Thursday, August 27, 2009

Can You Really Call It A Comeback?

Anyone who knows Whitney Houston, knows why she is named "The Voice." There is no voice like hers. Houston returns to the music scene with "I Look To You." Deemed the biggest comeback for an internationally well known singer, many were quite concerned about her vocal chops due to the rumors of drug use and the general wear and tear of a voice over the years. Houston proves with "I Look To You," that she still has it. While some songs embody her rich mezzo-soprano more than others, "I Look To You" promises to be quite a comeback for New Jersey born singer. Whitney delves quite extensively into her range on many of the tracks.

The opening track, "Million Dollar Bill," is a strikingly disco sounding song that embodies fresh sounding Whitney. The opening belt of the singer's voice proves not only that she still has it, but it never left. Houston captivates the listener with her lower register on "Nothin' But Love," where she reflects on her life and those who love her and hate her. Produced by Danja, the song embodies a killer synth and the lower tone of Ms. Houston fits right in. The song will probably be a grower for most.

"Call You Tonight," is probably the heaviest produced track on the album. It is produced by Stargate, known for producing mega hits for Beyonce and Ne-Yo. Written by Johnta Austin, the song exudes guitar riffs and Whitney's voice shines. The song is very radio friendly. The title track, a ballad, speaks to the trials and tribulations that Houston went through during her seven year hiatus. She reached for power and it arrived. The song enamours the listener with what all Whitney fans have come to love about her - the power that she puts in her songs. While there are no electrifying key changes as in "Where Do Broken Hearts Go," or "I Will Always Love You," Houston delivers. The track gets better on each listen.

Houston revisits her reggae-esque style on "Like I Never Left," produced by Akon. The song fits the singer as she instructs a former lover to embrace her. "A Song For You," is a well known power ballad, however, Houston opts not to belt out dramatics on the track and instead chooses to turn the song into a house anthem. There are several key changes in this song. It reminds the listener of "I'm Every Woman."

"I Didn't Know My Own Strength," is probably where Whitney's voice is at its raspiest. The pureness of her voice makes the song worthy of a listen. She speaks of her faith and how she made it. "Worth It," is probably the best song on the album. Whitney sings in a higher register than what is known to most listeners who have only heard her on the radio. This song has a lot of adlibs, a falsetto that is phenomenal and Houston shows the listener why she is Whitney Houston. The last two minutes of the song are mind blowing.

"For The Lovers," is a club track for the singer. Reminiscent of "So Emotional," Houston gives a shoutout to the lovers. A very nice track. "I Got You," is an epic song for the singer. Produced by Akon, the song fits the album. A dark horse for the album. The final track, "Salute," is a piano driven song where Houston radiates.

Overall, the cd is very modern and amazing. While the singer's voice is not where it was once, Ms. Houston, shows that a 46 year old deemed "The Voice" can still belt it better than most. Worth a listen and a purchase.

Final Grade: A


Tuesday, August 18, 2009

Maxwell's New 1

I am a Maxwell fan. In my opinion, he is one of the better neo-soul singers out there. After an eight year hiatus from the music scene, Maxwell returns with BLACKsummers'night, a powerful soul album with just one problem --- it is good, just not off da chain. The nine track soul opera opens with "Bad Habits," which is currently on urban stations across the country. It is one of the best tracks and also the longest on the album. I found myself revisiting this track more than the other eight. "Cold," blares out of the speakers and is a nice track, but it sounded like something that was leftover from Urban Hang Suite. "Pretty Wings," is the smoothest track on the cd. I agree with my friend, Shaun, about this being a break up song. "Please Somebody," is about the heaviest track rhythmic wise on the album. It felt out of place to me, but lyrically it is sound. "Stop The World," continues in Maxwell's Embrya sound. A chill track with a serious message. Out of all of the tracks, I was most impressed with "Love You." It sounds different from many Maxwell tracks. A feel good song. My favorite on the cd. "Fistful of Tears," feels like filler. "Playing Possum," reminds me of something from Now. There isn't much to the beat here, but an impressive Maxwell track. The final track, "Phoenix Rise," gives the listener a glimpse into the mystro Maxwell is. This is a listenable track with a sick cadence. Overall, I was expecting more.

Final Grade: B


Wednesday, August 12, 2009

Orphan Is Ratchet

I am not pleased. In fact, I am quite irascible that I even took the time out of my productive day to watch Orphan. It is a trite little film about a couple grieving over the loss of their child and they decide to adopt a cuckoo-for-Cocoa Puffs orphan. Although, what they are unaware of is that (well, she ain't an orphan). Great plot huh, yeah I thought so too. The movie does not live up to its hype. According to Urbandictionary.com, ratchet "describes a person or activity that is out of hand, out of control, or generally whack in some way." Well, while Orphan is not a person or activity, the movie is quite ratchet. I was hoping for an Omen-esque type film where the orphan decides to do some real damage, but it never came. In fact, the only pleasing aspect of the film is the climax. The plot twist, while somewhat unexpected, still didn't speak to me. I left feeling cheated. Cheated out time. Time after all is precious and time is money. In the scheme of things, I wasted some "$" watching this.

Final Grade: D+


Cabin Fever had more flair and that is sayin' quite a lot.


Life has many parts ---

Saturday, August 01, 2009

Rejoining Facebook

Yeah...it's been 4 yrs since I've been on Facebook. Funny how much it's changed. I guess because I haven't been on there for quite awhile. I got back on Facebook partly to reconnect with people from college and high school. I also got back on there because I was too lazy to create a MySpace page. Too much time. Although, I had the time. I just did not want to devote it to that. Lazy, huh? And then I got on Facebook and haven't uploaded any photos and have barely started requesting people to be my amigo. I guess I'll get to that sooner or later. What am I doing? Well, not too much lately. Working 9 hour days on Monday & Tuesday calling people about their bill. Real exciting right? Yeah, thought so too. It does give me some change to have in my pocket. But back to the subject at hand, Facebook. It's changed. And I'll be right off there if they ever decide to charge to use it. It appears to be looking that way in the near future.