When I heard the first track I Love Her feat Jim Jones I thought ok nice vibe and bounce to it, auto tune (gas face) but not a bad start to what hopefully would be a great album. Then I heard Body and this smooth track is definitely a light dimmer. I really like this song not the best vocal for it but I liked track so I let myself enjoy that and really focus on the lyrics. At this point I’m thinking so far so good with the album.
The songCase of You has a nice flow to it and catchy hook. The melody is everything you expect from smooth r & b, making this easily one of the songs I will keep on repeat in my iPod. However, my favorite song on the album is How Do I. A very well put together song-nice track and very visual lyrics which makes for what could be a classic r & b song but the use of auto tune ruined what could have been a great song.
On Date you find MH simply telling a woman he wants to take her on a date. I like it. Overall this album is average and won’t make any waves in the music world or solidify Marques as the King of R&B or even show he is any closer to the title. It would serve well as a mood setter for a night in without the kids but this album isn’t very memorable nor did it have any possible smash singles that I heard. If you’re a Marques Houston fan you might like it or be disappointed as I am. Unfortunately, MH is more of a trend follower than a trendsetter leaving you feeling like he is having an identity crisis while making this album.
I believe Marques is a very talented singer and from reading the credits on this album I see he’s been flexing his producer muscles as well but he didn’t let his light so shine on this album so to speak. I am not against the use of auto tune I believe it can be a nice touch in most cases, however I felt he overused it. It was mostly used on songs I felt didn’t need it when you add that to the fact that he didn’t emotionally connect to the songs for me it made for a bumpy ride. Some of the songs felt more like reference tracks than actual finished songs. I feel like he had a great idea the framework of the album is phenomenal could have been a classic but he took a right where he maybe should have went left. I tried to keep prominent in my mind that this album is almost a year old due to his release date repeatedly being pushed back. Maybe if he would have taken that time and improved upon or maybe make a completely different album altogether the end product would have been more appealing.
I have been a faithful passenger on the Marques Houston train from Immature to IMx to Sister Sister through a few albums and now at this album is where I must exit. I am all for growth and grown and sexy R&B but I am starting to feel like a lot of these otherwise talented artists are feeling pressured to water down their talent and splash some auto tune on it in order to sell records. Don’t get me wrong I think MH is a very talented singer whose past albums solo albums have not seen the success it should have BUT this time around I feel like he just dropped an album for the sake of dropping an album. I did find a few tunes I can keep in my iPod so not all was lost. Overall I give it 1.5 stars out of 5.