daPrettyman said:

I may have spoken a little too soon dude.
Ironically i just heard on the radio today another single
from lionel called I'm in love. It sounds better than Just
Go. This could do better for him. Still from most of what
i've heard on the album it's just blah.

Oh, I love a lot of her older ballads as well as her funk. They had a sexy after midnight feel to them though and not adult contemporary sounding like the ones today. But even back then, I wouldn't have bought her albums had they been all ballads, even though they were good ones, and no funk. I would have simply bought some of her 45s and let the albums stay on the shelf which is what I usually did back then in the rare times that an artist led an album with a ballad rather than a funky jam. If you notice, I said the "rare times an artist led an album with a ballad as the first single". It's rediculous that things have turned around the exact opposite these days that the majority of artists have no fast jams on the albums, let alone lead singles. If an artist couldn't throwdown back in those days, most of them didn't make it and that's the way it should have remained. You can thank Shitney Ass Houston for that change.




You complain about her but you give Prince a pass on his latest using shit hop words like "shawty".




Well hell, I don't even like most of Prince's new album but it's still my favorite album that was released this year. That just goes to show how shitty music as a whole these days is.




Nope. I bought her 2004 album and I liked "I'm Still In Love" even though I have to fast forward over the trashy shit hopper's voice at the beginning of it, which I despise hearing, and I can tolerate the one she did with Gerald Levert about a rose. Other than that, I was bored out of my mind and swore I wouldn't waste my money again or give her another sale to help her continue doing stuff like that.

Why do y'all even buy these new albums from the older artists when you know beforehand that it's going to sound current and you are going to be disappointed? That's what they are counting on when they release these new albums. They sellout to the current sound and take a chance that the younger crowd will like it but they also hope the older fans will buy it strictly because of their name value and that will tide them over if it's not successful with the young crowd. That's called playing both ends of the stick and I don't tolerate it from these older artists because it's the older disappointed fans money that fed them with their sellout effort and gives them hopes of doing the same thing again on their next album.

If we don't buy it, they'll go hungry this time and the next time they might try to please us. As much as I love The Barkays, I didn't buy their last two albums for this very reason.

vainandy said:

As for Prince, you are so right. He did release slow singles to radio. He did that for a hit. Urban AC radio is the only format that will give him a chance. The others just avoid him like the plague. Urban AC radio is S L O W throughout the entire country. They cater to women 25-54. Those women cater to slow jams and avoid up tempo music. That's why "Call My Name" and "Future Baby Mama" were huge hits on that format.

I agree about Teena also. I heard her in an interview on KJLH a while back (before she finalized her deal with Stax) and she played some tracks. They were HORRIBLE. Nothing up tempo....not even a mid-tempo groove. When you see her in concert, she rips that bass up playing songs like "Lovergirl" and "Square Biz", but tends to croon.

phunkdaddy said:

You got it right, it is BLAH!! I bought a promo copy at the used cd store for $5 a couple of weeks ago. So glad I didn't pay full price for that crap.

vainandy said:

Trust me i haven't bought a lionel richie album since 1996's
louder than words. He gave his old fans false hope with the
song Don't wanna lose you that took you back to Just to be
Close to you. The album wasn't altogether as he had a couple
of nice R&B tunes on it but it was mostly his same AC stuff.
I wouldn't buy a lionel richie album now if my life depended
on it. As for the barkays, hell their last two albums were
basically the same. House Party was a replay of The Real Thing
with two new shit hop tracks and one decent ballad. Their real
last good album was 1994's 48 hrs.
I also agree with you that none of these older artists release
uptempo songs as their lead single anymore.
[Edited 6/10/09 12:17pm]

vainandy said:

I don't know about everybody else, but I buy it because I'm a completest. I like to have an artists entire catalog if I like them. I do admit that it is hard to buy the album, but if I like about 5 or so cuts, I'm ok with spending the 7 or 8 dollars USED.

phunkdaddy said:

I feel ya. I buy his stuff, but only used. I actually got "Time" free when I was in radio. Oddly enough, I ended up liking that album more than any of the ones I bought used.

daPrettyman said:

I would have to listen to Time online. I remember when he performed a
couple of songs from the album on one of those late night shows.
Even my mom was like damn, Lionel don't have any soul in those songs.
Did you get Louder than Words?

And why in the hell is there even such a format as Urban Adult Contemporary? When I was growing up, all adult contemporary stations were white and even white people laughed at people who listened to them.

When we got our first Urban Adult Contemporary station was in 1990. It's slogan at the time was "the best soft soul and no rap". Well hell, at that time, rap was the only thing fast at the time on black radio (yeah, rap used to be fast) other than the underground house scene that was in the gay clubs which I was enjoying. Why is this? Why did it get to the point that the only thing fast being made during that time was rap? Because of folks like Shitney Ass Houston who had become soooo huge making adult contemporary or "parent friendly" music that other folks started making it also and funk artists just jumped ship. Yeah, Lionel did it first in the early 80s but the airwaves were still dominated by folks like The Barkays, Con Funk Shun, Zapp, Lakeside, Bill Summers and Summers Heat, Kleeer etc. Lionel wasn't all sandwiched inbetween folks like Anita Baker, Freddie Jackson, Mikki Howard, etc. because very few of them existed and would have been unsucessful during those early years compared to those funk artists. Little Miss Goodie Two Shoes is the blame for all of this and is the very reason there became a market for Urban Adult Contemporary.

phunkdaddy said:

Yes, I got that one. I haven't heard it in over 10 years, though. From what I remember, it was inconsistent, but ok.

Time was consistent, but it was an Adult Contemporary album. No soul at all. He remade "Lady" on that album. My favorite song was "I Hear Your Voice".

vainandy said:

You are so right. Urban AC was the brainchild of some programmer in Chicago (from what I was told). When many stations started doing this format, it became all Luther Vandross and Anita Baker CONSTANTLY. ABC radio network's format, The Touch, was playing 2 Luther songs per hour for a while there. One at the top of the hour and one at the bottom.

Urban AC must be a very powerful format. I say that because many of the artists and albums that are released to this format become big hits and/or sell well. It's because of Urban AC that Robin Thicke is a hit. Before he got "Lost Without You" on Urban AC stations, he couldn't get a hit. Sure, his material was good, but he didn't fit the mold of traditional Urban radio and damn sure didn't fit pop or ac formats.

It's sad, but true, radio formats (whether it's satellite or traditional) categorize music and avoid uptempo music. especially on the r&b side of things.

I totally see y'alls points.
I'm just sayin, this album is still quality and better than a lot of the crap out there. She might have switched some gears, but she's still a worthwhile talent who delivers.

johnart said:

That's good to know. I will get it, just to have it.

NMuzakNSoul said:

Back to you NMuzakNSoul- thanks for the posting.

www.hot923.com/pages/slot...eena.html.

Still got chops, yes, and she gets a beautiful and big sound out of very simple acoustic guitar work; that's a gift right there. I much prefer this live version of Ms. Coretta over the album cut.

allsmutaside said:

Trying the link one more time.
http://www.hot923.com/pag...teena.html

She will be on Stevie Wonder's show in the morning on KJLH. Listen online www.kjlhradio.com .

She and Stevie will probably be singing together.

Ok,I just listened to the album.I like it! "Marry Me" is a favorite....it's a beautiful slow jam.I like "Pressure","Ear Candy 101","You Baby".Like the last two albums,it ain't a 'classic' but there are enough good tunes to make it worthwhile.

The jazz-flavored tunes on the second half are really nice.

johnart said:

I agree,and unlike the last few albums,the hip-hop elements are kept to a minimum.That's a good thing

daPrettyman said:

Get it! I recommend it.

Thought I would revive this thread. This album is nice. I like the jazzy vibe on some cuts.

vainandy said:

Teena hasn't done an album with some uptempo dance cuts since the New Jack Swing-inspired Ivory.

But before then, Teena was kinda force to slow thing down a bit with the Naked to the World album due to the poor selling of her Prince-inspired Emerald City album. And it's a damn shame that she had to cut back on the funk/rock because I felt Emerald City was her 2nd best album (right behind It Must Be Magic).

But before then, Teena was kinda force to slow thing down a bit with the Naked to the World album due to the poor selling of her Prince-inspired Emerald City album. And it's a damn shame that she had to cut back on the funk/rock because I felt Emerald City was her 2nd best album (right behind It Must Be Magic).[/quote][/b]



Last Friday, I went to a Congo Square CD release party last Friday in Oakland and it was fantastic! It was at Kimball's East, which is also a night club and Teena did an interview, Q&A and did a short set!

During the question and answer I went up and told her that Emerald City was my favorite album and she looked genuinely surprised and said "Wow, that's different for a sister." I asked her specifically what were the inspirations behind "You So Heavy," my favorite song by her, and "Batucada Suite." She just told me that she was looking to get away from the R&B scene for a while and wanted to do something more rock oriented. She also told me that is Lenny Kravitz's favorite album by her!


She did an set where she switched between acoustic guitar and a keyboard. She sang "Ooo Baby, Baby," "Cassanova Brown," "Deja Vu," "Aladdin's Lamp," "Portugese Love" and "Ms. Coretta" from Congo Square. This was the first time I had seen Teena live, so it was a treat.

After the show she autographed her new CD, which I had already purchased on iTunes, but I went ahead and kicked down $20 to get a signed copy and when she saw me she smiled and said "It's Miss Emerald City!" after she signed my CD, I showed her my purse that I had made from the "Naked to the World" album cover and she signed that, too.

All in all it was a great night. Teena is my favorite female artist and she definitely confirmed why Lady T is one of the best!
[Edited 6/15/09 16:24pm]

Lovesexy82 said:

Last Friday, I went to a Congo Square CD release party last Friday in Oakland and it was fantastic! It was at Kimball's East, which is also a night club and Teena did an interview, Q&A and did a short set!

During the question and answer I went up and told her that Emerald City was my favorite album and she looked genuinely surprised and said "Wow, that's different for a sister." I asked her specifically what were the inspirations behind "You So Heavy," my favorite song by her, and "Batucada Suite." She just told me that she was looking to get away from the R&B scene for a while and wanted to do something more rock oriented. She also told me that is Lenny Kravitz's favorite album by her!


She did an set where she switched between acoustic guitar and a keyboard. She sang "Ooo Baby, Baby," "Cassanova Brown," "Deja Vu," "Aladdin's Lamp," "Portugese Love" and "Ms. Coretta" from Congo Square. This was the first time I had seen Teena live, so it was a treat.

After the show she autographed her new CD, which I had already purchased on iTunes, but I went ahead and kicked down $20 to get a signed copy and when she saw me she smiled and said "It's Miss Emerald City!" after she signed my CD, I showed her my purse that I had made from the "Naked to the World" album cover and she signed that, too.

All in all it was a great night. Teena is my favorite female artist and she definitely confirmed why Lady T is one of the best![/quote]

Wow,I wish I had gone to that!! I'm here in the South Bay.

"Conga" is a very nice CD. One thing I love about Teena is her CDs sound contemporary without sounding ridiculous while still maintaining the traditional roots without sounding like it was recorded in the early 80s.

I have to admit, when I picked up Lady T's new release, I didn't like 80% of it. With inital listens, I felt that there was something missing that was present on both her earlier and later albums. But as I'm listening to this CD now, I can say that this is one damn good album. No, I don't love it as much as her 2006 album, Sapphire, which is one of my fave Lady T releases, but this one has a certain coolness and jazziness I like. I am loving the second part the most on this album because it shows her jazz chops and gives an insight on her social conciousness. I also like Merry Me and What U Got 4 Me. What's also surprising is that the hip-hop sound that she was going for on her two previous albums are limited here and the guest appearances don't seem forced.

People who say that she needs to go back to her funk and dance roots need to stop saying that. If you want that sound, take out a copy of 'Irons In The Fire' or 'Wild & Peaceful' because I love the sound of her comeback albums. La Dona was a fine effort that showed she could hang with the youngins, Sapphire was an excellent effort that showed that her R&B chops hadn't flourished and then some, and Congo Square shows that she can do the jazz thing just as good as anyone can.

Like someone posted earlier on the org, one thing you have to admire about Lady T is that she can still put out original and fresh material after all these years and not put out these crappy cover albums that legendary artists put out. She's one mighty woman!
[Edited 6/15/09 17:46pm]

silverchild said:

Her and Donna Summer. The other artists are getting lazy, lol.

eaglebear4839 said:

I don't like it! I probably would have enjoyed it in acapella, without the track.

After repeated listenings,I think that 'Congo Square' is even better than the last two Teena Marie albums.I like those albums but I have to admit,I always skip over a few of the hip-hop-styled tracks (such as "The Macking Game").On this new CD,there's not alot of hip-hop elements at all.This is a straightforward R&B album with alot of jazzy sounds.Plus,I think this album flows better...it's very consistent from beginning to end.There's nothing embarassing on it,nothing that you would have to skip over.There are several guest artists but all of the collaborations really work.At first I wasn't too thrilled with the first single "Can't Last A Day" but even that song is starting to grow on me.

Well done,Teena!

http://www.imeem.com/arti...oney-call/
This song has more of and old school funk to it. This is off of the Ladona album which was not all that great to me either. I gotta sample other songs on that new album a little bit more.