As executive producer, Clive Davis enlisted collaborators including production team Cutfather & Joe and songwriter Billy Steinberg.

[1][2] Cruel Summer received generally favorable reviews from music critics, who complimented its production and viewed it as a superior version of Flowers.

The project was promoted with a series of live television performances that featured minimal participation from band member Linn Berggren.

[3] Band member Linn Berggren grew tired of the spotlight and had returned home early from the group's tour of Asia.

[7] Jenny Berggren had written "He Decides" for the new album, but the song was also considered unsuitable in its original form and was remixed by Charles Fisher.

[citation needed] The album's European title, Flowers, was changed, and Arista originally settled on Everytime it Rains.

"Cruel Summer" received positive reviews from critics, such as Billboard magazine, who called the song a "potential smash",[16] and Amazon.com, who described the track as a "light, upbeat groove".

[19] A music video for the song was not produced, though the track was promoted with a live performance on Ricki Lake, which Linn did not attend.

[20] "Whenever You're Near Me" received a positive review from Larry Flick of Billboard, who noted that the song was "rife with sunny Caribbean percussion and a sweet smattering of acoustic guitar/synth interplay".

[citation needed] "Everytime It Rains" was later remixed and released as a promotional single from the band's 2000 compilation album, Greatest Hits.

[18] Rebecca Wallwork of Amazon.com shared a similar sentiment and described Cruel Summer as a "collection of syncopation and radio-friendly melodies".

[29] Gary Shipes from The Stuart News also favorably compared the music to ABBA and described "Everytime It Rains" as a "gorgeous ballad" that "oozes maturity and confidence".

He preferred Cruel Summer to Flowers, stating, "credit Clive Davis for transforming the original release into one of the greatest pop albums of all time".

Despite calling the title track a "melodic high point", he stated that the album failed "to rival their previous pop pinnacles" and that it sounded "a little too similar its predecessors".

[22] People magazine reported in December 1998 that only 122,000 copies had sold, while Flowers had received a platinum certification in Switzerland, gold in Denmark and Sweden, and silver in the United Kingdom.