‘Romeo Must Die’ CD short on creativity
Romeo Must Die
Various artists, Warner Bros.
★★★☆☆
By Jessica Blanchard
Oregon Daily Emerald
“It’s been a long time/I should
n’t have left you/without a dope
beat to step to,” begins rapper
Timbaland on the first track of the
“Romeo Must Die” soundtrack.
And indeed, the CD offers plenty
of “dope beats” — so that’s not the
problem.
At first glance, this CD looks
like a rap or R&B-lover’s delight:
it’s packed with big-name artists
such as Aaliyah, Destiny’s Child,
DMX, Cash Money, Timbaland,
Ginuwine and Mack 10. But
while most of the tracks on this al
bum have some nice harmonies
or interesting lyrics, there are no
real vocal acrobatics or hard-hit
ting verses that we’ve come to ex
pect from these established
artists.
Aaliyah’s tracks on the album
are likely the driving force behind
its recent surge in sales. But while
she is an accomplished singer
with a great voice, and her tracks
on this CD work, it still feels like
she’s not really into it — like she’s
not using her full vocal range.
Overall, the album is worth
buying — and Aaliyah is almost
guaranteed at least two hits off
this album — ‘"IVy Again” and “I
Don’t Wanna” are already receiv
ing airtime on the radio.
“Try Again,” an uplifting, feel
good anthem set to a driving beat,
is one of the catchier songs off the
CD, despite its simplistic chorus.
In “Are You Feelin’ Me?,”
Aaliyah sounds like she’s mim
icking fellow artist Missy Elliot
with her breathy delivery. Big sur
prise - Elliot wrote the track,
which sounds similar to some of
her own hits, like “All In My
Grill.”
DMX helps Aaliyah out in
“Come Back In One Piece,” but I
admit I’m a little biased here - I
can’t stand this guy’s voice. But
honestly, I don’t think I’ve heard
a worse duet. Give the guy props
for being so successful, but please
don’t try to meld his loud, obnox
ious voice with Aaliyah’s delicate
delivery. To be fair, the track has a
decent beat, but when Aaliyah is
asking her boyfriend to promise
her he’ll come back in one piece,
she sounds more like a mother
chastising her son than a girl
friend pleading with her
boyfriend.
Her other already-successful
track, “I Don’t Wanna,” is another
mellow song in which she begs
her lover to work things out be
cause she doesn’t “wanna be
alone.”
“Do you realize/ I can’t even
sleep without you/ think without
you/ eat without you/ speak with
out you/ be without you/1 can’t
even breathe without you,” she
sings. This was a simple tune
with lots of lyrical repetition, but I
still liked it, despite some annoy
ing Pop-Up Video background
noises toward the end.
Though Aaliyah is clearly driv
ing this album, there are other no
table performances, such as the
mellow “Rose In A Concrete
World” by Joe. The artist(s) show
great vocal range, reminiscent of
fellow R&B group Dru Hill. The
listener almost doesn’t care what
the lyrics are because it’s so mel
low. It’s just nice to get lost in the
harmony.
And fans of sex-obsessed R&B
artist Ginuwine will be able to
overlook his bad grammar and en
joy “Simply Irresistible.” Fans are
listening to him not for his deep
lyrics or powerful message, but
because he’s a master of naughty
lyrics.
Fans have come to expect Gin
uwine’s songs to be naughty and
not lyrically deep, which is good,
because they’re not going to get
anything deep from this track’s
chorus: “Simply irresistible/ that
is you, that is me/ can’t wait to get
physical/ I want you, you want
me/ Now it’s getting critical/ I
need you, you need me/ I’m so
tired of typical/ but that ain’t you,
and that ain’t me.”
One disappointment was “Per
fect Man,” the track by Destiny’s
Child. The group members are all
capable performers, even though
they’ve had lots of turnover in the
last couple months. But it just
seems like it doesn’t have the
heart that can be found in some
of their previous hits. Though
there are some great harmonies
in this track, it’s spoiled by a
weird bongo-and-xylophone
beat. I could have handled the
bongos, but this track could have
been a lot better if they hadn’t
added the xylophone - it gets
real old, real fast.
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