Track Listing

1. Still Believe
2. Imagine
3. Deepest Hurt
4. Lovely Affair
5. Run To Me
6. My Heart
7. Everything
8. Can't Have You
9. This Time Next Year
10. Surrender
11. That Thing
12. In Return
13. He Don't Know
14. Queen For A Day
15. Superficial Fantasy
16. Can't Go On

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #96200 in Music
• Released on: 1999-11-08
• Number of discs: 1

Amazon.co.uk Review
It sounds like a charmed life and maybe it is--on Shola Ama's second album, In return, she certainly sounds happy enough. Discovered at 15 while singing in the tube station, she released the (platinum-selling) Much Love at 18 and was anointed as Britain's next great R&B hope; at 20, her debut cements her status as a star but also removes her from her roots. In Return is full of rich, smooth melodies that show off a beautiful pop sheen; despite the fact that most of her contemporaries have mixed big heaps of hip-hop into their soul, Ama remains resolutely on the other side of the fence. (This in spite of the absolutely lovely beats that A Tribe Called Quest's Ali Shaheed Muhammad gives the sultry "Lovely Affair".) It's tough to determine just how much substance there is here but the style is such that you won't care. --Randy Silver

Customer Reviews

BIGGUP SHOLA!
You will be very hard pushed to find a bad review of this album - wonder why? The angelic voice combined with the uptempo R&B beats on tracks such as Imagine, Everything and Can't Have You (personally my favourite tracks) will hit you in a sexy-smooth kinda way!

One album to definately get down to. This local girl represents the R&B talent of Kilburn, NW London incredibly well! Biggup Shola and keep the tunes flowing!!

Return to form for UK's reigning R'n'B princess
Shola has returned with this satisfying collection of tracks after a 2 year absence where she became more well known for her tabloid antics than for her considerable musical ability. In Return signals a marked departure from the classic soul sound of her debut 'Much Love'. On the whole it has a more poppy sound to it with the exception of the stand out track the jazzy 'Lovely Affair', co-written by Ali Shaheed Muhammad of A Tribe Called Quest fame and soul singer Angie Stone.

This change in direction could have been a disaster but Shola's crystal clear voice lifts the material to heights most pop acts could only dream about and showcases her ability to handle more upbeat songs. 'Can't Have You' and 'He Don't Know' are downright sassy where as 'Still Believe' and 'Everything' are pretty and uplifting.

The ballads, in lesser hands, could have been the breaking point of this album but Shola with the addition of great backing singers injects a youthful vigour in songs such as the Babyface penned 'This Time Next Year'. A great album to get your party on to or even just for chilling to.

more great R&B
here's some more great R&B from the UK... i love shola's voice. it's also cool that she co-wrote some songs on this album, as many R&B singers don't take part in the writing. if you like good, catchy, fun music with good vocals then pick this up. hope to hear more from this talented lady soon.