"Gently" is a studio album by American singer and actress Liza Minnelli. Released in 1996, it marked her first album with the Angel Records/EMI label.
The release came seven years after her last studio album, "Results," which was released in 1989. During that time, she released the live albums "Liza: Live from Radio City Music Hall" in 1992 and "Aznavour Minnelli: Paris, Palais des Congrès" in 1995.
"Gently" is a jazz music album that also includes romantic ballads and lounge music numbers with arrangements featuring vibraphone, piano, and muted trumpet. The album's title and theme refer to moments in Minnelli's love life, starting from her adolescence when she had crushes on handsome schoolboys. During the album's promotion, she affectionately referred to the work as her "make-out album" due to the irredeemably sentimental themes behind the song choices. She summarized the inspiration behind the album on "The Rosie O'Donnell Show," explaining, "There was no romance section . So I thought, well, maybe I'll make an album that people can kiss to. Remember kissing? Wasn't kissing great? That's what this album's about."
As part of the album's promotion, the singer appeared on the UK shopping channel QVC. According to Gilbert Hetherwick, Senior Vice President and General Manager of Angel Records, Minnelli's appearance on the channel was successful, saying, "She sold thousands of her 'Gently' CDs on the network. It's a great way to create awareness, especially for people living in small towns."
In 1997, the album was nominated for a Grammy Award in the category of Best Traditional Pop Vocal Album. The award went to Tony Bennett for his album "Here's to the Ladies."
Music critics gave favorable reviews of the album. Caroline Sullivan of The Guardian rated it three out of five stars. William Ruhlmann of AllMusic gave it four and a half out of five stars, noting that Minnelli managed to blend her musical heritage with the trends of her generation.
Rennie Sparks of the Chicago Reader provided a positive review, stating that at the age of 50, Liza Minnelli finally decided to abandon the role of a cheerful and optimistic superstar, delivering darker and deeper songs sung with a solitary and sentimental voice, filled with fragility and sadness.
Commercially, "Gently" became one of Minnelli's most successful albums on the charts during the 1990s. It reached number 156 on the Billboard 200 chart. In the UK, it reached number 58 on the Official Charts Company (OCC) album chart. According to a Billboard report, "Gently" sold over 100,000 copies worldwide.
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