Album reviews
Toni Braxton 'Pulse'
(Warner Music Korea)
Toni Braxton, the 1990s R&B legend, returns with her seventh album ``Pulse,'' filled with tragic serenades and dance-worthy bars, though the release still drags at times.
The highlights are tracks like ``Make My Heart,'' which begins with funk rhythms before transforming into a lively club song, while ``Yesterday,'' a heartfelt ballad, recalls the strength of Braxton's earlier work.
The vocal range of the 42-year-old shines through as a saving grace unaffected by time, but a few tracks like ``Hero'' and ``No Way'' are easy to tune out. Though the album overall has no major faults, the absence of anything explosive leaves listeners merely nostalgic for the singer's past.
― Ines Min
Robin Thicke 'Sex Therapy'
(Universal Music Korea)
The multi-talented pretty boy Robin Thicke releases his fourth album in a smooth, polished package of ``Sex Therapy'' that features a (only partially) tongue-in-check cover booklet and equally smart tracks.
Thicke manages to blend his brand of R&B into a slick, 17-track offering including ``Meiple'' featuring Jay-Z. But the best songs are ``Sex Therapy,'' in which the ghost of ``It's My Party'' can be heard in a new form, and the layered beats and rhymes of ``Mrs. Sexy.'' The album's most memorable tracks are in the first half, though it was ``Rollacoasta,'' featuring Estelle, that was the album's first single.
Various Artists 'We Love Korea'
Rivers Cuomo enjoyed a delicious dish of vegetable ``dolsot'' (hot stone) bibimbap, while the band queried restaurant waiters regarding Korean linguistics during their stay here. Maroon 5 decided to use their traditional ``dojang'' (name-stamp) in place of signatures after being presented with the Korean souvenir.
Other stories in this vein are the reason for this compilation, which serves only to bring together Lady Gaga's ``Pokerface,'' Weezer's ``Island'' and Marilyn Manson's ``We're From America'' onto a single CD. And that's only Disc 1. The second disc pays tribute to the long-forgotten t.A.T.u. and the evermore-classic Elton John in this oddball mish-mash of artists.