Maps of Music

Forever (1997)

Where the lyrics of Forever take you, and where it was really made.

Bobby Brown's fourth album was meant to mark a comeback, but it sold fewer than 100,000 copies in the US and never entered the Billboard 200.

Place unknown

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Recorded after Brown left New Edition's Home Again tour in 1997
Rumoured to have been the original choice to voice Powerline in Disney's A Goofy Movie, but cut over drug problems; Brown was never considered for the role
Some songs Brown did for the movie's soundtrack were reportedly revamped and included on this album
Planned producers included Teddy Riley, Sean Combs, R. Kelly and Jimmy Jam & Terry Lewis
Actual production by Tim & Bob, Derrick "D-Dot" Angelettie and Jeff Redd
Released by Geffen Records, a small label with limited resources
Compared with Brown's earlier MCA Records period, promotion and radio support were lacking

Born 1969 in Boston, Massachusetts; grew up in Roxbury's Orchard Park Projects.
Co-founded the vocal group New Edition in 1980 as "The Bricks" with Michael Bivins and Ricky Bell at about age 12.
New Edition's debut album Candy Girl (1983) included the number-one R&B single of the same name.
Left New Edition in 1986 to pursue a solo career.

Core members of New Edition included Bobby Brown, Michael Bivins, Ricky Bell, Ralph Tresvant, and Ronnie DeVoe.
Later New Edition reunions included Johnny Gill.

Solo debut King of Stage (1986) produced the number-one R&B single "Girlfriend".
Don't Be Cruel (1988) reached number one on the Billboard 200 and produced five Billboard Hot 100 top-ten singles, including "My Prerogative".
Bobby (1992) sold more than 3 million copies and produced "Humpin' Around", "Get Away" and "Good Enough".
Co-pioneered new jack swing with Teddy Riley.
Appeared in films including A Thin Line Between Love and Hate (1996) and Two Can Play That Game (2001).
Released the album The Masterpiece in 2012.

Italian Wikipedia: sold fewer than 100,000 copies in the US and did not enter the Billboard 200
Italian Wikipedia: moved away from the energetic new jack swing sound toward mature ballads and mid-tempo
Lead single Feelin' Inside did not enter the Top 100 and reached only the Top 70 of the R&B chart
Second single My Place, a slow jam produced by Tim & Bob, had weak promotion

Feelin' Inside was later reassessed and is regarded by fans as a 'small masterpiece'

The album was first titled Bobby II before the final name Forever was chosen.
Brown was rumoured as the first pick for Powerline in A Goofy Movie, but he was never considered for the role.
The planned producers were Teddy Riley, Sean Combs, R. Kelly and Jimmy Jam & Terry Lewis, but the final producers were Tim & Bob, Derrick Angelettie and Jeff Redd.
Forever came out on Geffen Records, a small label with limited resources, after Brown's earlier MCA Records period.
The album arrived in 1997, when R&B was moving toward hip-hop soul and mainstream pop, a shift the album's sound did not follow.