Raphael Saadiq - Instant Vintage

List Price: $13.98
Our Price: $8.84
You Save: $5.14 (37%)
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Category: Music CD
See more new music releases

Music CD Cover

Free Music Notes for Instant Vintage

Free Music Review: Listen and understand why it's called what it's called...
Hit: 5 Stars

The opener of the album 'Doing What I Can' is a biographical number where he sings about just trying doing the best that he can at what he does, and is intersparsed with various reporters and media types speaking about Saadiq's life and childhood growing up in the rough streets of Oakland. Then it moves right into 'Body Parts', a nice uptempo number with a heavy backbeat and a late-night feel like you's comin' back from a night of poppin' Cris at a club. The first and only single that I know of off the album, 'Be Here', is a nice number featuring D'Angelo that was a good choice for the radio, but is hardly the stand-out on the album. In fact, compared to some of the rest of the songs, it's pretty flat-sounding, as is 'Still Ray', which uses a variation on Dr. Dre's 'Still Dre' beat, though Saadiq's song is much better than Dre's ridiculous bit of braggadocio. The piano loop works much better on an R&B song anyways. One of my favorite songs on the album 'You're the One that I Like' follows after a short (and pretty pointless) interlude, and is a pretty poignant and kind of sad number about Saadiq coming back home to his neighborhood in the ghetto to find an old girlfriend of his who, in spite of having all the promise and chances in the world, became a victim of her surroundings. This is a story I've witnessed first-hand in my life, so I'm mad feelin' the hurt he's talking about. 'Excuse Me' is a bumpin' three-person duet featuring Saadiq, Calvin Richardson, and Angie Stone, all going back and forth to sing about a man or woman that they got it bad for, but that don't give them the time of day. An excellent collaboration of three talented artists, that rather than feeling forced and paycheck-hungry, actually seems like they all just one day decided to record a song together. Another of the best songs on the album, and also the most inspirational is 'Different Times', a duet with T-Boz, who really shows her vocal skills here. This is the most directly spiritually-driven number on the album, with it's hypnotic beat and lush vocals. It's jus' somethin' to get me or you through the day, as simple as that. Now comes my bar-none favorite song on the album 'Tick Tock', a beautiful song in which Saadiq tells his lost love that he will step back and let her deal with what she is going through, but that at the end of the day he'll always be there waiting, and hoping that she'll come back to him. This song just goes to show you what an emotional singer Raphael Saadiq is. I mean, just listen to the last verse. He's beggin, pleadin' for her as well as you, the listener, to understand his frustration and heartache. It's a beautiful thing. The next number 'People' is a powerful socially-conscious tune with observances on politics, the ghetto, the music industry and the children of this world who are growing up into a future that is looking bleaker and bleaker. Hey, somebody hadda tell the truth, right? After that dour number there is an interlude in which Saadiq introduces the next song as being inspired by two of his friends, Jaimie Fox and Lamont. The song is called 'Faithful' and is probably the song that sounds the most like classic Tony Toni Tone, almost like it coulda been left over from one of their early '90s albums. 'Blind Man' is one'a the most thought-provoking numbers on the whole album. There is something poignant in the words, but I don't really know how to explain it, so you'll just hafta listen to it, and probably more than once. Then discover the meaning behind it to yourself. It's deep, trust me. Another song that sounds like it coulda been culled from Tony Toni Tone's recording sessions is 'Uptown', in which Saadiq sings about leaving his hometown, because of all the drugs and death he sees around him. Don't let the hood take you under is the message he's sendin' here, and he puts it across beautifully. 'What's Life Like' is a brief, but powerful number about shunning materialism and making sure your soul's alright. The final song is a duet with Rosie Kaye called 'Skyy, Can You Feel Me' and it is a has a very breezy, late night feel to it, like you should be cruising the downtown strip at night bumpin' it. There are also two bonus tracks that appear at the end of the song, but that are not listed on the album. It is all brought full-circle and ended on a positive note.

I guess if I had to complain about anything on this album, it's that there is no real strong and monumental ballad, the kind that he was so damn good at singing when he was with Tony Toni Tone. A ballad along the lines of 'Still a Man' would've put this way over the top. But, in spite of that one disappointment, I still hafta give this five stars, because overall, Raphael Saadiq's long-awaited first solo album is a diamond in the rough of bad and mediocre releases that have come out in 2002. He has managed to grow but also stay true to his old self, giving the listeners who know him from his days in Tony Toni Tone what they want to hear, as well as making sure he doesn't get thrown into any category with anyone who is sub-par, by using the most sparse yet at the same time full arrangements and writing the most original songs. Lush orchestration, hook-laden, danceable melodies, and gospel influences are evident throughout the album, making it an all-around classic in every sense of the word. Alright, now that you've read this review, all of you who are still sleeping on this, WAKE UP! And then go out right now, buy this albu, and support this man, because he is the BEST at what he does. 'Nuff said.

Instant Vintage Poster

Blues Music CDs

• Music > Styles
• Pop
• R&B