izzoh, Who I've Fallen Deep In 'Computer Love' With, Made Me..... (Level II - Blackstreet)

Member Name: XICripZ

Product:	Level II - Blackstreet
Date:	22/10/09 (35 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Lots of bangers

Disadvantages: One average track

*No Joke*

Dropping in 2003, the fourth album from the R&B quartet BLACKstreet went largely unnoticed. It came as a return album from the act as after their 1999 album they disbanded after having the "Finally" record fail to meet the expectations that previous records had. Chauncey Hannibal, Mark Middleton, Dave Hollister and Teddy Riley (who also acts as the Talkbox-ist and producer) return and bring material to continue the legacy of the act that made such an impression in the mid-nineties with their R&B material.

1. "Ticket To Ride" (Intro)

2. "Don't Touch"

Off a smooth little introduction, we see that they throw themselves right into a heavy jam, and a tune that I felt was nice to grab the listeners attention as we get a Funk-laced tune (taking a lot of what they do from the work of The Gap Band through the seventies and eighties). It doesn't seem too conventional for a track of its type at the time, but I can't say that it really said that it matters when they make such strong material regardless of this.

**Five Stars**

3. "She's Hot"

We get the first hints of the act's sensual side coming through with this one, and you find that they go about showing this off in an interesting way with the opening lines taken from classic Biggie rhymes, and from this point they manage to build a soothing, two-stepper of a jam around it with a mellow club feel coming through, but nothing too intense as they steadily build things up nicely for what is about to follow.

**Five Stars**

4. "Deep"

*ask izzoh*

This song is simply too much, nothing more to it. I felt as though it was their chance to bring a chance to drop a single that shows that they can do what the other main players in R&B had through the nineties (just a little late) as with their more up-tempo sensual tracks: "Booti Call", "Baby Be Mine" and "Fix" they weren't able to match things such as R. Kelly's "Bump 'N' Grind", Jodeci's "Freak N' You" and Silk's "Freak Me", until this point where they do thing better than I'd say they've ever done it before.

**Ten Stars**

5. "Ooh Girl"

After what came prior to it, nothing else is simply able to come close to matching the sort of intensity of the last one and so here they opt to change up the direction of the music with a nice little love song. Taking on its melodies from "Sukiyaki" (covered on many occasions as "Oh Boy I Love You So") it keeps up the high quality that has come up to this point and keeps you involved throughout.

**Five Stars**

6. "Friend Of Mine"

They decide to kick another of the club-suited jams here, after a short time slowing it down to get a bit more variety in the record. I felt that it had to be said that the tune really didn't match the sort of quality levels that would have been expected for a track directed in such a way for the time 9when you consider who else was making R&B hits in 2003). However, I felt that it was a grower, and with time gets you as I'm sure the rest would.

**Five Stars**

7. "What's The Fuss?" (Lude)

8. "You Made Me"

After a short break, they return to the album with a track that shows that they haven't developed their music to the point where ballads don't seem welcome, and so here come with a song that takes on many characteristics of such a track, but done in a manner that shows that they are moving things on along the way as they attempt to experience with the conventions with the addition of their sensuality by the end of it (hinted on throughout with the freaky Talkbox usage from Teddy).

**Five Stars**

9. "It's Hard To Say Goodbye"

They bring a tune here that start off as if it will take on a similar format to the last one, however as it comes together we find that we get a jam from them that doesn't quite follow these ways as we have them backed up by some heavy beats (ones that are able to punctuate the messages within the lyrics) as here we have a, strangely, uplifting break-up song that may not beat "Don't Leave", but seems like a nice, updated version.

**Five Stars**

10. "Why, Why"

Here we have a track that carries with it all the kinds of things that were heard on the track prior to it where we have them bringing another emotive work. They take on elements of Michael Jackson's "Human Nature" along the way (a suitable choice in a musical influence when you consider Teddy Riley's involvement on most of Michael Jackson's album's since 1991). It is a cold tune and needs to get into it, but works well when you feel the tune that led up to it.

**Five Stars**

11. "Look In The Water"

It seems that they simply aren't able to stop when it comes to the effective break up songs as they show just how well they are able to form these tunes, apparently doing more to show how they acknowledge the fact that "Don't Leave" could be considered to be a masterpiece of theirs. However I felt that making it so intense during this point in the album, with them placed one after another, it could put some off a little.

**Five Stars**

12. "Baby You're All In Want"

They come off that side of the album here as they bring through a tune that has them trying out another love song that is made to pull couples together. They do it in their characteristic fashion and manage to make a lot out of it by forming a nice story around the thing to make what is said in the song even more effective and to show just how much they want to be there for their partner.

**Five Stars**

13. "How We Do"

The pace remains reasonably low for this one as they perform a tune that has them attempting to sort out issues they may have in their relationship (with others around them attempting to stop it from going in the way that they hoped it would. I saw it as an extremely reassuring one, and a track that finds them managing to break down any things which may have prevented things from going as smoothly as they would have hoped for. The performance is on-point and makes leaves you satisfied by the final key change as it ends.

**Five Stars**

14. "Bygones"

They are seen to attempt to rectify the issues in their relationships, which have been explored elsewhere on the album, however by things point it does seem as though they've been doing it for too long, and with them going for a track that has them backed by acoustics, it doesn't really seem to be as pleasing as the rest that had led up to it and acts as a track that does nothing but pull down an album that was doing so well.

**Three Stars**

15. "Still Feelin' You" (Lude)

16. "Brown Eyes"

Here we have the tempo of the music increased a little to give things a bit more of a bounce (and to get you in the right mood to be able to feel the single that closes the album off). I have to say that it comes across as a track that does more than act as filler and something to gather momentum into the final track because as an individual tune it manages to warm things up as if it was any other single from the album.

**Four Stars**

17. "Wizzy Wow"

The album comes to a close with this one, one of its singles and a track that I felt showed a different side to them as we find that they are backed by some grungy production that seems to contrast from the way that the majority of their work goes as they throw out a final club banger to leave things on a massive hype with a little help from the Louisiana rapper Mystikal for that little extra something.

**Five Stars**

Aside from one clear slip-up, this is an extremely strong album from BLACKstreet and one that recovers from the wackness that came with their "Finally" record. Having Teddy reform Guy in-between this time gave him the chance to get back to form to give them what they needed to find good form here, and this is exactly what comes of it here.

*Good choice Baby xXx*

Summary: BLACKstreet's fourth album