R. Kelly

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R. Kelly

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This album in my opinion is R's finest of all. Sadly 1995's "R. Kelly" seems slept on (Due to a lack of real hit singles?), which is a damned shame as he never got as deep before or since. It is mature, beautifully orchestrated and he had now found his own vibe. "Born Into The 90s" and to a lesser extent "12 Play" were soaked with the influence of Guy's New Jack era material and although both (especially the later) had great chart friendly appeal, this album is his fully realised masterpiece.

Operating within the framework of a gospel themed intro and closure, R. is on best behaviour and there is little of the shallow, thug posturings that on occasion have hurt his recent releases like "R" and "TP-2.Com". There is a chilled, bumping flow throughout and this is no better exemplified than on probably my favourite R. Kelly track of all, "Down Low". The chemistry between R and Ronald Isley (Brother Ernie assisting on guitar) is beautiful to behold. A true epic, laid back jam. "Contagious" the sequel (On Isley Brothers' "Eternal" album) is equally excellent.

Other highlights to be found include "You Remind Me Of Something" with it's humourous metaphors and "(You To Be) Be Happy" which effortlessly works a Notorious BIG rap in. There's the usual quality bedroom ballad "Step In My Room", yet he ploughs a deeper grain with the exquisite "I Can't Sleep Baby (If I)". "Hump Bounce" and "Thank God It's Friday" are prime relaxed, head nodders.

There's not a weak moment to be found and the LP's self titled moniker of "R. Kelly" surely comes from the work here being the ultimate personal statement of his artistic muse. Despite the relative inconsistency of subsequent efforts I'm sure he can sleep well, rest assured that in this album he produced a true work of class no matter what the future holds...

With his thrid CD in three years, R.Kelly delivered more of his usual antics. While this CD had it's moments it also had it's share of weak moments. The strong moments were the ballads which he's always known for. The first trio of ballads the hit single You Remind Me Of Something, Baby, Baby, Baby, Baby, Baby and my personal favorite Step In My Room show R's vocals and writing at it's best. The next two strong ballads Down Low (Nobody Has To Know) and "I Can't Sleep Baby (If I)" were also good , although the remixes were better. The other strong ballads Tempo Slow was placed at towards the end of the CD but it was placed in the middle of R. Kelly's religous section of the CD.