Aaliyah album Aaliyah

Aaliyah
Album : Aaliyah
Release Date: July 17, 2001
Label: Virgin Records

Reviews :
Seven years after her debut at just 15 years old, Aaliyah assembled a third studio album that was astonishingly mature. Sadly, her death just a little over a month after its release stilled a promising voice in R&B. At 22, when most artists would just be getting started, Aaliyah had already progressed from pop to street to an unconventional retro-modern, risk-taking version of R&B.

While lead track "We Need a Resolution" is as mainstream as it gets, there are fewer hits on this album than on previous efforts. Instead, this collection is an extraordinary romantic exposition of passion and pain. While Missy Elliott is cranking out jams for all her "club freaks," Aaliyah is like a modern-day (if less vocally gifted) Minnie Riperton, exploring the pains of moving from child star to adult sex symbol.

Tracks such as "Never No More" and "I Care 4 U" (featuring Missy) are slinky, twisted ballads imbued with film-noir sultriness, as diva Aaliyah steps catlike away from the bubblegum R&B of her contemporaries. There’s also the obligatory rock track tacked on near the end ("I Can Be"), but even this excels above the standard hip-hop/rock/R&B crossover fare with its Prince-like influences coupled with Aaliyah’s own instinct for seduction.

Aaliyah also signaled a move away from her long-standing musical relationship with producer Timbaland, who contributes just three cuts. Having started out heavily supported by R. Kelly, it appeared that Aaliyah was more than able to go it alone

Track listing :
1. We Need A Resolution (featuring Timbaland)
2. Loose Rap (featuring Static from Playa)
3. Rock The Boat
4. More Than A Woman
5. Never No More
6. I Care 4 U
7. Extra Smooth
8. Read Between The Lines
9. U Got Nerve
10. I Refuse
11. It’s Whatever
12. I Can Be
13. Those Were The Days
14. What If

Ever since she was 15, Aaliyah Haughton has been bringing us the hits, whether they were spawned by R Kelly or Timbaland. Missy Elliott and others have always made contributions to Aaliyah’s songs as well. "Back And Forth", "At Your Best", "If Your Girl Only Knew", "One In A Million", "Are You That Somebody" and "Try Again" are what most people think of when you think of Aaliyah.

I would say that most of her fan base probably comes from songs like these as well. This time around, however, it looks like Aaliyah is looking for some individuality and she definitely has matured since she was "Down With The Clique". There comes a time in an artist’s career when they can’t always do what they have been doing and there is time for a change. For Aaliyah, that change has come now. The 1st single, "We Need A Resolution" w/Timbaland has Aaliyah as her old self and the results are excellent. You almost expect for this CD to sound like the past ones and her songs off of the "Romeo Must Die" soundtrack.

Then, out of nowhere, Aaliyah pulls a 360 on everything and she sounds like a very mature 22 year old that has got a grip on her womanhood and everything around her and wants people to see that through her music. This is unlike her previous 2 CDs for sure. "Aaliyah" will remind some people of Janet Jackson’s "Control". It just appears that she is in control of this entire project and not even Timbaland’s beats will outshine her.

Timbaland only contributes three tracks to this project and the CD is still on point. Rapture and E Seats for Keybeats, Inc. hnadle a lot of the music and Static of the group Playa does the majority of the writing. "Never No More" has Aaliyah telling a tale of her being involved in an abusive relationship and finally being fed up with the surroundings, "Loose Rap" has Aaliyah telling us a tale about a guy that is trying to get with her that is spittin’ the same lines that any other man may say to her at any given time.

Other noteworthy tracks are "Rock The Boat", "Extra Smooth", "It’s Whatever", "U Got Nerve", my personal favorite, the Timbaland produced, "I Care 4 U", and the women’s national anthem of 2001 "I Refuse". To the fans of Aaliyah’s previous CDs, you might not like this CD or it will take you a while to appreciate this, so it may have to grow on you. However, in the long run this will definitely benefit her career as a singer. I would still recommend this CD to Aaliyah fans.