2008 Woodie Awards
Destiny's Child's Half-Hearted Reunion
Beyonce and Company's Lyrical Love Fest Is Musically Unfulfilling
Michael T. Martin
Issue date: 12/9/04 Section: Arts and Entertainment
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Destiny's Child (DC3) excels at the pumped-up dance track, like the kiss-off songs, "Say My Name" and "Survivor." However, on their latest album, Destiny Fulfilled, Beyonce, Kelly, and, uh, Michelle, make a significant mistake - they fall in love, and the music falls apart. On the bright side, the bookend tracks of the album are keepers.
"Lose Your Breathe" blasts off the album with a rush of adrenaline. The Rodney Jerkins-produced song speeds through from beginning to end like a runaway train. The innovative inclusion of a drumline beat keeps time during the song's orchestra hits, and the group's smooth falsettos are in pleasing contrast to the hard beat.
Equally as energetic is the next single, "Soldier." While the song is a shameless attempt to assert some street credibility - it capitalizes on Beyonce's relationship with rapper Jay-Z - it is catchy and danceable. The rap verses in the song, by TI and Lil' Wayne (why is anyone from Cash Money still employed?), are simply filler and the song would be tighter without them.
Be advised to skip the next five songs. Although they are supposed to be ballads, don't rely on them to get you in the mood for love - if anything, they'll just give you a headache.
Besides the incoherent mixture of trite lyrics and slang, the songs are overly produced, with drum machines, random sounds and erratic melodies - on "Cater 2 U" and "Is She The Reason," the group sings each line as if holding a note for more than two beats is a criminal offense. In DC3 tradition, Beyonce's voice is dominant in the harmony, but her voice becomes grating after a while, especially if the songs aren't well composed.
The songs themselves aren't horrible on their own - the tunes can sneak into your head unexpectedly - but strung together, they are nothing short of mind numbing; you begin to feel like you'd have a more pleasurable musical experience listening to a vacuum cleaner suck up baseball dirt.
"If" provides a welcome variation in sound. The group finally breaks it down and provides a genuine groove. The soothing harmonies and intermittent pianos are literally an antidote to the jolted mess that precedes "If." Once again, though, the group sings as if the tape in the studio is going to run out, and the song is short-changed. "If" isn't the classic it pretends to be, with its cliché background record scratch.
"Lose Your Breathe" blasts off the album with a rush of adrenaline. The Rodney Jerkins-produced song speeds through from beginning to end like a runaway train. The innovative inclusion of a drumline beat keeps time during the song's orchestra hits, and the group's smooth falsettos are in pleasing contrast to the hard beat.
Equally as energetic is the next single, "Soldier." While the song is a shameless attempt to assert some street credibility - it capitalizes on Beyonce's relationship with rapper Jay-Z - it is catchy and danceable. The rap verses in the song, by TI and Lil' Wayne (why is anyone from Cash Money still employed?), are simply filler and the song would be tighter without them.
Be advised to skip the next five songs. Although they are supposed to be ballads, don't rely on them to get you in the mood for love - if anything, they'll just give you a headache.
Besides the incoherent mixture of trite lyrics and slang, the songs are overly produced, with drum machines, random sounds and erratic melodies - on "Cater 2 U" and "Is She The Reason," the group sings each line as if holding a note for more than two beats is a criminal offense. In DC3 tradition, Beyonce's voice is dominant in the harmony, but her voice becomes grating after a while, especially if the songs aren't well composed.
The songs themselves aren't horrible on their own - the tunes can sneak into your head unexpectedly - but strung together, they are nothing short of mind numbing; you begin to feel like you'd have a more pleasurable musical experience listening to a vacuum cleaner suck up baseball dirt.
"If" provides a welcome variation in sound. The group finally breaks it down and provides a genuine groove. The soothing harmonies and intermittent pianos are literally an antidote to the jolted mess that precedes "If." Once again, though, the group sings as if the tape in the studio is going to run out, and the song is short-changed. "If" isn't the classic it pretends to be, with its cliché background record scratch.