AALIYAH poll

1. "We Need a Resolution" (featuring Timbaland) 4:02
2. "Loose Rap" (featuring Static) 3:52
3. "Rock the Boat" 4:35
5. "Never No More" 3:58
6. "I Care 4 U" 4:33
7. "Extra Smooth" 3:55
10. "I Refuse" 5:57
11. "It's Whatever" 4:08

^^^All vote-worthy

dear person on a cover of an album, i have a crush on you

also,

dead person on a cover of an album, etc...

deer on a cover...

o_O @ The Reverend implying that "More Than A Woman" is the weakest single on this album

It is! I don't like the basic loop and that's basically all the damn song does. Other than that Dianne Warren claptrap from her second album, it's her worst single. The other three singles from this are perfecto.

in the UK we got 'try again' as a "bonus" track.

I actually don't mind it in the context of the album, but fuck if I want to listen to it on it's own. xp

I'm tired of ar-gyuuuuu-in

rock the boat and rev. is nuts

One of my top 10 albums, etc...I need a couple of days, but I'm leaning towards "I Refuse."

Whatever, the string loop is annoying and there's no tune. Let's talk about the good songs on this album, why don't we? Have you ever noticed that the phrasing of "We Need a Resolution" runs from the eight bar through the seventh, rather than the first through the eighth? Or that the main melody of "Rock the Boat" is all multi-tracked and only the ad libs are in the foreground?

so so hard

i am playing 'more than a woman' in protest.

I can't think of anyone who's had as many great posthumously released singles as Aaliyah (I adore "Come Over," "More Than A Woman" and "I Care 4 U," and "Miss You" and "Rock The Boat" are nice too).

"Miss You" is very underrated. Or maybe it's just a sentimental thing, as I was in a similar situation (that never resolved itself, blah).

i voted "rock the boat" with "more than a woman", "it's whatever" and "read between the lines" my next three.

I have to completely disagree with the Rev and vote "More than a Woman"

"We Need A Resolution," easy.

Yeah, hate to go for the first track, but I don't think she ever did better.

And, that's the song that finally got me to appreciate modern R&B and listen to Lex.

kudos for lex for having the courage to speak up for this otherwise neglected chanteuse.

haha

rock the boat

love this album so much

great record can't pick

"we need a resolution" is great, one of the best timbaland beats, i feel like people overlook it in comparison to "try again" or "are you that somebody" but i consider those 3 to be the best pop songs of that era.

"We Need A Resolution" definitely. I LOOOOVEE this album, but it's easily my favourite Aaliyah song ever.

I'm pleasantly surprised with the amount of love in this thread.

"more than a woman" is the song that popped into my head as soon as i saw the thread, so that. very hard call tho.

i do think that the last four songs are a bit weak, but then again it's hard to say because 1-10 straight through is just pure goodness.

"What If" is actually one of my fave songs on the album...

But "Rock The Boat" gets my vote easily.

I'm pleasantly surprised with the amount of love in this thread.

-- Tape Store, Tuesday, November 6, 2007 6:59 PM (2 days ago) Bookmark Link

?? this is ilx canon material

haha i know right. "How strange, where are all of these Daft Punk fans suddenly coming out of the woodwork from?"

Oh, yes...all those long, enthusiastic Aaliyah threads crowding ILX!

I Love Everything Aaliyah R. I. P.
I Love Music aaliyah
I Love Music Aaliyah at number 1?
I Love Music Aaliyah or Beyonce
I Love Music the 'new' Aaliyah album
I Love Music songs that sound like the 'came to give love' outro by aaliyah
I Love Music I've already got the Aaliyah best-of ("I Care 4 U") do I really need One in a Million or anything else?
I Love Music why the internet dont show the autopsy of aaliyah or biggie small also lisa left eye
I Love Music Aaliyah "2004 Editions"?
I Love Music POX: Aaliyah
I Love Music AALIYAH poll

I Love Music why the internet dont show the autopsy of aaliyah or biggie small also lisa left eye

Why didn't they make the CL6 wit' a clutch?

-- Leon Czolgosz (Nicole), Tuesday, October 5, 2004 2:26 PM (3 years ago) Bookmark Link

Did you actually read any of those threads?

where is jadakiss when you need him

Did you actually read any of those threads?

-- Tape Store, Thursday, November 8, 2007 3:36 PM (3 minutes ago) Bookmark Link

do u mean the death thread where everyone is really sad?

Yeah, the one where ten people talk about this album? Or maybe these:

I've already got the Aaliyah best-of ("I Care 4 U") do I really need One in a Million or anything else?

-less than 10 posts

why the internet dont show the autopsy of aaliyah or biggie small also lisa left eye

-irrelevant

Aaliyah "2004 Editions"?

-5 posts

POX: Aaliyah

-list thread (20 posts), with multiple people not even listing ten

lol u were 12 when i started posting on ilx

if ilm isn't indie dudes venerating aaliyah, i don't know what it is.

lol ur still here

LOL

i dont think anyone can really point fingers about that sort of thing

see u in 2017, tape store

:-(

good work guys

I Love Music why the internet dont show the autopsy of aaliyah or biggie small also lisa left eye > jamie lynn spears thread.

"We Need a Resolution" -- without a doubt.

I should probably vote in my own poll, huh. I need to listen to the album first, maybe three times, if I'm ever going to make up my mind.

How fucking cool is "Extra Smooth"?

Automatic thread bump. This poll is closing tomorrow.

Ah, I'll vote for "Extra Smooth". Some of the others are just as good, but I have a feeling they'll get more love.

Automatic thread bump. This poll's results are now in.

SO RONG

Results 1 - 10 of about 187 for "from aaliyah to zz top". (0.33 seconds)

6. "I Care 4 U" 4:33 2
10. "I Refuse" 5:57 2
2. "Loose Rap" (featuring Static) 3:52 1
7. "Extra Smooth" 3:55 1
13. "Those Were the Days" 3:24 0
12. "I Can Be" 2:59 0
11. "It's Whatever" 4:08 0
9. "U Got Nerve" 3:43 0
8. "Read Between the Lines" 4:20 0
5. "Never No More" 3:58 0
14. "What If" 4:24 0

WTF2K7 ILX?!?!?!

(more proof that this album is NOT a part of "the ilx canon")

the ilx R&B canon is pretty small if it exists, but if it does this album is top 3 easy

i'm gonna go ahead and say i never totally understood "We Need A Resolution." seemed like a really odd choice for the album's lead single at the time and especially now.

(more proof that this album is NOT a part of "the ilx canon")

-- Tape Store, Sunday, 11 November 2007 00:28 (1 hour ago) Link

dude yr seriously wrong. just because ppl dont care about voting in polls =/ not in ilx canon

also this got like 40 votes!!

good luck getting that w/ the keyshia cole album or whatever

Forgot to vote but would've just added to the "We Need a Resolution" chorus.

I think the point is that there are many album tracks that are just as good as the singles. These are really boring results.

What did you expect though.

Thanks ILM. I am no longer an optimist.

all my favorite aaliyah songs are on the previous album, plus "are you that somebody" which is the best
not that this isn't good i've been playing it a lot the past few weeks.

I'm surprised there was no love for "I Can Be" on this thread; maybe it gets lost from being near the end of the album? But the chorus has a terrific vocal hook, and the guitar grind and beats are ace too. Wikipedia calls this song "pop rock", but that seems wrong; if anything the vocal is a blues thing (I guess that comes off as rock to some people). Anyway, this song is great.

I bought this when it came out but gave it a shamefully cursory listen and only stuck the singles on iTunes. The love displayed on this thread has made me think I should dig it up.

Plus, for people listening to all of their CDs in alphabetical order by either artist or album title, this should be at the front of the line, no?

^good post

1. "It's Whatever" 4:08 0

deserved a vote

12. "I Can Be" 2:59 0

^^as did this

has the rev changed his mind about "more than a woman". crazy talk imo

8. "Read Between the Lines" 4:20

This one deserved a vote too

yeah I'd vote for "I Can Be" if we did this again.

If this poll was to happen again I'd have to vote Extra Smooth. It's just too damn fucking cool. The way it builds up the guy and the sucker punch of "nothing rude but way too short for me" kills me everytime. If only more songwriters were able to write this well, it doesn't condescend, it just says 'tone it down please' while the beat distracts you enough that it doesn't seem mean that she's pulling the rug from underneath the generic extra smooth character. (Sorry if that's nonsense, we can't all be fancy critics.)

And to add to all that talk upthread whether this album is part of the ilx canon, I think when 2k10 rolls around and we vote for the best album of the decade, I might end up giving this my #1 and hopefully it ends up pretty high on that list.

has the rev changed his mind about "more than a woman". crazy talk imo

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― prostitutes all over the place (k3vin k.), Sunday, April 5, 2009 10:47 AM Bookmark

Nope. :/

I mean, I don't hate it, I just don't enjoy it, either.

More than A Woman is a song that feels so insanely right, and it's got that upward lift that buoys the whole thing up so weightlessly.

I GOT SOMETHING 4 ALL U FOOLS

IT AINT JUST RHYTHM AND BLUES

Never No More is ridiculously underrated.

^

^^

weird i was just thinking that earlier

also, extra smooth

comin on strong, six pack showin

1. "It's Whatever" 4:08 0

deserved a vote

― i think mermaids are real (J0rdan S.), Saturday, April 4, 2009 4:11 PM (1 year ago)

otm

^seconded. just caught Romeo Must Die on TV today and it made me think about what music she would be making in 2010. she is deeply, deeply missed.

def

man "we need a resolution" is really not at all the best song on this album by any reasonable measure

the competition is stiff, but "We Need a Resolution" really is that great of a song

like, it captures the paranoia of thinking your lover is cheating on you as well as any song since "Who Is He (and What Is He to You?)" but instead of just being on the verge of spazzing out like Bill Withers is, she's trying to make something productive out of the situation

i usually skip it, and i know it's good and i used to love it, but not what the album's about imo. in this case gorgeous dramatic, sultry rn'b trumps kinda dated stilted funky timbaland pop rap. "more than a woman" is a better example of that anyways.

"gorgeous dramatic, sultry rn'b trumps" is a perfect description of the song imo

trumps

"What If" deserved a vote, too.

most of these songs did

Yeah the only one of these I can't remember off the top of my head as being awesome is "It's Whatever."

that song is supersexy

i played "it's whatever" 5 times in a row in the car the other day, the production on that is so huge

the "it's whatever"/"i can be"/"those were the days" section is massively underrated

"We Need A Resolution", "Rock The Boat", "Never No More", "I Care 4 U" and "It's Whatever" are my favourites here, though everything is awesome.

behind the scenes of this album, really amazing detail here - http://youknowigotsoul.com/?p=11345

woah

It’s funny because a lot of things that we would just around and joke about, they found their way into becoming a song, so that happened a lot on that album. We would just sit around and talk about various things and they would end up becoming songs.”

feels like a lost art across the board really

OMG thanks so much. Seriously not even sure if I'm ready to read this right now. Easily my favourite album of all time. Means so much to me.

K maybe I'll put "It's Whatever" on repeat and tackle this article.

Wonderful read, hands down.

Black: “We were always in the studio back in the day. Nowadays, you’ll go in for a specific time, but back then, we were locking out studios for months at a time, so the hangout spot would be the studio.”

^^this feels interesting

Very VERY much reminds me of how the Associates recorded Sulk via block-booking and random inspiration.

That alternate version of 'More Than a Woman' is awesome.

the album is 10 years old today. still sounds like one of the greatest things ever.

rip babygirl

Best album ever.

so many of my favorite albums are 10 today

er, this year

Pretty sure I voted "We Need a Resolution," but "Rock the Boat" eclipses it on hot summer days.

To answer the poll: 1. It's Whatever 2. Never No More 3. Rock the Boat

1. "I Care 4 U" 2. "I Refuse" 3. "Rock the Boat"

"I Care 4 U" still brings me to tears.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GuWMW7hVdTs

i know this isn't from this record but i used to watch this video all the time on mtv back in the day

so many of these are just always listenable

extra extra extra smooth

"it's whatever" 4 all time man

yeah it is

man i was like, 11 or 12 when these singles were coming out

such a stupid and preventable fucking death

if I was forced by gunpoint to pick a favorite song ever I could choose "rock the boat" and be happy w/ that choice

this is one of those albums where i want to like... watch a feature length documentary on it

for some reason i don't have strong memories of her death, though i do remember her owning the music video channels i'd watch at summer camp for a minute there

i remember where i was when i heard about it but i didn't really grasp the impact of it at all

I remember I was watching MTV late at night and it scrolled across the bottom of the screen.. I was like WTF and didn't believe it until the next day, when it was a big deal everywhere.

i was in oxford hmv, on the phone to a friend, and i had to go and take a moment in the dvd aisle (which, back then, was the empty niche corner of the shop).

"i care 4 u" is my favourite on this album but i can't really imagine living without any of them.

I don't think I can ever listen to "Rock the Boat" enough or too much.

^^ her best single. More flippy floppy drums plz

yeah that song is just absolutely perfect in every way

It works the middle.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=86ZsEEPo_Tw

tbh what a fucking record

people in the pfork thread complaining about it getting a 9.3: you're right, it deserves a 10

Every song that got zero in this poll is amazing, esp. "Never No More", "U Got Nerve", "It's Whatever" and "I Can Be". There's a voluptuousness to the production that really feels like the last word on that era of R&B (and chronologically it kind of was: by 2002 it felt like Murder Inc's neo-classicism was the dominant sound).

Obviously the central tragedy of Aaliyah passing is the loss of Aaliyah herself, but one of the apparent side-effects was that it seemed to kill Key Beats' career stone-dead. I remember being so excited about their sound based on Destiny's Child's "Perfect Man" and "Independent Women Part II" and then all their work on this album.

on spotify today. still sounds like the future

It does sound great. Really wish I had held onto the promo CD that was in my sort-of possession at the time... oh well

Finally, I can place the proper "Rock the Boat" in all my playlists!

"U Got Nerve" hits so hard

I must have missed this poll if those were the days got zero