It's been awhile since I've made a post however, after hearing Kelly Rowland's newest album, it appeased me to make a review. As a starter point, I must say, I have always been a fan of the "always in the shadow of a certain Destiny's Child singer" since the beginning, always hoping for her to get her big break. And, for once, her big break is here and with the right decisions, she can also stop doing her 'dirty laundry.'
With a perfect mixture of pop and r&b, Kelly's perfect choice in lyrics creates her own "Control" type of album that fans have been waiting for since the beginning.
This will be a track by track review so let's get started.
1. Freak - This song opens the album that reminds you of something Missy Elliot would have written during the 90's when she was at her biggest, writing for R&B stars everywhere. It's a song that gets you wanting to dance within seconds and the way Kelly sings this song, it just feels like she means it.
By the second chorus, you, too, find yourself singing with her, saying: "Can I be your your your your your FREAK!" In case you feel bad about saying it, Kelly reminds you, "Every bodies... Somebodies.. FREAK!" so its a-okay.
The song goes on for four minutes and thirty four seconds and yet it feel so short.
Rating: 7/10
2. Kisses Down Low - I didn't really care for this song when I first heard it however after buying the MP3 album and after the lead in song, this song suddenly becomes extremely hot. Kelly's first single. It seems like Kelly realizes that sexy music is her expertise. The lyrics are hot and sensual. Her low notes are nice but I must say, it makes it ten times better when she's singing in her higher register. The song is very visual, and its easy to imagine what she's talking about without the elicit descriptions.
While a very strong R&B song, there is definitely a country influence, something her and Beyonce have in common in writing which is great in being able to tell a story which this song does very well even if its not very deep.
You'll find your sensual side after listening to the first two songs, that's for sure.
Rating: 7.5/10
3. Gone featuring Wiz Khalifa - This song is hot! I personally would have preferred this as the second single but as that won't be happening, this would be the best next song! This is the first song that isn't a "sensual" love song, but rather it's a break-up song reminiscent of Janet's "Got 'Til Its Gone" and Beyonce "Irreplaceable." It uses the same sample Janet used on "Got 'Til Its Gone" however having the same message as Beyonce's "Irreplaceable."
You have to laugh when Kelly gets to her second verse, telling her man that it's over.
Oh love – your dinner’s waiting down the street…
And you can have it your way
So… the mess you made is yours to clean
So don’t be looking at me
See, I don’t mean to disrespect you
But I think you could’ve done me better, don’t you?
You fool
It's a fun song, and for some reason, I can see girls quoting this song as if it's a valid way to tell someone that they're breaking. Actually, it's a pretty good way to break up with someone.
Wiz Khalifa was a perfect addition to the song although I'm not a big fan of him, myself.
Rating: 8.25/104. Talk a Good Game featuring Kevin Cossum - The title track. This is one of the slowest songs in the album and also, the first song that is very so-so in my opinion. It definitely isn't bad, but it isn't great.
Kelly opens the song with a very promising opening while the rest of the song shows off how well Kelly can say "Oh and ahh..."
The rapper Kevin Cossum just doesn't add much to the song in terms of story. He seems like he wasn't sure on how to add to the story so he never seems to add that care factor or anything that would add more to the song. I almost wonder if having another singer like John Legend, Usher, Robin Thicke or even Justin Timberlake would've add more to the song. There were other rappers that she could have chosen such as Drake or maybe an old school rapper from the 90s or earlier 2000s.
The beat is kind of boring and nonchalant and the song has a very nonchalant feeling to it.Rating: 6/10
5. Down on Love - In keeping up with Kelly's storytelling skills, this song picks up from where the last two songs have led us. Your voice is beautiful on this track and the emotions are sung perfectly. It shows vulnerability, confusion, sadness, and anger especially at the end when she starts ad-libbing and while she keeps saying the same thing, you feel it. "I've been down on love!" The sequence is wonderful for where the song is placed, having now told the guy that she's 'Gone' and how she can leave a guy if he talks a good game but his words are a meaningless nothing.
Rating: 8.75/106. Dirty Laundry - This is the second single and personally, I think this song should have been the title track. The emotion in this song is "top notch" and her low notes are amazing. This song does right that the title track does wrong. This feels like something Janet Jackson would have written in the "Velvet Rope" era or something Eve could have written when she's at her top.
There is never a moment where she oversings, but she holds back in a way that tears at your heart strings. From her opening 'hmm... hmmm' to her ending lines 'love is pain and pain is love'... you can feel the angst in her voice. There is no doubt that she's actually still feeling this pain.
Her third verse and powerful and climaxes the entire song.
So here I am in the spin cycle
We’re comin and we’re goin
Nobody can know this
And I was trapped in his house, lyin’ to my mama
Thought it could get no worse as we maximize the drama
Started to call them people on him
I was battered
He hittin the window like it was me, until it shattered
He pulled me out, he said, “Don’t nobody love you but me
Not your mama, not your daddy and especially not Bey”
He turned me against my sister
I missed ya
The song doesn't offer advise saying this is how it is and what you should do. It's just pure and honest emotions, telling the story of what happened to her. When someone is going through situations like this, there is no "I have to do this" or "People look up to me so I will be a hero for everyone," it isn't just an easy "yes" or "no" situation.
People have claimed that the song is a Beyonce diss which it is not. It just happens that she mentions her in the song because that was her reality. For people whom claim it's a diss, the following lines cannot be dismissed as her just covering her tracks, but merely telling a story and how it affected her Bey's relationship.
From the first verse, she mentions Beyonce:While my sister was on stage, killing it like a motherfucker
I was enraged, feeling it like a motherfucker
Bird in a cage, you would never know what I was dealing with
Went out separate ways, but I was happy she was killing it
Bittersweet, she was up, I was down
People seem to only listen to the first part on the verse rather than what she says after.
From the second verse:
Kinda lucky, I was in her shadow
Phone call from my sister, “what’s the matter?”She said, “Oh no, baby - you gotta leave!”
I’m on the kitchen floor - he took the keys
I was mad at everybody, I mean everybody
Yeah, her, her, her her everybody
Five years later, I got my shit down pat
A diss about someone wouldn't show that person trying to help them even if that person didn't know exactly what was going. It takes me back to when DC came out with "Girl," the therapy Beyonce and Michelle came out with to help Kelly neither girl knowing what was going on but knowing that Kelly was going through something.
From the third verse:
He pulled me out, he said, “Don’t nobody love you but me
Not your mama, not your daddy and especially not Bey”
He turned me against my sister
I missed ya
If anything, the song is like an apology to Beyonce.
Rating: 10/10
7. You Changed - Destiny's Child is reunited in an amazing song! This and the last track are both on the same level of just being awesome. This song also shows that the last song wasn't a diss against Queen Bee. The three girls still have an amazing chemisty when they sing together.
The chorus is powerful and sarcastic:I can say I'm done in a million ways
But let's not beat around the bush
Let's cut to the chase
You changed, I changed but it's too late,
Now I'm so through, too cool, oh yeah
And if our love was a game, you just lost
You changed, I changed but it's too late
It's a perfect sequence after the last song like a sequel to the last few songs. It seems like a part two to the song "Gone" and the way Kelly tells stories is pretty darn amazing.
Rating: 10/108. I Remember - Kelly's dance track. It also is the start of a new chapter in Kelly's album. I'm not a fan of dance music however, even I, a person whom doesn't like this kind of music, love this song! It's sweet, melodic, her voice is pure prettiness in this track. It's a sad love song that speaks of an "ended" relationship that she still remembers.
I do have a thing for sad songs that are not sung completely sad. Still, her emotions emote perfectly. Strangely, it reminds me of a J-Pop track something that would be done by Ayumi Hamasaki or Lia.
Rating: 7/109. Red Wine - The title, the beat, the way she sings, it all fits. Its just so smooth. This is another song that reminds me of something that would probably have been on Janet Jackson's "Velvet Rope" album. If she keeps doing music like this, she's going to have a huge career in the future. It has a very 90's pop feel and again, it continues the J-Pop sounds of Ayumi Hamasaki and Lia.
I can see someone using this song in a dinner date.
Rating: 8/1010. This is Love - Continuing the chapter of love, Kelly Rowland assures herself and fans that love still exists. She lets you know that she truly knows love and that she's "be a fool to let this go." The pity party is over and she is not "down on love."
Rating: 8/1011. Street Life featuring Pusha T - The beat in this song is hot! It's simple but it's most definitely a filler and doesn't seem to really fit in with the rest of the album. It reminds me of something that Vanessa Hudgens would have released in her "Sneakernight" album. It's very corny and a try at being hip, but it comes off as a woman whom has hit a mid-life crisis or trying to prove to her kids that she's still cool.
The rapper, unlike Kevin Collum, adds a lot t the song but not enough for me to like the song.
Rating: 3.5/1012. Stand In Front Of Me - Kelly Rowland's final song in the normal version. Your voice is song phenomenal. The song is also simple and slightly bubblegum, but it's okay. It has a very 50s feel with a modern twist. I actually really love this song. Her low notes, higher registers, falsetto are all on point.
Rating: 9.5/10Final Rating for Album: 8/10
Now onto the deluxe version which is what I bought myself:
13. Sky Walker featuring The Dream - This song is awesome. If you're like and buy the clean versions of albums, The Dreams part will be heavily edited. It's written by The Dream whom is an awesome writer however, he has a tendency to curse a lot in his lyrics when writing adult lyrics even when writing pretty songs about love.
This song often curses without reason however it doesn't take away from the production, the singing or the story.
Rating: 9/1014. Put Your Name On It - The production is top notch! Her vocals are top notch! This has to be one of the sexiest songs ever! It has a rock theme, hip-hop, r&b smoothness, and even a slight J-Pop theme to it. This may be my favorite song on the album.
Rating. 15/1015. #1 - The final song in the deluxe version is here. This young woman knows how to end an album! It reminds me of like a Ciara and Beyonce made a child and this is what they came out with. However, this is Kelly Rowland letting a man know that she will be nothing but number one if she is to be with this man.
Empowering to woman, production top-notched, vocals even higher than her own top-notched, this is the ultimate in closing n album.
The deluxe version is definitely worth a buy.
Rating: 12/10Overall Rating for the Deluxe Version: 9/10
Click the above link to buy the Deluxe Edition - Explicit Version on amazon.com
Click here to buy the normal edition...For clean versions:
Click above for the clean normal edition!
For the clean deluxe version
