I really enjoyed/enjoy Bobby V's first two albums. They have great production and BV delivered the lyrics well making for plenty of hits. 'The Rebirth' is pretty good and musically follows much of the same flow of the previous albums. It does start off slowly though.
The opening track, 'Make You the Only One', sounds almost identical to some past material which isn't a surprise as it's produced by Tim & Bob who worked on Bobby's earlier albums. Unfortunately though, perhaps a sign that this album wasn't going to match his first 2, is that it isn't touching their best collaborations. 'Hands on Me' and 'Butterfly Tattoo', both produced by Los da Mystro, sound like production The-Dream would sing over.
From the first nine songs, there is nothing great. The Yung Joc assisted, 'Beep', and the aforementioned 'Butterfly Tattoo' are above decent and the cover of 'Just Me & You' is worth a second listen as well, but the album really takes off in the second half where there is more creativity shown with songs like the Prince inspired 'Another Life'.
Including the bonus tracks, 'Your Smile' and 'Why', Tim & Bob produce 5 of the last 10 and help to elevate the album
There are a few songs that don't hit home, but the best are great and there are plenty of them in the second half of the album in particular.
Best Tracks: Butterfly Tattoo, Be My Love, On the Edge, You're Not Alone, Stay With Me, Another Life ,Give Me Your Heart, Your Smile, Why
1. The Rebirth N/A
2. Make You the Only One 60/100
3. Hands on Me 70
4. My Girl 64
5. Butterfly Tattoo 80
6. Just Me & You 73
7. Beep 75
8. 3 Is the New 2 62
9. Make You Say 64
10. Be My Love 98
11. Dance the Night Away (Interlude) 70
12. On the Edge 90
13. You're Not Alone 84
14. Stay with Me 90
15. Another Life 88
16. Give Me Your Heart 80
BONUS TRACKS
17. Your Smile 88
18. Why? 83
Following on from 'Hollywood Hearts', we have a different sound from Bobby V. The first two songs are nice with the dark theme of 'Thrilla' working well as it does on 'Beautiful Life' as well. Snoop's bars at the start of 'lil Bit' are embarrassing. I don't know what he was thinking. "Hors d'oeuvre's, big words/G7's, big birds (wow)/Do thangs, you never done (never done)/Fun girl, fun guy, lets have fun."... Come on, Snoop. Thankfully, the production and Bobby can save it. From there we are hit with the best songs with 'Save Us' being the best this album offers. Unfortunately the album falls away in the second half with 'Leggo' and 'Triple Threat' in particular getting boring.
Best Tracks: Promise U, Save Us
1. Electrik (Intro) N/A
2. Electrik 70/100
3. Thrilla 76
4. Lil' Bit 68
5. Promise U 86
6. Save Us 95
7. Beautiful Life 72
8. Love Me Slow 61
9. Obsessed 67
10. Celebrate 60
11. Leggo 40
12. Triple Threat 45
13. Believe (Outro) N/A
This album was inspired by his role in the movie of the same title. It has a very different sound to Bobby's previous albums, feeling more in the alternative R&B lane. It's an enjoyable fairly consistent listen but it just doesn't have the high moments he has blessed us with before and there are a couple of moments like 'Ratchet' that aren't great.
Best Tracks: Lose My Cool, Hollywood Hearts, Marry Me
After two amazing R&B albums with, in my opinion, some of the best R&B songs to exist, Bobby's third album was a step in the wrong direction. Could this get him back on track?
The best songs are amazing, in particularly 'Words' and 'Last Call for Love', but the consistent high quality of tracks that his first two albums have isn't a feature of this album. There are five songs with rap features and none of them work too well. 50 doesn't help 'Altered Ego' in any way with his few bars at the beginning of the song. 'Phone #' with Plies is the best of them. Tim & Bob are back as producers, who are a large reason why his first two albums are so good, and contribute their talents to some of the best moments here.
In all in, the best are still great R&B tunes, but it has its skippable moments. A decent 3/5.
Best Tracks: Words, If I Can't Have You, Last Call for Love, Heaven (My Angel, Part 2)
Fly on the Wall (Intro) N/A
Are You the Right One 70/100
Words 95
If I Can't Have You 90
Sweetness 54
Would You Be 83
Rock Wit'cha 68
Hang On 84
Fly on the Wall (Interlude) N/A
Altered Ego 44
L.O.V.E. 78
Hummin' 49
Outfit 60
Grab Somebody 65
Phone # 67
Last Call for Love 100
Heaven (My Angel, Part 2) 92
Thank You N/A
This album is more of a 'The D.O.C. presents' type of album than a solo project. He does little rapping on it, more often just appearing in the interludes. It's a decent collection of songs though with well-known west coast artists like Cube, Snoop, Nate Dogg and a few lesser known artists with rapper 6Two being a frequent voice throughout this album. Consistently good music from front to back.
Beats: ★★★☆
Rapping/Bars: ★★★☆
Hooks: ★★★☆
Best Tracks: The Shit, What Would You Do?, Judgement Day, 1-2-3 (Critical Condition), DFW