Joe maintains his steady recording output with And Then..., another in a line of his generally solid if not overly exceptional albums highlighted by a couple standout cuts. For And Then... Joe collaborates with a few talented producer/songwriters, namely R. Kelly ("More & More," "Make You My Baby") and Roy "Royalty" Hamilton ("Sweeter Than Sugar," "And Then...," "Street Dreams"), who handle approximately half the album. Kevin "Shekspere" Briggs, another top-notch contemporary R&B songsmith, also contributes a small late-album gem, "Bedroom." As always, Joe is only as good as the songs he's singing -- he's a fine vocalist with a smooth delivery and a velvety tone, but not necessarily outstanding on his own -- and here he's in really good hands, especially on the aforementioned Kelly and Hamilton songs, which rank among the very best of his career. ~ Jason Birchmeier, All Music Guide
John Hanes (Digital Editing), Harvey Mason, Jr. (Producer), Patrick McGee (Engineer), Kedar Massenburg (Executive Producer), Abel Garibaldi (Engineer), Carvin "Ransum" Haggins (Producer), Chyna Royal (Vocals), Rodney East (Keyboards), Larry Gold (Conductor), Abel Garibaldi (Mixing), Ivan "Orthodox" Barias (Engineer), Dwayne Moore (Bass), Joe (Vocals (Background)), Serban Ghenea (Mixing), Richard Furch (Engineer), Mike "Hitman" Wilson (Engineer), Ian Mereness (Programming), Joe (Executive Producer), Doc Wiley (Engineer), Roy "Royalty" Hamilton (Producer), R. Kelly (Producer), Henry Love (Conga), Ivan "Orthodox" Barias (Producer), Joe (Vocal Producer), The Underdogs (Producer), Frank Sutton (Engineer), Ian Mereness (Engineer), Chyna Royal (Vocals (Background)), Larry Gold (String Arrangements), Ray Wilson (Engineer), Donnie Lyle (Guitar), R. Kelly (Arranger), Charles McCrorey (Engineer), AAries (Vocals (Background)), Allen Gordon, Jr. (Producer), Ray Gardella (Guitar), Brian Garten (Engineer), Roy "Royalty" Hamilton (Engineer), Ian Mereness (Mixing), Abel Garibaldi (Programming), Ivan "Orthodox" Barias (Multi Instruments), Carvin "Ransum" Haggins (Vocal Producer), Herb Powers (Mastering), R. Kelly (Mixing), Carvin "Ransum" Haggins (Engineer), Perry Carta Dey (Keyboards), Donnie Lyle (Mandolin), Tim Roberts (Assistant), Antonio Dixon (Keyboards), Angelo Quaglia (Engineer), Damon Thomas (Producer), Johnnie "Smurf" Smith (Keyboards), Eric Dawkins (Vocals (Background)), Rich Tapper (Engineer), Andy Gallas (Assistant), Cortez Farris (Engineer), Drew Barlec (Engineer), Ben Briggs (Engineer), Johnnie "Smurf" Smith (Producer), Greg Calvert (Assistant), She'kspere Briggs (Producer), Bishop "Young Don" Dixon (Vocal Producer), Troy Corbin (Vocals (Background)), Carvin "Ransum" Haggins (Vocal Programming), Jason Mlodzinski (Assistant), Kendall D. Nesbitt (Keyboards), Brandon Hull (Assistant), Dabling Harward (Digital Editing)
And Then... is an album that focuses on ballads. Joe states on his web site that he prefers singing ballads to up-tempo tracks. "I prefer to sing on ballads rather than up-tempos. You kind of showcase yourself as an r&b singer a lot better."
The album also features a number of collaborations with prominent r&b writers and producers. Joe worked with labelmate R. Kelly on the lead single "More & More" and "Make You My Baby", these two songs were originally intended for R. Kelly's unreleased album "Loveland". Roy "Royalty" Hamilton worked with Joe on the title track, as well as "Sweeter than Sugar" and "Sweet Dreams". Songwriter Kevin "Shekspere" Briggs wrote the song "Bedroom" that appears late on the track. G-Unit appears on the track "Ride Wit U", which is one of the up-tempo tracks on the album - Joe returned the favour on their debut album.
Chart Success
As of July 2004, singles from the And Then... album include:
"More and More" reached #15 on the US r&b charts, top 20 on the world r&b charts and #48 of the Billboard Hot 100;
"Ride Wit You" reached #7 on the r&b charts and #2 on the Hot 100;
a double a/sided single "More & More" and "Ride Wit You" has made the Australian top 40 in July 2004; and
"Priceless" has reached #72 on the r&b charts.
And Then... has so far reached #26 on the US album charts and #4 on the r&b charts.
"I'm In Luv" ·"The One For Me" ·"All Or Nothing" ·"All the Things (Your Man Won't Do)" ·"Don't Wanna Be a Player" ·"The Love Scene" ·"Good Girls" ·"No One Else Comes Close" ·"All That I Am/Sanctified Girl" ·"Thank God I Found You" ·"Treat Her Like a Lady" ·"I Wanna Know" ·"Stutter" ·"Let's Stay Home Tonight" ·"What If a Woman" ·"More & More" ·"Ride Wit U" ·"Priceless" ·"Where You At?" ·"If I Was Your Man" ·"My Love" ·"We Are Family" ·"E.R. (Emergency Room)" ·"Why Just Be Friends" ·"We Need To Roll" ·"Triple Back Room (Remix)" ·"Majic"
