Shine Through It is American actor Terrence Howard's debut studio album, released by Sony Music on September 2, 2008.[1] All tracks were written by Howard, four of which were co-written by Miles Mosley, and one by Ilsey Juber. Howard and Mosley also produced the album and played many of the instruments on it. Critical reception of the album was middling, with critics agreeing that similar material had been handled better by Terence Trent D'Arby, while commercially, the album charted in the top 40 of the Billboard 200 and the top ten of Billboard's Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums.

Shine Through It
A photo of the artist leaning back in a chair, wearing a white suit and fedora, in front of a black background.
Studio album by
ReleasedSeptember 2, 2008
Studio
GenreSymphonic folk-soul
Length48:38
LabelSony Music
ProducerTerrence Howard, Miles Mosley
Singles from Shine Through It
  1. "Sanctuary"
    Released: July 1, 2008

Style and reception

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Shine Through It ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic     [2]
PopMatters4/10[1]

AllMusic's Stephen Thomas Erlewine said the album "can frequently be maddening" but found it "undeniably interesting, at once a quintessential oddity and a strangely promising debut".[2] Summarizing the album's sound as "grandly, absurdly ambitious, symphonic folk-soul", Erlewine emphasized its "juxtapositions of folk, bossa nova, jazz, and soul" which "seem as accidental as they are intentional", and said that "ambition is not Howard's problem – if anything, he has too much of it – but execution is".[2] PopMatters's Quentin B. Huff also called the album "ambitious", noting that "no two songs sound alike, although strings, guitars, and tempo changes seem to be staples in Terrence Howard's bag of music tricks." Huff criticized Howard's vocals as "the album's least compelling aspect", where his middle range is "sometimes scratchy, shakes and sounds distractingly unsteady."[1] Both critics agreed that the album was reminiscent of, and would've been in better hands with, Terence Trent D'Arby,[2][1] with Huff concluding that Howard "ends up sounding like a less convincing version of a guy who's famous for doing what he's trying to do now."[1]

Track listing

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All tracks are written by Terrence Howard with others noted.

Shine Through It track listing
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
1."Love Makes You Beautiful" 5:16
2."Shine Through It"Miles Mosley3:48
3."Mr. Johnson's Lawn" 4:54
4."Sanctuary"Ilsey Juber4:45
5."No. 1 Fan" 4:59
6."Spanish Love Affair" 4:55
7."Plenty"Mosley3:42
8."I Remember When"Mosley3:11
9."It's All Game" 4:47
10."She Was Mine" 4:05
11."War"Mosley4:11
Total length:48:38

Personnel

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Musicians

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Technical

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  • Terrence Howard – producer, string arrangements (1, 3–6, 8, 10, 11), horn arrangements (1–6, 8, 10, 11)
  • Miles Mosley – producer, string arrangements (1, 3–6, 8, 10, 11), horn arrangements (1–6, 8, 10, 11)
  • Ken Hurtz – recording engineer (1–6, 9–11)
  • Jon Choukroun, Doug Strub, and Daniel Khim – assistant recording engineers (1–6, 9–11)
  • Jamie Siegel – recording engineer (7, 8)
  • Andy Marcinkoawski – assistant recording engineers (7, 8)
  • Bob Clearmountainmixing engineer
  • Brandon Duncan – assistant mixing engineer
  • Bob Ludwigmastering engineer
  • Tom Lea – string arrangements (1, 3–6)
  • Kamasi Washington – horn arrangements (1, 2, 4, 5, 11)
  • Serafin Aguilar – horn arrangements (11)

Artwork

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Recording locations

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Charts

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Chart (2008) Peak
position
US Billboard 200[3] 31
US Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums (Billboard)[4] 6

References

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  1. ^ a b c d e Huff, Quentin B. (December 1, 2008). "Terrence Howard: Shine Through It". PopMatters. Retrieved October 5, 2023.
  2. ^ a b c d Erlewine, Stephen Thomas. "Terrence Howard - Shine Through It". AllMusic. Retrieved October 5, 2023.
  3. ^ "Terrence Howard Chart History (Billboard 200)". Billboard. Retrieved January 29, 2015.
  4. ^ "Terrence Howard Chart History (Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums)". Billboard. Retrieved January 29, 2015.
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