# Back to Love (Anthony Hamilton album)

Back to Love is the fifth studio album by American R&B singer Anthony Hamilton. It was released on December 13, 2011, by RCA Records. His first under the then newly restructured RCA label after his transition from So So Def Recordings and the Zomba Label Group, the album features writing and production from Babyface, Dre & Vidal, Kelvin Wooten, Mike City, Salaam Remi, James Poyser, Jairus Mozee, The Avila Brothers, as well as Hamilton himself. Hamilton-who co-wrote every song on the set.
The album earned largely positive reviews and debuted at number twelve on the US Billboard 200 chart, selling over 63,000 copies in the first week. Back to Love was nominated for the Grammy Award for Best R&B Album at the 55th Annual Grammy Awards. The album's lead single "Woo", was released on October 11, 2011. Follow-up single "Pray for Me" was also Grammy nominated in 2013 for Best R&B Song and reached number one on the Billboard Adult R&B Songs chart.

## Background

Back to Love marked Hamilton's first album under RCA Records, following his transition from So So Def Recordings and the Zomba Label Group. In search of a "brighter, more mainstream sound without compromising his gritty, soulful voice," he consulted a variety of new collaborators to work with him on the album, including Babyface and Antonio Dixon, who contributed three songs to the project, as well as producers Salaam Remi, Mike City, longtime colleague Kelvin Wooten and newcomer Jairus Mozee. In an interview with Billboard, he commented: "Having children gives you a new perspective, another burst of energy. Back to Love stems from that energy as well as from that of RCA's new team. And I'd always wanted to work with Babyface; we had a ball. Everybody is excited about taking things to the next level."

## Promotion

"Woo" was released by RCA Records on October 11, 2011 as the lead single from Back to Love. It reached number 24 on the US Billboard Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart, becoming the album's highest-charting song. Follow-up "Pray for Me," issued on March 27, 2012, was less successful but became Hamilton's third number-one hit on the US Adult R&B Songs chart. "Best of Me," the album's third single, was released on February 4, 2013 and peaked at number three on the US Adult R&B Songs chart.

## Critical reception

Professional ratings :
| Aggregate scores ||
| Source | Rating |
| Metacritic | 82/100 |
| Review scores ||
| Source | Rating |
| About.com | |
| AllMusic | |
| The A.V. Club | A− |
| Entertainment Weekly | A− |
| Los Angeles Times | |
| Rolling Stone | |
| PopMatters | 6/10 |
| Spin | 8/10 |
Back to Love has received generally favorable reviews from music critics. At Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, the album received an average score of 82, based on seven reviews, which indicates "universal acclaim." Allmusic editor Andy Kellman found that Back to Love "is clearly viewed as a fresh start, even though it offers no more surprises than Ain't Nobody Worryin' or The Point of It All [...] That Back to Love is not a major shake-up is not a bad thing. Most of the songs are instantly ingratiating in some way, with none of the lighter, upbeat numbers the least bit out of character. There are some sad-cat moments that come very close to the standard Hamilton set." The A.V. Club critic Evan Rytlewski found that the album "isn't quite the radical makeover of some of Hamilton’s more adventurous peers, it's nonetheless a sterling continuation of the singer's ever-widening palette."
Mikael Wood from Entertainment Weekly noted that Back to Love was not "as solid as any of his previous six albums, but its high points are the three tunes co-produced by Babyface." PopMatters's David Amidon found that Back to Love "might not be the sort of reward fans were hoping for after the longest period between albums Hamilton's major label career has seen, but truthfully just having Hamilton's vocals on a record makes a project enticing and this album is no different." Barry Walters from Spin called Back to Love Hamilton's "most finessed album." He felt that it "presents songwriting substance as style, and although that might not be flashy, it's mighty refreshing." Rob Tannenbaum, writing for Rolling Stone, remarked: "In spartan tracks that evoke but never imitate Al Green and Teddy Pendergrass, Hamilton whispers offers of courtly behavior he says would make Oprah jealous."

## Commercial performance

Back to Love debuted at number twelve on the US Billboard 200 and number three on the Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums chart, selling over 63,000 copies in the first week. By February 2016, the album had sold 372,000 copies in the United States.

## Track listing

Notes
* denotes co-producer(s)