Anita Baker: Giving You The Best That I Got (remastered) [ELEKTRA]

Why you'll love it

A new remaster of Anita Baker's only No. 1 album on the Billboard 200, triple platinum in the US and winner of three Grammy Awards. The title track was her biggest hit, reaching No. 3 on the Hot 100, and "Just Because" topped the R&B chart.

This edition

• Remastered
• Eight tracks, four a side, as on the original LP

About the album

By 1988 Anita Baker had already made the quiet storm her own with Rapture, so the follow-up had a lot to live up to. Giving You the Best That I Got, out on Elektra that October and produced by Michael J. Powell, did more than that: it went to No. 1 on the Billboard 200 and the R&B album chart, went triple platinum in the US within months, and has sold more than five million copies around the world.

The playing is as plush as the singing. Nathan East and Omar Hakim hold down the grooves, Paul Jackson Jr. adds guitar, George Duke turns up on piano, and Baker's smoky contralto sits right in the middle, unhurried and completely in control. The title track went to No. 3 on the Hot 100 and No. 11 here in Canada, "Lead Me into Love" and "Priceless" glow, and "Just Because" has been described as a wedding reception favourite, which we can confirm from several wedding receptions.

Tracklist

Listen

Out June 19, 2026 on Elektra (cat# R160827), a reissue of the 1988 album.