Victim of Love
Studio album by
Charles Bradley
ReleasedApril 2, 2013 (2013-04-02)
GenreSoul
Length40:24
Label
ProducerThomas 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[1]

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

Critical reception

Professional ratings
Aggregate scores
SourceRating
AnyDecentMusic?7.7/10[2]
Metacritic81/100[3]
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[4]
Blurt[5]
ConsequenceC+[6]
The Guardian[7]
musicOMH[8]
Paste8.4/10[9]
Pitchfork6.8/10[10]
PopMatters8/10[11]
Rolling Stone[12]
Under the Radar8/10[13]

Victim of Love was met with widespread critical acclaim. 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.[3] Aggregator AnyDecentMusic? gave it 7.7 out of 10, based on their assessment of the critical consensus.[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".[4] 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".[5] Michael Madden of Consequence said, "It's pretty uniformly vintage-soul stuff—barreling horns, wafting backing vocals, single guitar chords on the upbeat—but it never sounds antiquated".[6] 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".[14] 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".[7]

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".[15] 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".[16] 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".[8] 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".[9] 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".[10] Brent Faulkner of PopMatters said, "Victim of Love is best described as classic and authentic without feeling anachronistic in the least".[11] Jody Rosen of Rolling Stone said, "It's Bradley's voice that seals the deal".[12] Laura Studarus of Under the Radar said, "An album for the ages".[13]

Track listing

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

Note

  • All writing credits are taken from LP back cover

Personnel

Additional personnel
  • Kisha Bari – back cover photo
  • Thomas Brenneck – engineer, mixing engineer, producer
  • JJ Golden – mastering engineer
  • Catherine Orchard – design
  • Gabriel Roth – executive producer, mixing engineer
  • Homer Steinweiss – design
  • Sugarman – executive producer
  • Elizabeth Weinberg – cover photo
  • Ron Wolf – Egg shaker – "Strictly Reserved for You" (one take)

Charts

References

  1. ↑ Lockner, Logan (January 29, 2013). "Charles Bradley Releases New Song "Strictly Reserved for You," Tour Dates". Paste. Archived from the original on September 24, 2017. Retrieved September 23, 2017.
  2. 1 2 "Victim of Love by Charles Bradley reviews". AnyDecentMusic?. Archived from the original on November 3, 2016. Retrieved November 1, 2016.
  3. 1 2 "Charles Bradley – Victim of Love". Metacritic. Archived from the original on April 7, 2013. Retrieved July 10, 2013.
  4. 1 2 Jurek, Thom. "Victim of Love". AllMusic. Archived from the original on July 26, 2013. Retrieved July 10, 2013.
  5. 1 2 Kelly, Jennifer (April 11, 2013). "CHARLES BRADLEY – Victim of Love | Blurt Magazine". Blurt. Archived from the original on April 14, 2013. Retrieved July 10, 2013.
  6. 1 2 Madden, Mike (April 5, 2013). "Album Review: Charles Bradley – Victim of Love | Consequence of Sound". Consequence. Retrieved July 10, 2013.
  7. 1 2 Petridis, Alexis (March 28, 2013). "Charles Bradley: Victim of Love – review | Music | The Guardian". The Guardian. Archived from the original on October 11, 2014. Retrieved July 10, 2013.
  8. 1 2 Burgess, Andrew (March 27, 2013). "Charles Bradley – Victim of Love | Album Reviews | musicOMG". musicOMH. Archived from the original on May 1, 2013. Retrieved July 10, 2013.
  9. 1 2 Bort, Ryan (April 2, 2013). "Charles Bradley: Victim of Love :: Music :: Reviews :: Paste". Paste. Archived from the original on June 15, 2013. Retrieved July 10, 2013.
  10. 1 2 Van Nguyen, Dean (April 5, 2013). "Charles Bradley; Victim of Love | Album Reviews | Pitchfork". Pitchfork. Archived from the original on August 5, 2013. Retrieved July 10, 2013.
  11. 1 2 Faulkner, Brent (April 4, 2013). "Charles Bradley: Victim of Love | PopMatters". PopMatters. Archived from the original on June 6, 2013. Retrieved July 10, 2013.
  12. 1 2 Rosen, Jody (April 2, 2013). "Victim of Love | Album Reviews | Rolling Stone". Rolling Stone. Archived from the original on June 5, 2013. Retrieved July 10, 2013.
  13. 1 2 Studarus, Laura (May 6, 2013). "Charles Bradley: Victim of Love (Daptone) | Under The Radar". Under the Radar. Archived from the original on December 8, 2013. Retrieved July 10, 2013.
  14. ↑ Ryan B. Patrick (April 1, 2013). "Charles Bradley Victim of Love". Exclaim!. Archived from the original on September 15, 2016. Retrieved June 24, 2016.
  15. ↑ Nate Chinen (March 29, 2013). "Listening to the Leukocytes and Moving Beyond James Brown". The New York Times. Archived from the original on April 9, 2016. Retrieved June 24, 2016.
  16. ↑ James Reed (April 2, 2013). "ALBUM REVIEW: Charles Bradley, 'Victim of Love'". The Boston Globe. Archived from the original on August 12, 2016. Retrieved June 24, 2015.
  17. ↑ "Ultratop.be – Charles Bradley – Victim of Love" (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved August 5, 2020.
  18. ↑ "Ultratop.be – Charles Bradley – Victim of Love" (in French). Hung Medien. Retrieved August 5, 2020.
  19. ↑ "Dutchcharts.nl – Charles Bradley – Victim of Love" (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved August 5, 2020.
  20. ↑ "Lescharts.com – Charles Bradley – Victim of Love". Hung Medien. Retrieved August 5, 2020.
  21. ↑ "Offiziellecharts.de – Charles Bradley – Victim of Love" (in German). GfK Entertainment Charts. Retrieved August 5, 2020.
  22. ↑ "Charles Bradley Chart History (Billboard 200)". Billboard. Retrieved November 10, 2020.
  23. ↑ "Charles Bradley Chart History (Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums)". Billboard. Retrieved July 11, 2013.
  24. ↑ "Jaaroverzichten 2013". Ultratop. Retrieved August 5, 2020.
  25. ↑ "Jaaroverzichten 2014". Ultratop. Retrieved November 10, 2020.
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