World Outside My Window is the debut album by Canadian singer Glenn Lewis. It was released by Epic Records on March 19, 2002. Chiefly produced by Dre & Vidal, the album featured two singles, "Don't You Forget It" and "It's Not Fair." It debuted at number four on the US Billboard 200, with 85,000 copies sold in the first week, and sold more than 377,000 copies in the United States.

Critical reception

Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[1]
Blender[2]
Slant Magazine[3]
Rolling Stone[4]

Daryl Easlea from BBC Music called the album "polished, heartfelt collection of sincerely delivered R&B."[5] Mark Anthony Neal, writing for Popmatters, found that "Lewis is a fine singer/songwriter whose debut recording is a fitting addition to the modern soul tradition."[6] Blender critic Ryan Eliot found that World Outside My Window "mimics Wonder’s wistful balladry without disgracing it [...] Whether you’ll opt for this over, say, Innervisions is doubtful — despite the whiff of neosoul authenticity, Lewis is some distance from his hero’s masterly songwriting, with variety sacrificed for soporific grooves and a stolid, sleep-inducingly slow pace."[2] Rolling Stone's Arion Berger wrote that "the music on this extraordinary debut is relaxed soul with a jazzy edge, and Lewis sports a high, vibrant voice with a slight thickness around the talky parts."[4]

Slant Magazine' Sal Cinquemani noted that World Outside My Window was "plainly straight-up rhythm & blues. He's one part Gaye and two parts Wonder, drawing on the sounds of the past to craft a winning formula that earnestly blends soul with sincerity. That said, the singer will likely need to overcome comparisons to Wonder before reaching the heights of fellow crooner D'Angelo."[3] AllMusic editor William Ruhlmann felt that Lewis "distinguishes himself [...] enough to be interesting on his own, but one spends most of the time spent listening to this album waiting for something to happen. Lewis' career has been well set up [but] he needs to get more substance into his songwriting and move beyond the influence of his hero."[1]

Commercial performance

World Outside My Window debuted at number 4 on the US Billboard 200 with 85,000 copies sold in the first week.[7] By December 2013, it had sold 377,000 copies in the United States.[8]

Track listing

All lyrics are written by Glenn Lewis, Andre Harris and Vidal Davis, except as noted

World Outside My Window track listing
No.TitleLength
1."Simple Things" (Lewis, Harris, Davis, Marsha Ambrosius)4:38
2."Beautiful Eyes" (Lewis, Harris, Davis, Ambrosius)4:06
3."Don't You Forget It" (Lewis, Harris)4:06
4."Something to See"4:58
5."Lonely" (Harris, Davis, Ambrosius)4:00
6."This Love" (Harris, Davis, Ambrosius)4:28
7."One More Day"3:26
8."Dream" (Lewis, Herschel Boone)3:44
9."Is It True" (Lewis, Marc Byers, Harris, Davis)3:34
10."Never Too Late"4:10
11."Take Me"4:43
12."Sorry" (Lewis, Davis)4:54
13."Take You High" (Ambrosius, Harris, Davis)4:12
14."It's Not Fair"5:00
15."Your Song (For You)" (Lewis, Davis)5:17
Total length:65:20

Personnel

Adapted from the World Outside My Window liner notes.[9]

Charts

References

  1. ^ a b Hogan, Ed. "World Outside My Window - Glenn Lewis". AllMusic. Retrieved April 2, 2016.
  2. ^ a b Eliot, Ryan. "This Toronto neosoul singer may sound like Stevie Wonder, but he doesn't write like him". Blender. Archived from the original on December 17, 2002. Retrieved September 29, 2024.
  3. ^ a b Cinquemani, Sal (March 16, 2002). "Review: Glenn Lewis, World Outside My Window". Slant Magazine. Retrieved September 29, 2024.
  4. ^ a b Berger, Arion (March 28, 2002). "Glenn Lewis: World Outside My Window". Rolling Stone. Archived from the original on November 20, 2002. Retrieved February 10, 2025.
  5. ^ Easlea, Daryl (2013). "BBC Review". BBC Music. Retrieved September 29, 2024.
  6. ^ Neal, Mark Anthony (March 18, 2002). "Glenn Lewis: World Outside My Window". PopMatters. Retrieved September 29, 2024.
  7. ^ Goodman, Abbey (March 27, 2002). "Now 9's Star Power Outshines Jay-Z And R. Kelly's Best". MTV. Viacom. Archived from the original on September 4, 2012. Retrieved January 12, 2012.
  8. ^ "Upcoming Releases | HITS Daily Double". Archived from the original on 2013-12-07. Retrieved 2013-10-17.
  9. ^ World Outside My Window (booklet). Glenn Lewis. Epic. 2002.{{cite AV media notes}}: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link)
  10. ^ "Glenn Lewis Chart History (Billboard 200)". Billboard. Retrieved May 8, 2015.
  11. ^ "Glenn Lewis Chart History (Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums)". Billboard. Retrieved May 8, 2015.
  12. ^ "Canada's Top 200 R&B; albums of 2002". Jam!. Archived from the original on October 12, 2003. Retrieved March 27, 2022.
  13. ^ "Year-End Charts: R&B/Hip-Hop Albums - 2002". Billboard. Prometheus Global Media. Retrieved May 8, 2015.


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