 100 U.S. Hot Dance Music/Maxi-Singles Sales U.S. Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Singles & Tracks U.S. Rhythmic Top 40 U.S. Top 40 Mainstream
1995 "Tell Me" 5 2 3 2 21
1996 "Keep Tryin'" 64 36 24 29 —
"Baby Luv" 65 18 23 14 —

"—" denotes releases that did not chart.

Personnel

Information taken from Allmusic.[6]

  • a&r – Paris Davis
  • art direction – Carol Chen
  • bass – Darryl Brown, Eric "Ibo" Butler, Kirk Lyons
  • design – Sean Evans
  • drums – Ralph Rolle
  • engineering – Russell Elevado, Joe Hornof
  • executive production – Jimmy Henchman, Amel Larrieux
  • guitar – Darryl Brown, Mike "Dino" Campbell
  • keyboard arrangements – Bryce Wilson
  • keyboards – Darryl Brown, Kevin Deane, Gary Montoute, Bryce Wilson
  • mastering – Chris Gehringer
  • mixing – Ron Banks, Russell Elevado, Dave Kennedy, Angela Piva
  • percussion – Jeff Haynes
  • production – Lamont Boles, Amel Larrieux, Bryce Wilson
  • production coordination – Donald Wood, Kim Lumpkin
  • programming – Isiah Lee
  • saxophone – Mike Phillips
  • stylist – Jamie Kimmelman
  • vocal arrangement – Amel Larrieux, Laru Larrieux, Trey Lorenz
  • vocals – Amel Larrieux, Laru Larrieux
  • vocals (background) – Sean Jasper, Jean, Amel Larrieux, Laru Larrieux, Trey Lorenz, Troy Montgomery

Notes
  1. DJ Rahdu (2009-04-21). "Nu-Soul Magazine – Amel Larrieux Interview (2009)". Nu-Soul Magazine. Retrieved 2009-04-22.
  2. "allmusic ((( Groove Theory > Review )))". Allmusic. Retrieved 2010-05-17.
  3. "RIAA - Gold & Platinum - May 19, 2010 : Search Results - Groove Theory". RIAA. Retrieved 2010-05-19.
  4. "allmusic ((( Groove Theory > Charts & Awards > Billboard Albums )))". Allmusic. Retrieved 2010-05-17.
  5. "allmusic ((( Groove Theory > Charts & Awards > Billboard Singles )))". Allmusic. Retrieved 2010-05-17.
  6. "allmusic ((( Groove Theory > Credits )))". Allmusic. Retrieved 2010-05-18.
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