Ciara: Evolution [Limited Edition, Import]

Wow, absolutely wow! Who would've thought that singer/songwriter Ciara, the First Lady of Crunk'n'B who has commonly been labelled as a Beyonce/Aaliyah knock-off and a vocally talentless hack (both of which are untrue), would be able to bounce back from the disappointing, multi-platinum debut album that was "Goodies" and create an album that unquestionably dominates its predecessor in every aspect you could possibly imagine? Well I sure as Hell didn't think she could, but her sophomore album, "Ciara: The Evolution", is exactly what its title suggests - her once-thin and characterless vocals have strengthened both in force and range, her subject matter is more diverse, the lyrics are much stronger, her personality translates much better into her music, the whole album track listing is excellently sequenced and the album is much more balanced out with its sure-fire club bangers and smooth, emotional ballads. Even with a star-studded production line-up (Rodney "Darkchild" Jerkins, Lil' Jon, Jazze Pha, The Neptunes, etc.) and a few well-established guest rappers (Lil' Jon, 50 Cent & Chamillionaire), Ciara maintains her presence throughout the album's 14 tracks (excluding the 4 interludes that split up and balance each section of the album).

Without a doubt, lead single "Promise" is one of the album's main highlights. For once, forget the fact that she deals a cringe-worthy assortment of exhausted clichés and cheesy come-ons - Ciara's surprisingly strong and melodious vocals over Polow Da Don's hypnotic production on this smooth, club-ready ballad easily compensates for such a flaw and then some. Her vocals even make for a surprisingly good duet with rapping phenomenon 50 Cent on the sugary duet ballad "Can't Leave `Em Alone"; "My Love" & "So Hard" effortlessly captures feelings of heartbreak and emotional tensility, respectively, through smooth production, compelling lyrics and Ciara's sweet vocal delivery. However, none of the ballads strike a chord harder than "I'm Just Me", a piano-driven/synth-vocal-accompanied ballad where Ciara confidently recounts her experiences and displays her sense of self-acceptance. Such passion and lyrical density can also be found on "I Found Myself", another beautiful ballad which steadily builds up with its instrumentation and concludes with the help of grand background choir wailing.

As expected, the club bangers do exactly what they're supposed to do - pull people to the dance-floor. "I Proceed" alternates between two sets of bouncy, synthesizer-heavy production as Ciara sings, talks and whispers with sexually assertive passion ; there's an old-school-esque sensibility to Rodney Jerkin's bass-heavy, horn-driven production to the joyous "Make It Last Forever", where Ciara's strident vocals and unexpected rap easily remain relevant ; the sleek, minimalist beat of "Get Up" helps Ciara & Chamillionaire to keep the party jumping ; Destiny's Child's influence is clearly apparent on the addictive, "Lose My Breath"-esque "Bang It Up" ; and Ciara's lack of vocal force is easily compensated for with her rebellious, biting attitude and unexpected 16-bar rap on the Lil'-Jon-assisted "That's Right", a potent slice of Southern-flavoured R&B/Hip-Hop.

Food-for-thought tracks come in the form of "Like A Boy" and "Get In, Fit In". Over the former track's dark synthesizers and moody violins, Ciara sings with spite and envy as she asks why girls don't get away with certain things like men do and how she wishes she could "switch up the roles". On the latter track, Ciara inspires people to be different over more bouncy production. "Get In, Fit In", however, is a socially conscious ode to being different that joyously chucks in a bunch of catchy one-liners, an anthemic chorus, intelligent lyrics and robotic vocals over a simplistic, catchy beat.

All in all, this is a very impressive album. Apart from a few vocal and lyrical missteps, the album's closest encounter with disaster comes with "C.R.U.S.H.", an unusually addictive but nonetheless childish and immature slice of radio-bound R&B/Pop fodder. And considering how Lil' Jon's surprisingly Crunk-free production comes off as catchy, smooth, hypnotic, club-ready, click-heavy and bouncy at the same time, "C.R.U.S.H." isn't too bad of a track, even if the immature vibe & Ciara's catchy-but-annoying hook threatens to prove otherwise. 5 STARS!

Oh, and on another note, Ciara had a hand in co-writing and/or co-producing a bunch of the album's tracks, which further testifies to the artistic growth she displays on this album.

5 Best Tracks (IMO) (No Order):

"Promise"

"That's Right (feat. Lil' Jon)"

"I Proceed"

"Like A Boy"

"I'm Just Me"

It's no doubt that Ciara Harris was a big hit last year. Whether it be the Crunk n'B style, the three huge hits of "Goodies", "1,2 Step", and "Oh!", or the fact that Ciara is just a hot dancer, you had to love her 2004 debut Goodies. I know I did (ok I'm admitting it), while she's definitely not the best singer on the market, her writing and Lil' Jon produced beats backed that up.

This 2006 album, The Evolution, as an album title, is a bit of a stretch. I knew it was just as a "catchy album title" the first time I saw it, and that is true. There's nothing truly enhanced from her debut, except vocally she's improved a bit (but still, there are hundreds of better singers on the market right now). The beats are still mostly produced by Lil' Jon. Ciara co-wrote a lot of songs on this disc (some with only little help). I'm not saying she should become the female Ne-Yo and start writing Paula DeAnda's next album but she's got some language on her hands.

Anyhow, I picked this up somewhat knowing what to expect. An album that has minor improvement over Goodies, and really, that's all you should expect too from the two current singles out right now (Which are "Get Up" from the Step Up OST and "Promise"). They are both pretty good songs. "Get Up" is really electronica, and a verse from Chamillionaire to spices it up a bit. I'm not overly crazy on "Promise", Ciara's vocals are somewhat weak on this track, but the beat is really good, soft, hot, and low-key, like an R&B version of "Oh!".

But other than the two current singles, they are still some very good songs on here. "That's Right" is the album's MVP, produced by Lil' Jon, with a crunkalicious beat banging hard than any other Ciara song, with Ciara wanting to have fun and Lil' Jon chanting "I bet you don't get crunk!" and "Let's go now!". It's obvious Ciara is a huge hit with dance songs (rather than R&B), and this one is no different. The song has a sexy and T.G.I.F. flow to it that'll have ringtone sales shoot further than the sky. "I Proceed" is another good song, with a crash-course beat with a synth-heavy rhythm. Ciara wrote this mostly on her own and while it does not future the most amazing lyricism ever, it's definitely not bad with it's rhyming. "Make it Last Forever" samples the "It Takes Two" beat which makes it instantly a good song with an old skool feel to it. The only thing holding it back is that it feels a bit disorganized. And although I wanted to hate "Can't Leave 'Em Alone", it's a very good song, with it's catchy beat from Darkchild. Call it a new Ja Rule to Ashanti, but 50 Cent and Ciara sound suprisingly really, really good together. "My Love" is a bass-hitter R&B (or bump) song that gets the most out of Ciara's vocal capability and makes it her best R&B song yet. There's nothing really wrong with it and it's completely single-ready, I just wished it was a bit less formulatic. "Get in, Fit in" is one of the CD's best, produced by will.i.am (almost obvious), has a funky beat that almost channels new-wave R&B like Gwen Stefani (and no, I'm not comparing her because her album dropped today too).

Although there are some select good songs on this disc, there are a few stinkers. "Like A Boy" isn't a favorite of mine, I like the rock-smashing beat but dislike the going-down-a-list lyrics of what she likes about a boy. "C.R.U.S.H." has a fun club beat but suffers from weak lyrics like "I think he's so cute, and I wanna tell him so bad, but I can't" and a lacking chorus. Suprisingly Ciara wasn't the main writer on this one. "Bang it Up" is one I couldn't catch onto and the beat was way too repetitive, and Ciara's vocals couldn't save it. And the last two R&B songs "So Hard" and "I'm Just Me" are just plain wack (and someone said "So Hard" was the only good song on the CD?). "I Found Myself" incorporates pop and R&B but just doesn't seem to cut it when it came to vocals.

Ciara's The Evolution doesn't show a ton of improvement as it promises, but it did in fact meet my expectations. The R&B part of this CD was better than the R&B on Goodies, but Ciara still doesn't have the vocal ability to make them shine the most they can. The dance on this CD, however, is very solid and The Evolution definitely features good club songs. Not a great buy for an R&B fan, but a good holiday present for a dance/club or Ciara fan. 3.5 stars.

Most Valuable Plays:

"That's Right"

"Can't Leave 'Em Alone"

"My Love"

"Get in, Fit In"

The queen of the quick-to-evaporate "crunk" genre is back in an attempt to reclaim her throne. Although the title of the album signals a sense of maturity, she is still sticking to what made her. Dance loop and club hooks evade from the opening track "That's Right" to even the second single, "Promises," which is a slow number but with a groovy beat.

Yet, including the singles, nothing stands out from the other tracks. This creates a plateau on the album that rarely waivers. Moreover, the interludes exude unhealthy amounts of pretense, that optimum enjoyment of this record requires a re-burn without them.

This effort is easily digestable with tracks so easily accessable like "Like A Boy" and "Get In, Fit In," but that is all that can be said to its withering quality.