Point Of It All, The - Anthony Hamilton

“The Point Of It All” was released late in 2008 as Anthony Hamilton’s fourth album. It can’t be said to have received as much attention as previous work that he has put out, but this album does feature him working to his typical high standard as he brings his soulful material that brings in elements of contemporary R&B and Hip Hop (amongst other things) and gets help from the likes of Dre & Vidal, Salaam Remi and David Banner.

1. “The ...
...the album up to this point and have pushed boundaries in an unexpected way.

**Four Stars**

6. “Hard To Breathe”

Mark Batson is seen to return for this one as he comes out with one that has him showing how he is able to cope when he is forced to escape his more conventional Hip Hop stuff in order to turn things towards the seventies-inspired Soul material. This wasn’t really in-line with what I enjoy in his ... more

“The Point Of It All” was released late in 2008 as Anthony Hamilton’s fourth album. It can’t be said to have received as much attention as previous work that he has put out, but this album does feature him working to his typical high standard as he brings his soulful material that brings in elements of contemporary R&B and Hip Hop (amongst other things) and gets help from the likes of Dre & Vidal, Salaam Remi and David Banner.

1. “The News”

The album starts off in a manner that I have to say directly appealed to my tastes when it comes to his music as you see that with his incredible voice menaign that the music is going to be strong no matter what, hearing him come through with a tune that has him backed up by heavy Hip Hop beats, from Mark Batson, he gives you a Neo-Soul feel from the get-go of this release to show you what to expect later on.

**Five Stars**

2. “Cool”

It appears that he wants to keep things exactly how they are for this one as you get a joint from him where he is forced to introduce a heavy Hip Hop presence as the Mississippi rapper David Banner comes to assist with the rhymes and make for one of the biggest tunes from the record. It was a perfect choice in the lead single to the album as it brings in those who perhaps wouldn’t have been into his music before, but its a shame it didn’t get as much attention as it should have.

**Five Stars**

3. “The Day We Met”

The weighty beats that came through on the opening are seen to return on this one as he gets down to things and he is made to keep trying to show just how well he is able to cope when he is force out of his typical comfort zone (from what people will know of his music up to this point). It does the job and has him ensuring that he is able to make the most of his vocals to make for something that acts as a bit of a transition before he changes things.

**Four Stars**

4. “Diamond In The Rough”

As Dre & Vidal get on the production and come out with a soothing composition, you find that here you get a song that I felt seemed to be much more in-line with the kind of stuff that I typically expected to find on this release where he ensures that the overall feel of the music is reasonably close to what you tend to find from his raw vocal performance. I can’t say that this kind of thing really appealed to me, but this slow jam isn’t a weak one.

**Three Stars**

5. “I Did It For Sho”

Salaam Remi (known primarily for his collaborations with the New York MC Nas through the nineties) comes to bring the production on this one and he offers one that is stripped down to some basic elements which make Hamilton’s vocals much more prominent and I felt that this led to a bit of a lift to how things have gone on the album up to this point and have pushed boundaries in an unexpected way.

**Four Stars**

6. “Hard To Breathe”

Mark Batson is seen to return for this one as he comes out with one that has him showing how he is able to cope when he is forced to escape his more conventional Hip Hop stuff in order to turn things towards the seventies-inspired Soul material. This wasn’t really in-line with what I enjoy in his music, but I can see the appeal in it and so if you are down with contemporary twists to that throwback material, then you will be into this too.

**Three Stars**

7. “Soul’s On Fire”

You get some live Hip Hop drumming to back up the vocalist as he does his thing here and I felt that even with such a plain break (that could easily have been removed from the set, adds to the recording massively and kept me involved throughout so that I was able to really feel what the artist sang about with his emotive approach that is bound to hit the listener every time it is thrown down and so I saw it as one of the better ones here.

**Four Stars**

8. “Please Stay”

Jack Splash is behind this composition, and he brings one that gives Anthony another opportunity to get down to the sort of stuff that moves into the style of those who he was clearly influenced by as he grew as an artist. I felt that the last track was able to make me see how to view things from another perspective in that you have to look past the production as he comes out with such a strong vocal performance this time around.

**Four Stars**

9. “The Point Of It All”

This is the titular track to the album and it is one that I felt was able to show the most contemporary R&B influence of all on the record and you see just how well he is able to adapt this in order to come out with one that really doesn’t sound too far from his standard Soul material that makes this album what it is. It is a low-paced love song that does all you would expect of it and the low pace gives you the chance to just flow with it all.

**Four Stars**

10. “Fallin’ In Love”

This is the final Mark Batson composition from the album and it is one that I felt stood out with him being behind the production of it as you find that he comes out with one that has a steady swing to it and gets you grooving as he comes out with one that has him singing on his desire to fall in love and just how his mood is leading to the sorts of things that he’s been doing since seeing the girl who has made him feel this way again.

**Four Stars**

11. “Prayin’ For You/Superman”

On this double track, you see that you begin with a rapid tune that seems to breeze by as he gets down to one where he throws down a lively love song that holds together the same themes that have been prevalent on the few songs leading up to this point, and from that point he switches things up for a tune that contrasts significantly form it with much more of a Blues feel coming through.

**Three Stars**

12. “Her Heart”

As he moves on into this ballad, I had to say that I just really wasn’t into this end of what he did and I felt that it although it isn’t easy to place exactly what he has done to change the direction of the music, it is such a huge lead from what you get elsewhere that you can’t miss it and I have to say that I just wasn’t into all of this more commercial Soul material that he brings through for this one.

**One Star**

13. “Fine Again”

The album ends in a strong way as he appears to recover from a massive low on the album to bring things up again with a fly joint that has him bringing a bit more subtle Hip Hop through in the beats and with this it seems to help him out as he comes to bring a tune that effectively rounds up the album with one that seems to represent a lot of what you get from it as a bit of a lift at the end of the record.

**Five Stars**

Although I can’t say I was really all that into his deeper Soul stuff, this was an album that I enjoyed and I felt that it has a lot to offer as you find that he comes with a range of tunes that dip into lots of separate styles that show just what he has to offer. There’s a lot to like here and if you liked previous releases from him then you should feel the same about this.
 

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