On The Real Thing, her sixth studio album (not counting two Christmas releases), Vanessa Williams switches from the '70s soul covers that made up 2005's Everlasting Love to a mix of adult contemporary originals and faithful interpretations.
While Rob Mathes produced the entirety of the previous set, the labor here is divided between him and Rex Rideout (Boney James, Will Downing), as well as Keith Thomas and Babyface, both of whom go way back with Williams.
With four people sharing the producer's chair, the whole album nonetheless carries a relaxed, serene feel, even when it is at its most active and spirited.
The highlights tend to come with the Latin material -- including the title track, written by Stevie Wonder for Sergio Mendes, and "If There Were No Song," switching between a lush ballad and splashes of percussion and horns -- which Williams pulls off with natural ease.
It's not likely to raise anyone's body temperature, but it's too welcoming to ignore.
| Title/Composers | Performer | Listen | Time | Size | Size | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | BreathlessLauren Evans, Taj Jackson, Rex Rideout | Vanessa Williams | Play | 04:49 | 11 MB | 31 MB |
| 2 | Hello Like BeforeJohn Collins, Bill Withers | Vanessa Williams | Play | 04:26 | 10 MB | 29 MB |
| 3 | Loving YouKenneth Edmonds, Carole Bayer Sager | Vanessa Williams | Play | 03:29 | 7 MB | 21 MB |
| 4 | Just FriendsKenneth Edmonds | Vanessa Williams | Play | 04:13 | 9 MB | 28 MB |
| 5 | The Real ThingStevie Wonder | Vanessa Williams | Play | 05:10 | 11 MB | 33 MB |
| 6 | Lazy AfternoonJohn Latouche, Jerome Moross | Vanessa Williams | Play | 04:54 | 11 MB | 31 MB |
| 7 | Close to YouBebel Gilberto, Guy Sigsworth | Vanessa Williams | Play | 04:36 | 10 MB | 29 MB |
| 8 | I Fell InSheléa Frazier, Philip Galdston | Vanessa Williams | Play | 04:44 | 10 MB | 32 MB |
| 9 | October SkyJavier Colon, Evan Rogers, Carl Sturken | Vanessa Williams, Javier Colon | Play | 04:24 | 10 MB | 26 MB |
| 10 | Come on StrongSammy Cahn, James Van Heusen | Vanessa Williams | Play | 02:36 | 5 MB | 17 MB |
| 11 | If There Were No SongStephanie Lewis, Rob Mathes | Vanessa Williams | Play | 04:29 | 10 MB | 28 MB |
| 47 mins | 109 MB | |||||
| 47 mins | 310 MB | |||||
| Artist | Job | |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Raul Agraz | Trumpet |
| 2 | Chuck Amos | Hair Stylist |
| 3 | Abbey Anna | Art Direction |
| 4 | Babyface | Audio Production, Drum Programming, Keyboards, Vocals (Background) |
| 5 | Rick Baptist | Trumpet |
| 6 | Elena Barere | String Quartet, Violin |
| 7 | Tom Bender | Assistant Engineer |
| 8 | Paul Boutin | Engineer |
| 9 | Kimberly Brewer | Vocals (Background) |
| 10 | Becky Bunnell | Violin |
| 11 | John Burk | Executive Producer |
| 12 | Darryl Bush | Production Coordination |
| 13 | Sammy Cahn | Composer |
| 14 | Jorge Calandrelli | Arranger, Conductor, String Arrangements, String Conductor |
| 15 | Darius Campo | Violin |
| 16 | Roberto Cani | Violin |
| 17 | Dave Carpenter | Bass, Bass Instrument |
| 18 | Pete Christlieb | Sax (Tenor) |
| 19 | John Collins | Composer |
| 20 | Javier Colon | Composer, Duet, Featured Artist, Primary Artist, Vocals |
| 21 | Jonathan Crone | Assistant Engineer, Audio Engineer, Engineer, Guitar (Acoustic), Guitar (Electric), Production Coordination, Vocal Engineer |
| 22 | Darrell Crooks | Arranger |
| 23 | Eric Darken | Percussion |
| 24 | Jill Dell'Abate | Production Coordination, String Contractor |
| 25 | Brian Dembow | Viola |
| 26 | Bruce Dukov | Concert Master, Violin |
| 27 | Kenneth Edmonds | Composer, Drum Programming, Keyboards, Producer, Vocals (Background) |
| 28 | Stephen Erdody | Celli, Cello |
| 29 | Lauren Evans | Composer, Vocals (Background) |
| 30 | Ethan Farmer | Bass, Bass Instrument |
| 31 | Gregg Field | Drums |
| 32 | Sam Fine | Make-Up |
| 33 | Sheléa Frazier | Composer |
| 34 | Robert Friedrich | Mastering |
| 35 | Philip Galdston | Composer |
| 36 | Miguel Gandelman | Horn |
| 37 | Bebel Gilberto | Composer |
| 38 | Ricky Gonzalez | Associate Producer, Keyboards, Piano, Programming |
| 39 | Don Goodrick | Audio Engineer |
| 40 | Gary Grant | Trumpet |
| 41 | Mick Guzauski | Mixing |
| 42 | Reggie Hamilton | Bass Instrument |
| 43 | Trevor Handy | Celli, Cello |
| 44 | Mike Haynes | Soloist, Trumpet |
| 45 | Carlos Henríquez | Bass, Bass (Acoustic), Bass (Electric), Bass Instrument, Guitar (Acoustic) |
| 46 | James Van Heusen | Composer |
| 47 | Dan Higgins | Sax (Alto) |
| 48 | Mary Hogan | A&R |
| 49 | Taj Jackson | Composer |
| 50 | Agape Jerry | Guitar, Guitars |
| 51 | Alan Kaplan | Trombone |
| 52 | Roland Kato | Viola |
| 53 | Raymond Kobler | Violin |
| 54 | Johana Krejci | Violin |
| 55 | Armen Ksadjikian | Celli, Cello |
| 56 | Abe Laboriel, Jr. | Drums |
| 57 | Abraham Laboriel, Sr. | Bass, Bass Instrument |
| 58 | Nicholas Lane | Arranger, Conductor |
| 59 | Nicholas Lane | String Arrangements, String Conductor |
| 60 | Michael Lang | Fender Rhodes, Piano |
| 61 | John Latouche | Composer |
| 62 | Natalie Leggett | Violin |
| 63 | Gayle Levant | Harp |
| 64 | Phillip Levy | Violin |
| 65 | Casey Lewis | Audio Engineer |
| 66 | Rob Lewis | Arranger, Piano |
| 67 | Stephanie Lewis | Composer |
| 68 | Vince Lionti | String Quartet, Viola |
| 69 | Katherine Livolsi | String Quartet, Violin |
| 70 | Richard Locker | Cello, String Quartet |
| 71 | Rob Mathes | Arranger, Audio Production, Composer, Conductor, Fender Rhodes, Guitar (Acoustic), Piano, Producer |
| 72 | Ozzie Melendez | Contractor, Trombone |
| 73 | Victoria Miskolczy | Viola |
| 74 | Bruce Monical | Assistant Engineer, Audio Engineer |
| 75 | Raymond "Ez" Monteiro | Horn |
| 76 | Jerome Moross | Composer |
| 77 | The Movement Orchestra Horns | Horn |
| 78 | Craig Nelson | Bass Instrument |
| 79 | Robin Olson | Violin |
| 80 | Alyssa Park | Violin |
| 81 | Dean Parks | Guitar (Acoustic), Guitar (Classical), Guitar (Electric) |
| 82 | Joel Peskin | Sax (Baritone) |
| 83 | Greg Phillinganes | Piano |
| 84 | Derrek Phillips | Drums |
| 85 | Katia Popov | Violin |
| 86 | Seth Presant | Engineer, Vocal Engineer |
| 87 | Luisito Quintero | Percussion |
| 88 | Rex Rideout | Arranger, Audio Production, Composer, Engineer, Keyboards, Producer, Programming |
| 89 | Michael Ripoll | Guitar, Guitar (Acoustic), Guitars, Soloist |
| 90 | Evan Rogers | Composer |
| 91 | Anatoly Rosinsky | Violin |
| 92 | Carole Bayer Sager | Composer |
| 93 | Tom Scott | Arranger, Horn Arrangements, String Arrangements |
| 94 | Guy Sigsworth | Composer |
| 95 | Bill Airey Smith | Horn Engineer, String Engineer |
| 96 | Garrett Smith | Horn |
| 97 | Paul Smith | Audio Engineer |
| 98 | Paul "Scooby" Smith | Digital Editing |
| 99 | Joe Soldo | String Contractor |
| 100 | Christina Soule | Celli, Cello |
| 101 | Katherine LiVolsi Stern | Violin |
| 102 | Carl Sturken | Composer |
| 103 | Junko Tamura | Music Preparation |
| 104 | Keith Thomas | Arranger, Audio Production, Fender Rhodes, Piano, Producer, Programming |
| 105 | Peter Tomashek | Music Preparation |
| 106 | Alex Venguer | Engineer |
| 107 | Irina Voloshina | Viola |
| 108 | Dave Walther | Viola |
| 109 | Wayne Warnecke | Engineer |
| 110 | Michael White | Percussion |
| 111 | Bill Whittington | Engineer |
| 112 | Vanessa Williams | Primary Artist, Vocals (Background) |
| 113 | Bill Withers | Composer |
| 114 | Stevie Wonder | Composer |
| 115 | Margaret Wooten | Violin |
Vanessa Williams
1996 - 9 tracks
20th Century Masters - The Christmas Collection: The Best Of Vanessa Williams - Vanessa Williams
| Quality | Format | Encoding | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| CD Quality | FLAC | 16bit 44.1kHz | FLAC is an audio coding format which uses lossless compression. Digital audio in FLAC format has a smaller size and retains the same quality of the original Compact Disc (CD). |