Touch

by

Amerie

Edit

Look no further: the party jam of 2005 is here. Amerie's Top Ten single "1 Thing" has it all: a killer guitar hook, an infectious drum beat, and a groove so tight, you could bounce a quarter off it and still get change. Produced by Rich Harrison (who also produced the bulk of this album), "1 Thing" is the dance pop confection that Jennifer Lopez's "Get Right" (also produced by Harrison) should have been but wasn't. The rest of "Touch," Amerie's first album since her 2002 debut, doesn't approach the greatness of that single, but a few other r&b-flavored cuts come close. She gets her crunk on with a little help from Lil' Jon, who produces the Middle-Eastern-laced title track, while "Come With Me" and "Talkin' About" pass the time nicely. "Touch" doesn't break any new ground, but then again, it doesn't need to. It's just a good record with a bit of substance behind the groove.

I was really hoping this album would be better, for the club ready track `1 Thing' was so incredibly tight, but sadly the rest of the album fails to match the intensity of that single, and even `1 Thing' begins to lose a lot of its grander after a few listens. As one reviewer stated, `Touch' is likable, yet unmemorable.

The problem I have with most of the tracks here is that Amerie falls into that niche of overly repetitive chorus lines and bridges, as if the beat was so tight they didn't want to end the song but she ran out of anything good to say so she decided to just repeat the name of the song over and over and over again against the backdrop of a tightly woven club beat. A very bad decision on her part.

`1 Thing', the original and the remix featuring Eve are by a long shot the best tracks here, and while the title track `Touch' is nothing brilliant, the beat is out-freaking-rageous and makes it the second best track here. `Talkin' About', `Falling' and `Rolling Down my Face' hit a new low in the repetitiveness and serve as the utter worst tracks here (which is sad because I really love the beat on `Rolling Down my Face'), while `Not the Only One' is actually a good track as is `Come with Me' despite being a little too Beyonce feeling to me. Don't even get me started on the `Why Don't We Fall in Love' remix which is just plain awful!

So, in closing I want to say that while Amerie is a beautiful woman and she does posses a beautiful voice she falls short of her potential on this album and overshadows her good with a lot of the bad.