Always & Forever (Eternal album)

Always & Forever
Studio album by Eternal
Released	28 November 1993
Recorded	1992–1993
Studio	Prime Time (Los Angeles) Sarm West, Roundhouse (London) Mad Fly Productions (New York)
Genre	R&B soul new jack swing hip hop soul
Length	58:32
Label	EMI 1st Avenue
Producer	BeBe Winans Dennis Charles Lotti Golden Nigel Lowis Ronnie Wilson Tim Simenon Tommy Faragher
Eternal chronology
Always & Forever (1993) Power of a Woman (1995)
Singles from Always & Forever
"Stay" Released: 20 September 1993 "Save Our Love" Released: 3 January 1994 "Just a Step from Heaven" Released: 18 April 1994 "So Good" Released: 8 August 1994 "Oh Baby I..." Released: 24 October 1994 "Crazy" Released: 12 December 1994

Professional ratings

Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic	[1]
Gavin Report	(favorable)[2]
The Observer	(negative)[3]
Smash Hits	[4]

Always & Forever is the debut studio album by British girl group Eternal. It was released through EMI on 29 November 1993 and is the only studio album by Eternal to feature Louise Nurding, who left the group to embark on a solo career prior to the release of their follow-up album, Power of a Woman (1995). The album became a commercial success, spending 63 weeks in the top 40 of the UK Albums Chart,[5] selling over one million copies in the UK alone and yielding six hit singles. As of 1997, the album had sold over four million copies worldwide.[6] In June 2019, Always & Forever was ranked at number 15 on the Official Charts Company's Top 40 biggest girl band studio albums of the last 25 years.[7]

Single releases

Always & Forever yielded six top 20 singles, two of which reached top 5: "Stay" and "Oh Baby I...".[8] "Stay" was the first single to be released from the album, peaking at No. 4 in the UK Singles Chart. This was followed by "Save Our Love" and "Just A Step From Heaven", both of which peaked at No. 8. "So Good" was the next single, peaking at No. 13, followed by "Oh Baby I..." which reached No. 4. "Crazy" was the final single released from the album, peaking at No. 15 in the UK Singles Chart.

Commercial performance

Always & Forever was a huge success, peaking at number 2 on the UK Albums Chart, and was later certified 4× Platinum by the BPI for sales of over 1.2 million copies. The album spent over 76 weeks in the charts. After its release at the end of 1993, it slowly climbed the album chart peaking at No. 3 in May 1994 shortly after the release of the third single, "Just a Step from Heaven". The album stayed in the chart throughout 1994 becoming that year's third best-selling album in the UK,[9] before climbing to No. 2 in January 1995. The album broke records for being the first to sell over one million copies in the UK by a female group.[10] As of 2015, it is the only album by a debut act to contain six top 15 hits and the first album by a female group to be nominated for best album at the BRIT Awards. The album had an American release in March 1994, selling 81,000 copies by December 1994.[11]

Track listing

No.	Title	Writer(s)	Producer(s)	Length
1.	"Stay"	Bobby Khouzouri Mark Steven	Nigel Lowis	3:56
2.	"Crazy"	BeBe Winans	Winans Tim Simenon (co.)	4:02
3.	"Save Our Love" (West End Mix)	Ann Preven Eddie Chacon Scott Cutler	Lowis	4:21
4.	"Oh Baby I..."	Lotti Golden Tommy Faragher	Golden Faragher	5:29
5.	"I'll Be There"	Geoffrey Williams Simon Stirling	Lowis	5:13
6.	"Sweet Funky Thing"	Evelyn "Champagne" King Golden Faragher	Golden Faragher	4:46
7.	"Never Gonna Give You Up"	Maria Christanson Golden Faragher	Golden Faragher	3:58
8.	"Just a Step from Heaven"	Shepard Solomon Wayne Cohen	Dennis Charles Ronnie Wilson	4:16
9.	"Let's Stay Together"	Al Green Willie Mitchell Al Jackson, Jr.	Charles Wilson	4:38
10.	"This Love Is for Real"	Golden Robbie Nevil Faragher	Lowis	3:44
11.	"So Good"	Easther Bennett Vernie Bennett Kéllé Bryan Louise Nurding	Lowis	3:57
12.	"If You Need Me Tonight"	Charles E. Bennett V. Bennett Bryan Nurding Wilson	Charles Wilson	4:00
13.	"Don't Say Goodbye"	Charles E. Bennett V. Bennett Bryan Nurding Wilson	Charles Wilson	4:14
14.	"Amazing Grace"	John Newton	Charles Wilson	1:50

Charts

Weekly charts Chart (1993–95) Peak position Australian Albums (ARIA)[12] 48 Belgian Albums (Ultratop Flanders)[13] 35 Dutch Albums (Album Top 100)[14] 12 European Albums (Top 100)[15] 17 French Albums (SNEP)[16] 43 German Albums (Offizielle Top 100)[17] 85 Irish Albums (IRMA)[18] 48 Japanese Albums (Oricon)[19] 25 New Zealand Albums (RMNZ)[20] 46 Scottish Albums (OCC)[21] 6 UK Albums (OCC)[22] 2 UK R&B Albums (OCC)[23] 1 US Billboard 200[24] 152 US Heatseekers Albums (Billboard)[25] 5 US Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums (Billboard)[26] 59

Year-end charts Chart (1994) Position UK Albums (OCC)[27] 4 Chart (1995) Position Dutch Albums (Album Top 100)[28] 61 UK Albums (OCC)[27] 52

Certifications

Region	Certification	Certified units/sales
Australia (ARIA)[29]	Gold	35,000[11]
Germany	—	35,000[30]
Ireland (IRMA)[31]	Gold	7,500^^
Japan (RIAJ)[32]	Gold	100,000[11]
Netherlands (NVPI)[33]	Gold	50,000^^
United Kingdom (BPI)[34]	4× Platinum	1,400,000[30]
United States	—	81,000[11]
Summaries
Worldwide	—	4,000,000[35]
^^ Shipments figures based on certification alone.

References

1. Wynn, Ron. "Review: Always & Forever – Eternal". AllMusic. Retrieved 26 August 2009.
2. Lai, Annette M. (18 February 1994). "Gavin Picks — Albums" (PDF). Gavin Report. Retrieved 14 March 2022.
3. Spencer, Neil. "Review: Eternal – Always & Forever (EMI CDEMD 1053)". The Observer Review (12 December 1993). Guardian Media Group: 9.
4. Frith, Mark. "New Albums". Smash Hits. p. 52. 24 November 1993.
5. Myers, Justin (27 March 2018). "Little Mix's Glory Days sets UK chart record as the longest-reigning Top 40 girl group album ever". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 26 December 2020.
6. "Billboard (6 September 1997)". Billboard. Prometheus Global Media. 6 September 1997. p. 62. Retrieved 18 December 2017.
7. "The Official Top 40 biggest girl band studio albums of the last 25 years". Official Charts Company. 13 June 2019. Retrieved 26 December 2020.
8. "Eternal". The Official Charts Company. Retrieved 27 September 2012.
9. Spencer, Neil. "Feature: Arts Review Of 1994: Pop". The Observer Review (18 December 1994). Guardian Media Group: 8.
10. "Eternal". ArtInBase. Archived from the original on 12 March 2012. Retrieved 27 September 2012.
11. "Eternal Hopes Hits Go 'Forever': E.M.I. UK Group Breaking In US". Billboard. Prometheus Global Media. 3 December 1994. p. 3. Retrieved 18 December 2017.
12. "Australiancharts.com – Eternal – Always & Forever". Hung Medien.
13. "Ultratop.be – Eternal – Always & Forever" (in Dutch). Hung Medien.
14. "Dutchcharts.nl – Eternal – Always & Forever" (in Dutch). Hung Medien.
15. "European Top 100 Albums" (PDF). Music & Media. 28 January 1995. p. 20. Retrieved 31 December 2021 – via worldradiohistory.com.
16. "Lescharts.com – Eternal – Always & Forever". Hung Medien.
17. "Offiziellecharts.de – Eternal – Always & Forever" (in German). GfK Entertainment Charts.
18. "Irish-charts.com – Discography Eternal". Hung Medien.
19. "エターナル" (in Japanese). Oricon. Archived from the original on 20 July 2024. Retrieved 20 July 2024.
20. "Charts.nz – Eternal – Always & Forever". Hung Medien.
21. "Official Scottish Albums Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company.
22. "Eternal | Artist | Official Charts". UK Albums Chart.
23. "Official R&B Albums Chart Top 40". Official Charts Company.
24. "eternal Chart History (Billboard 200)". Billboard.
25. "eternal Chart History (Heatseekers Albums)". Billboard.
26. "eternal Chart History (Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums)". Billboard.
27. "Chart Archive – 1990s Albums". Retrieved 24 September 2011.
28. "Dutchcharts.nl – Jahreshitparade 1995". Hung Medien. Retrieved 1 August 2010.
29. "ARIA Charts – Accreditations – 1994 Albums" (PDF). Australian Recording Industry Association. Retrieved 31 August 2022.
30. Tilli, Robbert (1 April 1995). "EMI Throws Eternal "A Platinum Celebration"" (PDF). Music & Media. p. 8. Retrieved 28 December 2021.
31. "The Irish Charts - 2013 Certification Awards - Gold". Irish Recorded Music Association. Retrieved 1 February 2013.
32. "Japanese album certifications – Eternal – Always & Forever" (in Japanese). Recording Industry Association of Japan. Retrieved 25 July 2012.
33. "Dutch album certifications – Eternal – Always & Forever" (in Dutch). Nederlandse Vereniging van Producenten en Importeurs van beeld- en geluidsdragers. Retrieved 15 July 2012. Enter Always & Forever in the "Artiest of titel" box. Select 1994 in the drop-down menu saying "Alle jaargangen".
34. "British album certifications – Eternal – Always & Forever". British Phonographic Industry. Retrieved 25 July 2012.
35. "Diverse And Promising Acts On The Horizon: Up-And-Comers, Veteran Acts Shape The EMI Of Tomorrow". Billboard. Prometheus Global Media. 6 September 1997. p. 62. Retrieved 18 December 2017.