Album Review:
No One Gonna Love You:
An exquisite R&B track. It sounds very old school/Mary J. Blige. It for sure is an Urban radio smash, sounds like a "Be Without You" type hit. The heart-pounding R&B beat is perfection and Rich Harrison did an amazing job! I'm glad she did this type of R&B sound, it definitely works for her!
Score - 10/10
I Got This:
An amazing track. Stargate produced it, and it feels very R&B/Pop like her lead single from Jennifer Hudson - "Spotlight." I think really shows who she is...a badass R&B church girl from Chicago...she's got this, she's in the game. It is a mid-tempo grove, and I could see it being a smash! I heard its the second single...so we'll see...
Score - 9.5/10
Where You At:
The lead single from this album, it actually is an amazing album track, but just a weak first single. If it wasn't a single, and I heard it on the album, it would never be one of the songs I would consider to be released for her later, which is surprising, but its still really good. Its one of the most "Jennifer Hudson" type sounding R&B mid-tempos, and the chorus is great! "Where you at? Where you at?".
Score - 9.2/10
Angel:
This track was done by Alicia & Swizz, and I love it! Its very Alicia, and has the perfect mix of the 80's beat and piano. I could see Jennifer doing this type of music, but I think her voice is a little too big for it. I still love the sound, and Swizz did a great job, he's very diverse! I wish it featured Alicia, that would be amazing!
Score - 9.3/10
I Remember Me:
My favorite track on the album. Its exquisite. Perfect. Amazing. I don't care if it sounds like a typical "Ryan Tedder ballad". It is totally different for Jennifer Hudson, the most pop-ish sound on the album. What I love so much about it, is the lyrics really get you. Its so emotional, you feel something. Isnt that what music is supposed to do? Listening to all these big pop/dance songs you realize you never really understand what they are saying, and the lyrics are beyond cheesy, its just catchy. But music is supposed to make you feel an emotion, and this track does that! The chorus is beyond perfect, I could see this doing really well on Pop & Urban.
Score - 10/10
Gone:
This song is so good! An old school R&B/Hip Hop feel, and Polow produced. You can tell by the hard hitting background beat, and its so good! It reminds me of "My Heart" which he did on her last album, and I LOOOOOVEEEE that song! I could also see this smashing! The chorus is so catchy, and I think it shows how diverse an artist Jennifer can be.
Score - 9.7/10
Everybody Needs Love:
Another Alicia song, and its not one of my favorites, but its still good. Its very uplifting, and similar to Angel, but it just feels a little boring. The beat is like Angel, the hard hitting drum. I love the spoken bridge though, and she still sounds amazing. 10x better than the fillers on her first album.
Score - 9/10
Why Is It So Hard:
Wow, this song is amazing! Great job Ne-Yo! Ne-Yo worked his magic as usual, and gave Jennifer another amazing track penned by him! Its a perfect R&B mid-tempo, and a great love song. It feels very 90 R&B, and I love it! It comes on perfectly in the sense of the album as a whole.
Score - 9.4/10
Don't Look Down:
Wow. This song is one of my favorites. It reminds me a lot of "The Diary of Alicia Keys." It has Alicia's signature neo-soul hard hitting beat with piano mixed in. Jennifer works perfectly with the song, but it sounds weird not hearing Alicia on the track! I could see this being a single, its really different for Jennifer, and its really uplifting, and a lot of songs are uplifting right now.
Score - 9.5/10
Still Here:
This song is so emotional! Dedicated to her family, and written by the amazing Dianne Warren, you hear the emotion pouring out of her voice, and all the lyrics make you want to cry when you think about her family. Its very Reflection meets Church meets Jennifer Hudson. An amazing song.
Score - 9.3/10
Feeling Good:
First of all. Why the fawk would her label put this crusty ass cover of Feeling Good (the weight watchers theme song) on this album? And second of all, why is it only 2 minutes and 17 seconds?
After waiting three years, they could have easily replaced this with something else! Its not even bad, but its kind of random on the album, and ruins the flow.
Score - 8.2/10
Believe:
Jennifer said, she will always have a church gospel song on her albums, and hear is this album's gospel! Its actually a cover of Brook's & Dunn's "Believe" and they made it a church song, and it totally work.
Its Jennifer to the max, probably what she's most comfortable with singing, and I wouldnt be surprised if she made a gospel album, even though its not my favorite from her, you can't deny how amazing it is. A perfect ending to this album
.
Score - 9/10
Overall - 9.3
Overall this album flows almost perfectly. I think if they replaced Feeling Good with another song, it would be my favorite R&B album ever (in front of Alicia's work
). Its still quite amazing, and my favorite of this year, and probably will remain unless Alicia or Rihanna release something new. Jennifer took a HUGE step up from her debut, there's only one filler, almost every song can be a single, and almost every song is better than the lead single
. I'm so happy. This album is so touching, and made me extremely happy. I love you Jennifer
, I hope you have HUGE success with this album!
As compared to "Jennifer Hudson" - her debut album:
1. Spotlight - 9.7/10
2. If This Isn't Love - 10/10
3. Pocketbook - 10/10
4. Giving Myself - 8.5/10
5. What's Wrong - 7/10
6. My Heart - 9.5/10
7. You Pulled Me Through - 9/10
8. Can't Stop the Rain - 9/10
9. We Gon' Fight - 8/10
10. Invisible - 9/10
11. Jesus Promised Me A Home Over There - 8/10
12. And I Am Telling You I'm Not Going - 9.5/10
Average: 8.9/10