...If I Ever Fall in Love

{{Music ratings

| rev1 = AllMusic

| rev1score = {{Rating|2.5|5}}

| rev2 = Robert Christgau

| rev2score = B−

| rev3 = Entertainment Weekly

| rev3score = B−

| rev4 = Music Week

| rev4score = {{Rating|4|5}}{{cite magazine|first=Alan|last=Jones|title=Market Preview: Mainstream - Albums — Pick of the Week|work=Music Week|date=January 30, 1993|page=11|accessdate=January 29, 2023|url=https://worldradiohistory.com/UK/Music-Week/1993/Music-Week-1993-01-30.pdf}}

| rev5 = The Philadelphia Inquirer

| rev5score = {{Rating|3|4}}Wood, Sam (February 9, 1993). "808 State Defies the Odds Again with a Consistently Fine Album". The Philadelphia Inquirer.

| rev6 = Rolling Stone

| rev6score = {{Rating|3.5|5}}

}}

Rolling Stone gave the album three-and-a-half out of five stars and complimented its "crisp, precise harmonies that imply explosive vocal power but display few pyrotechnics", adding that "Shai joins the spiritual yearnings of Take Six with the secular pull of Boyz II Men".[http://www.cduniverse.com/search/xx/music/pid/1103600/a/...If+I+Ever+Fall+In+Love.htm Shai - ...If I Ever Fall In Love CD Album]. Muze. CD Universe. Retrieved on 2011-07-15. David Browne of Entertainment Weekly found its hip hop and new jack swing-oriented songs "fussy [and] unconvincing", but praised the group's crooning and stated, "They wrap their voices like a thick shag carpet around the choruses of the album's languorous, starry-eyed ballads".Browne, David (January 29, 1993). [https://web.archive.org/web/20090421073021/http://www.ew.com/ew/article/0,,305397,00.html ...If I Ever Fall in Love Review | Music Reviews and News]. Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved on 2011-07-15.

However, in his consumer guide for The Village Voice, critic Robert Christgau gave the album a B− rating and named it "dud of the month",Christgau, Robert (April 6, 1993). [http://www.robertchristgau.com/xg/cg/cgv393-93.php Consumer Guide Apr. 6, 1993]. The Village Voice. Village Voice Media. Retrieved on 2011-07-15. indicating "a bad record whose details rarely merit further thought".Christgau, Robert (October 15, 2000). [http://www.robertchristgau.com/xg/bk-cg90/grades-90s.php CG 90s: Key to Icons]. Robert Christgau. Retrieved on 2011-07-15. Christgau found the group's singing "indifferent" and panned them as having "no class and no sense of humor; they're too smarmy and too slow", adding that "They epitomize the difference between seduction and betrayal--between shared lie and imposed illusion, rascal and bounder, rogue and complete asshole. There's not a winning wink on the entire album". In a retrospective review, AllMusic editor Stephen Thomas Erlewine stated, "Apart from the gorgeous title track, most of the material on ...If I Ever Fall in Love is underdeveloped; although Shai sound terrific, their material doesn't match their vocal talents."Erlewine, Stephen Thomas (August 1, 2003). [http://www.allmusic.com/album/if-i-ever-fall-in-love-r53378/review ...If I Ever Fall in Love - Shai: Review]. AllMusic. Retrieved on 2011-07-15.

{{Track listing

| headline = ...If I Ever Fall in Love track listing

| extra_column = Producer(s)

| title1 = Sexual Interlude

| writer1 = {{hlist|Carl "Groove" Martin|Marc Gay}}

| extra1 = Carl "Groove" Martin

| length1 = 2:15

| title2 = Comforter

| writer2 = {{hlist|Martin|Gay|Darnell Van Rensalier}}

| extra2 = Martin

| length2 = 4:10

| title3 = If I Ever Fall in Love

| note3 = Remix

| writer3 = Martin

| extra3 = Martin

| length3 = 4:49

| title4 = Sexual

| writer4 = {{hlist|Martin|Gay}}

| extra4 = Martin

| length4 = 5:31

| title5 = Together Forever

| writer5 = Gay

| extra5 = Gay

| length5 = 5:14

| title6 = If I Ever Fall in Love

| note6 = Original a cappella version

| writer6 = Martin

| extra6 = Martin

| length6 = 3:09

| title7 = Flava

| writer7 = {{hlist|Martin|Gay|Garfield Bright|Van Rensalier}}

| extra7 = Shai

| length7 = 3:52

| title8 = Baby I'm Yours

| writer8 = {{hlist|Martin|Gay}}

| extra8 = Martin

| length8 = 4:34

| title9 = Waiting for the Day

| writer9 = {{hlist|Martin|Gina "Go-Go" Gomez|Van Rensalier}}

| extra9 = Martin

| length9 = 4:45

| title10 = Changes

| writer10 = {{hlist|Gay|Van Rensalier}}

| extra10 = {{hlist|Gay|Van Rensalier}}

| length10 = 4:30

| title11 = Don't Wanna Play

| writer11 = {{hlist|Bright|Gay|Van Rensalier}}

| extra11 = {{hlist|Bright|Van Rensalier|Gay}}

| length11 = 5:06

| title12 = Lord I've Come

| writer12 = {{hlist|Van Rensalier|Gay|Bright}}

| extra12 = Shai

| length12 = 0:57

}}

• Bill Appleberry – keyboards
• Paul Brown – engineer, mixing
• Jeff Carruthers – programming
• Mario Castellanos – photography
• Jim Ebert – mixing
• James Elliott – production coordination
• Marc Gay – keyboards, producer
• Eric Greedy – assistant engineer
• Steve Hall – mastering
• Kevin Levi – saxophone
• Carl "Groove" Martin – keyboards, producer, programming
• Ken Schubert – engineer
• Darnell VanRensalier – drum programming, keyboards, producer
• Cyndra Williams – make-up

{{Certification Table Top|caption=Certifications for ...If I Ever Fall in Love}}

{{Certification Table Entry|region=United States|type=album|award=Platinum|number=2|relyear=1992|certyear=1994|artist=Shai|title=If I Ever Fall in Love|access-date=October 8, 2022|refname=RIAA}}

{{Certification Table Bottom|nosales=true}}

{{Reflist}}

• [http://www.discogs.com/Shai-If-I-Ever-Fall-In-Love/master/163173 ...If I Ever Fall in Love] at Discogs

{{Shai}}

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{{DEFAULTSORT:If I Ever Fall in Love}}

Category:1992 debut albums

Category:Shai (band) albums

Category:MCA Records albums