The Spellbound era confuses me.
She looked incredible, the tour was great, the artwork was gorgeous, and the album was solid, but that singles run... I do love Promise of a New Day, though the video was definitely a choice. Why were she/they hellbent on pushing ballads? Poor Vibeology had a hard task trying to save the era that late in the game once the damage was done. Horny horns!
I think Paula and her team were responding to the lawsuit. They wanted to show that Paula could sing and that she could get to #1 with a ballad and they proved that with Rush Rush.
I think Vibeology was always going to be a hard sell. I love it but it has a very unique structure. The VMA performance didn't help and I think the timing of when it was released converged with a massive transition in the music scene with Nirvana. The lawsuit also didn't help. Spellbound was a successful era but Paula and team were up against a lot.