Head over Heels (Paula Abdul album)

Head over Heels is the third studio album released by American singer Paula Abdul on June 13, 1995, under Virgin Records. The album features three singles "My Love Is for Real", "Crazy Cool" and "Ain't Never Gonna Give You Up". To date, it is Abdul's last studio album release.

Background
In 1994, Abdul took a break from her music career to focus on her personal life. Her marriage to Emilio Estevez ended with them filing for divorce, and she sought treatment for bulimia. "I was so sad, I just needed to be filled up. It was like I was trying to fill this big empty hole", she said. This experience gave her strength to work on a third album, Head over Heels, her most honest and personal project. "I took all the stuff I was afraid to face, and put it in my music", the singer said. Abdul also stated that, "It's a completely different space and time for me. I've experienced some spiritual growth that has allowed me to really get back to what I enjoy doing best. And that's being totally connected to the creative source as a recording artist and dancer".

For Head over Heels, Abdul decided to work with an array of different producers. According to her: "I've now experienced both sides. On my first album, I worked with seven producers; on 'Spellbound' I worked with only a few. Going into my third album, I wanted to again experiment with many different people and flavors". At the same time, "I went into this album thinking I didn't want to be in any compromising situations, as I was at times, on my last two albums. Going into the studio and creating an album is a very intimate experience. I'm now more involved in the production end of my songs. I'm unafraid to state what my feelings and opinions are. All my producers were so open to my input and they were very honest. They said, 'Thank God you thought of that'. It was a good feeling."

Composition
Head over Heels is primarily a pop and R&B album with elements of funk, Motown soul, lite rap, latin pop, psychedelic soul, soul-pop, and Middle Eastern music.

Commercial performance
Head over Heels did not do as well as Abdul's previous albums, peaking on the US Billboard 200 chart at number 18. The album is currently certified gold.

Three singles were released from Head over Heels. The first single, "My Love Is for Real", was the only Top 40 single from the album, peaking at number 28 on the Billboard Hot 100. The following single, "Crazy Cool" peaked at number 58. However, both of them were more successful on the US Dance Club Songs chart, with the former topping it (her only song to do so). The last single from the album, "Ain't Never Gonna Give You Up", reached number 12 on the Bubbling Under Hot 100.

Personnel
Adapted from AllMusic.


 * Paula Abdul – all vocals
 * Bryan Abrams, Cha'n Andre, Robb Boldt, Robbie J. Brown, Mark Calderon, Cindy & Janie Cruse, Valerie & Worthy Davis, Bruce DeShazer, Ofra Haza, Marva King, Tanya Smith, Sandra St. Victor, Kevin Thornton, Sam Watters, Monalisa Young – backing vocals
 * Dallas Austin – various instruments
 * Charlie Barnett – percussion
 * Rocky Bryant – keyboards, synthesizers, drums, percussion
 * Keith Carlock – drums, percussion
 * Vince Denham – tenor saxophone
 * Walt Fowler, Ralph Rickert, Dan Savant – trumpet
 * Ronnie Garrett, Tracy Wormworth – bass guitar
 * Grant Geissman – banjo
 * Lili Haydn – violin
 * Howard Hersh, Peter Lord Moreland, John Andrew Shreiner, V. Jeffrey Smith – keyboards
 * Eric Jorgenson – trombone
 * Shaun LaBelle – electric bass guitar, synthesizers
 * John Leftwich – horns
 * Oliver Leiber – keyboards, synthesizers, guitars, electric sitar, drums, percussion
 * Iki Levy – percussion
 * Keith Lewis – percussion and various programming
 * Karl Messerschmidt – tuba
 * Tim Miner – electric bass, keyboards, backing vocals
 * Michael Patterson – synthesizers
 * Paul Peterson – electric piano
 * Harihar Rao – sitar, tamboura
 * John Shanks, Andy Timmons, Bill Wiseman – guitars
 * Rick Sheppard – synthesizers, samples
 * Daryl Simmons – keyboards, programming, drums, percussion, backing vocals
 * Ralph Stacey – electric and bass guitars
 * Gerri Sutyak – cello
 * Albert Wing – tenor and alto saxophone, clarinet