author: Peters at CD Baby
It\'s not uncommon to hear albums that are simply an unfocused journey through various contemporary styles of music: here\'s a rock song, here\'s a pop song, there\'s an R&B song. But it\'s truly rare to find an album (such as this) that is so focused and united in its genre-blending sound, yet hard to classify. There\'s the Outkast-ish \"Supa Man\", which makes dancing irresistable; a few songs later, there\'s the jazzy chromatic electric piano & frantic gospel drums holding down the looped groove on \"Waiting\". Then there\'s the dancey Justin Timberlake-with-funkier-beats of \"Your Ways\". The prog rock workout of \"Monsters\" sounds like Tool with a choir of Freddy Mercurys singing; it\'s fascinating stuff. As a whole, it\'s a concept album, dealing with arriving on earth and getting to heaven in the end. The musical journey on which it takes the listener is a wild and wonderful ride, made up of excellent musicianship, stellar singing, and first rate production that places the sound firmly in 2008, while still keeping an eye on the history of soul, rock and R&B music. It\'s a good thing to hear an album that blends genres so seamlessly. With 24 tracks and almost 80 minutes of music, the album is a thorough exploration of ecstatic gospel, R&B, and pop styles, and at the end, you\'ll want to take it again.
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