- Audio CD (6 July 2010)
- Number of Discs: 1
- Label: Will.I.Am Music Grp.
- ASIN: B003GDYN24
- Other Editions: Audio CD | MP3 Download
- Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars See all reviews (25 customer reviews)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 114,937 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)
Amazon.co.uk allows you to pay for your items in your local currency. Restrictions apply. Learn More. |
Product details |
Track Listings
| 1. INTRO |
| 2. 22ND CENTURY |
| 3. 4TH OF JULY (FIREWORKS) |
| 4. HOME |
| 5. ACAPELLA |
| 6. SCREAM |
| 7. EMANCIPATE |
| 8. BRAVE |
| 9. SONG FOR THE BABY |
Suggested Tags from Similar Products(What's this?)Be the first one to add a relevant tag (keyword that's strongly related to this product)
|
Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
16 of 18 people found the following review helpful
Format:Audio CD|Amazon Verified Purchase
One look at the sleeve design makes it clear that Kelis is not about to be turned into some kind of bland, generic dance artist. She risks a back cover shot which peels away her skin to reveal every sinew beneath and a centrefold in which she is presented Sphinx-like as half woman and half animal.
It's this sense of being slightly off-kilter that has always informed Kelis' work. 'Flesh Tone' sees her move firmly into an electro/house sound and yet she remains distinct - this feels genuinely inventive and fresh.
Lead single 'Acapella' still sounds stunning - the Donna Summer vibes competing with an almost atonal, throbbing backing that at first threatens to overwhelm it but eventually enables the track to take flight. Hugely uplifting and anthemic.
It must be said that the songwriting is at times a bit disappointing. The chorus of 'Emancipate', for example, features the phrase 'Emancipate Yourself' repeated sixteen times. There is also a lack of melody in some places, with the (albeit catchy) hooks covering up some occasionally dull tunes.
Yet the sheer joy of the surging basslines on tracks like 'Home', 'Brave' and '22nd Century' is undeniable. There is also some variety - first track 'Intro' is a lovely minor-chord piece of Euro synth pop. Final track 'Song For The Baby' is the most instantly appealing song on the album - lyrically similar to 'Acapella' (celebrating the love she has for her new baby) it also has a sweeter, Salsoul-era disco feel.
At only nine tracks long, this is an album that should be heard in full. With tracks segued into one another (not mixed, but musically linked together) it's a collection that takes Kelis into new, exciting musical territory.
It's this sense of being slightly off-kilter that has always informed Kelis' work. 'Flesh Tone' sees her move firmly into an electro/house sound and yet she remains distinct - this feels genuinely inventive and fresh.
Lead single 'Acapella' still sounds stunning - the Donna Summer vibes competing with an almost atonal, throbbing backing that at first threatens to overwhelm it but eventually enables the track to take flight. Hugely uplifting and anthemic.
It must be said that the songwriting is at times a bit disappointing. The chorus of 'Emancipate', for example, features the phrase 'Emancipate Yourself' repeated sixteen times. There is also a lack of melody in some places, with the (albeit catchy) hooks covering up some occasionally dull tunes.
Yet the sheer joy of the surging basslines on tracks like 'Home', 'Brave' and '22nd Century' is undeniable. There is also some variety - first track 'Intro' is a lovely minor-chord piece of Euro synth pop. Final track 'Song For The Baby' is the most instantly appealing song on the album - lyrically similar to 'Acapella' (celebrating the love she has for her new baby) it also has a sweeter, Salsoul-era disco feel.
At only nine tracks long, this is an album that should be heard in full. With tracks segued into one another (not mixed, but musically linked together) it's a collection that takes Kelis into new, exciting musical territory.
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful
Format:Audio CD
It may come as a surprise to younger Dance music fans that in the 80s, African-American artists helped lay down the foundations of what has since became an almost exclusively European music genre. Before Black music was swallowed up by the RnB revolution, Hip Hop and House musicians experimented and developed new urban sounds and new tricks of getting people onto the dance floor that in the 90s and 2000s were pretty much abandoned in favour of Jamaican influenced dancehall and pop styles.
Over the last couple of years we've seen the beginnings of a new eagerness in the Black music scene for Dance music, with artists like Kelly Rowland and Beyonce working with DJs to create Dance versions of RnB tracks and pop acts like The Black Eyed Pease introducing Dance sounds into their music. In the UK, influential artists such as Dizzee Rascal and Wiley have written tracks specifically in the Dance genre, such as Bonkers and Wearing My Rolex.
Kelis' subversively titled album Flesh Tones marks the full return of black artists to the Dance genre. The sounds are still (tangentially) influenced by RnB, but most of the tracks are true Dance tracks with pop or RnB overtones, rather than RnB tracks done in a Dance style. This is a welcome innovation for both the Dance and RnB genres, which have become over-commercialised and detached from their early, more intense and harder sounds.
I'll leave the music itself to other reviewers, but will say that this album requires several listenings as the fusion sound is a bit jarring at first. The tracks often do things that are common in the RnB genre but not European Dance (or vise versa) and this can be disconcerting. However, as the tracks become more familiar you'll find yourself immersed in a musical style that has the uplifting qualities of good Dance combined with the sexiness of old-style House music. This is the album I've listened to most since Air's Talkie Walkie in 2004 and the Dance album I've enjoyed most since Prodigy's Fat of The Land back in 1997.
This album is the future of music for the next ten years, and is the first truly fresh sound I've heard in a long, long time.
Over the last couple of years we've seen the beginnings of a new eagerness in the Black music scene for Dance music, with artists like Kelly Rowland and Beyonce working with DJs to create Dance versions of RnB tracks and pop acts like The Black Eyed Pease introducing Dance sounds into their music. In the UK, influential artists such as Dizzee Rascal and Wiley have written tracks specifically in the Dance genre, such as Bonkers and Wearing My Rolex.
Kelis' subversively titled album Flesh Tones marks the full return of black artists to the Dance genre. The sounds are still (tangentially) influenced by RnB, but most of the tracks are true Dance tracks with pop or RnB overtones, rather than RnB tracks done in a Dance style. This is a welcome innovation for both the Dance and RnB genres, which have become over-commercialised and detached from their early, more intense and harder sounds.
I'll leave the music itself to other reviewers, but will say that this album requires several listenings as the fusion sound is a bit jarring at first. The tracks often do things that are common in the RnB genre but not European Dance (or vise versa) and this can be disconcerting. However, as the tracks become more familiar you'll find yourself immersed in a musical style that has the uplifting qualities of good Dance combined with the sexiness of old-style House music. This is the album I've listened to most since Air's Talkie Walkie in 2004 and the Dance album I've enjoyed most since Prodigy's Fat of The Land back in 1997.
This album is the future of music for the next ten years, and is the first truly fresh sound I've heard in a long, long time.
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful
Format:Audio CD
Short and simple..... First listen was awfull..... Second listen was good.... Third listen is still great!! On a serious note, I've been a great fan of Kelis since her first album. I didn't know where this album would meet me on a personal level due to her new dance sound but it has hit the spot sweetly! I think her independent vocal style has made the album to be honest. A dance tune can be repetative but Kelis has generated her own spark and sound on each of the tracks to make it not only catchy but unique! 5 stars for taking the balls to go in this different direction.... 4 stars for the album!!!
Would you like to see more reviews about this item?
Were these reviews helpful?
Let us know
Most Recent Customer Reviews
Kelis Flesh Tone
This is a great album. Kelis Is very individual and always seems to be ahead of her time. The tracks are dance oriented, but,
if that's not your taste it won't matter as this... Read more
if that's not your taste it won't matter as this... Read more
Published 2 months ago by Mattrixification
Her best yet!
I have been looking for this CD for sometime and for whatever reason they haven't had it in any HMV store. Read more
Published 2 months ago by Richard G
Amazing, Best Dance Album of 2010
Despite being only 9 songs long, this album is a must buy. It is so underrated and flows perfectly from start to finish, the album failed commercially and I cannot understand why... Read more
Published 7 months ago by Jonny2020
Can't play individually
I'm a fan of Kelis' music and after hearing a few of her tracks from this album via youtube I decided to buy the album in CD format. Read more
Published 9 months ago by Webbley
Interestingly curious
Hmm enjoyed the released tracks but otherwise, Cd not of much interest to me. I cannot deny this artist tests the musical boundaries and this Cd no less, but as said apart from... Read more
Published 18 months ago by Mrs. H. E. I. Denness
Another sensational singer turned into Lady GaGa
Its been about four years since Kelis released an album. The wait was worth nothing as she dumped her classic RnB and Rap styles and changed them for a dance genre. Read more
Published 19 months ago by Mrs. Sa Hill
Exquisite dance set
This is a great high-energy record for working out or just for pleasure. Friends sent me a copy and I'm glad they did, as I would never have thought to buy it. Read more
Published 19 months ago by Tonythetenor
An album with love and life in mind
"Flesh Tone" sees Kelis return with a completely different sound to the one that launched her career in 1999. Read more
Published 19 months ago by Mr. TB Reeks
Lovely
This album is great.Quite an electronic danefloor album as opposed to her last more commercial but not very interesting album. Read more
Published 20 months ago by D. L. Wilkinson
Brilliant !!!
Wow, wow,wow, this is my favourite CD of the year, its makes you want to move, although i can definately feel Kelis wrath listening to her words, I bought this because I loved her... Read more
Published 21 months ago by S. Meerholz
Customer Discussions
|
This product's forum
Active discussions in related forums
Search Customer Discussions
|
Related forums
|
What Other Items Do Customers Buy After Viewing This Item?
Listmania!
|
|
Look for similar items by category
Look for similar items by subject
Feedback
- Would you like to update product info or give feedback on images?
