Victim of Love (Charles Bradley album)

Victim of Love
Studio album by Charles Bradley
Released April 2, 2013 (2013-04-02)
Genre Soul
Length 40:24
Label Daptone
Producer Thomas Brenneck
Charles Bradley chronology
No Time for Dreaming
(2011)		 Victim of Love
(2013)		 Changes
(2016)
Singles from Victim of Love
  1. "Strictly Reserved for You"
    Released: January 29, 2013

Victim of Love is the second studio album by American soul singer Charles Bradley. It was released on April 2, 2013, under Daptone Records.

Critical reception

Professional ratings
Aggregate scores
SourceRating
AnyDecentMusic?7.7/10[1]
Metacritic81/100[2]
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[3]
Blurt[4]
Consequence of SoundC+[5]
The Guardian[6]
musicOMH[7]
Paste8.4/10[8]
Pitchfork6.8/10[9]
PopMatters8/10[10]
Rolling Stone[11]
Under the Radar8/10[12]

Victim of Love received widespread acclaim from critics. At Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream publications, the album received an average score of 81, based on 20 reviews.[2] Thom Jurek of AllMusic said, "Victim of Love showcases growth--and a sound not heard before on Daptone--while not straying from the gritty soul that established the singer; it is every bit as strong as its predecessor and more diverse."[3] Jennifer Kelly of Blurt said, "Bradley and his band are such great interpreters and expanders of the soul tradition that you don't mind the nagging feeling that you've heard these cuts before."[4] Michael Madden of Consequence of Sound said, "It's pretty uniformly vintage-soul stuff--barreling horns, wafting backing vocals, single guitar chords on the upbeat--but it never sounds antiquated."[5] Ryan B. Patrick of Exclaim! said, "Victim of Love is meant to be taken literally; it's a rare and continued opportunity for a sexagenarian to finally get his chance in the soulful sun. Something the album proves that he's both appreciative of and not taking lightly."[13] Alexis Petridis of The Guardian said, "Its quality never falters over the album's 40 minutes, from Let Love Stand a Chance's gorgeous swoon to Where Do We Go from Here's tense funk."[6] Nate Chinen of The New York Times said, "The new album is a little less pointed [than his debut], and a good deal less surprising. But Mr. Bradley, once again wailing against the convincing grit of Menahan Street Band, sounds bolstered by all the touring he has done over the last two years."[14]

James Reed of The Boston Globe said, "You hear him at the peak of his powers on the title track, whose acoustic soul reels in the band and lets Bradley tell his story, one wounded sentiment at a time."[15] Andrew Burgess of musicOMH said, "He's lived it long and hard, and with this album Bradley continues to lay out all the goodness and badness of life and love, with soul to spare."[7] Ryan Bort of Paste said, "If you were a fan of No Time for Dreaming you're going to be a fan of Victim of Love, and you shouldn't really need to know anything about it other than it's an album full of Charles Bradley songs."[8] Dean Van Nguyen of Pitchfork said, "Victim of Love is ultimately a less successful record than No Time for Dreaming. For one, Bradley seems less connected with this set."[9] Brent Faulkner of PopMatters said, "Victim of Love is best described as classic and authentic without feeling anachronistic in the least."[10] Jody Rosen of Rolling Stone said, "It's Bradley's voice that seals the deal."[11] Laura Studarus of Under the Radar said, "An album for the ages."[12] Uncut said, "A couple of the more freedom screamers may be a holler too far for some ears, but there's no denying the passion and power of Bradley's formidable lungs."[2]

Track listing

No.TitleWriter(s)Length
1."Strictly Reserved for You" (featuring Menahan Street Band)
3:43
2."You Put the Flame on It" (featuring Menahan Street Band)
3:48
3."Let Love Stand a Chance" (featuring Menahan Street Band)
  • Bradley
  • Brenneck
3:59
4."Victim of Love" (featuring Menahan Street Band)
  • Bradley
  • Brenneck
3:29
5."Love Bug Blues" (featuring Menahan Street Band)
3:00
6."Dusty Blue" (featuring Menahan Street Band)
3:21
7."Confusion" (featuring Menahan Street Band)
  • Bradley
  • Brenneck
  • Guy
  • Michels
3:44
8."Where Do We Go from Here" (featuring Menahan Street Band)
  • Bradley
  • Brenneck
  • Feeney
  • Guy
  • Daniel Foder
  • Michels
  • Steinweiss
3:11
9."Crying in the Chapel" (featuring Menahan Street Band)
  • Bradley
  • Brenneck
3:54
10."Hurricane" (featuring Menahan Street Band)
3:32
11."Through the Storm" (featuring Menahan Street Band)
  • Bradley
  • Brenneck
4:42

Note All writing credits are taken from LP back cover

Personnel

Additional personnel

Charts

Chart (2013) Peak
position
US Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums (Billboard)[16] 17
US Top Heatseekers Albums (Billboard)[17] 2
US Independent Albums (Billboard)[18] 31

References

  1. ↑ "Victim of Love by Charles Bradley reviews". AnyDecentMusic?. Retrieved November 1, 2016.
  2. 1 2 3 "Charles Bradley – Victim of Love". Metacritic. CBS Interactive. Retrieved July 10, 2013.
  3. 1 2 Jurek, Thom. "Victim of Love". AllMusic. Retrieved 10 July 2013.
  4. 1 2 Kelly, Jennifer (April 11, 2013). "CHARLES BRADLEY – Victim of Love | Blurt Magazine". Blurt. Retrieved July 10, 2013.
  5. 1 2 Madden, Mike (April 5, 2013). "Album Review: Charles Bradley – Victim of Love | Consequence of Sound". Consequence of Sound. Retrieved July 10, 2013.
  6. 1 2 Petridis, Alexis (March 28, 2013). "Charles Bradley: Victim of Love – review | Music | The Guardian". The Guardian. Retrieved July 10, 2013.
  7. 1 2 Burgess, Andrew (March 27, 2013). "Charles Bradley – Victim of Love | Album Reviews | musicOMG". musicOMH. Retrieved July 10, 2013.
  8. 1 2 Bort, Ryan (April 2, 2013). "Charles Bradley: Victim of Love :: Music :: Reviews :: Paste". Paste. Retrieved July 10, 2013.
  9. 1 2 Van Nguyen, Dean (April 5, 2013). "Charles Bradley; Victim of Love | Album Reviews | Pitchfork". Pitchfork. Retrieved July 10, 2013.
  10. 1 2 Faulkner, Brent (April 4, 2013). "Charles Bradley: Victim of Love | PopMatters". PopMatters. Retrieved July 10, 2013.
  11. 1 2 Rosen, Jody (April 2, 2013). "Victim of Love | Album Reviews | Rolling Stone". Rolling Stone. Retrieved July 10, 2013.
  12. 1 2 Studarus, Laura (May 6, 2013). "Charles Bradley: Victim of Love (Daptone) | Under The Radar". Under the Radar. Retrieved July 10, 2013.
  13. ↑ Ryan B. Patrick (April 1, 2013). "Charles Bradley Victim of Love". Exclaim!. Retrieved June 24, 2016.
  14. ↑ Nate Chinen (March 29, 2013). "Listening to the Leukocytes and Moving Beyond James Brown". The New York Times. Retrieved June 24, 2016.
  15. ↑ James Reed (April 2, 2013). "ALBUM REVIEW: Charles Bradley, 'Victim of Love'". The Boston Globe. Retrieved June 24, 2015.
  16. ↑ "Charles Bradley – Chart history" Billboard Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums for Charles Bradley. Retrieved July 11, 2013.
  17. ↑ "Charles Bradley – Chart history" Billboard Top Heatseekers Albums for Charles Bradley. Retrieved July 11, 2013.
  18. ↑ "Charles Bradley – Chart history" Billboard Independent Albums for Charles Bradley. Retrieved July 11, 2013.
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