After reading a lot of the reviews for Babyface's Grown And Sexy on Amazon, I started getting fed up. As such, I want to make a few points about the two albums before I go into my review. First, it's important to note that A Love Story was a good album that was made brilliant by the fact that it was weaved into the telling of a story about a relationship. But it's also worth noting that despite this clever set-up, the album suffered because, in order to fit this mold, some songs on the album were pretty awful. It seems that a group of elitists have decided that A Love Story was a masterpiece because it never was released. Yes, it had some very awesome songs with "Sentimental Reasons" still being one of my favorite songs and the main reason I wish I could buy the album. But other tracks like "Still My Boo" and "Makin Love" were plain awful.
Now that's not entirely unrelated to the discussion on this album as Grown And Sexy is the off-shoot of A Love Story. Some of the tracks on the album are from Babyface's original creation. Opening Grown And Sexy is "Tonight It's Goin Down," an okay track about getting ready for some love making. It's not a bad song though it does get a bit too repetitive. Overall, it's an okay, listenable ballad but it's still one of the weaker songs on the album.
The title track is next, and is a pretty good number. The song is entertaining and a great song to cruise to. Usually I think songs of this type are boring, because they seem to always be about how great the musician is. However, Babyface seems to handle the delivery well.
"Mad, Sexy, Cool" is a solid melodic number. The delivery is smooth and while the pace is slow, it seems to be continually moving. As such, the song flows nicely and is a pleasant listen. The lyrics are refreshing and are nicely composed.
The fourth track on the album, "Can't Stop Now" is a smooth love song about getting together and not stopping the love-making. It has some nice rises and falls in the delivery and while it's not an original track, it's a smooth track about love-making, what Babyface seems to do best.
"Goin Outta Business" is a clever, catchy song about the end of a relationship. It depicts the break-up as a clearance sale as the lovers are selling everything they've built up together. The chorus is ludicrously catchy, sounding as if it were designed to be a ringtone. The song has a pounding strength to it, sounding almost blood thirsty. Still, it could have a little more ferocity in the vocals.
The sixth song on the album, "Drama, Love & Lationships" features some nice lyrics and pretty good vocals. Still, the song seems to be lacking some emotion and enthusiasm to really drive home its meaning and message. As such, it's a solid song that could have been so much more.
The album's lead single ("Loneliness" doesn't really count since that was also the lead single for A Love Story), "Sorry For The Stupid Things' is a clever song in its very simple presentation. The lyrics seem repetitive, but it doesn't weigh down on the track a lot. As such, the song is enjoyable and easy to sing along with, even if it isn't the most complex number.
"Good To Be In Love" is successful because of its ability to embody the message of the song. The track talks about the high that one can feel from being in love and with it's up-tempo, positive vibes, you really feel that idea. The song is positive and enjoyable.
"The Loneliness," one of the album's bastard children of A Love Story, was an incredible song when it was on that album. Here, it still succeeds at that, delivering with a haunting, slow pace early on that reeks of emtion and loneliness. The vocals are done wonderfully and the song resonates with feeling. A great jam and the best on the album.
The tenth track on the album, "She" seems to be the sequel to Babyface's "The Day." The track is addressed to a child and is very pretty, describing the man's love for his wife and giving off the feeling of love for his child as well. It's an interesting presentation and while it feels very similar to "The Day," the track still does its own thing. An enjoyable, very relaxing track.
The album's next two tracks, "God Must Love You," and "The Getting To Know You" are both off-shoots of A Love Story, but in the transition, seem to have lost some of their meaning. The songs were good on A Love Story because of their context, and on their own merit, just don't hold up. "God Must Love You" is an okay love song about when a guy believing his love is absolutely incredible. "The Gettin To Know You" is an okay fast paced jam about the excitement of just talking to your new love. Both songs are decent, pleasant tracks, but nothing special.
Closing out the album, and probably the worst track of the mix, "She's International" is an okay track, though it feels very repetitive. It's an okay song to cruise along to on the road but it doesn't really differentiate itself from most current music to really be anything special.
