Love Letter 2010 Album

R. Kelly

Kelly is back with another release after 'Epic' only dropped a few months ago. While that compilation reminded me of the 'U Saved Me' disc, with its uplifting strong spiritual ballads, some of this reminds me of the other disc of that album, 'Happy People'. It's not sexually explicit, has mostly positive production and keeps a constant consistent theme throughout the whole disc. Track for track I don't know if there is a top ten Kells song here, but where it stands out is its consistency in the quality of tracks and that unlike his previous releases where he has played with conversation/operatic songs ('Three-Way Phone Call', 'Best Friend', 'Trapped in the Closet'), hip-hop and even a bit of dance-pop on 'Untitled', he goes back to what he does best, with some originality. Tracks that stand out are 'Not Feelin' the Love' that was written for Michael Jackson, which is very easy to feel, with Kells vocally adding to that feeling. Similarly later on in the album 'Just Like That' while less prominent also feels like an MJ track. Due to this being released the same time as Jackson's posthumous album there are times I've actually shortly thought I was listening to MJ. The middle of the album shines where Robert sings about making spontaneous love to a stranger in a Taxi in 'Taxi Cab', to darker production with electric guitars backing him up - this feels a lil' like 'Dirty Diana' in the way it varies the intensity from the verses to the chorus. 'Radio Message' is great from the word go with the chorus kicking the song off with Kells singing to his baby over the radio, and the Grammy-nominated (deserved to win) ''When a Woman Loves'' following on, is a great vocal performance and feels like something from a past era in rhythm and blues. The only real track I'm not feeling much is ''Music Must Be a Lady' which feels very much like 'The Greatest Show on Earth' from Happy People but without any build-up musically. I think if I wasn't such a fan and had not heard everything else he had done extensively then maybe I'd give this an even higher rating. Kells isn't reinventing the wheel in R&B but once again, after almost twenty years, he is still one of, if not the best mainstream R&B artist out there. And with this album and the change in direction, there is no reason he cannot continue to be. It will be interesting what type of album he produces with his next album. Best Tracks: Not Feelin' the Love, Radio Message, Taxi Cab, When a Woman Loves