Upon release, Lovers Rock was met with generally positive reviews from music critics, who praised the band's musical direction. The album earned Sade the Grammy Award for Best Pop Vocal Album in 2002. Commercially, the album reached number 18 on the UK Albums Chart and number three on the US Billboard 200. It has since been certified triple platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA), having sold 3.9 million copies in the United States by February 2010. The album spawned two singles—"By Your Side" and "King of Sorrow"—and was further promoted by the band's Lovers Rock Tour. Following the release of Love Deluxe (1992), the band began an eight-year hiatus, during which Adu would experience media scrutiny and give birth to her first child.

Love Deluxe is the fourth studio album by English band Sade, released by Epic Records in the United Kingdom on 26 October 1992 and in the United States on 3 November 1992.

X&Y is the third studio album by British rock band Coldplay. It was released on 6 June 2005 by Parlophone in the United Kingdom, and a day later by Capitol Records in the United States. The album was produced by Coldplay and producer Danton Supple. It is noted for its troubled and urgent development, as well as Phil Harvey's brief departure from the band. Producer Ken Nelson was originally tasked with producing the record; however, many songs written during his sessions were discarded due to the band's dissatisfaction with them. The album's cover art is a combination of colours and blocks, which is a representation of the Baudot code.

Overexposed is the fourth studio album by American pop rock band Maroon 5. It was released on June 20, 2012, by A&M Octone Records. The album was recorded between 2011 and 2012 and was driven after the moderate success of their third album, Hands All Over (2010), and later by the enormous success of the re-released edition, which was promoted by the single "Moves Like Jagger", recorded as a collaboration with Christina Aguilera. It is the band's only album not to feature keyboardist, rhythm guitarist and background vocalist Jesse Carmichael, who took a temporary break from performing with the group to focus on his studies and was replaced by musician PJ Morton. The band worked with different producers, such as Max Martin, who serves as the album's executive producer, Ryan Tedder, Shellback and Benny Blanco. The band's guitarist and Levine's usual co-writer James Valentine, only has four credits on the album.