Heartbreak on a Full Moon

Brown started working on and recording tracks for the album a few weeks before the release of Royalty, his seventh studio album, in late 2015. He continued working on the album during 2016 and 2017, also during both tours, One Hell of a Nite Tour and The Party Tour. Brown also built a recording studio inside of his home to record several songs for the album.[4][5][6] Brown said about the album that he wanted to outdo expectations, explaining the concept for the album during an interview for Complex. saying:

I thought Heartbreak on a Full Moon was a depiction of what my soul wanted to say. It's funny because we're doing a double album. I've done so many records, but all of the records, to me, are personal favorites and I feel like it gets what I want to say across. It gives a vibe. You get nostalgia or you get a sense of individuality.[7]

The cover art for the album was announced on October 5, 2017. It consists of a pink moon with a graphic of an actual heart organ on top of it.[8] The pink moon represents the themes of the album, which are predominantly dedicated to girls, in love, breakup and sex songs, while the blood-dripping human heart, with the blood that dripping becomes ink, represents the heartbroken feelings of the singer, that are poured into the lyrics of the majority of the album.[9]

The cover art for Heartbreak on a Full Moon is the first Brown's artwork where the singer does not appear directly.

On January 10, 2016 Brown had previewed 11 unreleased songs on his Periscope and Instagram profiles, showing him dancing and lip-synching these songs.[10][11][12] Later in January, February and March 2016, he released videos on his Instagram profile where he was lip-synching snippets from the unreleased songs "Sirens", "Lost and Found",[13] and "Dead Wrong".[14][15][16]

On April 27 through Twitter, he announced the release of a new single on May 5.[17][18][19] On May 3 he revealed that the single would be "Grass Ain't Greener", showing its cover art and announcing it as the first single from Heartbreak on a Full Moon.[20] The single was released on May 5, 2016, the day of Brown's 27th birthday, but it was originally not included on the album's previous track listing then was re-included on the official tracklist as the last track when the album was available for pre-order.[21]

In November and December 2016, he released videos on his Instagram profile where he was lip-synching snippets from other unreleased songs: "For Me",[22] "Post & Delete",[23][24] and "Yellow Tape".[25][26]

On December 16, 2016, he released the second official single from the album, "Party", that features guest vocals from American R&B singer Usher and rapper Gucci Mane. On January 4, 2017 Brown had previewed two snippets on his Instagram profile from the songs "Privacy" and "Tell Me Baby", then in February announced that "Privacy" would have been released as the next single from Heartbreak on a Full Moon.[27][28] The single was released on March 24, 2017.[29]

The initial track listing was announced by Brown on his Instagram account on May 2, 2017, saying that it would have been a double-disc album, and that it would have been released in June 2017.[30] In the first days of June 2017 46 songs discarded from the album were leaked, most of them were unfinished versions while a few were demos.[31][32]

In July 2017 he announced the pending release of upcoming singles from his album.[33] Later on August 4, 2017, he released the album's fourth single "Pills & Automobiles", that features guest vocals from American trap artists Yo Gotti, A Boogie Wit Da Hoodie and Kodak Black.[34] Then on August 14, 2017 he announced the release of the fifth official single from the album, "Questions", on August 16, announcing the album release date, saying that it would be released on October 31, 2017.[35]

In the run up to the album's release, on October 5, 2017, Brown unveiled the official artwork on his Instagram profile, sharing a video with an animated cartoon-style visual of a blood-dripping human heart set against a pink full moon, with a snippet of the song "Heartbreak on a Full Moon" in the background.[36]

On October 13, 2017 Brown released a promotional single "High End", that features guest vocals from American trap artists Future and Young Thug, announcing the final tracklist of the album.[37][38] On October 25, 2017 Brown organized with Tidal a free pop-up concert in New York City to perform the singles on the album and promote it for his core fans.[39][40]

Professional ratings

Aggregate scores
Source	Rating
AOTY	51/100[41]
Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic	[42]
HipHopDX	3.1/5[43]
Slant Magazine	[44]

Andy Kellman of Allmusic characterized Heartbreak on a Full Moon as an "artistically conservative" album, and stated that its length is a "scheme to exploit the 'consumption'-oriented data that drives chart placements".[42] Jenkins of Vulture.com said it is "one of the most ambitious albums of his era", with "60 minutes of forgettable tracks, but the rest is solid and way better than most of Chris Brown's past discography".[45] Scott Glaysher of HipHopDX called the album "incredibly long", praising the productions on songs like "Lost & Found", "This Way" and "Frustrated", but calling "monotonous" the singles "Pills & Automobiles", and "Questions".[43] Preezy of The Boombox described Heartbreak on a Full Moon as "a statement project that will go down among the most ambitious albums of its time".[46] Zachary Hoskins of Slant Magazine said the songs were "largely unmemorable, blending together into a two-and-a-half-hour murk of mechanical beats and plaintive, occasionally AutoTuned vocals".[44]

After selling 25,000 copies and earning 68,000 album-equivalent units within three days, Heartbreak on a Full Moon debuted at number three on the US Billboard 200, becoming Brown's ninth consecutive top 10 album on the chart.[47] The album was Brown's seventh solo album to debut at number one on the Billboard Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums chart.[48] On November 8, 2017, Heartbreak on a Full Moon was certified gold by the Recording Industry Association of America for combined sales and album-equivalent units of over 500,000 units in the United States (in this case, 250,000 double album sets, which are double-counted by the RIAA). Brown became the first R&B male artist that went gold in a week since Usher's Confessions in 2004.[3] In its second chart week, the album remained at number three on Billboard 200, with 73,000 album-equivalent units.[49] In Australia, it entered the ARIA Albums Chart at number five, becoming his first top ten in the nation since X in 2014.[50] In the United Kingdom, the album debuted at number 10 on the UK Albums Chart, Brown's sixth non-consecutive top 10 album on the chart.[51] The album was eventually certified Silver by the British Phonographic Industry (BPI) for sales of over 60,000 copies in the UK.[52] In New Zealand, the album debuted at number three on the RMNZ Albums Chart, giving Brown his seventh top ten album on the chart.[53] Until June 2018, the album has accumulated over 3 billion streams worldwide.[54]

The good commercial performance of the album was based on the streaming, as explained by Forbes

With 45 songs on its tracklist, Heartbreak on a Full Moon stands to collect quite a hefty sum in regards to streaming equivalent albums. Instead of 150 people listening to a ten-song record all the way through counting as one, Brown only requires about 33 people to hang on through the entire project. That's asking a lot, but it's not out of the question. Between his biggest fans and those who will put the piece on and let it fade into the background, it's highly possible that many thousands of people will stream the album in full, and those numbers will add up quickly.[55][56]

By the end of 2017, the album has sold over 608,000 album-equivalent units in the US, with over 80,000 being pure sales, it finished as the country's 36th-most overall consumed album of the year.[57]

In 2018, Heartbreak on a Full Moon was ranked as the 28th most popular album of the year on the Billboard 200.[58] With 25,000 copies sold and 618,000 album-equivalent units earned in the US throughout 2018, it finished as the country's 44th most overall consumed album of the year.[59]

On March 27, 2018, Chris Brown announced an official headlining concert tour to further promote the album titled Heartbreak on a Full Moon Tour. The tour began on June 19 in Auburn, at White River Amphitheatre. He was supported by 6lack, H.E.R., Rich the Kid, and Jacquees.[60][61]

Production credits were adapted from RCA's official website.[62]

Notes

• ^{^[a]} signifies a co-producer
• ^{^[b]} signifies an additional producer
• ^{^[c]} signifies an uncredited co-producer

Sample credits

• "Privacy" contains an interpolation of "Tight Up Skirt", performed by Red Rat.
• "Juicy Booty" samples "Cutie Pie", performed by One Way, and California Love (Remix) performed by Tupac Shakur, Dr. Dre and Roger Troutman.[64]
• "Questions" contains an interpolation of "Turn Me On", performed by Kevin Lyttle.
• "To My Bed" contains an interpolation of "Nice & Slow", performed by Usher.
• "Hope You Do" samples "Where I Wanna Be", performed by Donell Jones.[65]
• "Even" contains an interpolation of "Remember the Time", performed by Michael Jackson.
• "Frustrated" contains an interpolation of "Brazilian Rhyme (Beijo Interlude)", performed by Earth, Wind & Fire.
• "This Way" samples "Rosa Parks", performed by Outkast.

• List of Billboard number-one R&B/hip-hop albums of 2017
• List of Billboard number-one R&B/hip-hop albums of 2018
• List of UK R&B Albums Chart number ones of 2017