Deconstruction (Meredith Brooks album)

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Meredith Brooks
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Deconstruction is the third studio album by American singer-songwriter Meredith Brooks. It was released on September 28, 1999, by Capitol Records. Following the album's disappointing commercial reception, Brooks was dropped from the record label.

Recording

Unlike her involvement with Meredith Brooks (1986) and Blurring the Edges (1997), Brooks sought to take more control over the compositions on Deconstruction. With the exception of "Lay Down (Candles in the Rain)", Brooks wrote or co-wrote and played lead guitar on every song on the album, in addition to co-producing the album with David Darling. Thematically, Brooks claims that the material on Deconstruction was a direct reaction to her experiences with the success of "Bitch". She explained: "The new album is about deconstructing everything, letting people know that I'm not just any one thing."<ref name="billboard">Template:Cite magazine</ref>

Release and promotion

Deconstruction was released on September 28, 1999. Prior to the album's release, Brooks released rough mixes of several album tracks on her official website. There are two unreleased songs from these sessions titled Deconstruction and Strangely Erotic.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Fans had the opportunity to vote for their favorite songs and discuss the then-upcoming album with Brooks on the site's message board.<ref name="mtv2">Template:Cite news</ref>

In an effort to promote the album, Brooks opened for the Eurythmics on their Peace Tour (1999).<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

Two singles were released from the album. The first was a cover version of Melanie's "Lay Down (Candles In The Rain)", which also featured Queen Latifah.

The second single, "Shout," was written by Brooks, and included references to pop culture events at the time, such as the scandal between Bill Clinton and Monica Lewinsky, as well as the Y2K scare. It was featured on the February 2000 in-store playlist at Abercrombie & Fitch.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

Critical reception

Template:Album ratings Tom Demalon of AllMusic referred to the album as "another pleasant if somewhat derivative helping of adult rock [from Brooks]." Demalon highlighted "Nobody's Home" and "I Said" as the standout tracks from the album.<ref name="allmusic"/> Beth Johnson of Entertainment Weekly remarked that the album starts off strong with "Shout," before delving into "sound-alikes of Sheryl Crow, late-'90s Madonna, and (oh so annoyingly) Blondie's rap."<ref name="eweekly"/>

Commercial performance

In the United States, Deconstruction was considered a commercial disappointment in comparison to Brooks' previous effort, Blurring the Edges. Deconstruction failed to chart on the Billboard 200 chart and the album only sold approximately 20,000 units over two months after release.<ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref>