This is her best album, thanks to R. Kelly's genius, but it's still not an amazing well-rounded project. It's fairly hit or miss for me. The best will never get old, but everything else isn't anything I go back to. 'Old School''s rhythm borrows heavily from The Isley Brother's 'Between the Sheets' making that instantly catchy and the other classics are listed below. If you compare Aaliyah to her mentor, the voice is lacking. A lot of R. Kelly songs build up and allow him to share his brilliant vocal range (see 'When a Woman Loves' or 'I Believe I Can Fly') but Aaliyah's doesn't seem to stretch very far. I've thought the same thing with her two follow up albums.
Best Tracks: Back & Forth, Age Ain't Nothing but a Number, At Your Best (You Are Love), Old School
I've loved some of K-Young's previous projects. Great ballads, build up and memorable choruses - pretty much what I want from R&B. Most of these tracks though feel more one-paced, with an absence of build up. It isn't a boring listen, but it kind of comes and goes more than I expected from an artist who I like.
Best Tracks: Angel, The Weekend, Nothing Lasts, Forever, Psychopath
I heard their last LP, and this is pretty much same sort of thing. A few good songs like 'Take It Slow' and 'Dangerous' to name a couple, but most are all songs you can live without hearing. Most tracks are ones that are good for the club or pumping out of your sub, but if you are just listening to it and the lyrics closely it ain't anything. Chemically Imbalanced also doesn't feature the few top tracks that their previous had.
75 minutes is way too long for this album. It's not necessarily that bad, but it just doesn't keep you interested for half the duration let alone the whole thing. It begins reasonably with the Scarface themed track and then 'West Coast Geez' but there is just nothing that good on offer here.
Best Tracks: Cocka Roaches, West Coast Geez, Blind Livin', Ain't Nobody Fuckin' With Me, Sum Dem Murder.
