Calling All Hearts is made of songs composed before and after Cole met her fiancé, Daniel Gibson. Cole wrote the second verse to "Last Hangover".[3] Shortly after revealing that she was pregnant with her first child, Cole went into a short hiatus. She made her first appearance since the birth of her son at the 2010 BET Awards, performing "Airplanes" with B.o.B. In October 2010, Cole leaked an unmastered version of her single, "I Ain't Thru" to her Twitter followers in celebration of her birthday. The single was digitally mastered and then officially released. During this time, Cole shot the video for the single as well as for the promo single "Long Way Down". Cole favorited "Tired of Doing Me".[4]
Release and promotion
Two editions of the album were composed and released on December 21, 2010—a standard and deluxe edition. The standard edition was revealed to preview on Cole's Myspace Music page on December 16, 2010.[5] The artwork cover shows Cole wearing blue lipstick and a red heart on her upper lip.[6][7]
"I Ain't Thru" is the lead single from the album. An unmastered version of the single was released on October 15, 2010.[11] After mastering, the official single was released for digital download and US radio on December 7, 2010. It peaked on the US R&B/Hip-Hop Songs at #54.[12] The music video premiered on November 23, 2010 on 106 and Park.
"Long Way Down" was a promo single from the album. The video was shot in New York City and premiered alongside "I Ain't Thru". Although never officially sent to radio, "Long Way Down" peaked at #91 on the US R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart.[13]
"Take Me Away" is the second single for the album. After being chosen as the next single from fans on Twitter, Cole sent the song to US radio on February 1, 2011.[14] She also performed the song on Conan on January 19, 2011.[15] The song peaked on the US R&B/Hip-Hop Songs at #27.[16] The music video premiered on April 18, 2011 on 106 and Park.[17]
Calling All Hearts received mixed to positive reviews from most critics. At Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, the album received an average score of 66, based on 4 reviews, which indicates "generally favorable reviews".[18]Allmusic editor Andy Kellman gave it a gave it three-and-a-half out of five stars and commented that the album "drags in spots, due in part to an absence of a "Let It Go"-type track to break up all the introspection and pain," but it is the kind of album "for those who want to hear a moody, emotional outpouring."[1]
Jon Pareles of The New York Times viewed that the album had a standard mix of featured artists and producers, but "after an initial bit of competitive posturing [...] the songs slip into the background. Ms. Cole sings elegantly complex vocal harmonies, but the central melody lines are shapeless. Most tempos are determinedly slow."[19]Rolling Stone's Jonah Weiner gave it three-and-a-half out of five stars and wrote that "Cole is a heroine who thrives off tales of conflict, betrayal and survival. Her voice is as grit-flecked as ever, chewing through blaring beats and going pound-for-pound for ferocity [...] It's not all fisticuffs [...] but Cole is at her best when she's slugging."[20] Steve Jones of USA Today gave the album three out of four stars and commented that "Her passionate vocals still pack a wallop, even though they are no longer fueled by angst".[21]
Commercial performance
The album debuted at number 9 on the US Billboard 200 chart, with first-week sales of 128,000 copies.[22] It also entered at number five on Billboard'sR&B/Hip-Hop Albums and number fourteen on the Digital Albums chart.[23][24] In its second week, the album dropped to number ten on the Billboard 200 selling 36,600 copies.[25]
