J.E. Insane In the Brain (A Jagged Era - Jagged Edge)

Member Name: XICripZ

Product:	A Jagged Era - Jagged Edge
Date:	22/12/08 (92 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: A few nice R&B songs

Disadvantages: Lots of average tracks

"A Jagged Era" is the debut album from the Atlanta R&B quartet, Jagged Edge. It came out in 1998, and had them follow suit of many of the big names of the game at the time, such as Dru Hill, as well as Jodeci and BLACKstreet who came before them with a R&B style which introduces a fair proportion of Hip Hop, in order to get some males behind them. The group consits of twin brothers, Case Dinero and Brasco, as well as Quick and Wingo. They were signed to So So Def at the time, and so it is heavly influenced by what jermaine Dupri was doing at the time, and he had a large role in producing the thing.

1. "Slow Motion"

As the starter to the album, Jermaine Dupri kicks things off with a short introduction which leads right inot the subject matter of this track. He talks about ow some girls are too quick in the bed, and he soon ammends this by getting Jagged Edge to do things in "Slow Motion". Its a good way to introduce new listeners to their smooth style of R&B.

**Three Stars**

2. "Addicted To Your Love"

In an improvement from the song which preceeded it, the mood is slightly uplifted as you get the group going for a more exciting music. It has them sing about their love for a particular girl, and how it makes them feel. The melodies in this a very powerful, and make it stand out from a lot of the other material here.

**Four Stars**

3. "Gotta Be"

Soon after building things up, they soon drop it all by going for a ballads, and as I've said in the past, I can't often get into ballads performed by men, and this was the case here, as it just wasn't made to be heard by someone such as myself.

**Two Stars**

4. "Wednesday Lover"

Although this is another balld from the group, I have to say that this one worked a lot better for them. On it, you get the singers taking on some production which is very typical of the ealry nineites, and I thought that it was just an attempt by Jermaine Dupri to display that they can do the contmepary R&B stuff as well as some Hip Hop-styled things, and so an extreme form is the best way to make sure it is known. For a ballads, its decent, but end very well.

5. "Funny How"

A variety of situations are spoken about by the group, the topics seem to be of things whihc you tend to talk to your girl about, but noone else would really understand. I liked how conversational it all was, and it was very inventive songwriting for this reason. The vocals weren't of the best standard here as they try some higher-pitched work, and it sounds quite weak.

**Three Stars**

6. "The Way That You Talk" (feat. Da Brat and Jermaine Dupri)

This is one of the singles from the album, and has the group collaborate with the finest talent on the So So Def roster at the time as JD and Da Brat come to rap on the beats. Dupri isn't the best rapper, but he certainly creates a big hype for you to vibe on, and get excited to here some up-tempo stuff from Jagged Edge.

**Four Stars**

7. "The Rest of Our Lives"

The title alone is all that was needed to tll you that this one was going to be a slow one from them . You ge exactly this for it, and they seem to do well to create a nice atmosphere as they sing about there idyllic life in a few years from now as they plan to settle down with the girl that they are singing to.

**Three Stars**

8. "I'll Be Right There" (feat. Busta Rhymes)

I wouldn have thought that this would have been my favourites on th elabum, since it features the raps from Busta Rhymes, however his participation in the thing isn't really that impactful, and can easily be overlooked. Of course, it offers variation, but once the singing kicks in, you quickly forget he was there.

**Three Stars**

9. "Ready & Willing"

This is a nice little track, which follows all the typical trends of R&B towards the end of the nineties. It is a gentle one, and has them really work to make the amazing vocals work with a soft and delicate beats from Manuel Seal. It is one of the best traks on the whole of the thing.

**Fours Stars**

10. "Ain't No Stoppin'"

To end things off, you get a trakc, in whihc you have Jermiane Dupr attempting to force some Hip Hop on them. I say this because it doesn't really work as it is over-produced, and has them take on far too many things at once. You have them try to sing lines from Method Man's "Bring Da Pain", and things like this don't work. It is a weak party track.

**Two Stars**

Although I liked this album, I have to say that it is rather average, and in comparison to what else was going on in R&B at the time, it is quite weak, and you would be better off with some alernatives. In terms of how this weighs up with what they went on to do, I'd say that this wasn't near the standard which they went to do, so try later on in their career.

Summary: jagged Edge's debut album