From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
1980 studio album by The Commodores
Heroes
is the eighth studio album by the
Commodores
, released in June 1980 by
Motown Records
. It has been certified platinum in the US by the
RIAA
.
[1]
[2]
Critical reception
[
edit
]
With a 9 out of 10 rating, Bev Hillier of
Smash Hits
called
Heroes
"a highly polished, versatile album."
[4]
Phyl Garland
of
Stereo Review
praised the album, writing: "On it they explore a broad range of subjects and show a willingness to tackle material that is not so obviously tailored to ride the charts. Furthermore, they have gone beyond the simplistic boy -loves -girl and dance -dance -dance lyrics that are the formula staples of contemporary soul music. The album offers plenty of the kind of soul funk we have come to expect of the Commodores, performed with stunning precision, but there are also some interesting variations."
[6]
Robert Christgau
of
The Village Voice
gave a B, describing
Heroes
as "an improvement. For one thing, most of the brotherhood anthems--which avoid the gender-specific, actually, with lots of "people," "folks," and "y'all"--have a somewhat more rousing beat than "
Three Times a Lady
." And on the fond "Old-Fashion Love" and the cold-hearted "Sorry to Say," the brothers remind
Lionel
that this is still supposed to be a funk band."
[5]
Accolades
[
edit
]
Heroes
was nominated for a
Grammy
award in the category of
Best R&B Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocals
.
[7]
Songs
[
edit
]
Record World
said of the title track that "Lionel Ritchie sings with loving sincerity."
[8]
Record World
said of "Old-Fashion Love" that "Multi-octave vocal carousing and a funky percussion backdrop provide the setting on this plea for some premium love."
[9]
Record World
called the single "Jesus Is Love" an "inspirational ballad."
[10]
Track listing
[
edit
]
- "Got to Be Together" (
Lionel Richie
,
Thomas McClary
) ? 5:44
- "Celebrate" (Harold Hudson, Larry Davis, Thomas McClary) ? 5:03
- "Old-Fashion Love" (
Milan Williams
) ? 4:56
- "Heroes" (Darrell Jones, Lionel Richie) ? 5:24
- "All The Way Down" (David Cochrane, Walter Orange) ? 3:35
- "Sorry to Say" (Darrell Jones, Ronald LaPread) ? 4:01
- "Wake Up Children" (Lionel Richie, Thomas McClary) ? 4:33
- "Mighty Spirit" (Harold Hudson,
William King
) ? 4:06
- "Jesus is Love" (Lionel Richie) ? 6:04
Personnel
[
edit
]
Commodores
Additional personnel
- David Cochrane ? keyboards, guitars, saxophones
- Harold Hudson ? keyboards, trumpet
- Darrell Jones ? guitars
- Ollie E. Brown
? drums
- Eddie "Bongo " Brown ? percussion
- James Anthony Carmichael
? horn and string arrangements
Production
[
edit
]
- Commodores ? producers, arrangements
- James Anthony Carmichael ? producer, arrangements
- Calvin Harris
? engineer, mixing
- Jane Clark ? engineer, mixing
- Chris Bellman ? mastering
- Suzee Ikeda
? production manager
Charts
[
edit
]
Album
[
edit
]
Singles
[
edit
]
Year
|
Single
|
Chart positions
[15]
|
US
|
US
R&B
|
US
Dance
|
1980
|
"Old-Fashion Love"
|
20
|
8
|
—
|
"Heroes"
|
54
|
27
|
—
|
"Jesus Is Love"
|
-
|
34
|
—
|
References
[
edit
]
- ^
Commodores: Heroes
.
Motown Records
. 1980.
- ^
"Commodores: Heroes"
.
RIAA
. Retrieved
2023-08-06
.
- ^
Lytle, Craig.
"Heroes - Commodores"
.
allmusic.com
.
AllMusic
.
- ^
a
b
Hillier, Bev (July 23, 1980).
"Commodores: Heroes"
.
archive.org
. Vol. 2, no. 14.
Smash Hits
. p. 31.
- ^
a
b
Christgau, Robert
.
"Commodores: Heroes"
.
robertchristgau.com
.
Village Voice
.
- ^
Garland, Phyl (November 1980).
"Commodores: Heroes"
(PDF)
.
americanradiohistory.com
. Vol. 45, no. 5.
Smash Hits
. p. 110.
- ^
"Commodores"
.
grammy.com
.
The Recording Academy
.
- ^
"Hits of the Week"
(PDF)
.
Record World
. September 13, 1980. p. 1
. Retrieved
2023-02-07
.
- ^
"Hits of the Week"
(PDF)
.
Record World
. June 21, 1980. p. 1
. Retrieved
2023-02-20
.
- ^
"Hits of the Week"
(PDF)
.
Record World
. December 13, 1980. p. 1
. Retrieved
2023-02-22
.
- ^
"Commodores: Heroes"
.
swedishcharts.com
.
Sverigetopplistan
.
- ^
"Commodores: Heroes"
.
dutchcharts.nl
.
Dutch Charts
.
- ^
"Commodores: Heroes"
.
charts.nz
.
Official New Zealand Music Chart
.
- ^
Kent, David
(1993).
Australian Chart Book 1970?1992
(illustrated ed.). St Ives, N.S.W.: Australian Chart Book. p. 72.
ISBN
0-646-11917-6
.
- ^
"The Commodores US singles chart history"
. allmusic.com
. Retrieved
2013-11-07
.
External links
[
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]
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Albums
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Singles
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Compilations
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Related
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