Amerie - Gotta Work

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the posters are very wonderful things

― stevie, Tuesday, 15 May 2007 15:49 (6 years ago) Permalink

Touch also featured a remix of "Why Don't We Fall In Love" (not even a new remix, one from 2002) as a bonus track, so I guess that's a pattern with her or her label.

― Alex in Baltimore, Tuesday, 15 May 2007 15:51 (6 years ago) Permalink

define "failed to catch on," jaymc, two top 40 hits ain't bad.

― Alex in Baltimore, Tuesday, 15 May 2007 15:53 (6 years ago) Permalink

it's funny how r&b singers tend to be catch on in either the UK (amerie, kelis, rihanna) or the US (ciara, mya, nivea) but rarely both, unless they're megafamous superstars like beyoncé

― lex pretend, Tuesday, 15 May 2007 15:56 (6 years ago) Permalink

Amerie, Kelis, and especially Rihanna are certainly more popular in the US than Nivea.

Jaymc, get her first album now.

― The Reverend, Tuesday, 15 May 2007 16:03 (6 years ago) Permalink

i always got the impression kelis's profile in the US was close to zero!

― lex pretend, Tuesday, 15 May 2007 16:05 (6 years ago) Permalink

No, she's definitely popular, she just isn't HUGE like she should be.

― The Brainwasher, Tuesday, 15 May 2007 16:06 (6 years ago) Permalink

Also, Amerie is sort of boring and nondescript, that's why she hasn't really "caught on" here.

― The Brainwasher, Tuesday, 15 May 2007 16:08 (6 years ago) Permalink

!!!!

― Matt DC, Tuesday, 15 May 2007 16:08 (6 years ago) Permalink

"Milkshake" was huge! Awful fucking "Bossy" was pretty big, too. And no one gives one shit about Nivea. And rightfully so.

xps - Brainwasher, you can't be serious. (Although her new singles are kind of boring and nondescript, I'll give you that.)

― The Reverend, Tuesday, 15 May 2007 16:11 (6 years ago) Permalink

!!!!

― stevie, Tuesday, 15 May 2007 16:12 (6 years ago) Permalink

I'm not talking about her music, which I love (well... her first two albums, I don't like "Take Control" and "Gotta Work" is a bit better but not worthy of all the hype), it's her. She's rather dull, she doesn't have the persona of, say, Beyoncé or Kelis.. she's just kind of there.

― The Brainwasher, Tuesday, 15 May 2007 16:13 (6 years ago) Permalink

Aw, gotcha.

― The Reverend, Tuesday, 15 May 2007 16:16 (6 years ago) Permalink

!!!!

― lex pretend, Tuesday, 15 May 2007 16:19 (6 years ago) Permalink

She came across as very strong and independent and surprisingly mature and grounded in Stevie's Guardian interview the other week. And she's positively brimming over with personality when you put her next to, say, Ciara.

― Matt DC, Tuesday, 15 May 2007 16:20 (6 years ago) Permalink

I think Ciara has tons of personality! Maybe not in her interviews (I'd be happy if I never had to hear her talk again), but her videos and, hell, her SONGS are dripping with a personality that is unique to her. Whereas with Amerie, she just has great songs, but I feel as though anyone could've had a hit with "1 Thing"... it doesn't really have much to do with her.

― The Brainwasher, Tuesday, 15 May 2007 16:23 (6 years ago) Permalink

she has a degree in fine arts and draws lines on bits of paper to illustrate her vocals = personality enough for me

xp to matt shut up ciara is lovely and i have taken to quoting her platitudes at myself eg "i just feel so blessed to be who i am"

― lex pretend, Tuesday, 15 May 2007 16:24 (6 years ago) Permalink

fwiw i think amerie and ciara both have IMMENSE personality on record - though i remember a thread from years ago, when tim f was asked to defend "generic r&b voices" and realised he didn't think any r&b singer had a generic voice at all - i can't think of any current r&b star i'd say lacked personality on record bar maybe ashanti, who has been curiously absent from the scene recently

― lex pretend, Tuesday, 15 May 2007 16:25 (6 years ago) Permalink

Haha, Ciara does speak entirely in platitudes.

Brainwasher, "1 Thing" is very dependant on Amerie's high, chipper voice. It wouldn't work, or at least would be a much different song, with a less naive, less innocent voice.

― The Reverend, Tuesday, 15 May 2007 16:29 (6 years ago) Permalink

amerie has better legs & voice than ciara

― deej, Tuesday, 15 May 2007 16:38 (6 years ago) Permalink

She came across as very strong and independent and surprisingly mature and grounded

she really is... i mean, i could see how she could seem dumb, but its refreshing to me (tho many of the artists i've interviewed are like that, cf corinne bailey rae). she recorded her earliest songs using two tape recorders, in a manner similar to how the early gbv records! what's not to love?

― stevie, Tuesday, 15 May 2007 16:38 (6 years ago) Permalink

I feel as though anyone could've had a hit with "1 Thing"... it doesn't really have much to do with her.

i agree and disagree. there's no way that beat wouldn't have been a hit, but for me her vocals *make it, they're so dynamic, ricocheting across the chorus all lost in lust. the lyric's pretty killer too.

― stevie, Tuesday, 15 May 2007 16:39 (6 years ago) Permalink

I don't know about that deej, did you see Ciara in that babydoll at the Grammys? Her legs are INSANE.

Brainwasher, "1 Thing" is very dependant on Amerie's high, chipper voice. It wouldn't work, or at least would be a much different song, with a less naive, less innocent voice.

Hmm.. I guess you're right. Her strained, high voice is sort of her trademark I guess, and "1 Thing" does seem tailor-made to fit her...

― The Brainwasher, Tuesday, 15 May 2007 16:41 (6 years ago) Permalink

for "dumb" above please read "boring"... i am typing lyrics playing on my stereo for some insane reason.

― stevie, Tuesday, 15 May 2007 16:41 (6 years ago) Permalink

amerie's voice has this perpetual thrill to it, like it's permanently teetering on this tightrope, the moment just before amerie decides to hold back or take the plunge - and she keeps it there for four minutes, and that's what makes her songs so special

― lex pretend, Tuesday, 15 May 2007 16:57 (6 years ago) Permalink

it's funny how r&b singers tend to be catch on in either the UK (amerie, kelis, rihanna) or the US (ciara, mya, nivea) but rarely both, unless they're megafamous superstars like beyoncé

-- lex pretend, Tuesday, May 15, 2007 11:56 AM (11 hours ago)

tautology much

― s1ocki, Wednesday, 16 May 2007 03:43 (6 years ago) Permalink

this album is really likeable!

― s1ocki, Monday, 21 May 2007 03:48 (6 years ago) Permalink

On Saturday it took me the best part of an hour to get past "Gotta Work" on the album because I played it 16 times in a row. MY GOD it's brilliant - the most inspired use of a seemingly hackneyed sample ever! The way she sings "damn!" as though gleefully shaking off a feather brushing against her right cheek! "1 Thing" in Technicolor! A destination reached! And she sounds so happy and forceful at the same time! IT'S THE GREATEST POP RECORD EVER!!!!!!!!!

But the album is all great. The track which samples Duck Rock makes me swim. "Take Control" is awesome (hey, Tom Ze)! Even when we get into the slow jams there's always imagination at work ("Crush" is nearly Cabaret Voltaire) and the songs themselves are very strong ("All Roads").

I have to sit down and write it up properly, but for now it's the best pop R&B album - certainly, the only one to have reached that close to me, and possibly into me - since Brooke Valentine's Chain Letter.

In places it's like Michael Jackson AND Madonna born again. Or at least how they would have sounded with Jam and Lewis at the controls.

― Marcello Carlin, Monday, 21 May 2007 07:27 (6 years ago) Permalink

duck rock? which track is that? and which duck rock track?

― pisces, Monday, 21 May 2007 08:08 (6 years ago) Permalink

"Some Like It," "World's Famous."

― Marcello Carlin, Monday, 21 May 2007 08:15 (6 years ago) Permalink

'hate2loveu' is the highlight for me.

― stevie, Monday, 21 May 2007 08:42 (6 years ago) Permalink

it must be a great album if there's been all this talk and no mention of Make Me Believe. Some Like It is great too, with the spoken/sung parts and the "...make it take it easy, won't be sorry boy believe me..." where it matches the melody.

― jergïns, Monday, 21 May 2007 14:25 (6 years ago) Permalink

The horns on "Make Me Believe" are great but my favourite is "Crazy Wonderful". Laidback Amerie is just as good or maybe even better than 1Thing Amerie, which explains why Siik Remix was so sick. But it seems everyone has a different favourite on this album.

― danzig, Monday, 21 May 2007 21:06 (6 years ago) Permalink

1 month passes...

Not out until August 21 in the US? Jeezum crow.

― jaymc, Wednesday, 18 July 2007 19:48 (5 years ago) Permalink

1 month passes...

By far the best song on this is the accusatory ballad "Paint Me Over".

I like the rest of it but I share some of rtc's renovations.

― Tim F, Tuesday, 21 August 2007 02:56 (5 years ago) Permalink

Nice to see Marcello giddy.

― Alfred, Lord Sotosyn, Tuesday, 21 August 2007 03:00 (5 years ago) Permalink

Also "All Roads" is much better than you probably think it is.

― Tim F, Tuesday, 21 August 2007 03:00 (5 years ago) Permalink

"Crazy Wonderful" is so great

― groovemaaan, Tuesday, 21 August 2007 08:09 (5 years ago) Permalink

why did i ignore this thread till now?

this is so good.

― gr8080, Tuesday, 21 August 2007 08:17 (5 years ago) Permalink

Some Like It is the one I feel most inclined to skip, apart from Somebody Up There and whatever the slow jam is called, as both of those are outright terrible.

Paint Me Over took a while to click with me but it's great.

― Matt DC, Tuesday, 21 August 2007 11:13 (5 years ago) Permalink

Also worst sequenced album of the year - mix the ballads and bangers up, don't cynically front-load everything uptempo.

― Matt DC, Tuesday, 21 August 2007 11:14 (5 years ago) Permalink

"Some Like It" is pretty dire, actually. I casts quite a shadow over the rest of the hyper-eighties tracks.

― Tim F, Tuesday, 21 August 2007 11:42 (5 years ago) Permalink

renovations! ur too kind old boy.

at least no one really reps for 'some like it'... i could take a cricket bat to 'gotta work' and its fans quite frankly

― r|t|c, Tuesday, 21 August 2007 12:08 (5 years ago) Permalink

that 'streets alone' is probly the track i still listen to most after 'take control' is probably a measure of how far i've copped out of thinking about this album since.

― r|t|c, Tuesday, 21 August 2007 12:10 (5 years ago) Permalink

Ha ha did I write "renovations". of course I meant "reservations". Weird.

Yeah I'm not really into "Gotta Work" either. Its hyper-ecstatic desire to impress is perversely boring.

― Tim F, Tuesday, 21 August 2007 12:18 (5 years ago) Permalink

the Sam & Dave lift is boring and i don't think it's a patch on '1 Thing' but it's OK.

― blueski, Tuesday, 21 August 2007 12:25 (5 years ago) Permalink

So does this actually come out today, or has it been delayed again?

― jaymc, Tuesday, 21 August 2007 13:04 (5 years ago) Permalink

I thought it did (and posted so on the rolling R&B thread), but I guess Wikipedia faked me out as no other websites are confirming it. I went to pick up some new releases yesterday (at a store that puts out the Tuesday releases on the shelves on Monday) and it was nowhere to be found. Damn! Even if the album is as flawed as people here are saying, I could really use a halfway decent female R&B album this year.

― Alex in Baltimore, Tuesday, 21 August 2007 13:19 (5 years ago) Permalink

Good Girl Gone Bad is halfway decent, but not R&B enough I guess.

― blueski, Tuesday, 21 August 2007 13:39 (5 years ago) Permalink

Yeah, I think Rihanna officially turned in her R&B card when she got an Aeon Flux haircut and recorded the Republica b-side that is "Shut Up And Drive."

― Alex in Baltimore, Tuesday, 21 August 2007 13:44 (5 years ago) Permalink

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