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| Chrisette Michele - Epiphany | Free Download Posted: 24 May 2009 03:48 AM PDT  Free Download: Chrisette Michele - Epiphany Album Review Chrisette Michele's very good debut, I Am, won a couple Grammys but did not did not have corresponding commercial success. None of its three singles reached the Top 20 of the R&B/Hip-Hop chart. The album itself barely dented the Top 30 of the Billboard 200. She co-wrote each one of its songs and passed on the opportunity to record "Irreplaceable," later taken on by Beyoncé and made into one of 2006's biggest singles. Consider all of this, Grammy part excepted, and it's understandable why Chrisette would be steered in a different direction. Chrisette evidently did some of the driving, since one of the inspirations behind the album's title refers to the realization that she can benefit by allowing more input from songwriters. She co-writes only three of these songs, with executive production from "Irreplaceable" writer Ne-Yo, who also gets writing credit on six songs; Chuck Harmony touches several cuts, while smaller contributions come from the likes of Rodney "Darkchild" Jerkins, Allstar, Bei Maejor, and Tim Bosky. Given the different strategy, and the fact that none of the producers or songwriters here had anything to do with I Am, it's a little surprising that the results are not all that different. It's also somewhat ironic that it's less rounded; the material, while mostly well-crafted, runs together as a block of slow, serious songs broken up by only a couple brief upswings in energy. Chrisette, naturally, sounds outstanding throughout, as a supernaturally talented vocalist whose songs are nonetheless easily relatable to anyone going through a breakup -- or, to a significantly lesser extent here, newfound love -- but the album could have really used more rhythmic punch than a token throwback strutter. ~ Andy Kellman, All Music Guide  |
| Rascal Flatts - Unstoppable | Free Download Posted: 24 May 2009 01:17 AM PDT  On their sixth album, Unstoppable, Rascal Flatts trade their "aw shucks" persona for a title that Michael Jackson somehow missed in his King of Pop phase, and act like superstars rather than boys next door made good. Almost nothing about Unstoppable is modest, not the sounds, not the sentiments -- only the songs, whether they're sports-bar party anthems like "Summer Nights"; glistening, tightly wound crossover pop like "Close" and its breezy counterpart "She'd Be California"; or arena ballads like the first single, "Here Comes Goodbye." Despite a lot of driving, sequenced rhythms, most of the record feels as if it belongs in the arena ballad category, thanks to how every track comes across as waves of gleaming sound topped by the group's harmonies. The smoothness is overwhelming and Rascal Flatts seem certain of their own invincibility. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine, All Music Guide Rascal Flatts - Here Comes Goodbye  |
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