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Track Listings
| Disc: 1 | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. Chocolate factory | |||
| 2. Step in the name of love | |||
| 3. Heart of a woman | |||
| 4. I'll never leave | |||
| 5. Been around the world - Kelly, R. & Ja Rule | |||
| 6. You made me love you | |||
| 7. Forever | |||
| 8. Dream girl | |||
| 9. Ignition | |||
| 10. Ignition (remix) | |||
See all 17 tracks on this disc
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| Disc: 2 | |||
| 1. Loveland | |||
| 2. All I want to do | |||
| 3. Heaven I need a hug | |||
| 4. World's greatest | |||
| 5. Far more | |||
| 6. Raindrops | |||
| 7. Apologies of a thug | |||
Product Description
Amazon.co.uk Review
Review
Kelly has made a concentrated effort here to move away from the formulaic (not a Neptunes track in earshot) and has tailored an organic blend of soul, gospel, blues and salsa. In addition he single-handedly serves as writer, producer and arranger.
Old-school receives a thorough dusting down and is presented as brand sparkling new on this monster 16 track CD that, also offers listeners 5 bonus cuts from the neglected Loveland project, bootlegged to extinction in 2002.
Musically, the album reunites all the soul greats into one delectable platter. For Marvin, take a listen to the seductive groove of the 'Step In The Name Of Love'. In tribute to Stevie's musical experimentation, take a spin of the Latin inspired 'Snake'. It's apparent that the troubled star has found a happy medium to create a release, the joyous screams are frequent;he doesn't sound like a man with the weight of the world on his shoulders, but a revived soul in spiritual euphoria.
However, the tempo skips the blissful beat on several tracks, most notably, the autobiographical 'Heaven I Need A Hug'. This emotive track will provide many a talking point for those who crave celebrity fodder as Kelly presents the proverbial middle finger to the media and detractors alike.
Sexual connotations aside, we can only hope that like the 'Pied Piper' R-Kelly's 7th studio album will indeed set a new precedence and assist R&B back on the right path of creating classic, non-disposable, music for the soul. --Jack Smith
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Customer Reviews
If this is an opinion which you also hold then undoubtedly "Chocolate Factory" will be for you. Almost every song is a well constructed piece of R&B and makes little use of the commercial blueprint by which every modern R&B CD seems to be made. Of course there's the token Ja Rule appearance to ensure that at least some 13 year olds buy this album but still "Been around the world" proves to be a decent track.
The only track I wasn't too fond of was "Showdown" which clearly relates to the track "Contagious" which Kelly did with the Isley Brothers but it does feature too much talking and does little for the album.
With a bonus CD featuring much of "Loveland" - the album Kelly had made which became leaked and consequently bootlegged forcing him to make "Chocolate Factory" - the value of this CD is incredible. Definitely worth a listen.
If you think you like RnB/Soul but only listen to the likes of Justin and Beyonce then maybe this isn't for you as its more of a grown up album.
I love R Kelly's music. For over 10 years he has been making music which is nothing short of amazing.
This set along the same lines. Its mellow yes, but the tracks are of such high quality.
Obviously everyone knows "Ignition (remix)" which was the first single which went straight to number one both in the UK and US charts. But the killer track is "Step in the name of love" both the orginal and the remix. Voted 2003 best song in Blues & Soul magazine, its not hard to see why. Its a beautifully written feel good track with amazing vocals from the man who put the R in RnB.
My personal Favourite track is "Forever More" which is one of the best love songs i've heard in many a year. With his voice that sounds like its been through a lot, it makes me stop what i'm doing every time.
Other notable tracks are, "Dream Girl" & "Forever" which again gives us some of the best lyrical stuff R Kelly has done for quite a while.
There are a few collabarations as usual with R Kelly.
Ja Rule appears on "Been Around the world", a personal track but nothing really special, and due to the fact that I cannot see any appeal in Ja Rule it doesn't make great listening for me.
Big Tigger is on the second single "Snake" which I would identify as the weakest track on the album. There are also inclusions for Fat Joe and long time collabarator the fantastic Ronald Isley, with "Showdown".
If you can't get enough of the "Chocolate Factory" don't worry as the cd comes with a bonus one. The "Loveland" album is a 7 part extra cd, which has some more absolute quality R Kelly tracks.
The one which most people will look at is "Heaven I need a Hug" which really is his answer to everything that is going on in his much maligned personal life.
The title track on there "Loveland" is another stormer, and real smooth R Kelly stuff.
Overall, you are getting your money's worth here as you do with every R Kelly purchase. Its RnB at the top end of the scale.
Its just music of pure excellence.
This album can be considered to be a very solid album in terms of todays R'n'B. Everybody loves 'Ignition' The Remix. But there are over songs like 'Snake' and the duet with Ronald Isley aka Mr Biggs. Along with the Chocolate Factory is included a bonus CD which contains songs from the scrapped 'Loveland' album. As far I am concerned this puts R.Kelly back to the top of the R'n'B even if his career is being overshadowed by personal issues. If you can put your feelings aside regarding his personal life this is a brilliant album.
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