The Comfort Zone is the second studio album by American singer and actress Vanessa Williams, released on August 20, 1991, by Mercury's Wing Records Label.
The first single from the album was "Running Back to You", an uptempo song that peaked at number one on the BillboardHot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart and number 18 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart. "The Comfort Zone", the second single, peaked at number 62 on the Hot 100 and number two on the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart.
The third single, "Save the Best for Last" reached number one on the Billboard Hot 100 for five consecutive weeks. "Just for Tonight" was the fourth single from the album, reaching number 26 on the Hot 100, followed by "Work to Do", which achieved moderate success.
Arion Berger from Entertainment Weekly gave the album an A, writing, "With 14 longish songs, beautifully sequenced and warmly sung, The Comfort Zone is less a pop record than the soundtrack to a giddy, heartfelt R&B stage musical about love — minus the man."
He highlighted "The Comfort Zone", "Running Back to You", "Save the Best for Last", "What Will I Tell My Heart", "Freedom Dance" and "Goodbye", and concluded, "Through it all, the keyboard romps, the drums get busy, and a flute adds occasional breathy punctuation. Give the lady a great big hand."[1]
The album peaked at number 17 on the US Billboard 200 and reached number one on the BillboardTop R&B/Hip-Hop Albums chart. In the United Kingdom, it peaked at number 24 upon its release in April 1992 before quickly falling out of the top 50.
The tracks "Work to Do" and "What Will I Tell My Heart?" both appeared in the film Harley Davidson and the Marlboro Man; the latter also appeared on the film's soundtrack album.
Dave Darlington, DJ L.A. Jay, Trevor Gale, Kenni Hairston, Mark Hammond, Reggie Stewart, Keith Thomas - drum programming
D.J. LA Jay, Bob Rosa, Rob Von Arx - "beats"
Phase 5, Bob Rosa, Rob Von Arx - samples
Greg Arnold, Derek Bramble, Merv DePyere, DJ L.A. Jay, Dr. Jam, David Frank, Alan Friedman, Trevor Gale, Kenni Hairston, Fred McFarlane, Monty Seward, Keith Thomas - keyboards
Produced by Vanessa Williams (also executive), Ed Eckstine (executive), Keith Thomas, Brian McKnight, Kenni Hairston, Derek Bramble, Gerry Brown, Bruce Carbone, Dave Darlington, DJ L.A. Jay, Kipper Jones, Phase 5, Mark Stevens and Reggie Stewart
Engineers – Derek Bramble, Claude Demers, Joe Schiff, Will Schillinger, Allen Sides, Kieran Walsh, Matt Wells, Gerry Brown
Assistant engineers – Steve Charles, Foley, Roy Gamble, Marty Lester, Todd Moore, Gary Paczosa, Mike Piersante, Brian Soucey
Mixing – Gerry Brown, Bruce Carbone, Dave Darlington, Humberto Gatica, Bill Whittington, Vanessa L. Williams
Mix assistants – Jeff Gledt, John Kunz, John David Parker, Brian Soucey
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