Snowflakes (album)

Professional ratings

Review scores
Source	Rating
Allmusic	[2]
Entertainment Weekly	C+[3]
Rolling Stone	favorable[4]
The Rolling Stone Album Guide	[5]
Slant Magazine	[6]

Allmusic editor Stephen Thomas Erlewine rated the album three and a half ouf of five stars. He found that Snowflakes to be "something that's very similar to a proper Toni Braxton record, only with an appropriately hushed tone and the sultriness replacing the overt sexiness. Some of the originals are pretty good [...] and the rest that don't make much of an impact are nevertheless pleasant and add to the mood. And that pretty much summarizes the record -- it's not remarkable, but it's nice, providing a nice, romantic soundtrack for an evening of cuddling in front of the tree and a roaring fire."[2] Rolling Stone critic K.G. Roth called Snowflakes a "Christmas album that is sometimes cozy, often seductive and always strictly R&B. New songs [...] ooze with the same languid, lush vocals and mellow, hip-swiveling beats that pervade Braxton's other work. Even the standards [...] get glazed with Braxton's sensuality. Her smooth alto lingers on each note and nearly reinvents the classic. A little bit naughty and a whole lot of nice, Snowflakes encourages listeners put the mistletoe to good use this year."[5]

In a less impressed review for Entertainment Weekly, Chris Willmann wrote: "Ever since Elvis sang ”Santa Bring My Baby Back (To Me),” singers have assumed that Saint Nick has nothing better to do than find their ex-lovers and give ’em a ride back to their bereft apartments on Christmas Eve. Toni Braxton picks up the thread on [...] Snowflakes. Braxton needs to work harder at getting her man back herself: She sounds uncharacteristically wan here, frequently drowned out by powerful string arrangements.[3] Alexa Camp from Slant Magazine felt that "like Carey wouldn’t be able to pull off another pristine Christmas album at this skanky stage in her career, Braxton’s Snowflakes would have worked better pre-“You're Makin' Me High.” Highly critical with "the excruciatingly banal" lead single "Christmas in Jamaica," she noted that "there’s nary a festive note in original songs like “Santa Please” and “Holiday Celebrate” [...] More classic-sounding tunes [...] lift the collection’s spirit, but (call me old-fashioned) faithful renditions of “Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas” and “The Christmas Song” are the only moments that conjure images of Christmas."[6]

Jamaican musician Shaggy appears on the album's second single.[7]

In the United States, the album peaked at number one-hundred and nineteen on the US Billboard 200 album chart in its fifth week on chart.[8] The album also charted at number fifty-seven on the Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums chart,[7] and number thirteen on the Top Holiday Albums chart.[9] Snowflakes was certified gold by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) for sales of over 500,000 copies on November 28, 2001.[10] In the United States, the album had sold 538,000 copies as of February 2012.[11] In Europe, Snowflakes debuted in Germany and at number ninety-two on the German Album Charts, making it the only country in Europe outside of the United States to chart.[12]

Two singles were released from the album. "Snowflakes of Love", which samples the instrumental of Earl Klugh's "Now We're One", written by Isaac Hayes for the soundtrack to the 1974 film Truck Turner, served as the album's lead single. The song charted at number twenty-five on Billboard's Adult Contemporary chart on January 5, 2002.[13] The remix version of "Christmas in Jamaica" featuring Jamaican musician Shaggy was released as the second and final single in 2001.[14] The song charted at number three on the Billboard Bubbling Under R&B/Hip-Hop Singles chart but failed to chart elsewhere.[15]

Sample credits

• "Snowflakes of Love" contains elements and samples of "Now We're One" by Earl Klugh.