Freak of Nature

Freak of Nature is the second studio album by American singer Anastacia, released on November 23, 2001, by Epic Records and Daylight Records. The album was primarily produced by Ric Wake, Sam Watters, and Louis Biancaniello, with additional production from Richie Jones.

With the worldwide success of its singles, particularly "Paid My Dues", "One Day in Your Life" and bonus track "Boom" (the 2002 FIFA World Cup official song), and a extensive promotional album tour, Freak of Nature topped the charts in Belgium, Denmark, Germany, the Netherlands, Norway, Sweden, and Switzerland, while reaching number four in the United Kingdom and the top ten of multiple other countries across Europe and Oceania. The album has sold seven million copies worldwide.

Release
For the US edition of the album, three tracks from the album were remixed ("One Day in Your Life", "You'll Never Be Alone", and "Don't Stop (Doin' It)"). A new track, "I Thought I Told You That", a collaboration with Faith Evans, was also included on the US album. A collectors edition of the album was released in Europe in November 2002, featuring a bonus disc containing "I Thought I Told You That", a cover version of the Disney song "Someday My Prince Will Come", and "Boom" (which served as the 2002 FIFA World Cup official song), as well as three remixes and two live recordings.

Critical reception
AllMusic editor Jose F. Promis found that Freak of Nature "continues with the late-'80s bombastic funk/soul/pop revival ushered in by her debut, Not That Kind, but this time there's a few more ballads in the mix [...] Reminiscent of Taylor Dayne at times, Anastacia successfully avoids the sophomore slump by delivering an album full of raw emotion, power, and musicality which manages to improve upon its predecessor." Entertainment Weekly noted that "Anastacia is really about R&B – in the Patti LaBelle-meets-Deborah Cox mode. Her second CD, Freak of Nature, is bombastic and overproduced, but Anastacia has major-league pipes, solid rhythm, and an ear for the commercial hook."

Aidin Vaziri from Rolling Stone wrote that Freak of Nature "is pure polish. With producer Rick Wake overseeing a majority of the cuts, the songs are tempered with as much plucky R&B; passion as they are cold hard dollar signs. Anastacia eases off the pummeling power ballads that made up most of her debut, but there are still moments of sheer overkill." Similarly, Yahoo! Music's James Salmon Overall cited the album as "highly polished, well-penned pop album that is given a much-needed edge by a performer whose voice should be bottled and donated to scientific research." He felt that "Anastacia does manage to vary both tempo and mood with considerable skill. Just when you think she's about to grind to an insipid halt she snaps out of it with good old fashioned pop rants against the male species."

Slant Magazine's Sal Cinquemani fel that Freak of Nature "steers clear of the power ballads that weighed down her debut. Though the album’s highlight is the summery, midtempo "Overdue Goodbye," Anastacia should keep the sloppy slow numbers to a minimum and, like a good bombastic diva-in-training, keep her eye on the dancefloor." In a negative review, Entertainment.ie wrote: "Anastacia's choice of material is consistently weak, largely built around 80's style power ballads that make her sound like a poor man's Tina Turner. Only on a handful of heavy, dramatic funk tracks is she allowed to really show what she can do. Freak of Nature is not without its merits as a pop album, but its title flatters itself." NME's Louis Pattison called the album an "inauspicious follow-up" and a "relic of pop days gone by".

Track listing
Notes
 * $undefined$ signifies an additional producer
 * $undefined$ signifies a remixer
 * "Boom" does not appear on the UK collectors edition bonus disc

Sample credits
 * "Don'tcha Wanna" contains portions of "I Believe (When I Fall in Love It Will Be Forever)" by Stevie Wonder.