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American soul legend, Mary J. Blige releases her latest, star-studded affair.
MJB is synonymous with soul music, enjoying a large slice of her success in the
90s. She’s won more awards and sold more records than most artists could ever dream of,
so how’s she sounding in this decade?
Opening track, ‘Tonight’ is an insight into the smooth delivery you can expect more of. Produced by the
Runners and pop maestro, Konvict, it’s an atmospheric, bass-boomer of a start. Blige’s vocals are soulful in places and fuse nicely into what is an enjoyable
beginning.
Drake pops up on opening single, ‘The One’ with the legendary Darkchild at the decks. It’s very much a statement of a track, self-promoting, soulful and eclectically
produced; it’s just nowhere near as good as other efforts here. ‘Said and Done’ is an example of one such tune, with a frightfully addictive gritty melody and
vocals that both harmonize and challenge Blige’s voice.
One of the most notorious music co-stars, T.I. does his best Snoop Dogg
impression on ‘Good Love’. A likely single, it’s got a very uptempo pop feel about it. Slightly corny, but all in all a decent
tune. As it turns out, that was just an appetite whet for the stellar power
ballad, ‘I Feel Good’. Featuring some of StarGate and Ne-Yo’s best work at the production desk, Blige’s voice soars, way above the likes of fellow returnee, Whitney Houston.
If that was good, single release, ‘I Am’ (no, it doesn’t feature will.I.am) perhaps doesn’t hit quite those previous heights, but it certainly makes a good case. It’s not got the instant stand-and-stare vibe of ‘I Feel Good’, but it does have a likable soul feel and some enjoyable delivery. The singles
continue on the eponymous, ‘Each Tear’. This one is built on a strong beat and features progressive, reminiscent
lyrics. I can imagine it will be a cult hit, but it’s not the best here.
Up-tempo soul is the theme for ‘I Love U (Yes I Du)’ with some audacious Auto-Tune to modernize Mary’s personable style. Her voice is what makes this a stand-out and she can still
cut it. Trey Songz features, as well as a mandolin on ‘We Got Hood Love’. I’m not sure whether this is meant to be ironic, compared to ‘Good Love’, but it’s average at best. As for, ‘Kitchen’, well other than its remarkably old-fashioned and pretty pointless, not a lot
can be said.
Some face is restored on the simplistically progressive, ‘In the Morning’. Though it’s got modern-album-track-6-comedown-song syndrome, it delivers a lot better than
most. ‘Color’ is a very old-school and sombre finish to the record and to be honest, is quite
a nice surprise. There’re not many artists who could bring authenticity to that era, but she manages
it.
- Tonight
- Said and Done
- I Feel Good
- I Am
- I Love U (Yes I Du)
- Good Love
- Hood Love
- In the Morning
In general there’s a lot to like here, with some stand-out efforts; albeit balanced with a turkey
and some fillers. Still pretty good though, MJB is still kicking.
8
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Derülo has very much taken the Lady GaGa crash-course to fame, writing songs for
others, though he now teams up with acclaimed fellow superpen, J.R. Rotem for
his own.
Opening single and chart hit, ‘Whatcha Say’ announces itself with a pirate-music-esque “J-j-j-j J.R.” to namecheck his producer (like RedOne always insists on) and you’d better get used to it as the first four tracks feature it. It’s infectious and features a delightfully Auto-Tuned female bridge.
‘Ridin’ Solo’ continues the electrically-charged theme as Derülo’s vocals almost go a bit Britney Spears with his electrical toys. Essentially
this bizarre pop trick seems to be where his niche lies, which says a lot about
the uniqueness of his voice. It’s OK, but nothing overly resounding.
The production team pulls out a rock vibe for its next trick on second single, ‘In My Head’. It’s got a sense of Usher about it as a modern courting song. Structure-wise, Derülo is clearly on the money with the writing, but there’s just something generic about the sound of his work.
‘The Sky’s the Limit’ would have you thinking Oakenfold has taken over the decks with its Ibiza
chillout vibe. Funnily enough Derülo’s Jay Sean-like style here does elevate the song to a similar level of the
opening single, apart from the generic “shawwty” lyric of course. If that sounded familiar, ‘What If’ almost takes you back to the days of Heart and ‘Alone’ with its dramatic piano. It’s obviously meant to fall along the lines of Chris Brown, ballady R and B and it
achieves its target mantra, just not particularly well.
It seems to be a pre-requisite of the modern pop album to have a retrospective
morning-after song and so comes, right on cue at track 6, ‘Love Hangover’. You get the idea, artist has fling, artist feels bad but doesn’t really and life is suddenly so much clearer... yawn. Ironically-titled is the bland, ‘Encore’. If there was a reprise of this to come, I’d probably give up reviewing the record, but thankfully this is the only generic
incarnation of it and it’s highly forgettable. ‘Fallen’ goes for the soulful acoustic vibe as the electro trappings are hidden. It
shows off some vocal talent but is of course about falling in love. The typical
“oh’s” of Nelly-fame aren’t appreciated either.
Pianos return for the touching ballad, ‘Blind’. Again, it’s not the lyrics that let it down, just the lack of invention. ‘Strobe Light’ returns to the Britney-style magic and it works, though they can’t help but throw in the generic macho “Yeahs!” Still I’m going to look past that and say it’s an over-the-top electro romp.
- Whatcha Say
- Ridin’ Solo
- The Sky’s the Limit
- Strobe Light
- What If
- Love Hangover
- Encore
- Fallen
Derülo’s debut, like any other new artist’s will be over-hyped. As it is, here we have an artist switching between soul,
pop tricks and falsetto at random times, slightly unsure of his niche. The
singing arrangement is all over the place, but there’s enough scope for an improved follow-up with the talent Derülo clearly possesses.
4.5
(c) ChrisOnline.biz 2010
