"Angel of Mine" is a song by British R&B girl group Eternal from their first compilation album, Greatest Hits (1997). It was written by Rhett Lawrence and Travon Potts, produced by Lawrence, and released on 29 September 1997. The song became Eternal's 12th and final top-10 hit on the UK Singles Chart, peaking at number four. "Angel of Mine" was the ensemble's final single as a three-piece, as after its release, Kéllé Bryan left the group. In June 2019, "Angel of Mine" was ranked at number 91 on the Official Charts Company's "Top 100 Girl Band Singles of the Last 25 Years".[2]
Pan-European magazine Music & Media wrote, "With this lush number, Eternal confirm their status as the U.K.'s queens of the R&B ballad, at the same time offering a preview of their imminent Greatest Hits album, which is due for release on October 20."[3] British magazine Music Week rated "Angel of Mine" five out of five, picking it as Single of the Week. It was described as a "lush, touching ballad, highlighting their vocal prowess", and, "It cannot fail."[4] The magazine's Alan Jones declared it as "particularly uplifting and enjoyable."[5]
American R&B singer Monica recorded "Angel of Mine" for her second studio album, The Boy Is Mine (1998).[33] On her version, Rodney "Darkchild" Jerkins replaced Lawrence as the song's producer. Jerkins also oversaw mixing along with Dexter Simmons, while recording was handled by Rico Lumpkins.[33] Still credited as a songwriter, Lawrence slightly altered the lyrics for Monica at the behest of Arista Records head Clive Davis.[34] Co-writer Potts commented on Monica's rendition: "Rodney [Jerkins] did an incredible job on the production, and then Monica's interpretation, vocally, was incredible as well. She has such a big voice for someone so young."[35] Monica herself, who was unaware of Eternal's original of "Angel of Mine" until she had recorded her own version the song,[36] described the song about "having a friend that she falls in with, which being human is very easy to do."[37]
Critical reception
"Angel of Mine" was positively received by Chuck Taylor of Billboard, who called the song "unbelievable" and "absolutely stunning." He also noted its commercial potential, claiming "this song has #1 stamped across its heart."[38] In a retrospective rewview of the song, Tom Breihan from Stereogum called the song "one more sappy ballad from a time that had no shortage of sappy ballads. But the song has stuck in my head a little more than a lot of the other sappy ballads from that time; the chorus melody is strong enough to pop up in my head whenever I see the song’s title." He further added: "Jerkins kept the sleek acoustic-guitar line from Eternal’s version of the song — a sound so clean that it feels almost unreal. [He] also switched the tempo up a bit and added some subtle synth accents and some itchy drum-machine programming. Those touches aren’t enough to keep "Angel of Mine" from sounding sleepy, but they were enough to set it apart from some of the other pop balladry that was on the charts at the time."[39]
Commercial performance
"Angel of Mine" was released on 9 November 1998 as the third single from The Boy Is Mine after Lawrence and Clive Davis had worked out a deal which would see Eternal release the song in Europe, while Monica would get to release the song’s Jerkins-produced version in North America and Oceania.[39][40] Following the success of her previous singles, "The Boy Is Mine" and "The First Night", "Angel of Mine" became the album's third consecutive release to reach the top of the US Billboard Hot 100 within nine months.[41] It also reached number two on Billboard's Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs charts, becoming the seventh domestic top-10 hit of Monica's career.[42] "Angel of Mine" was eventually ranked third on Billboard's Hot 100 year-end chart for 1999 and placed 62nd on the 1990s decade-end chart.[43]
Elsewhere, "Angel of Mine" became a top ten hit in Canada, where it peaked at number five on RPM's Canada Top Singles,[44] and reached number eight on both the Adult Contemporary chart and the Dance/Urban chart, respectively.[45][46] It also peaked at number 12 on the Australian Singles Chart and reached number 36 in New Zealand.[47][48] In the United Kingdom, despite the success of Eternal's 1997 version, "Angel of Mine" spent two weeks on the UK Singles Chart, reaching number 55.[49] It also reached the top ten of the UK Hip Hop/R&B chart, peaking at number ten.[50]
Music video
The accompanying music video for "Angel of Mine" was directed by Diane Martel and features Tyrese Gibson as Monica's love interest.[51]
^Angel of Mine (UK CD2 liner notes). Eternal. EMI Records, 1st Avenue Records. 1997. CDEMS 493, 7243 8 84742 2 1.{{cite AV media notes}}: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link)
^Angel of Mine (UK cassette single sleeve). Eternal. EMI Records, 1st Avenue Records. 1997. TCEMS 493, 7243 8 84742 4 5.{{cite AV media notes}}: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link)
^Angel of Mine (European CD single liner notes). Eternal. EMI Records, 1st Avenue Records. 1997. 7243 8 84835 2 0.{{cite AV media notes}}: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link)
^Greatest Hits (UK CD album liner notes). Eternal. EMI Records, 1st Avenue Records. 1997. 7243 8 21798 2 5.{{cite AV media notes}}: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link)
^Angel of Mine (US CD single liner notes). Monica. Arista Records. 1999. 07822-13590-2.{{cite AV media notes}}: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link)
^Angel of Mine (US cassette single sleeve). Monica. Arista Records. 1999. 07822-13590-4.{{cite AV media notes}}: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link)
^Angel of Mine (UK CD single liner notes). Monica. Arista Records. 1999. 74321 69289 2.{{cite AV media notes}}: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link)
^Angel of Mine (Australian CD single liner notes). Monica. Arista Records. 1999. 74321 66786 2.{{cite AV media notes}}: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link)
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