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Album Review
by SashaS
31-8-2001
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| God bless |
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Aaliyah: 'One In A Million'
(Blackground/Virgin)
‘One In A Million’ is a reminder of a star who’s joined the celestial chorus prematurely
Just days after the gorgeous Aaliyah – and I know it for a fact because of the pleasure of meeting the lady – met her tragically untimely demise, and not so long ago her self-titled third album appeared in the stores, a copy of her 1996’s ‘One In A Million’ arrived and, after instant distress, kept me in a state of shock for a while.
Setting cynicism on the sideboard of pessimism that this is a cash-in – the most bankable are dead stars and the sales of her eponymous album rose 400 per cent in the States – I’m glad to report that this is a reissue as the album has actually been out-of-print for several years. Aaliyah was a star on the way to become an international diva of music, films, magazine covers… She appeared to have it all in front of her when she was dragged into our pained memory centres.
Thus, this is a revisit to of a proper beginning, and it is a fair collection. It’s on the R’n’B-cum-hip-hop-lite side, a bit too mechanical in parts and often musically minimal but it us a document of an artiste as a young woman. And she was really young, only 16 at the time this album was recorded but already with a debut two years behind her (‘Age Ain’t Nothing But a Number’ came out in 1994). What ‘One In A Million’ shows is a maturing style.
Most of the songs are co-written by Missy Elliott (who also took care of vocal arrangements) and produced by Timbaland so all the trademark elements were being established. There is a call’n’response ‘A Girl Like You’, a sensual ‘Choosey Lover’, a make-love-to ‘Giving You More’, a slick and chic ‘Everything’s Gonna Be Alright’, and a cover of Marvin Gaye’s ‘Got To Give It Up’ is funked-up to the late 20th century level.
The last one was a single as well as several other tracks that become hits – ‘If Your Girl Only Knew’, ‘4 Page Letter’, ‘Hot Like Fire’ – and our hope is that, future-wise, there are some unissued tracks. Otherwise it is playing these albums worth of songs in awaken hours…
… until we join Aaliyah in a ‘big sleep’.
8/10
SashaS
31-8-2001
Aaliyah’s ‘One In A Million’ and ‘Alliyah’ are out now on Virgin
(Wordage: 389; Fri., August 31, 2001; 13:59:56)
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