Libra (Toni Braxton album)
| Professional ratings | |
|---|---|
| Review scores | |
| Source | Rating |
| Allmusic |   |
| Billboard | (favorable) |
| Entertainment Weekly | B+ |
| People | |
| Slant Magazine |  |
| Sputnikmusic | |
| USA Today | |
Libra is the sixth studio album by American recording artist Toni Braxton. It was released by Blackground Records on September 27, 2005 in the United States, while its international release was handled by several partners. It marked Braxton's debut on the label, following her split with longtime record company Arista Records in 2003 after the release of her album More Than a Woman (2002), which was commercially less successful than its predecessors. The album's title is a reference to Braxton's astrological sign, Libra.
Upon its release, the album debuted at number four on the Billboard 200 and at number two on the Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums, selling 114,000 copies in its first week. A steady seller, Libra gained gold status by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) on November 4, 2005, having sold over 441,000 copies to date. Singles such as "Please" and "Trippin'" failed to sell or chart noticeably on both the pop and the R&B chart, though "The Time of Our Lives," Braxton's collaboration with the group Il Divo for the 2006 FIFA World Cup, prompted her German label Edel Records to re-released the album in Continental Europe in June 2006.
In 1992, Braxton signed a solo recording contract with LaFace Records, a joint venture between the producing duo Antonio "L.A." Reid and Kenneth "Babyface" Edmonds from former recording group The Deele, and distributor Arista Records. Her subsequently released first two albums Toni Braxon (1993) and Secrets (1996) became critical and commercial hits and sold a combined 21 million copies, earning $170 million in worldwide sales. By late 1996, Braxton was still waiting for fair financial rewards. Her recording contract with LaFace was substantially below those of other recording artists and bound her to refund all kinds of expenses the label had financed in advance. In December 1997, after learning that she had accumulated more than $1 million in debts, Braxton became embroiled in a legal dispute with LaFace, when she filed a lawsuit asking to be freed from her long-term contractual obligations to the label. After then being counter-sued by the label for breach of contract, the singer eventually filed for bankruptcy protection in 1998. In 1999, Braxton mended her relationship with LaFace and the lawsuit was settled. Soon after, she released her third album The Heat (2000). A breakaway from the ballad-heavy and adult contemporary-oriented material on her previous albums, it sold four million copies worldwide and produced the Grammy Award-winning uptempo hit single "He Wasn't Man Enough."
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