Ciara - 'Fantasy Ride'

odd how different tracks on this album affect people so entirely disparately; there's a lot of "i love it/i hate it" in this thread, but no one wants to chuck the whole album and i don't think there's a consensus top record... though LSM seems to be the least hatable.

i pretty much love all of it to varying degrees but the nature of how it's leaked means i've already evaluated most of the tracks individually, there isn't a great deal of new-to-me material and i'm more persnickety about how it could be better - like i'm sure i'd love this version of 'work' if i hadn't heard the leaks, the awesome beat is still intact and the breakdowns at the end are amazing, but the solo non-missy version is just so much better. and i've got about another cd's worth of leaks which never made it, and i could easily swap out 'like a surgeon' and 'g is for girl' for 'walk on the wall', 'feeling on my ass' and 'the fit of love'. ('rattla' would have been a good bonus track, it's 'oh' redux but still great.) you know, i think sticking with the three-disc concept could've actually worked!

it's really good to finally hear 'high price', 'i'm on' etc in HQ - like, whoa, these songs have BASS!

actually looking at the original concepts for the triple-disc...you know, this would've totally worked. i would have ADORED an album packaged like this:

GROOVE CITY
ciara to the stage
never ever
lover's thing
the fit of love
keep dancin' on me
one favor
i don't remember

CRUNK TOWN
high price
feeling on my ass
echo
roll call
g is for girl
go girl
rattla

KINGDOM OF DANCE
love sex magic
turntables
when i
pucker up
work
walk on the wall
i'm on

middle disc would be the weakest (albeit with the two standout tracks), but there isn't a single song i dislike in this package. re-record chris brown's vocal (ne-yo maybe?), chuck missy off 'work' and then we're talking.

ysi?

yeah ne-yo on turntables would be nice

Don't have much of an opinion on this -- not liking it as much as her other two by quite a bit, but don't dislike it, just think it's a little...I dunno, low-stakes? -- but "Like a Surgeon" could just as easily have been an R. Kelly track, albeit one with an uncomfortable Dead Ringers vibe. Also, if you're going to do a song with a "Weird Al" did, you should at least avoid the "sign a waiver" line. Or maybe that's great. Jury's out.

*with a title "Weird Al" did

It's one of the worst sequenced albums I've ever heard, given that it plods and drags through the first half and absolutely FLIES through the second half.

Agree with Matt's analysis although I kind of like it when albums pan out this way. Why put all the good stuff up front? Anyway, this record surprised me. I went in hopeful but sceptical, am coming out more of a fan than hitherto.

we put this on last night, and had to turn it off after the 7th or 8th track and put on the keri album.

what? this is so much better than the keri album

yeah it's not even close tbh

yeah it is close, Keri's album is slept on by you guys for some reason...

I only skip one track on Keri's album, whereas I skip like 4 on Ci's... but Ci's album is more adventurous and the highs are a bit better so I give her the edge

this is up there with anything on Fantasy Ride:

eh, the keri album has good songs on it, but completely fails at making me want to listen to it again. I'll probably take "Turnin' Me On" over anything on the Ciara album tho

turnin me on is the best out of both but ciara's album is - as you say - more adventurous, also

in a perfect world...: 60 mins
fantasy ride: 51 mins

and i think 'in a perfect world...' feels about 3 songs too long too

knock you down- 5:26
make love- 5:22
alienated- 4:34
tell him the truth- 4:47
where did he go- 4:55

none of these songs need to be anywhere near this long + the longest song on 'fantasy ride' is 4:33 ("never ever") and most don't even hit 4 mins. maybe i'm nitpicking but it's a big thing for me wrt keri

i probably don't like the Keri album anymore than i'd like the Ciara album if i heard it in full, but i love the fact that Keri had better first week sales

nah, i still think the keri album is leaps and bounds better than this.

How Does It Feel is seriously a huge, amazing mindfuck, kicks anything on Fantasy Ride's ass.

(not to mention Where Did He Go, Intuition, Slow Dance, Alienated, Energy, Turnin Me On)

knock you down- 5:26
make love- 5:22
alienated- 4:34
tell him the truth- 4:47
where did he go- 4:55

none of these songs need to be anywhere near this long + the longest song on 'fantasy ride' is 4:33 ("never ever") and most don't even hit 4 mins. maybe i'm nitpicking but it's a big thing for me wrt keri

― oj da hoosman (J0rdan S.), Tuesday, May 19, 2009 4:06 PM (8 minutes ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

i totally disagree, except i don't really like "knock you down" or "make love." but the others could just go on and on for all i care.

"pucker up" is incredible too - should be a single imo

nah, i still think the keri album is leaps and bounds better than this.

How Does It Feel is seriously a huge, amazing mindfuck, kicks anything on Fantasy Ride's ass.

― Surmounter, Tuesday, May 19, 2009 4:12 PM (37 minutes ago)

like, this makes me wonder if you've even listened to fantasy ride. "love sex & magic", "never ever", "high price" "work", "lover's thing" and obviously "echo" are better than anything on the keri, though "alienated" (while a little radio R&B by-the-numbers) is great and "return the favor" and "turning me on" are good too

opinions are a crazy thing, right?

ikr!!

i don't really think Alienated is radio rNb by-the-numbers though. little too poppy for that.

uh that's sorta my point

when i think "radio R&B by-the-numbers," i certainly don't think of something as poppy and fluffy as Alienated

"pucker up" is incredible too - should be a single imo

― oj da hoosman (J0rdan S.), Tuesday, May 19, 2009 8:19 PM (3 hours ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

^^^^yesssss! I'MMA WEAR MY SUPERGIRL SWAG IF U DON'T LIKE IT U CAN KISS MY SWAG. i love how it perfectly blends the freestyle revival strand of things w/the trashy stompy electro strand (and how it saves making the freestyle obvious until the 2nd verse). SM-SM-SMOOCHES.

i can't get enough of 'turnin me on' but keru just can't keep my attn for the whole album...not that the songs are bad, if ciara was doing it i might like it better. and i can see myself loving individual tracks as singles in isolation.

well it's kind of a bottom heavy album (after the intro and turnin me on, of course), so there's that

really into like a surgeon right now

lucky for you it's the next single (along with "work"). they're come to their senses I guess and ditched "tell me what ur name is"

if "when i grow up" made it into the top 10 i don't see why "pucker up" won't aside from promo budgets and such

Downloaded the leak, "Click/Flash" is amazing, best song on leak or retail version easily. "Pucker Up" is pretty great too, can imagine how awesome that opening synth would sound on club speakers.

I just wish I could hear "High Price" on club speakers.

otm on both of those

my trax are basically:
high price
like a surgeon
work
pucker up
g is for girl
i don't remember
Keep dancin (chorus mainly)

love sex magic sounds too derivative to me. overall this album seems like it would be more fun to actually record/sing than listen to.

"too derivative" = it's basically a JT track

It's "Sexy Ladies" is what it is.

so yea "high price" is kind of kicking my ass now

"i don't remember" is like incredibly sweet. those synths! those vox!

also the vocals on "g is for girl are perfect

yeah she kills it on 'g is for girl' - far more than the dated g-unit knock-off beat deserves!

I always skip that song, the beat is lame I just can't.

the synth strings really make me cringe - i loved them at the time but now it's just, no

oh yea i don't have that problem :/

still blown away by like a surgeon

and still cannot get behind Love sex magic, turntables or never ever

blown away by how retarded it is

people have weird opinions about this album imo

imwo

otm