High
gloss comes to mind whenever you think of Ashanti’s
style, sleek, sexy and smooth and whilst she doesn’t have a major
presence vocal wise the production compensates. Her third album this,
Concrete Rose offers no new surprises, its mix of up-tempo rhythms
(guitar driven single Only U is the real stand out on this album) and
slick beats traveling down the same R&B avenues.
SO
IS IT ANY GOOD?
Ashanti
relies heavily on her production
team and wearing his presence
rather heavily 7 Aurelius is all
over the album, even
contributing backing vocals on
Don’t Leave Me Alone, the male
counterpoint to Ashanti’s
tale of heartbreak, in fact
Ashanti seems quite partial
to
a duet, there are several on the album, from a duet with stable mate
Lloyd on Don’t Let Them and the bonus track duet with Ja Rule on his
single Wonderful (a good song to end on, it’s infectious and leaves
you wanting more).
Lyrically
the album is weak with obvious rhymes and while it sometimes seems Ashanti
is just coasting along there are enough toons and hooks for you to make
return visits to the Concrete Rose
