The Meaning of Love (album)
| The Meaning of Love | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Studio album by Michelle McManus | |
| Released | 16 February 2004 (UK) |
| Recorded | 2003-2004 |
| Genre | Pop |
| Label | 19, S, BMG |
| Producer |
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| Professional ratings | |
|---|---|
| Review scores | |
| Source | Rating |
| AllMusic |   |
| BBC Music | (favourable) |
| BBC News | (unfavourable) |
| Daily Mail | (unfavourable) |
| Daily Mirror | (unfavourable) |
| entertainment.ie | |
| The Guardian | |
| The Herald | |
| The Scotsman | |
| The Telegraph | (unfavourable) |
The Meaning of Love is the only album by Scottish singer and Pop Idol winner Michelle McManus, issued by BMG. Released on 16 February 2004, it debuted at #3 on the UK Albums Chart and featured two singles: the #1 UK Singles Chart entry "All This Time", and the title track, which peaked at #16. Critics derided the record for its production values and songwriting quality; multiple reviewers also found McManus's singing voice to be unimpressive.
Lynsey Hanley in The Telegraph wrote: "This whole record smacks of boil-in-the-bag songwriting and lazy, hasty production tarted up with cheesy strings." She stated that McManus's singing "lack[s] any discernible 'wow' factor" and is on par with "a karaoke regular or, at best, a provincial cabaret turn."Guardian journalist Caroline Sullivan also saw McManus's vocals as lacking the "wow" factor, which, she said, "could have enlivened some of these sub-Celine Dion torchers". An entertainment.ie critic said that McManus, whose vocal performances "never rise far above the level of a very average club singer", made fellow reality television music competition winners Will Young and Alex Parks "look like worldbeaters by comparison".
Fiona Shepherd in The Scotsman delivered a track-by-track assessment of the record in which she criticised the quality of the material and described McManus as "another chicken-in-a-basket diva" with an "unremarkable" voice. Shepherd expressed a particular loathing for the cover version of Nina Simone's "Feelin' Good", which according to her, had "the guts ripped out of it". The track was derided by multiple reviewers;Herald journalist Beth Pearson pointed to this cover as evidence that McManus "just can't sing soulfully", which, combined with the album's "tinny production and synths imported direct from the 1980s", made for a "thoroughly boring, unambitious debut".
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