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GIRLS AGAINST BOYS Ciara's take on the skirmishes between the sexes is the height of her second album, The Evolution
Photo Credit: Ciara: Mark MannBy Jody Rosen
''The past few years of my life have truly been a journey.... A lot of life lessons learned,'' intones Ciara on one of four spoken interludes on Ciara: The Evolution, her second album. Later, in ''I'm Just Me,'' she stops singing to offer some more wisdom: ''I believe life is what you make it. You determine your destiny.'' The 21-year-old isn't much of a philosopher. It's a pity she devotes precious time to these banalities rather than sticking to her strengths: singing stormy club anthems about the war between the sexes. ''Like a Boy'' is a Ciara song par excellence: a stirring revenge fantasy, sung over symphonic keyboard stabs, in which a betrayed lover dreams of acting as callously as her man. ''Girl, go 'head and be just like 'em.../Keep a straight face when you tell a lie/Always keep an airtight alibi,'' she sings.
Two years ago, Ciara rocketed up the Billboard charts with her debut single, ''Goodies,'' a collaboration with crunk kingpin Lil Jon. On The Evolution, the pair reunite for two songs, including the electrifying album opener ''That's Right,'' which combines eerily quiet crooning with a squall of synthesizer buzzes and percussion clatter. Ciara's comfort with rave-inspired beats sets her apart from Cassie, Amerie, Rihanna, and other would-Beyoncés and brings out the best in producers like Jazze Pha, who contributes a catchy, blipping track for the hit ''Get Up,'' and Polow Da Don, whose ''Bang It Up'' is a deliciously dark exercise in crunk-pop. Ciara's singing is nimble throughout: She whispers, coos, wails, and reels off speedy syncopations worthy of Beyoncé herself.
The dance songs are rugged and terrific, but eventually the tempos slow and the album drags. Breakup ballads like ''So Hard'' might start gossips' tongues wagging (Ciara recently parted ways with her boyfriend, the rapper Bow Wow), but the music is a snooze. Why is seemingly every R&B album padded out with four or five cruddy slow jams? It's a shame Ciara hasn't learned another life lesson: Quit while you're ahead.
Posted Dec 01, 2006
Ciara
Ciara: The Evolution
LaFace, 2006
he only thing more annoying than artists who feel the need to provide definitions for their album titles in the liner notes (hey, Mimi!) is awkwardly personal spoken-word interludes. Ciara commits both offenses on her sophomore disc Ciara: The Evolution, nonsensically expounding on the evolution of music ("When I listen to the radio I feel like music is so much different than what it used to be"), dance ("The first day I began walking was the first day I began dancing"…seriously?), and fashion ("Dare to be different"). I would say she should leave the bumper-sticker philosophizing to Oprah and Tyra and stick to singing, but she doesn't excel at that either. Thankfully, she's surrounded by the "best" in the business and The Evolution has been conceived and sold (over 300k in its first week, to be exact) as a must-have for R&B fans. The album's lead single, "Promise," is decidedly different from Ciara's previous hits, an indication that she is, in fact, evolving—at least in terms of marketing. The Polow Da Don-helmed track (his contributions here, including the sickly dense "Bang It Up," almost redeem him after the mess that was Fergie's "London Bridge") is yet another example of a producer doing Prince better than Prince is doing Prince these days. "I Proceed," with its shades of vintage Janet, also help The Neptunes atone for an ever-growing string of hits with short shelf-lives. Even the usually garish will.i.am is in fine form here with the inventive "Get In, Fit In," an inspirational track that actually motivates by example. The evolution of dance music that Ciara aims to spotlight, however, is upstaged on tracks like "Make It Last Forever": By sampling a James Brown song that was first popularized by Rob Base & DJ EZ Rock on their hip-house classic "It Takes Two" and then simply regurgitating some of that track's rhymes, Ciara and producer Rodney Jerkins give no indication of R&B's present or future interest in dance music besides nostalgia for the '80s.
Some of these ppl are HATERS pay no attention to them >>>>>>
With big-name producers and songwriting contributions from the platinum girl herself, Ciara's second album banks on a lightweight version of the sexy-cool futurism of Justin Timberlake's latest. Packed with electro beats and Miami bass, cuts like "I Proceed" and "Bang It Up" blend hooks and underground club chicness. Ciara's still prone to diva blandness and silly little pop songs, which drags down the 50 Cent feature "Can't Leave 'Em Alone." But this time she's more interesting by half.
