Fergalicious (Not Promiscuous) (The Dutchess - Fergie)

Member Name: XICripZ

Product:	The Dutchess - Fergie
Date:	08/07/09 (47 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Highly varied

Disadvantages: Inconsistent

Fergie, the newest member to the West Coast Hip Hop crew The Black Eyed Peas (who turned to Hip Pop with her addition) released her debut solo album, "The Dutchess", in 2006. It has her focus her attention to the field which she specialised in: Pop, whilst bringing in her R&B and Hip Hop influences with backing from band mate will.i.am, as well as the likes of Polow Da Don, Ron Fair and John Legend.

1. "Fergalicious"

To get things going in an excited manner, we drop into one of the big singles from the album, and it finds her showing off her Hip Hop side to start things as she gets down a track based heavy upon J.J. Fad's "Supersonic", and so you have a retro eighties Electro=Hop sound going through it. In Hip Hop fashion she even drops a diss Nelly Furtado's way as she goes in an upbeat opener.

**Four Stars**

2. "Clumsy"

You find another single going coming into effect here as this one is done and it has her doing a track which better represents what you get from the album as she gets into the Pop thing and does a pretty typical song about how she is in love, and the subsequent effects of this. It is a nice one, and shows will.i.am's diversity, whilst still appealing to a wide audience with some hard beats running through it.

**Four Stars**

3. "All That I Got"

Here we find that the tempo drops significantly as you have her performing a song which gets her getting into something a little different as she des something which represents the true sound of the album with one which has her bringing her Pop and R&B together for a pretty nice one. The thing is one which requires a little time to get into, but it certainly stands out as she is given some heavy production to work with as she brings out the best in her voice.

**Three Stars**

4. "London Bridge"

With Polow Da Don's backing, you have a track which made a big impact as one of the key singles to contribute to her solo success. It has some heavy beats to it, and it means that you really have to enjoy it, despite the fact that much of what occurs in it is far below the standard of tunes you expect her to come up with. I would say it is a step u[p on "My Humps" (but that's not too difficult to achieve).

**Four Stars**

5. "Pedestal"

Off that big single, you have a track which has her visiting similar places as this one takes the melody from "London Bridge Is Falling Down" and has her sing about how she has reached a position where she is facing fierce opposition by others out there. She gets into some appealing R&B with some original beats by Printz Board (who has previously worked with the Black Eyed Peas as well as John Legend, Macy gray and even Michael Jackson).

**Three Stars**

6. "Voodoo Doll"

The live drumming from will.i.am to kick it off acts as a big way to kick this one off as it shows that she is trying out some things which we haven't heard her on in the past, and I felt that it really worked for her. Her she has a go at a song which seesm to bring in a variety of different things as she goes for a track which sounds to be based in Ska.

**Three Stars**

7. "Glamorous"

This sits as probably the most well-known single from the album and it gets her doing one of her most memorable performances as she sings with backing from the Atlanta rapper Ludacris. It is a killer joint, and shows how well Polow Da Don's beats are able to adapt to a variety of artists' work, and will even merge genres of music to produce the desired effect.

**Four Stars**

8. "Here I Come"

Sampling The Temptations' "Get Ready", this one is a banger of a track, and one which had quite a lot of popularity associated with it at the time, you have a tune which finds her showing her skills at rapping. It manages to carry through its desired effect with something to show a wide variety of influences from the artist as she does something new and for the time it was recorded.

**Four Stars**

9. "Velvet"

In a perfect reflection of the title it was given, this one has her doing a track which has her exploring Soul for a short while, it has the pace dropped to allow her to get into something you don't tend a lot of her work doing and it seems to bring great things from her as she makes sure that it is done well (as she doesn't often try out something as risky as this), I would say that baring mind that she is keeping things commercial, it was done well.

**Four Stars**

10. "Big Girls Don't Cry"

This is a single from the album which I have to say I really wasn't into at all. It has her taking things in a direction which contrasts so greatly from the rest of what you get here that I just couldn't get into it as she gets into a Pop ballad. There's nothing in it for me, but I can see where the appeal is.

**One Star**

11. "Mary Jane Shoes"

Jumping straight off the big single, I knew that we were in for a lift in the quality if things and she does it here by showing what else she has to offer in terms of her diversity and so here whilst taking on a fairly substantial amount of inspiration from Bob Marley's "No Woman No Cry" structure, this has her singing with Reggae backing. It's not all that hot, but it's not bad.

**Two Stars**

12. "Losing My Ground"

I have to say that this particular track wasn't really saying a lot to me, and it seemed as though she was slipping into the kind of thing which you got a little earlier with "Big Girls Don't Cry" as she gets back to her Pop work, and in this case Rob Boldt & Ron Fair bring something pretty plain, but I would still say it's a bit better than before.

**Two Stars**

13. "Finally"

This is one which has her taking things in a way that we have seen a little of in earlier parts of the album as she performs a ballad. She does it with John Legend, and f you known his "Ordinary people" tune, you are likely to draw similarities between the two as she brings out her full potential in her vocals with such a tune as she is backed minimally with a piano and strings. It wasn't really my thing, but it was done well.

**Two Stars**

14. "Get Your Hands Up"

With the title alone you should anticipate what is going to occur here as the tempo is brought up here, and you have a tune which has her working with not only will.i.am's production, but it also has a little hype off apl.de.ap at the start to make it into something which sounds as if it could have come directly off a Black Eyed Peas album.

**Four Stars**

15. "Wake Up"

Ending the album you have further experimentation form the artists as in this case you have a track which has her choosing to go for something we should really expect to get from her, and so in order to show this, you have a Rock song from her. I wouldn't say it was authentic as when she did other tings, but it was decent.

**Three Stars**

This album is fairly inconsistent, but I believe that the majority of this is down to the fact that it has her try out so many things which we haven't heard her doing before, and so she hasn't quite got it yet, but she appears to know how to execute the stuff well, and so if you are into a varied Pop album, then you will enjoy this.

Summary: Fergie's debut solo album