Veteran (Marques Houston album)

Veteran is the third studio album by American R&B recording artist Marques Houston. It was released by The Ultimate Group and Universal Motown Records on March 20, 2007 in the United States, following the merger of Universal Records in 2005. The album features a wide of range of collaborators, including Bryan-Michael Cox, Rob Knox, Ne-Yo, Chris Stokes, The Stereotypes, Tank, The Underdogs. Guest vocals were provided by singer Mýa as well as rappers Shawnna and Yung Joc.

Veteran
Studio album by Marques Houston
Released	March 19, 2007
Recorded	2006–2007
Genre	R&B
Length	45:30
Label	TUG Universal Motown
Producer	Marques Houston (exec.) Ketrina Askew (exec.) Henley Regisford (exec.) Sylvia Rhone (exec.) Chris Stokes (exec.) Tone (exec.)
Marques Houston chronology
Naked (2005) Veteran (2007) Mr. Houston (2009)

Critical reception

Professional ratings

Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic	[1]
Okayplayer	[2]
PopMatters	[3]

Veteran received generally mixed to positive reviews from music critics. AllMusic editor Andy Kellman praised the production and lyrical qualities for being more hi-standard compared to Houston's previous efforts and for the maturity in his vocal delivery, saying that "he works the more romantic sentiments with enough conviction to indicate that he has more life experiences from which to draw."[1] Joshua Alston of Vibe saw Houston's vocal work similar to that of Sam Cooke, saying that he "sounds sexier when he isn't working so damn hard at it. If only he had a clue."[4]

Adam Pearthree of Okayplayer commended the mature approach the album takes with its songs but found it forgettable, along with Houston's identity crisis in his vocal performance, concluding that, "With stronger song selection [Marques] Houston could still come up with the adult oriented album he wants, but as of now, Veteran simply falls short."[2] Mike Joseph of PopMatters also found the production and songwriting adequate at best but felt it was too reminiscent of other established R&B artists, saying that "[T]he moments you notice on Veteran are the ones that remind you of other artists. Now in his mid-twenties, it’s hard to say whether Houston will ever develop the singular personality that will elevate his career to the next level of hitmaker status."[3]

Commercial performance

In the United States, Veteran debuted and peaked at number 5 on the US Billboard 200,[5][6] and number 1 on Billboard's Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums.[6][7] This marked Houston's first number one solo album as well as his highest-charting album yet. Veteran sold almost 70,000 units in its first week.[8]

Track listing

No.	Title	Writer(s)	Producer(s)	Length
1.	"Veteran (Intro)"	Marques Houston Damon Thomas	The Underdogs	2:28
2.	"Like This" (featuring Yung Joc)	Houston Andre Merritt Chris Stokes Cory Peterson Cory Bold Jasiel Robertson	Bold Stokes	3:51
3.	"Always & Forever"	Houston Antonio Dixon Thomas David Balfour Eric Dawkins Harvey Mason, Jr. Rob Knox Steve Russell	The Underdogs Knox^[a]	4:02
4.	"Favorite Girl"	Houston Merritt Brandon Howard	Howard Exchange Student^[a]	3:33
5.	"Circle"	Houston Adonis Shropshire Bryan-Michael Cox Kendrick Dean Tanya White	Cox WyldCard^[a]	4:02
6.	"Wonderful"	Jeremy Reeves Johnathan Yip Micayle McKinney Shaffer Smith	Stereotypes	3:42
7.	"Exclusively"	Houston Shropshire Cox Troy Johnson White	Cox	4:08
8.	"How You Just Gonna"	Thomas Durrell Babbs Mason	The Underdogs Tank^[a]	3:35
9.	"Hold N' Back" (featuring Mýa & Shawnna)	Houston Merritt Peterson Rashawnna Guy	Peterson	4:23
10.	"Kimberly"	Houston LaMont Lassiter Rufus Moore	Lassiter Rufus Blaq^[a]	4:24
11.	"So Right for Me"	Walter Millsap III Candice Nelson	Lil Walt Nelson	3:44
12.	"Miss Being Your Man"	Houston Dixon Thomas Dawkins Mason Melvin Coleman	The Underdogs Coleman^[a]	3:35

Target bonus track

No.	Title	Length
13.	"Excited"	3:44

Circuit City bonus DVD

No.	Title	Length
1.	"DVD Intro"	0:10
2.	"Interview with Raw Footage"	30:55
3.	"Favorite Girl"	3:34
4.	"Sex wit You"	4:14
5.	"Live European Performance"	1:13
6.	"Somebody Help Me Trailer"	2:10

Notes

• ^{^a} signifies a co-producer

Sample credits

• "So Right for Mee" contains elements from "Pack'd My Bags" written by Chaka Khan and Tony Maiden.

Charts

Weekly charts Chart (2007) Peak position US Billboard 200[9] 5 US Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums (Billboard)[10] 1

Year-end charts Chart (2007) Position US Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums (Billboard)[11] 75

Release history

Country	Date	Label	Edition
United Kingdom	March 19, 2007	The Ultimate Group Universal Motown Records	Standard
United States	March 20, 2007
Germany	April 17, 2007

References

1. Kellman, Andy. "Veteran - Marques Houston". AllMusic. Retrieved August 9, 2011.
2. Pearthree, Adam (April 2007). "Marques Houston - Veteran". Okayplayer. Archived from the original on October 23, 2007. Retrieved August 9, 2011.
3. Joseph, Mike (April 17, 2007). "Marques Houston: Veteran". PopMatters. Retrieved October 3, 2016.
4. Alston, Joshua (May 2007). "Marques Houston 'Veteran'". Vibe. Vibe Media. 15 (5): 114. ISSN 1070-4701. Retrieved October 3, 2016.
5. "The Billboard 200: Veteran". Archived from the original on July 19, 2014. Retrieved 2008-02-05. Billboard.com
6. "Marques Houston's 'Veteran' Debuts at Number One". 2007-03-30. Archived from the original on 2008-10-13. Retrieved 2008-02-05.EURweb.com
7. "Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums: Veteran". Archived from the original on July 19, 2014. Retrieved 2008-02-05. Billboard.com
8. "Joss Stone "Reintroduces" Herself, Marques Houston Proves He's A Vet, Baby Boy Da Prince Gets Crowned". Hip-Hop Charts | SOHH.com. Archived from the original on 2007-04-01. Retrieved 2008-04-19.
9. "Marques Houston Chart History (Billboard 200)". Billboard. Retrieved December 31, 2018.
10. "Marques Houston Chart History (Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums)". Billboard. Retrieved December 31, 2018.
11. "R&B/Hip-Hop Albums: Best of 2007". Billboard. Retrieved December 31, 2018.