House of Music

House of Music.
House of Music is the fourth and final album by American R&B band Tony! Toni! Toné!, released in 1996 by Mercury Records. Bassist-vocalist Raphael Saadiq (pictured), guitarist-vocalist D'wayne Wiggins, and percussionist-keyboardist Timothy Christian Riley worked on its songs independently before recording them together as a group. While doing most of the production, Tony! Toni! Toné! emphasized musicianship and expanded on their previous work's traditional soul influences with live instrumentation and balladry. Music journalists have noted the album's incorporation of old-fashioned and modern sensibilities, themes of love and romance, and witty, sensitive lyrics. The album charted for 31 weeks on the Billboard 200 and sold over a million units in the United States. Critics praised the musicianship and songwriting, later deeming it a masterpiece of 1990s R&B. Despite its success, the group disbanded shortly after due to creative differences and Mercury's management of the album's short-lived marketing campaign.