When I heard the S was dropping another album, I couldn't wait to hear it. After hearing it, though, I have to say I was a little disappointed. Now I know that I shouldn't expect to hear Another Chance clone, and I welcome change, but not when stuff sounds like everything else. If you're one to like the standard 4/4 house track (I personally still like that, to an extent) then this might be for you, but coming from the S-Man, somehow I expected more. Here's my take, track by track:
1-Turn On the Music, has the generic big diva style vocals over a very repetitive 4/4 beat. Been done before & definitely breaks no ground. Not a strong album opener in my opinion.
2-Take a Chance, opens a la Gypsy Kings with rapid handclaps & flamenco style guitar work, then morphs into a nice Latin house beat w/vocal stylings reminiscent of the Sugababes.
3-This is your standard pop-house track filler. Not bad, but sounds like every other song you've heard on Radio 1.
4-Nice minimal piano intro with tribal beats. Nice melody & vocals. Sounds like a song that could've been on First Contact.
5-I've never been a fan of male vocals in dance music, but somehow I'd rather listen to that than irritating spoken male vocals. There are female vocals singing the chorus, but no way save this track.
6-Reminds me of Turn On the Music, being that it's another diva style vocals/repetitive synths w/no melody over a 4/4 beat. So glad we invented the fast forward button.
7-Peaked my interest in the beginning with a nice calm piano intro stirring my ears to hear a nice chill track. Nice vocals and then the generic house beat came in and took away from the track. Not the worst, but expected better.
8-Again, I'm not a fan of male vocals, but this turned out to be one of the better tracks on the album. Reminds me of summer.
9-Debatedly my favorite on this release, it features a subdued 4/4 beat over Spanish guitars w/Alejandro Sanz singing in English (I was a little put off by that for some reason). The track closes w/some Latin-jazz style piano. Nice for post-party relaxation.
10-Another filler number w/female vocals & standard house beat. Not bad.
11-This track made me smile. This was the chill track I had hoped to hear and my wish was answered. Not to mention it's a great track to bring the album home. Nice beat w/atmospheric synth work & light melody flowing throughout. Whispery female vocals in Spanish makes this a plus in my opinion.
Overall, I expected to hear something different from the S. It's different for him, yea, but it's more of the same other artists do: inadequate, filler tracks. No "Another Chance" on this cd, but still worth a listen. After all, it's the S-Man!
My standout trax: 1/3/4/8/9/11
Roger Sanchez' new album
Give the S-Man Another Chance in the future
Release Yourself, Volume 3
