A Rose Is Still a Rose

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A Rose Is Still a Rose
Studio album by Aretha Franklin
Released	March 23, 1998
Recorded	1997–1998
Genre	R&B, soul
Length	51:38
Label	Arista
Producer	Dallas Austin, Sean "Puffy" Combs, Jermaine Dupri, Lauryn Hill, Daryl Simmons
Professional reviews
The reviews parameter has been deprecated. Please move reviews into the “Reception” section of the article. See Moving reviews into article space. Allmusic [1] Robert Christgau (A)[2] Entertainment Weekly (B+)[3] Rolling Stone link The Source (favorable)[4] Vibe (favorable)[5]
Aretha Franklin chronology
Greatest Hits: 1980-1994 (1994) A Rose is Still a Rose (1998) So Damn Happy (2003)

A Rose is Still a Rose is the thirty-sixth studio album by American recording artist Aretha Franklin. Released in 1998, it resulted in the singer's best critically acclaimed and best-selling album of the nineties and her first gold-certified album in twelve years.

Background

By 1997, Aretha Franklin hadn't recorded a studio album in six years following the release of 1991's ill-fated What You See Is What You Sweat. Franklin remained active providing songs on soundtracks of films such as Malcolm X, Sister Act 2: Back in the Habit and Waiting to Exhale. Franklin also released her first greatest-hits album of her Arista tenure in 1994, which included two new singles produced by Babyface including the top 40 hit, "Willing to Forgive". In the meantime, word reached that Franklin was working with younger producers trying to reconnect with a new audience that had advanced to embrace neo soul and hip hop soul artists such as Mary J. Blige, Erykah Badu and The Fugees. When reports began emerging that Franklin's new album would include Sean "Puffy" Combs, Jermaine Dupri and The Fugees' Lauryn Hill, fans and critics each gave the moves mixed reviews not knowing what to expect from the collaborations since the last attempts to modernize Franklin's classic soul sound with the current scene met with mixed results – her last hit album was 1986's Aretha.

Release and reception

Prior to releasing the album's first single, Franklin made headlines for two stand-out performances at the Grammy Awards in February 1998. The first was her 1967 classic, "Respect", which she sang in a renewed version inspired by her role in the sequel to The Blues Brothers, she later present a Grammy. Minutes later, just seconds before Luciano Pavarotti was to receive a Lifetime Achievement Award, Pavarotti called in sick. Struggling to find a replacement, Franklin opted to fill in as she had sung for Pavarotti weeks earlier. Franklin later said it took thirty minutes to get prepared for the performance and the singer admitted having fright over how the performance would go. Franklin's worries were unfounded when she performed "Nessun Dorma" in Pavarotti's musical key. Her performance won a standing ovation.

Shortly after the Grammy performance, the title track was quietly issued to radio stations in the late winter of 1998. The title track was produced by Hill, who also provided background vocals. The song's lyrics focused on a wiser woman giving advice to a younger woman going through relationship problems and self-identity issues. With a modern soul production by Hill and a vocally rejuvenated Franklin, who began singing in her higher register again after years of singing in lower registers due to declining vocals brought on by years of chain smoking, the song also was given its own video, which gained heavy rotation on BET. The video featured not only Hill but other modern female soul artists, who were admittedly influenced by Franklin including Faith Evans. The single became a success upon its release and crossed over to pop radio where the song peaked at #26 on the Hot 100 marking the forty-fifth top 40 hit of Franklin's long career. The album was issued in March 1998, a month following Franklin's showstopping Grammy performance.

The album brought in a successful performance too peaking at #30 on the Billboard 200 and #7 on the R&B chart. Though the album failed to give Franklin any more hits – the follow-up "Here We Go Again" (produced by Jermaine Dupri) only did modestly peaking at #76 on the Hot 100 and #24 on the R&B chart, it still sold well enough to give Franklin her first gold album in twelve years. As of July 2002, the album has sold 390,000 copies in the United States according to Nielsen SoundScan. ^[6]

Track listing

1. "A Rose Is Still a Rose" (Lauryn Hill)  – 4:27
2. "Never Leave You Again" (Sean "Puffy" Combs, Kelly Price, Corey Rooney)  – 4:36
3. "In Case You Forgot" (Bill Dickens, Tim Gant, Michael Gray)  – 4:49
4. "Here We Go Again" (Troy Lee Broussard, Jermaine Dupri, Wayne Garfield, Trey Lorenz, Mauro Malavasi, David Romani)  – 3:30
5. "Every Little Bit Hurts" (Sam Cooke, Jermaine Dupri, Manuel Seal, Jr.)  – 4:07
6. "In the Morning" (Daryl Simmons)  – 4:56
7. "I'll Dip" (Dallas Austin)  – 4:06
8. "How Many Times" (Greg Charley, David Foster, John Winston)  – 4:21
9. "Watch My Back" (Norman West)  – 4:45
10. "Love Pang" (Mira Waters, Nancy Wilson)  – 4:20
11. "The Woman" (Franklin)  – 7:41

References

v t e Aretha Franklin Studio albums Columbia Songs of Faith (1956) Aretha (1961) The Electrifying Aretha Franklin (1962) The Tender, the Moving, the Swinging Aretha Franklin (1962) Laughing on the Outside (1963) Unforgettable: A Tribute to Dinah Washington (1964) Runnin' Out of Fools (1964) Yeah!!! (1965) Soul Sister (1966) Atlantic I Never Loved a Man the Way I Love You (1967) Aretha Arrives (1967) Lady Soul (1968) Aretha Now (1968) Soul '69 (1969) Soft and Beautiful (1969) This Girl's in Love with You (1970) Spirit in the Dark (1970) Young, Gifted and Black (1972) Hey Now Hey (The Other Side of the Sky) (1973) Let Me in Your Life (1974) With Everything I Feel in Me (1974) You (1975) Sparkle (1976) Sweet Passion (1977) Almighty Fire (1978) La Diva (1979) Arista Aretha (1980) Love All the Hurt Away (1981) Jump to It (1982) Get It Right (1983) Who's Zoomin' Who? (1985) Aretha (1986) Through the Storm (1989) What You See Is What You Sweat (1991) A Rose Is Still a Rose (1998) So Damn Happy (2003) Other This Christmas, Aretha (2008) A Woman Falling Out of Love (2011) Live albums Aretha in Paris (1968) Aretha Live at Fillmore West (1971) Amazing Grace (1972) One Lord, One Faith, One Baptism (1987) Oh Me Oh My: Aretha Live in Philly, 1972 (2007) Compilation albums Take It Like You Give It (1967) Take a Look (1967) Aretha's Gold (1969) Aretha's Greatest Hits (1971) The Best of Aretha Franklin (1973) Aretha Sings the Blues (1980) Greatest Hits: 1980–1994 (1994) Greatest Hits (1998) Aretha's Best (2001) Rare & Unreleased Recordings from the Golden Reign of the Queen of Soul (2007) Jewels in the Crown: All-Star Duets with the Queen (2007) A Deeper Love: The Best of Aretha Franklin (2009) The Great American Songbook (2011) Knew You Were Waiting: The Best of Aretha Franklin (1980-1998) (2012) Box sets Queen of Soul: The Atlantic Recordings (1992) Take A Look: Aretha Franklin Complete on Columbia (2011) Singles "Precious Lord (Part 1)" (1959) "Rock-a-Bye Your Baby with a Dixie Melody" (1961) "I Surrender, Dear" (1962) "Try a Little Tenderness" (1962) "Say It Isn't So" (1963) "Skylark" (1963) "The Christmas Song (Chestnuts Roasting on an Open Fire)" (1964) "One Step Ahead" (1965) "You Made Me Love You" (1965) "Mockingbird" (1967) "I Never Loved a Man (The Way I Love You)" (1967) "Respect" (1967) "Baby I Love You" (1967) "(You Make Me Feel Like) A Natural Woman" (1967) "Do Right Woman, Do Right Man" "Chain of Fools" (1967) "Satisfaction" (1968) "(Sweet Sweet Baby) Since You've Been Gone" (1968) "Think" (1968) "You Send Me" (1968) "I Say a Little Prayer" (1968) "The Weight" (1969) "Tracks of My Tears" (1969) "Gentle on My Mind" (1969) "Share Your Love with Me" (1969) "Eleanor Rigby" (1969) "Call Me" (1970) "Son of a Preacher Man" (1970) "The Thrill Is Gone" (1970) "Don't Play That Song" (1970) "You're All I Need to Get By" (1971) "Bridge over Troubled Water" (1971) "Spanish Harlem" (1971) "Rock Steady" (1971) "Day Dreaming" (1972) "Wholy Holy" (1972) "Angel" (1973) "Until You Come Back to Me (That's What I'm Gonna Do)" (1973) "I'm in Love" (1974) "Ain't Nothing Like the Real Thing" (1974) "Something He Can Feel" (1976) "Break It to Me Gently" (1977) "What a Fool Believes" (1981) "It's My Turn" (1981) "Jump to It" (1982) "Get It Right" (1983) Freeway of Love" (1985) "Who's Zoomin' Who" (1985) "Sisters Are Doin' It for Themselves" (1985) "Jumpin' Jack Flash" (1986) "Jimmy Lee" (1986) "I Knew You Were Waiting (For Me)" (1987) "Oh Happy Day" (1988) "It Isn't, It Wasn't, It Ain't Never Gonna Be" (1989) "Everyday People" (1991) "Someday We'll All Be Free" (1992) "A Deeper Love" (1993) "Willing to Forgive" (1994) "A Rose Is Still a Rose" (1998) "Wonderful" (2003) "Put You Up on Game" (2007) Record labels Columbia Atlantic Arista Related topics Discography Book:Aretha Franklin