Ciara – The Evolution (2006)
Ciara – The Evolution (2006)
1. That's Right - Ciara feat. Lil Jon 2. Like a Boy 3. The Evolution Of Music (Interlude) 4. Promise 5. I Proceed 6. Can't Leave 'Em Alone - Ciara feat. 50 Cent 7. C.R.U.S.H 8. My Love 9. The Evolution Of Dance (Interlude) 10. Make It Last Forever 11. Bang It Up 12. Get Up - Ciara feat. Chamillionaire 13. The Evolution Of Fashion (Interlude) 14. Get In, Fit In 15. The Evolution Of C (Interlude) 16. So Hard 17. I'm Just Me 18. I Found Myself 19. Addicted. ( 20. Promise (Go And Get Your Tickets Mix) (Feat. R. Kelly)
The jury's still out on discs with spoken-word interludes. Should the music always speak for itself? Or is the occasional verbal breakdown useful? Ciara, R&B's most tantalizing goodie (without the two shoes), makes clear on The Evolution that she prizes the chance to tell listeners how it is--four between-song snippets dot the disc. But her momentary digressions will probably make up more than a few minds that Janet Jackson, and only Janet Jackson, ought to be allowed to ramble before the mic: when the music is this hot, it doesn't matter how sincere or saucy the dialogue--it's a distraction. The Evolution is a door-buster of a CD--Lil Jon gets the speakers jumping in milliseconds on opener "That's Right," Ciara dabbles in Curtis Mayfield-style creative phrasing on "Promise" (and it works), and Chamillionaire pumps "Get Up," a play-it-loud club number, full of hip-hop heat. Helpers and inspirers aside, though, this is Ciara's party, and she knows how to please a guest. "Get In, Fit In" finds her putting the sizzle in a space-age soundscape. And the buzz and fuzz of "I Proceed" plump her breathy vocals enough to put a point across, that being that few modern songstresses work a beat better. The striking part, and the part she should take into account the next time she's considering a disc with interludes, is that she didn't even need to tell us so. --Tammy La Gorce, amazon.com
Evolution is a slow process, so it shouldn't be startling that The Evolution is not a quantum leap forward from Goodies. Ciara's second album, The Evolution is held together by a handful of immaterial monologues that would be best left to an interview disc. Take "The Evolution of Music," where she states, "I feel like music is so different than what it used to be, and because of that, I was inspired to do something different this time around." And then in comes "Promise," yet another song referencing Kraftwerk and Zapp, and it also takes cues from prime Janet Jackson and Aaliyah -- so, no, it's not different at all. Make no mistake, though. The song is tremendous, one of the sexiest, slow-tempo, non-breakup songs of the past ten years. Yet, for all the talk of developing and being different, one might expect an album not as firmly rooted in electro and early '80s R&B as Goodies. (Even the album's sleek cover, somewhere between Robocop and the Pointer Sisters' Break Out, has a devolved look.) Those who can disregard the discrepancies between the pronouncements and the actual content will find an album that's on equal footing with Goodies. With the exception of "Promise," The Evolution lacks clear-cut highlights on the level of "Goodies," "1, 2 Step," and "Oh," but there are fewer outright disposables. Ciara and her songwriting partners' injection of a little more substance into the songs tends to pay off, as on "Like a Boy" ("What if I had a thing on the side, made you cry?/Would the rules change up, or would they still apply?"), while "My Love" and "So Hard" also surpass the aching and breaking moments on the debut. As expected, there are plenty of tracks geared toward letting loose and dancing, and most of them do deliver, even if they don't seem quite as fresh as Ciara's past hits. ---Andy Kellman, AllMusic Review
Drugi album Ciary. Ukazał się w grudniu 2006 roku nakładem firmy LaFace. W Europie płyta pojawiła się pół roku później.
W momencie ukazania się "The Evolution" album wspiął się od razu na pierwsze miejsce amerykańskiej listy przebojów ze sprzedażą ponad 300 tys. kopii w pierwszym tygodniu! Również sukcesem okazał się singiel "get Up" z udziałem rapera Chamillionaire. Utwór dostał się do Top Ten listy przebojów w USA. Trafił też na ścieżkę dźwiękową do filmu "Step Up". Kolejnymi singlami, które również przysporzyły Ciarze wielu fanów były "Promise" i "Like a Boy". Natomiast w "Can't Leave 'Em Alone" z wokalistką wystąpił 50 Cent. ---muzyka.wp.pl
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