{{short description|1997 studio album by Shola Ama}} {{for|the Microwave album|Much Love (Microwave album)}} {{Use dmy dates|date=April 2022}} {{Infobox album | name = Much Love | type = Studio | artist = Shola Ama | cover = Shola_Ama_Much_Love_album_cover.jpg | alt = | released = 1 September 1997 | recorded = 1995–1997 | venue = | studio = | genre = R&B<ref name="allmusic"/> | length = 51:56 | label = *Freakstreet *WEA | producer = {{hlist|Shaun LaBelle|D'Influence|Livio Harris|Paul Waller}} | prev_title = | prev_year = | next_title = In Return | next_year = 1999 }} {{Album ratings |rev1 = AllMusic |rev1score = {{Rating|4|5}}<ref name="allmusic">{{cite web|url=http://www.allmusic.com/album/much-love-mw0000463241|title=Much Love – Shola Ama – Songs, Reviews, Credits – AllMusic|publisher=AllMusic|accessdate=11 January 2017}}</ref> |rev2 = ''Music Week'' |rev2score = {{Rating|5|5}}<ref>{{cite magazine|first=|last=|url=https://worldradiohistory.com/UK/Music-Week/1997/Music-Week-1997-08-23.pdf|title=Reviews: Albums|magazine=Music Week|date=23 August 1997|page=12|accessdate=18 August 2022}}</ref> |rev3 = ''The Times'' |rev3score = (favorable)<ref>Jackson, Alan (6 September 1997). "The week's top pop releases; Records". ''The Times''.</ref> }}
'''''Much Love''''' is the debut album by British singer Shola Ama. It was released by Freakstreet and WEA on 1 September 1997 in the United Kingdom. Ama worked with songwriting collective D'Influence on the majority of the album, with Shaun LaBelle, Livio Harris, and Paul Waller providing additional production. ''Much Love'' was preceded by two top ten hit singles: a cover of "You Might Need Somebody", originally made famous by Randy Crawford, and follow-up "You're the One I Love".<ref name="officialcharts.com"/> "Who's Loving My Baby" and "Much Love" were also released as singles, both reaching the UK top twenty.<ref name="officialcharts.com"/>
The album reached the top ten of the UK Albums Chart, peaking at number six, and entered the top twenty in Germany and the top thirty in France, and the Netherlands. In the United Kingdom, it was eventually certified gold by the British Phonographic Industry (BPI), indicating sales in excess of 100,000 copies. Following the success of the album, Ama won a Brit Award for Best British Female and two MOBO Awards for Best Newcomer and Best R&B Act.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.mobo.com/history/1997|title=1997: Mary J. Blige, Eternal, Simply Red and The Prodigy – MOBO Awards|work=mobo.com|accessdate=11 January 2017}}</ref>
==Track listing== {{Track listing | extra_column = Producer(s)
| title1 = You're the One I Love | writer1 = {{hlist|Stevie Bensusen|Shaun LaBelle}} | extra1 = LaBelle | length1 = 4:12
| title2 = Much Love | writer2 = {{hlist|Bensusen|LaBelle}} | extra2 = LaBelle | length2 = 3:56
| title3 = You Might Need Somebody | writer3 = {{hlist|Tom Snow|Nan O'Byrne}} | extra3 = D'Influence | length3 = 4:50
| title4 = Who's Loving My Baby | writer4 = {{hlist|Livio Harris|Melvin Britt II|Jorge Corante}} | extra4 = Harris | length4 = 4:38
| title5 = Celebrate | writer5 = {{hlist|Shola Ama|Ed Baden-Powell|Kwame Kwaten|Steve Marston|Sarah Ann Webb}} | extra5 = D'Influence | length5 = 4:30
| title6 = I Love Your Ways | writer6 = {{hlist|Ama|Baden-Powell|Kwaten|Marston|Webb}} | extra6 = D'Influence | length6 = 4:19
| title7 = We Got a Vibe | writer7 = {{hlist|Bensusen|LaBelle}} | extra7 = LaBelle | length7 = 4:04
| title8 = Summer Love | writer8 = {{hlist|Ama|Baden-Powell|Kwaten|Marston|Webb}} | extra8 = D'Influence | length8 = 4:44
| title9 = (I Don't Know) Interlude | writer9 = {{hlist|Ama|Baden-Powell|Kwaten|Marston|Webb}} | extra9 = D'Influence | length9 = 1:47
| title10 = I Can Show You | writer10 = {{hlist|Ama|Paul Waller|Toby Baker}} | extra10 = Waller | length10 = 4:26
| title11 = All Mine | writer11 = {{hlist|Ama|Baden-Powell|Kwaten|Marston|Webb}} | extra11 = D'Influence | length11 = 4:46
| title12 = One Love | writer12 = {{hlist|Ama|Baden-Powell|Kwaten|Marston|Webb}} | extra12 = D'Influence | length12 = 5:27 }} '''Sample credits''' * "I Love Your Ways" contains a replayed element of "Give Me the Sunshine" by Leo's Sunshipp.
==Personnel== Adapted from AllMusic.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.allmusic.com/album/much-love-mw0000463241/credits|title=Much Love – Shola Ama – Credits – AllMusic|work=allmusic.com|accessdate=11 January 2017}}</ref> {{Div col}} *San Acharya – A&R *Shola Ama – primary artist, vocals, background vocals *Ed Baden-Powell – bass, drum programming, guitar, acoustic guitar, bass, keyboards, string arrangements *Toby Baker – bass, keyboards *David Barry – guitar *Carlton Batts – mastering *Joe Belmaati – keyboards, programming *Melvin Britt – background vocals *Sue Ann Carwell – vocal arrangement, background vocals *Rob Chiarelli – mixing *Jorge Corante – drum programming, keyboards, piano *Cutfather – producer, remixing *D'Influence – arranger, mixing, producer *Michael "Mickey D" Davis – A&R, executive producer *Terry Dexter – background vocals *Marcella Ffrench – background vocals *Mark Franks – engineer *Guido Zen – engineer *Livio Harris – arranger, producer, background vocals *Stephen Hussey – strings *Anthony Jeffries – engineer *Kwame Kwaten – bass, executive producer, keyboards, moog bass *Shaun LaBelle – arranger, bass, drum programming, producer, synthesizer *Ed Lover – engineer *Steve Marston – horn *Patrick McMahon – engineer *Yan Memmi – engineer, mixing *Rod Michaels – engineer *Randee Saint Nicholas – photography *Dik Shopteau – engineer *Paul Waller – arranger, drum programming, keyboards, mixing, producer {{Div col end}}
==Charts== {{col-begin}} {{col-2}} ===Weekly charts=== {|class="wikitable sortable plainrowheaders" style="text-align:center;" |+ Weekly chart performance for ''Much Love'' |- ! scope="col"| Chart (1997) ! scope="col"| Peak<br />position |- ! scope="row" {{Album chart|Netherlands|24|artist=Shola Ama|album=Much Love|accessdate=October 4, 2020}} |- !scope="row"|European Albums (Top 100)<ref>{{cite magazine|title=European Top 100 Albums|url=https://www.worldradiohistory.com/UK/Music-and-Media/90s/1997/MM-1997-09-20.pdf#page=13|magazine=Music & Media|volume=14|issue=38|page=13|date=September 20, 1997|via=World Radio History|access-date=August 11, 2025}}</ref> |align="center"|16 |- ! scope="row" {{Album chart|France|21|artist=Shola Ama|album=Much Love|accessdate=October 4, 2020}} |- ! scope="row" {{Album chart|Germany|19|artist=Shola Ama|album=Much Love|id=2604|accessdate=October 4, 2020}} |- ! scope="row" {{Album chart|Italian Albums (FIMI)<ref name="FIMI">{{cite web|url=https://www.fimi.it/top-of-the-music/archivio-classifiche-settimanali/archivio-classifiche-per-settimana/?tipo=2&anno=1997&settimana=49|title=Album & Compilation - Classifica settimanale 49/1997|language=it|publisher=FIMI|access-date=July 12, 2025|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190401164000/https://www.fimi.it/top-of-the-music/classifiche.kl#/charts/1/1997/49|archive-date=April 1, 2019}}</ref> |align="center"|13 |- ! scope="row" {{Album chart|Scotland|35|artist=Shola Ama|date=19970913|refname="officialcharts.com scotland"}} |- ! scope="row" {{Album chart|Switzerland|35|artist=Shola Ama|album=Much Love|accessdate=October 4, 2020}} |- ! scope="row" {{Album chart|UK|6|artist=Shola Ama|accessdate=October 4, 2020|refname="officialcharts.com"}} |- ! scope="row" {{Album chart|UKR&B|1|artist=Shola Ama| date=19970913|refname="officialcharts.com r&b"}} |} {{col-2}} ===Year-end charts=== {| class="wikitable plainrowheaders" style="text-align:center;" |+ Year-end chart performance for ''Face to Face'' |- !scope="col"| Chart (1997) !scope="col"| Peak<br>position |- !scope="row"|UK Albums (OCC)<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.officialcharts.com/charts/end-of-year-artist-albums-chart/19970105/37502/|title=End of Year Album Chart – 1997|publisher=Official Charts Company|access-date=August 11, 2025|archive-date=January 17, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210117094351/https://www.officialcharts.com/charts/end-of-year-artist-albums-chart/19970105/37502/|url-status=live}}</ref> |align="center"|88 |- |} {{col-end}}
==Certifications== {{Certification Table Top}} {{Certification Table Entry|region=France|title=Much Love|artist=Shola Ama|type=album|relyear=1997|certyear=1998|award=Gold|access-date=August 11, 2025}} {{certification Table Entry|type=album|region=Italy|artist=Shola Ama|title=Much Love|award=Platinum|relyear=1999|certref=<ref>{{cite web|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=MAoEAAAAMBAJ&q=morcheeba+debut+italy+billboard&pg=PA40|title=Mtv Italy Seen Making Strides In Its 1st Year|publisher=Billboard|page=40|first=Mark|last=Dezzani|date=28 November 1998|accessdate=8 November 2023}}</ref>}} {{Certification Table Entry|region=United Kingdom|artist=Shola Ama|title=Much Love|type=album|award=Gold|relyear=1997|certyear=1997|access-date=25 October 2018|id=4417-3458-2}} {{Certification Table Bottom}}
==References== {{Reflist}}
==External links== *[http://www.discogs.com/Shola-Ama-Much-Love/release/231541 ''Much Love''] at Discogs
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Category:1997 debut albums Category:Warner Music Group albums Category:Shola Ama albums