- published: 10 Sep 2012
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Brandy is the debut studio album by American singer Brandy Norwood, released by Atlantic Records on September 27, 1994 in North America, December 5 in the United Kingdom and on several dates in Europe, starting on February 3, 1995.
Co-produced by Keith Crouch and Darryl Williams, it was certified 4x Platinum by the RIAA for more than four million copies shipped to store and 2.1 million sold. It spawned four hit singles with "I Wanna Be Down", "Baby", "Best Friend", and a remixed version of "Brokenhearted," a duet with singer Wanya Morris.
Brandy (from brandywine, derived from Dutch brandewijn—"burnt wine") is a spirit produced by distilling wine. Brandy generally contains 35%–60% alcohol by volume and is typically taken as an after-dinner drink. Some brandies are aged in wooden casks, while some are simply coloured with caramel colouring to imitate the effect of such aging (and some brandies are produced using a combination of both aging and colouring).
Brandy is also produced from fermented fruits other than grapes, but these products are typically named eaux-de-vie.
In some countries, fruit flavouring or some other flavouring may be added to a spirit that is called "brandy".
Brandy may be served neat or on the rocks. It may be added to other beverages to make several popular cocktails; these include the Brandy Alexander, the Sidecar, the Brandy Daisy, and the Brandy Old Fashioned.
In western countries, brandy is traditionally drunk neat at room temperature from a snifter or a tulip glass. In parts of Asia, it is usually drunk on the rocks.
An album may be understood as a collection of recordings, released as a single package on gramophone record, cassette, compact disc, or via digital distribution, however the concept is found in printed music dating into the early nineteenth century in works by composers such as Schumann and Mendelssohn. The word derives from the Latin word for list.
Today, with the vinyl record no longer being used as the primary form of distribution, the term "album" can still be applied to any sound recording collection, such as those on compact disc, MiniDisc, Compact audio cassette, and digital or MP3 albums.Cover art is also considered an integral part of the album. Many albums also come with liner notes and inserts giving background information or analysis of the recording, reprinted lyrics, images of the performers, or additional artwork and text. These are now often found in the form of CD booklets.
Vinyl LP records have two sides, each comprising one half of the album. If a pop or rock album contained tracks released separately as commercial singles, these were often traditionally placed in particular positions on the album. A common configuration was to have the album led off by the second and third singles, followed by a ballad. The first single would lead off side 2. In the past many singles (such as the Beatles' "Hey Jude" and Bob Dylan's "Positively 4th Street") did not appear on albums, but others (such as the Beatles' "Come Together" and Dylan's "Like a Rolling Stone") were part of an album released concurrently. Today, many commercial albums of music tracks feature one or more singles, which are released separately to radio, TV or the Internet as a way of promoting the album. Albums have also been issued that are compilations of older tracks not originally released together, such as singles not originally found on albums, b-sides of singles, or unfinished "demo" recordings.