Pleasure & Pain (112 album)

Pleasure & Pain was preceded by lead single "U Already Know".^[1] Released on November 23, 2004, the song peaked at number 32 on the US Billboard Hot 100 and number three on the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart, becoming the band's highest-charting single since "Peaches & Cream".^[2] Def Soul issued several remixes of the song, including the Murder remix featuring rappers Ja Rule and Harry O and the official Roc-A-Fella remix featuring Foxy Brown.^[1] Second single "What If", was released on March 11, 2005. It reached nunber 74 on the US Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs.^[2]

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Professional ratings

Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic	[3]
Blender	[4]
Rolling Stone	[5]
Stylus Magazine	C+[6]
USA Today	[7]

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Kelefa Sanneh, writing for The New York Times, called Pleasure & Pain "delicious" and sumed it as "an hour of slick, well-written R&B; songs ranging from doo-wop to crunk."^[8] Billboard magazine remarked that with the album, "112 recaptures the vocal magic that powered its multiplatinum predecessors [...] Group members Daron, Slim, Q and Mike leave no stone unturned as they mix contemporary R&B with its classic, soulful counterpart [...] After the disappointing 2003 album Hot & Wet, 112 is back on point."^[9] USA Today critic Elysa Gardner rated the album three out of four stars. She noted that "these singers' strong suit is still the well-pressed romantic ballad. On the standout track, the plaintive "What If", their creamy voices pour out tension and regret without allowing for drippy excess. Such moments make this fifth album a pleasure for anyone who likes pop-soul smooth but not static."^[7]

Al Shipley from Stylus Magazine noted that "although Daron Jones brings a reliable level of craftsmanship to his productions, the contributions of other producers tend to stand out from his in the context of the album [...] In fact, there seems to be a running thread of regret and ruined relationships throughout the album [but] the melancholy tracks never break up the overall soothing vibe enough to stop Pleasure and Pain from doing what an R&B; album’s supposed to do: set the mood."^[6] Andy Kellman of AllMusic found that Pleasure & Pain "isn't much different from the previous albums, with a few standout singles and album tracks surrounded by a generous amount of forgettable moments, and a similar ratio of upbeat numbers and ballads to match."^[3] Christian Hoard, writing for Rolling Stone, found that after four albums, the band "should at least be able to deliver a couple hot singles, but Pleasure & Pain doesn't even have that. 'If I Hit,' a limpid "Yeah!" rewrite featuring T.I., employs slinky pseudo-electro production; almost everything else is forgettable R&B mush."^[5]

Pleasure & Pain debuted at number four on the US Billboard 200 chart, with sales of 118,000 copies its first week of release.^[10] This marked the group's second top-ten album on the chart.^[11] On July 15, 2005, it was certified Gold by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) for shipments figures of over 500,000 copies in the United States.^[12]

Notes

• ^{^a} denotes co-producer(s)

Sample credits

• "U Already Know" contains a sample of "Can We Fall in Love Again", as performed by Phyllis Hyman.
• "The Way" contains an interpolation of "Change the Game", as performed by Jay-Z featuring Memphis Bleek and Beanie Sigel.
• "That's How Close We Are" contains a sample of "That Sweet Woman of Mine", as performed by Leon Haywood.