How Could It Be
How Could It Be is the debut musical studio album by comedian/actor Eddie Murphy. The album was released in September 1985 on Columbia Records and was produced by Aquil Fudge, with the exception of the hit top ten single "Party All the Time", which was produced by Rick James.
| Review scores | |
|---|---|
| Source | Rating |
| AllMusic | |
| Robert Christgau | (C-) |
| New York Daily News | (unfavorable) |
| New York Daily News | |
| The Cincinnati Post | |
| The Cincinnati Enquirer | |
| Detroit Free Press | |
| The Boston Globe | (unfavorable) |
| The Gazette | (favorable) |
| The Buffalo News | (unfavorable) |
| The Commercial Appeal | (favorable) |
| Gannett News Service | (unfavorable) |
| The Honolulu Advertiser | (unfavorable) |
| The Canadian Press | (unfavorable) |
| Copley Press | (favorable) |
| Daily Press | (favorable) |
| The Morning Call | (unfavorable) |
| The Daily Oklahoman | (favorable) |
| Oakland Tribune | |
| Lexington Herald-Leader | (unfavorable) |
| Los Angeles Times | |
| How Could It Be | ||||
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| Studio album by | ||||
| Released | September 1985 | |||
| Recorded | 1985 | |||
| Studio | Wonderland Studios, Joint Recording Studios, Soundworks Studios, Clinton Recording, Power Station | |||
| Length | 34:53 | |||
| Label | Columbia | |||
| Producer |
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| Eddie Murphy chronology | ||||
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| Singles from How Could It Be | ||||
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The album was a commercial success, making it to No. 26 on the Billboard 200 and No. 17 on the Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums. Two singles were released: "Party All the Time", which made it to No. 2 on the Billboard Hot 100 and the title track, which became a minor R&B hit. This studio album was recorded as part of fulfilling a $100,000 bet that Richard Pryor had made with Eddie Murphy that he could not sing. In the album's liner notes, Eddie Murphy wrote the following "To Richard Pryor, my idol, with whom I have a $100,000 bet. No, motherfucker, I didn't forget."
In an interview in 1987, Murphy said: "My album could have been much better but it came out okay".