Surprisingly good effort from London R'N'B artist
So it's the New Year and I've decided that one of my resolutions, apart from trying to give up the cigarettes is to listen and review albums by artists I wouldn't usually do.
So starting off, this is the new album by 28-yearold English singersongwriter Taio Cruz that is due for release this week.
Ok at first when I received the album I thought he was a rapper but then, informed by those in the know (my two teenage sons) I find he's a pop/r&b artist. That's telling me!
This is his third album following the huge success of 2009's 'Rokstarr' which also saw the release of his own brand of sunglasses under the same name.
Now instantly I have to say I truly didn't expect to enjoy this album but man was I wrong!
It opens with the humdinger of a song, 'Hangover' — featuring Flo Rida — which a lot of us could humorously relate to.
Though lyrically weak, it does stand strong as a party song and is sure to be a hit.
Its saving grace is its catchy melody and chorus, which do exactly as they say on the tin.
The track 'Troublemaker' initially sounds very similar to something by Black Eyed Peas man Will I Am, with the same overkilled vocal effects he's used in the past, breaking into another party anthem.
His next single to be released will be 'There She Goes' which has a tropical holiday feel to it and shows a nice similarity to Enrique Iglesias. It's sure to be a huge hit in the nightclubs around Ireland.
The whole album is truly a fun and energetic affair, which you know, isn't such a bad thing, especially in January!
Now it does has its weak spots such as the song 'Shotcaller' which to be honest doesn't hit the target at all (pun intended!) and just comes across as a limp attempt at a dance anthem.
Another screaming dance floor filler is 'World In Our Hands' which while listening you could mistake yourself for thinking you were in Ibiza. (I wish!)
'Tattoo' lacks any musical magic or imagination and need not have applied for a position on the album.
As with most albums there has to be the good old love track and here it's in the sonic form of 'You're Beautiful', which, all in all, isn't too bad, though one does feel he may have copied too many lines from Will Young's notebook.
The 11 track album finishes with the huge hit 'Little Bad Girl' he had when he collaborated with French DJ David Guetta, which is a nice way to finish a collection of songs that, fortunately, one can say have more positive attributes to them than negative ones.
Sure to be a huge chart success.
- CD REVIEW BY JON WRIGHT
