Forget that sound you associate with Mint Condition. Yea, What Kind of Man Would I Be..all that. Get it out of your mind. This is Mint Condition of 2011!
I must say at first listen I wasn’t goin’ crazy about the sound of it. It caught me off guard with a 90’s sound, yet it was still infused with today’s musical qualities. 7 truly does have a sound like no other out right now. I guess that’s what you get when you take a 90’s powerhouse group and tell them to make a hit album.
The album starts out with “Can’t Get Away” and “I Want It.” Both sound aged, but “I Want It sounds like it should have came out in the late 80’s. It’s an upbeat track that I’m assuming they want you to dance to, but it pretty much failed to strike up any motions in my hips as I sit here listening.
7 continues with “Walk On” which is much more what I anticipated from this album. A smooth relaxing track, nothing over produced with even harmonies on the hook. After the first few songs I was skeptical to even give this one a chance. I’m glad I did.
The middle of the album is very questionable with the exception of “Caught My Eye,” which everyone knows and loves. It gets interrupted with an interlude entitled, “Bossalude.” To say this track doesn’t make sense is an understatement. Imagine the most overly produced elevator music you have ever heard. It’s like a Caribbean mix dropped in the middle of the album. I tried to justify it by saying, “hey, the album has two different sounds before and after this crazy interlude.” It doesn’t. Honestly, I’m deleting that track and re-burning the CD as we speak. I seriously can’t think of one situation I would ever listen to that, except by force in a fortune 500 elevator.
With that being said, they pick up the quality of music at the end of the album. “Unsung” is a ballad that reaches to the roots of what R&B really is. You can’t go wrong singing these strong ballads as long as you hit the notes, and they do.
“Not My Daddy’ featuring Kelly Price is a potential second single and has actually gotten a few spins nationally already. I have nothing bad to say about this album, except you have to watch your mouth if you are a man and singing it. The fellas may look at you sideways. Just listen to the hook and sing it out loud and you’ll understand.
LISTEN TO “7” HERE
The album ends with another track that sounds like it was made four decades ago. Pull out the top hats and Vegas showgirls doing the one-legged kicks because I just can’t with this one.
Over all, the album’s singles are fine. If I just listened to the singles off of the album and bought it I would be upset; because the album sounds NOTHING like the singles. And because of that reason I can’t get behind this album. It’s hits me as mediocre.
The greats have to be able to make music that evolves with the times. They have to be innovative to stay relevant, instead of falling back on what got you to the top a decade ago. Look at R. Kelly, his sound is forever changing. He had rape charges and pee’d on a little girl and he still found a way to be relevant through his music. Look at Charlie Wilson, his music is changing with time and he has remained relevant. He even is collaborating with today’s hottest artists; including Kanye West and Beyonce.
Mint Condition, I say get back in the lab with this one. Figure out what you can do to make people say, I didn’t know they could do that. Until then, this CD shall make as a good coaster…with all due respect of course.
