Gently is a studio album by American singer and actress Liza Minnelli. Released in 1996, it is her first album under the Angel Records/EMI label.
The release came seven years after her last studio album, "Results," from 1989. During that time, she released the live albums "Liza: Live from Radio City Music Hall" in 1992 and "Aznavour Minnelli: Paris, Palais des Congrès" in 1995.
Gently is a jazz-infused album that also includes romantic ballads and lounge music numbers with arrangements featuring vibraphone, piano, and muted trumpet. Its title and theme reference moments in Minnelli's love life, starting from her adolescence when she had crushes on handsome schoolboys.
During the album's promotion, she referred to the work as her "make-out album" due to the irredeemably sentimental themes behind the song choices. She summed up the inspiration behind the album on The Rosie O'Donnell Show when she explained, "There wasn't a romance section [in the record store]. So, I thought, well, maybe I'll make an album that people can kiss to. Remember kissing? Wasn't it great to kiss? That's what this album is about."
As part of the album's promotion, the singer appeared on the UK shopping channel QVC. According to Gilbert Hetherwick, Senior Vice President and General Manager of Angel Records, her appearance on the channel was positive: "She sold thousands of her CD 'Gently' on the network. It's a great way to create awareness, especially for people who live in small towns."
In 1997, the album was nominated for a Grammy Award in the category of Best Traditional Pop Vocal Album. The award went to the album "Here's to the Ladies" by singer Tony Bennett.
Critical reception
Reviews from music critics were favorable.
Caroline Sullivan of The Guardian gave it three out of five stars.
William Ruhlmann of AllMusic gave it four and a half out of five stars and wrote that Minnelli managed to blend her musical heritage with the trends of her generation.
Rennie Sparks of the Chicago Reader gave a favorable review, stating that at 50 years old, Liza Minnelli had finally decided to shed the role of a cheerful and optimistic superstar, delivering somber and profound songs, sung with a solitary and sentimental voice, full of fragility and sadness.
Commercial performance
Commercially, it became one of Minnelli's most successful albums on the charts during the 1990s. It reached number 156 on the Billboard magazine's list of best-selling albums, known as the Billboard 200. In the UK, it reached number 58 on the Official Charts Company's list of best-selling albums.
According to a Billboard magazine article, Gently sold over 100,000 copies worldwide.