Always & Forever (Eternal album)

Always & Forever is the debut studio album by British girl group Eternal. It was released through EMI on 29 November 1993 before Louise Nurding left to embark on a solo career, before Eternal's 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,[3] selling over one million copies in the UK alone and yielding six top 20 single releases. As of 1997, the album has sold over 4 million copies worldwide.[4] 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.[5]

Always & Forever
Studio album by Eternal
Released	28 November 1993
Recorded	1992–1993
Studio	Prime Time Studios (Los Angeles) Sarm West Studios Roundhouse Studios (London) Mad Fly Productions (New York)
Genre	R&B soul new jack swing hip hop soul
Length	58:32
Label	EMI
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]
The Observer	Negative[2]

Single releases

Always & Forever yielded two Top 5 singles; "Stay" and "Oh Baby I..."[6] "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.

Sales

Always & Forever was a huge success, peaking at number 2 on the UK Albums Chart and was later certified 4x Platinum by the BPI for sales of over 1.2 million copies. It was 1994's third best-selling album in the UK,[7] spending over 76 weeks in the charts. The album broke records for being the first to sell over 1 million copies in the UK by a female group.[8] 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.[9]

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 scope="row" Australian Albums (ARIA)[10] 48 scope="row" Belgian Albums (Ultratop Flanders)[11] 35 scope="row" Dutch Albums (Album Top 100)[12] 12 scope="row" French Albums (SNEP)[13] 43 scope="row" German Albums (Offizielle Top 100)[14] 85 scope="row" Irish Albums (IRMA)[15] 48 scope="row" Japanese Albums (Oricon)[16] 25 scope="row" New Zealand Albums (RMNZ)[17] 46 scope="row" Scottish Albums (OCC)[18] 6 scope="row" UK Albums (OCC)[19] 2 scope="row" UK R&B Albums (OCC)[20] 1 scope="row" US Billboard 200[21] 152 scope="row" US Heatseekers Albums (Billboard)[22] 5 scope="row" US Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums (Billboard)[23] 59

Year-end charts Chart (1994) Position UK Albums (OCC)[24] 4 Chart (1995) Position Dutch Albums (Album Top 100)[25] 61 UK Albums (OCC)[24] 52

Certifications

Region	Certification	Certified units/sales
Ireland (IRMA)[26]	Gold	7,500^^
Japan	—	100,000[9]
Netherlands (NVPI)[27]	Gold	50,000^^
United Kingdom (BPI)[28]	4× Platinum	1,200,000^^
United States	—	81,000[9]
Summaries
Europe (IFPI)[29]	Platinum	1,000,000^*
^* Sales figures based on certification alone. ^^ Shipments figures based on certification alone.

References

1. Wynn, Ron. "Review: Always & Forever – Eternal". AllMusic. Retrieved 26 August 2009.
2. Spencer, Neil. "Review: Eternal – Always & Forever (EMI CDEMD 1053)". The Observer Review. Guardian Media Group (12 December 1993): 9.
3. 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.
4. Billboard (6 September 1997). Billboard. Prometheus Global Media. 6 September 1997. p. 62. Retrieved 18 December 2017.
5. "The Official Top 40 biggest girl band studio albums of the last 25 years". Official Charts Company. 13 June 2019. Retrieved 26 December 2020.
6. "Eternal". The Official Charts Company. Retrieved 27 September 2012.
7. Spencer, Neil. "Feature: Arts Review Of 1994: Pop". The Observer Review. Guardian Media Group (18 December 1994): 8.
8. "Eternal". ArtInBase. Archived from the original on 12 March 2012. Retrieved 27 September 2012.
9. 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.
10. "Australiancharts.com – Eternal – Always & Forever". Hung Medien.
11. "Ultratop.be – Eternal – Always & Forever" (in Dutch). Hung Medien.
12. "Dutchcharts.nl – Eternal – Always & Forever" (in Dutch). Hung Medien.
13. "Lescharts.com – Eternal – Always & Forever". Hung Medien.
14. "Offiziellecharts.de – Eternal – Always & Forever" (in German). GfK Entertainment Charts.
15. "GFK Chart-Track Albums: Week {{{week}}}, {{{year}}}". Chart-Track. IRMA.
16. "Oricon Top 50 Albums: 1994-03-30" (in Japanese). Oricon.
17. "Charts.nz – Eternal – Always & Forever". Hung Medien.
18. "Official Scottish Albums Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company.
19. "Eternal | Artist | Official Charts". UK Albums Chart.
20. "Official R&B Albums Chart Top 40". Official Charts Company.
21. "eternal Chart History (Billboard 200)". Billboard.
22. "eternal Chart History (Heatseekers Albums)". Billboard.
23. "eternal Chart History (Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums)". Billboard.
24. "Chart Archive – 1990s Albums". Retrieved 24 September 2011.
25. "Dutchcharts.nl – Jahreshitparade 1995". Hung Medien. Retrieved 1 August 2010.
26. "The Irish Charts - 2013 Certification Awards - Gold". Irish Recorded Music Association. Retrieved 1 February 2013.
27. "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.
28. "British album certifications – Eternal – Always & Forever". British Phonographic Industry. Retrieved 25 July 2012. Select albums in the Format field. Select Platinum in the Certification field. Type Always & Forever in the "Search BPI Awards" field and then press Enter.
29. "IFPI Platinum Europe Awards – 1995". International Federation of the Phonographic Industry. Missing or empty |url= (help)