Lukewarm Responses To The Heat Fade Some

The Good: Excellent voice, Generally well-produced, Some nice instrumentals
The Bad: Nothing spectacular in the lyrics
The Basics: In a rare "recommend" for just the sound of the album, The Heat portrays Toni Braxton as a singer with a great voice, if not a spectacular message.


Toni Braxton might just end up on my growing list of artists that I own no albums from but who I figure I ought to own their "Best of" album should it ever be released. Weezer and Everclear (which I understand has one) and TLC (ditto) are on that list largely because I've liked singles I've heard from them and (with the former two) their style is distinctive but limited. Toni Braxton, based on the songs I've heard from her on the radio and now listening to her album The Heat is an odd example of an artist with a clear talent for singing whose work leaves the listener with a disconcertingly neutral feeling.

The Heat is a pretty generic r&b vocal album. Toni Braxton has an amazing voice, most comparable to Sade. She has exceptional range and is able to hold notes long and slow, creating a smoky, sensual sound with nothing but her voice. She does a lot of songs in the mid-range (alto) scales, but she's not afraid to go higher for songs like "You've Been Wrong Before." She clearly has a talent for singing.

Moreover, the album has a generally good balance as far as the production - like many performers in the r&b field, she plays no instruments, relying instead on background music to be constructed. Braxton, who produced the album with L.A. Reid and Babyface, makes a decent mix of basslines and faint strings, synths and guitars to make a sound that supports her voice well. Most of the album's tracks are slow, so this is a good album for listening to when one is in more of a contemplative or romantic mood. It's not a big dance album.

The problem, though, with The Heat is the lyrics. I respect that Toni Braxton wrote or co-wrote almost all of the songs on the album, but the overwhelming impression one gets when listening to the lyrics is either indifference or the idea that Braxton is bound by antiquated notions of male gender roles. Two of the singles - I was surprised to learn both were released as singles and both were (more or less) hits - are "He Wasn't Man Enough" and "Just Be A Man About It." Thank you, Toni Braxton, for reminding us what men are supposed to be. Sigh.

The sad thing is, the only other song that leaves an impression on The Heat is "Spanish Guitar," which is a decent song. Braxton entices the listener with, "I wish that I was in your arms like that Spanish Guitar / You would play me all night long until the dawn." That's where the real heat of the album comes from. Braxton's voice stands out and I'm surprised: 1. It wasn't released as the first single and 2. It did not do better in the mainstream when it was.

The problem with The Heat, then is the lack of impression it leaves with the listener. Why do I recommend this average album? It's one of the rare instances I will recommend one simply because it sounds good. You know how opera fans will tell you that even if you don't understand the words being sung, opera is worthwhile for the emotive experience? Well, for a change I'm going to accept that concept and apply it to The Heat. The lyrics are unmemorable, but the combination of Braxton's voice and the decent backing make it a worthwhile listen, even if not to own.

For a change, I'll let that be enough. At least until Braxton releases a Best of album (which is highly unlikely given the number of recording companies she's been with already). . . .

The best song is "Spanish Guitar," the weakest track is "Just Be A Man About It" (though the rap in "Gimme Some" is pretty insipid. . .).

For other r&b album reviews, be sure to check out my reviews of:
Hotter Than July - Stevie Wonder
Things Just Ain’t The Same (single) – Deborah Cox
Seal - Seal

6/10

Check out how this album stacks up against others I have reviewed at my Index Page where the reviews are organized from Best To Worst!

© 2012, 2007 W.L. Swarts. May not be reprinted without permission.

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Lightning Review Before The Library Closes! Toni Braxton's "I Don't Want To" Flops!

The Good: Not bad vocals, Production is decent
The Bad: Instrumental accompaniment is overproduced, Lyrics are fairly lame, SHORT
The Basics: A particularly lame c.d. single, “I Don't Want To” may be passed by, even by fans who like Toni Braxton.


I have an order, as inscrutable as it may seem here, to the reviews I write and when I find that order upset by something suddenly missing from the database, I often have to scramble. This afternoon, that means that my intended review of a Heather Nova single is instead taking the form of a Toni Braxton c.d. single that has been kicking around my local library unsold for the past four months. I've only listened to this two-track disc six times (as I type this) so it might lack some of my usual insight, but the truth is, it's a two-song recording and I think I can do it justice even with only fifteen minutes to write about it.

As far as Toni Braxton goes, I've only heard her full album The Heat before now and a few songs by her which I have heard on the radio over the years. As it turns out, I had heard “I Don't Want To” before, but the b-side track, “I Love Me Some Him” (sic) was unknown to me. Frankly, it is absolutely no surprise to me that the b-side track never went anywhere. What is surprising is that Braxton and her production staff allowed such a limp single to be released. Usually r&b singles make use of the limited medium to release alternate cuts of album tracks, but this disc includes two album cut tracks from Braxton's album “Secrets.”

With only two songs occupying only nine minutes of disc space, “I Don't Want To” is a terrible waste of a c.d. The disc also reveals only limited creative ability from Toni Braxton. Braxton did not write or co-write either song, nor did she play any instruments on either song. She does provide the lead vocals on both songs and she is credited as a co-executive producer on the single, though she is not credited with any production credits on either of the actual songs (I’m not sure how that works).

Vocally, both songs are distinctive for Toni Braxton's smoldering vocals and she works the range well on the title track. She does slow, low and soulful and then makes her voice soar in a way that is melodic and high on the song. It's easy to see why this was one of her more popular singles . . . at least up until the moment when her backing vocals take over and overwhelm her voice, making the song sound like a Kid Bop interpretation of itself. At least “I Don't Want To” has somewhere to degenerate to: “I Love Me Some Him,” a ridiculously ethnic-sounding track starts with Braxton in the background and she never overcomes her backing vocalists. It was for that reason that I had no problem smacking this disc with the one-star rating; it's inconsistent even on the key element Braxton usually offers.

Instrumentally, this is very much a contemporary pop/r&b number that has been assembled on a mixing board as opposed to through playing real instruments. As a result, the instrumentation that backs Braxton is predictable and pedestrian synthesizer/keyboard sounds with percussion coming from loops or a drum machine. Both songs are r&b ballads which are slow and lack anything resembling soul (having spent most of the month listening to Tina Turner I can say this with complete credibility). Neither has a strong enough tune to call memorable or even worthwhile, so I am sure in a few hours I could hear “I Love Me Some Him” and not recognize it.

As for the lyrics, these are two songs which remind the listener just how low the bar is set for beautiful people who can sing. Braxton mournfully repeats the refrain “And I don't want to sing another love song babe / I don't want to hum another melody / I don't want to live my life without you babe yeah / It's driving me crazy” (“I Don't Want To”) without ever convincing the listener just what is so wonderful about the object of her affection in the song. Instead, this sounds like a Junior High interpretation of love and affection and the simplicity is enough to bother adult music listeners.

But even the title track has more substance than the inane “I Love Me Some Him.” After seven listens to this song, I have nothing on this song other than to call it an utter cliché. It is a poorly written one at that. When Braxton sings “All those days and lonely nights / Have all gone away / I never thought the day would come / When we'd more than friends / You made me smile when I was down / You turn my world around / The way you give me love feel so right” (“I Love Me Some Him”) it is impossible to take her sad tones seriously. Instead, the terribly rhyming refrain becomes unintelligible and ridiculous and the listener is just left wondering how bad the rest of the album “Secrets” must have been that this was used as a b-side to the single.

For uninspired r&b, this might fit the bill, but it's a poor example of Toni Braxton's talents and fans are as likely to be disappointed as those who do not profess to call themselves fans of Braxton or the genre.

For other R&B vocalists, be sure to visit my reviews of:
Speakerboxxx/The Love Below - Outkast
It Ain't Easy: Essential Recordings - Wilson Pickett
Break Every Rule - Tina Turner

2/10

For other music reviews, please visit my index page by clicking here!

© 2011, 2010 W.L. Swarts. May not be reprinted without permission.


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