963. Frank

Frank
Amy Winehouse
2003

Tracks
1. Intro / Stronger Than Me
2. You Sent Me Flying / Cherry
3. Know You Now
4. Fuck Me Pumps
5. I Heard Love Is Blind
6. Moody's Mood For Love / Teo Licks
7. (There Is) No Greater Love
8. In My Bed
9. Take The Box
10. October Song
11. What Is It About Men
12. Help Yourself
13. Amy Amy Amy / Outro

Poor Amy. Her ending was inevitable, but her talent was immeasurable. "Back to Black" is still one of my favorite songs, and I could listen to her voice all day.

I guess this was before she went off the rails completely, and so you can admire her brashness and humor, with less dramatic irony. That being said, I did enjoy the Back to Black album more. These songs are elevated because of Amy's voice, and I'm not sure how great they would be without it. 

But the range and emotion of her voice is so fascinating that it makes ho hum songs incredible.

RATING: 4/5

959. Justified

Justified
Justin Timberlake
2002

Tracks
1. Senorita
2. Like I Love You
3. (Oh No) What You Got
4. Take It From Here
5. Cry Me A River
6. Rock Your Body
7. Nothin’ Else
8. Last Night
9. Still On My Brain
10. (And She Said) Take Me Now
11. Right For Me
12. Let’s Take A Ride
13. Never Again

Oh dear. For such a handsome guy, Justin really lacks sex appeal. I am going to chalk this up to him being so young, although 21 really isn't that much younger than me. Really, it isn't.

So yes, parts of these songs had a heavy cringe factor. The songs ranged from catchy to irritating, which is pretty standard for pop albums. The first half of this album was definitely stronger than the second half, with unremarkable lyrics.

And the album cover is a little silly.

RATING: 2/5

946. A Little Deeper

A Little Deeper
Ms. Dynamite
2002

Tracks
1. Natural High (Interlude)
2. Dy-Na-Mi-Tee
3. Anyway U Want It (feat Keon Bryce)
4. Put Him Out
5. Brother
6. It Takes More
7. Sick 'n' Tired
8. Afraid 2 Fly
9. Watch Over Them
10. Seed Will Grow (feat. Kymani Marley)
11. Krazy Krush
12. Now U Want My Love
13. Too Experienced
14. Gotta Let U Know
15. All I Ever
16. A Lil Deeper / Get Up Stand Up

We've hit a really good run of album that continues with A Little Deeper. This is quality R&B, as opposed to Destiny's Child. I know I keep bashing that band, but I am still not over it.

So yes, quality R&B tracks without bizarre moralizing or circle jerking (I promise I tried to think of a less crude way of saying that, but couldn't come up with anything). Ms. Dynamite is British, and this was a really cool fusion of American R&B and UK Garage. 

Not a perfect album, but still a fun R&B entry. 

RATING: 4/5

934. Survivor

Survivor
Destiny's Child
2001

Tracks
1. Independent Women Part 1
2. Survivor
3. Bootylicious
4. Nasty Girl
5. Fancy
6. Apple Pie A La Mode
7. Sexy Daddy
8. Perfect Man
9. Independent Women Part 2
10. Happy Face
11. Dance With Me
12. My Heart Still Beats
13. Emotion
14. Brown Eyes
15. Dangerously In Love
16. The Story Of Beauty
17. Gospel Medley
18. Outro (DC-3) Thank You

"Nasty Girl" might be the single most offensive song we have had on this blog, and that's including every dumb Slim Shady and Butthole Surfers track. You would think a female band would be less hateful towards women. Not to mention how hypocritical it is. It also seems like all the band members hate each other, even with that bizarre "Outro." It's a surprisingly ugly album considering the epic hotness of the women involved.

I guess there are some catchy songs on here, like "Survivor" and "Bootylicious." But the moralizing was so ridiculous that it soiled the entire album. And most of the songs were pretty forgettable, or memorable for all the wrong reasons. It's absurd to have a song as sexist as "Nasty Girl" then turn around and try to create a feminist anthem in "Independent Women." 

I do like some of Beyonce's solo work and she's an amazing dancer. Unfortunately, we don't really get to see that in 2001.

RATING: 2/5

870. The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill

The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill
Lauryn Hill
1998

Tracks
1. Intro
2. Lost Ones
3. To Zion
4. Doo Wop (That Thing)
5. Final Hour
6. I Used To Love Him
7. Forgive Them Father
8. Every Ghetto Every City
9. Everything Is Everything
10. Miseducation Of Lauryn Hill
11. Tell Him

Well, I must say I am disappointed. 

I really liked Lauryn Hill's contributions on the previous Fugees album we had here. This wasn't nearly as impressive. It was by no means awful, but I get the sense she couldn't settle on a sound. It seems like she didn't know if she wanted to move in a hip hop or R&B direction. It could be that she was trying to fuse the two, but the result wasn't exactly memorable.

So another meh album. Hopefully something really good comes along soon.

RATING: 3/5

853. Butterfly

Butterfly
Mariah Carey
1997

Tracks
1. Honey
2. Butterfly
3. My All
4. Roof
5. Fourth Of July
6. Breakdown
7. Babydoll
8. Close My Eyes
9. Whenever You Call
10. Fly Away
11. Beautiful Ones
12. Outside

I wasn't really familiar with Mariah Carey's music, only her diva persona and tendency to throw shade. I don't think I was missing much.

I won't deny that she has amazing range, but does she have to demonstrate it with every word she sings? It's extremely grating to listen to after, say, track number three. I could barely understand what the actual lyrics were over all the vocal runs. 

First Robbie Williams, then Mariah Carey. I guess 1997 was a tough year on the Listmakers.

RATING:  2/5

824. Maxwell's Urban Hang Suite

Maxwell's Urban Hang Suite
Maxwell
1996

Tracks
1. Urban Theme
2. Welcome
3. Sumthin' Sumthin'
4. Ascension (Don't Ever Wonder)
5. Dancewitme
6. Till The Cops Come Knockin'
7. Whenever Wherever Whatever
8. Lonely's The Only Company
9. Reunion
10. Suitelady
11. Suite Theme

There is something about the R&B genre that lends itself to cringe. This album is not without its merits, but it does come with a large portion of cheese.

But I'm American so I like cheese. We just had a similar album to this sound, Brown Sugar, that I think was better than this. But this still had some good tracks worth listening to. "Sumthin' Sumthin'" was not one of them.

Still, I'll take a fun album that occasionally misses the mark in terms of mood than some of the other pretentious drivel we've been subjected to on this List. At least it sounded like Maxwell was having a good time making it. 

RATING: 3/5

804. Brown Sugar

Brown Sugar
D'Angelo
1995

Tracks

1. Brown Sugar

2. Alright

3. Jonz In My Bonz

4. Me And Those Dreamin' Eyes Of Mine

5. Shit, Damn, Motherfucker

6. Smooth

7. Cruisin'

8. When We Get By

9. Lady

10. Higher

This is more along the lines of what I thought the general 90s sound was, I guess I was in denial about how much Britpop there was. Ditto for derivative hip hop. 

I wish modern R&B was more like this album, just smart and sexy. Based on my experience with hip hop, I expected "Shit, Damn, Motherfucker" to be a really ugly track. It wasn't. This album was actually full of bangers that I will be adding to my playlist.

A very good album to represent a genre we don't really see on this List a whole lot. Probably because there are a lot of shitty R&B albums out there, but they made us sit through a lot of heavy metal crap so what gives?

RATING: 4/5

767. CrazySexyCool

CrazySexyCool
TLC
1994

Tracks
1. Intro-Iude
2. Creep
3. Kick Your Game
4. Diggin' On You
5. Case Of The Fake People
6. CrazySexyCool-Interlude
7. Red Light Special
8. Waterfalls
9. Intermission-Iude
10. Let's Do it Again
11. If I Was Your Girlfriend
12. Sexy-Interlude
13. Take Our Time
14. Can I Get A Witness-Interlude
15. Switch
16. Sumthin' Wicked This Way Comes

It's interesting to see the beginning of female R&B bands, with a style of music that would later inspire bands like the Pussycat Dolls and Destiny's Child. Also, "No Scrubs" is such a banger.

Of course, this album doesn't contain the track "No Scrubs." Actually, no song is as good as that one. "Waterfalls" and "Creep" sound pretty dated, and the other tracks are nothing to write home about. 

So an album that I wouldn't label timeless or essential, but fun nonetheless.

RATING: 3/5