Once upon a time, in Houston, city of Texas there lived three glamorous, Black American girls with aspirations to become songwriters and receive public recognition as singers. Their determination to succeed to fame in the Rhythm and Blues (R'n'B) genre of the music industry was their DESTINY and singing together like a band was their prosperity. The three songwriters go by the names of Beyonce Knowles, Kelly Rowland and Michelle Williams and together, the trio currently form the legendary band, Destiny's Child.
Okay so originally, Destiny's Child actually comprised four female singers but if I reveal the background history of this female group in depth, the theory becomes exceedingly complex. That's another story that we shall learn together in another review of Destiny's Child's record to be published later.
In 2001, Destiny's Child was cut down from a quartet to a trio of R'n'b singers, namely Beyonce, Kelly and Michelle. This reduction follows Farrah Destiny Franklin's departure from Destiny's Child, after the singer revealed her lack of passion to be part of the group. Inevitably, the three ladies, Beyonce, Kelly and Michelle were now the remaining SURVIVORS of Destiny's Child.
The controversies that these three ladies experienced with ex-members of their team, resulted in Beyonce naming their third album, 'SURVIVOR'. Beyonce Knowles pledged that Destiny's Child will always be SURVIVOR in the modern music industry, dismissing claims that her band was falling apart. No matter what disagreements transpired between former band mates ( Latavia Roberson, Letoya Luckett and Farrah Franklin) who were uninspired to work as a team, Beyonce, Kelly and Michelle will '_....keep on survivin...._' like Charlie's Angels.
Now that the main topic of my review has reached information about the 'SURVIVOR' album, allow me to explain how this CD made it to my collection:
**INTRO: WHY I PURCHASED THE SURVIVOR ALBUM**
Well the answer to the subject matter revolving around myself buying Destiny Child's 'SURVIVOR' is pretty simple. I was deeply impressed with Destiny's Childs' previous musical hits, especially from their wonderful sophomore album ( Writings On The Wall ) that was enriched with plenty of soulful lyrics. Hot R'n'b singles like Bug a boo and Say My Name were classic, commercial hits that drew me into regarding Destiny's Child as being aesthetic, brilliant and majestic.
Back in 2001, I listened to INDEPENDANT WOMEN PART I on the radio and watched the video single for this song on Kiss and MTV Base channels. This was Destiny's Child's representative, lead single for their 'SURVIVOR' album and it was yet another reason for me to cop their third album. I didn't consider this commercial song to be as great as the soulful, musical art that Destiny's Child displayed in previous tracks from their first and second album. This is largely a result of the mediocre quality of the song's lyrics and topics. Nevertheless, the laid-back feel to INDEPENDANT WOMEN PART I, plus a nice video was sufficient for me to explore Destiny's Child discography.
Thus, 'SURVIVOR' became the first of Destiny's Child's records that I examined, hoping to be blown away with beautiful instrumentals, soulful concepts and wonderful singing vocals. Ya know what I mean Ciao Readers? All these musical elements and qualities that made Destiny's Child's first two LPs magical and spiritual, connecting R'n'b listeners soul to the heart of their tracks that reigned magnificent!
**THUS I WALKED THROUGH THE TRACKS BUT WAS I DESTINED TO SURVIVE?**
That's an interesting question (printed above with surrounding asterisks - **). Well.... sadly to answer the question of SURVIVAL...., as I checked the entire, third album, there was hardly any creative soul except for a few tracks like DANGEROUSLY IN LOVE. In fact, I was deeply disappointed with a some of the tracks on 'SURVIVOR'. Such bad tracks showcase Destiny's Child throwing away their R'n'b soul in exchange for over-dramatic, moronic, pop-singing, making up for a pathetic sound with tragic consequences.
The production for the most part is dreadful too, as Beyonce Knowles is the main supplier of disgraceful beats loaded with awful synthesizers. Beyonce whilst having the potential to be a wonderful singer is in my opinion, an awful producer. I was even lucky to live through some really HORRID beats like the one Beyonce provided for INDEPENDANT WOMAN PART II before my ears would bleed to death.
As a matter of fact, Beyonce Knowles is the producer of practically all the tracks with the exception of PERFECT MAN. There are 18 tracks that contribute to the 'Survivor' album. Adding all these facts into the equation, it therefore follows that Beyonce provided production for approximately 99 per cent of this album. If that is the case, there is bound to be a problem with the sound quality of the music tracks.
Thus, the question is will I survive the whole of the 'Survivor' album without being fatally injured by the lethal sound of bad tracks along the way? Well, for the attention of all you Ciao readers, I must reveal this information in the next section, WHAT I EXPERIENCED. This is where I will give an honest account of what I was destined to hear with respect to lyrics, subject matter and production.
WHAT I EXPERIENCED
For the first time in July 2001, I spun the Survivor CD to determine my Destiny with respect to the effect the album's songs will have on me. I was likely to meet music tracks as being classic equipped with aesthetic lyrical concepts and artistic soulful singing. I was bound to come around songs as being tragic with pathetic subject matter along with catastrophic, lyrical performances. Some tracks were likely to sound emphatic to my eardrums, others were bound to sound lethargic. Ladies and gentlemen, whatever the outcome about to unfold before me, here my STORY OF the 'SURVIVOR' over a MEDLEY of songs described in track-by-track format....
1. INDEPENDENT WOMEN PART I (3:41 min)
My journey through 'SURVIVOR' begins with the adventurous story of INDEPENDENT WOMEN PART I, starring of course Beyonce, Kelly and Michelle. The three INDEPENDENT WOMEN, sing with eachother, riding together like Charlies Angels on motorbikes. I witnessed this upon watching the music video for Independent Women Part I on Kiss and MTV base channels.
Destiny's Child originally recorded INDEPENDENT WOMEN PART I, for the film version of Charlies Angels and proceeded to carry out the execution of the appropriate music video. Thus, Destiny's Child offered Independent Women Part I as a soundtrack for the Charlies Angels movie. However the three R'n'b singers also selected this song as the first single, to represent their Suvivor album'. The track was made available as a record single to British consumers of music in October 2000 and it reached number one in the UK Singles Chart.
Production-wise, Independent Women Part I, was quite appealing to me when I first heard it in 2001 and still is up to this current day in 2008. The production for this commercial song, is derived from a combination of musical ideas from Beyonce Knowles, Cory Rooney (for Cory Rooney Entertainment) and Poke & Tone ( real name: Jean Claude Oliver & Samuel Barnes for Trackmasters Entertainment). None of these producers, especially Beyonce and Poke & Tone are consistently competent at constructing excellent beats, particularly by themselves. But when all three beat-makers contribute their different selection of instrumentals and complement them together within a track, the outcome of the finished production is a magnificent. This was precisely the case as I listened to the musical sound of INDEPENPENT WOMEN PART I and it exemplifies good quality, commercial beats with a soulful edge.
The commercial production begins with a combination of electronic keyboard bass, percussion claps and background pellet drums that signal the introduction to Independent Women Part I. The relaxing composition of bass and drums and makes its transition into a lively collection of bass lines and drum claps, moving at a steady pace. These splendid instrumenentals take me out of my relaxation zone into the direction of head-nodding and dancing my upper body away to the music track.
The three Destiny's Child members, especially Beyonce as the frontline singer, show a lot of spirit in their vocal delivery, bringing harmony to my eardrums. Destiny's Child also manipulate their vocals really well to flow with the beats provided for Independent Women Part I.
However, the main drawback of the Independent Women Part I track is Destiny's Child's lyrics focuses on a subject matter that is cliche and uninteresting. The R'n'b singers, mostly Beyonce, boast about owning cars, diamonds, houses, money and shoes and other materialistic possessions making themselves sound egotistic.
[Beyonce Knowles (Kelly Rowland & Michelle Williams)] '_....The shoes on my feet_ I've bought it The clothes I'm wearing I've bought it The rock I'm rockin'....'
....The house I live in I've bought it The car I'm driving I've bought it....'
One word - yawwwwn.....
Beyonce's lyrics (displayed above) are WHACK due to the presence of uncreative topics about luxury items and at times throughout the Independent Women Part I track her rhymes become repetitive.
Moreover, Beyonce being the lead singer of the band, is liable to sink her fellow Destiny's Child members down with her into the Atlantic Ocean of materialistic crap. Kelly and Michelle follow the same lyrical path as Beyonce as they sing the chorus, sadly making Destiny's Child rhyme badly as a whole. Thus, Destiny's Child's ideas of being INDEPENDENT WOMEN is formulaic, being based on materialistic, braggadocio rhymes that send the wrong message to music fans, particularly young girls.
Nevertheless, from my own perspective of INDEPENDENT WOMEN PART I, the positive elements outweigh the negative aspects of this song. I was between 6/10 and 7/10 for this track but eventually settled for a 6/10 rating. If it was not for the pleasant production and fine execution of vocal delivery, the redundant subject matter from the three singers leaves A LOT to be desired!
Rating: 6/10
2. SURVIVOR (4:14 min)
SURVIVOR was the second single that the three independent women (i.e. Destiny's Child), released in February 2001 from their third album with the same title. Like the first single or first track off 'Survivor' (independent Women Part I), Survivor reached the number one position in the UK Single Chart, receiving public recognition by mainstream fans.
The music video for this track displays footages of Beyonce, Kelly and Michelle aiming to become SURVIVORS, lying rough on an island "somewhere in the South Pacific...."
Right, its time for me to carry out an inspection of the standards of the rhymes and production to determine whether SURVIVOR was written to perfection....
To begin with, the SURVIVOR song is extremely overrated in my opinion, despite the fact that it received recognition as a hugely popular track approximately seven years ago. Beyonce is incredibly repetitive as she double rhymes profusely in all of her verses and lyrically she is also uncreative due to the high incidence of monosyllables. The monosyllabic rhymes make SURVIVOR among the most catastrophic and simplistic song to condemn human eardrums, at least mine. Some of the lines that Beyonce utters in her verses are especially lame........ and shallow. I mean.... what kind of rubbish braggadocio is '_....you thought I wouldn't sell without ya, sold nine million...._'?
Kelly Rowland and Michelle are no better either as they exhaust their vocals, simply by screaming filler lines like '...._Oh(Oh)Oh(Oh)Oh(Oh)Oh(Oh)Oh(Oh)Oh(Oh)Oh(Oh)Oh(Oh)_....'. Furthermore the way these two band members join lead singer, Beyonce to scream out the horrible chorus is very annoying and unbearable for my ears. The hook sounds so over-dramatic and frenetic it feels like moronic, little teenage girls doing time for antisocial behaviour performed it.
The condition of SURVIVOR, is made even worse by the coalition of Beyonce Knowles for Music World Productions Inc. and Anthony Dent for Chaze Music. Both producers construct a cluttered production that has too many different music instruments playing simultaneously. Not suprisingly it is very uncreative and sounds too busy for my liking. The production uses a heavy dose of LOUD synthesisers, including synthesised drum snares fused with keyboard percussion kicks that are very poorly defined. According to my eardrums, the synthesisers were flying all over the place like crazy seagulls fighting in the sky, surrounding an island where Destiny's Child reside. Furthermore, I can also detect male vocals in the background that are as annoying as the terrifying sound of raging thunder. Overall, this horribly synthesised beat brutally shocked my eardrums like a lightning strike!
Ironically, I must thank Beyonce in this context because she organised this song in response to a DJ's claim that Destiny's Child is steadily losing more of its members (see INTRODUCTION). But overall, from my perspective, this SURVIVOR song was just a mess with its repetitive inclusion of monosyllables sung over repulsive production.
So the question is will I '_....survive, keep on survivin...._' after my ordeal of struggling to stay alive through this irritating track. Well, lets see how Destiny's Child will determine my fate and what it will be as I walk through track 3.
Rating: 2/10
**Transition from SURVIVOR to BOOTYLICIOUS**
As I investigate more of 'SURVIVOR' going from one track to another, my experience of hearing his album continues to deteroriate. Beyonce spits some meaningless garbage right after SURVIVOR and right before BOOTYLCIOUS using a strange accent that I find pointless:
'_...I will survive being fine_ '_...I will survive being sexy_ '_...I will survive being booty-licious!...._'
Huh????
**End of transition from SURVIVOR to BOOTYLICIOUS**
3. BOOTYLICIOUS (3:27 min)
BOOTYLICIOUS was the third consecutive track off the album that Destiny's Child selected as their third single to follow their previous single, SURVIVOR. Like its predecessor,'''Survivor''', Bootylicious was a major success as a single in the US and UK charts.
Similarly to the atrocious Survivor, BOOTYLICIOUS is a hideous song with incoherent lyrics that I hated the first moment I heard it in June 2001. The dreadful video for BOOTYLICIOUS that I watched on TV, didn't help either as the audition of singing, execution of lyrics and condition of the production were all messy. How this song managed to enter the top 20 on the US and UK charts with its AWFUL production is beyond my comprehension. In the official UK singles chart, it peaked at number two while in the US Billboard Hot R&B/Hip Hop songs, it also reached the same position.
Beyonce Knowles works along side Rob Fusari who plays his role as a co-producer for White Chocolate Productions. The beat that these two producers provide for BOOTYLICIOUS is far too busy, confusing and heavily seasoned with synthesisers to be delicious for my eardrums. The synthesisers have the composition of pop-influenced, electronic bass lines and percussion claps that are cluttered and throw my mind into a state of confusion. This musical instrumentation that Beyonce and Rob string together, exemplifies commercial, bubblegum production that fails to hold my attention.
The lyrics that Beyonce, Kelly and even Michelle sing for Bootylicious, are so ludicrous, I refuse to talk about them in detail. Destiny's Child's rhymes are sloppy as they contain filler lines that make no sense whatsoever even when pieced together to form a verse. They mean practically nothing other than the fact that Destiny's Child '_....don't think you're ready for this jelly ..,._' that I think just sounds silly. The fact that this line is sung three times to represent the hook for Bootylicious is especially ridiculous as it makes the three Destiny singers sound monotonous.
I honestly can't believe that Destiny's Child singers who impressed me with the innovative Writings On The Wall, deliver incredibly shallow, uncreative rhymes like:
Where's the heart and soul in these lyrics? The sh*t doesn't even rhyme properly!
Overall, the musical taste of Bootylicious is obnoxious and tedious, almost like licking the sole of women's black, leather boots. Not that I would know the taste of women's BOOTS but man...., these footwear have got to be more delicious and luscious than experiencing the taste of Bootylicious.
Rating: 1/10
4. NASTY GIRL (4:17 min)
After approximately 11 minutes and 22 seconds ('''11:22 min''') of my wasted journey from an average to a poor track, via a medicore one ( tracks 1 - 3 ), I finally encountered a great track....
The quality of my travel through this album finally picks up as I meet a NASTY GIRL at track 4. This track was the fifth and final single from 'SURVIVOR' and Destiny's Child released this song in April 2002. Back in spring 2002, I was pretty shocked to see a music video for Nasty Girl, because shortly after releasing Emotions as the fourth single, Destiny's Child dropped their next album 8 Days Of Christmas. So I expected Emotions to be the final single representing the SURVIVOR album. Unlike Destiny's Child's preceding singles, NASTY GIRL was not marketed as a single in USA, only in the UK.
On NASTY GIRL, Destiny's Child express their views on certain young women who dress in sleazy, vulgar clothing such as revealing pantyhose stockings. The message behind Destiny's Child's lyrics is that females going out in public, wearing erotic clothing place themselves in dangerous situations of men having bad anticipations of women. Thus, Beyonce takes on the role as a spokeslady to urge women to stop appearing physically freaky, nasty and trashy as this affects the dignity of other, respectable women. Beyonce's lyrics also targets women who have NASTY habits of having affairs with various men as ways of desperately trying to treat their insecurity.
As far as this subject matter goes, Beyonce takes the general lead as the frontlne singer while her fellow band members are confined to ad-libbing. Beyonce gets NASTY as she sings critically against poorly, dressed girls with lines like:
[Beyonce Knowles] '_....Hard...for women like me who try to have some intergrity...._ You make it hard...for girls like myself who respect themselves and have dignity You nasty girl, you nasty, you trashy You classless girl, you sleazy, you freaky
This is arguably the Beyonce's BEST lyrical performance that I have encountered so far as I progress along 'SURVIVOR' via the NASTY GIRL song. I will even go as far to say that the creative lyrics above, make Beyonce sound superlative.
I actually like Destiny's Child's performance on Nasty Girl because it reminds me of the quality of their second album that made them so great. Beyonce makes full use of her distinctive voice to bring out a creative flow of singing that I find interesting to listen to ---- check. Beyonce rhyming better, bringing intelligent subject matter, singing boldly and gracefully at the same time ---- check. Kelly and Michelle singing beautifully in the background, providing urban vocals with R'n'b flavour that taste like American apple pie to my ears ---- check. Beyonce's catchy chorus deliciously served like sugary smarties on my tongue ---- check. Wonderful music production that contributed to my experience of connecting with NASTY GIRL through my mind in soulful fashion ---- check. Nasty Girl is one of the outstanding tracks of 'SURVIVOR' that carries intelligence, magnificence and substance and that Ciao readers is what Destiny's Child is really about!
Lastly four is my lucky number so it was a pleasure of me to accomplish my destiny in encountering an impressive song like NASTY GIRL at track 4.
Rating: 9/10
5. FANCY (4:12 min)
After my pleasure of meeting Nasty Girl, I came across another nice R'n'b track that I was destined to FANCY with regards to fine beats and lyrics. This song that I am fancying and feeling reasonably passionate about goes by the name Fancy. It represents the fifth track on the album and so I guess five must be my lucky number as well.
Production-wise, FANCY welcomes me into the heaven of Charlie's Angels with classic Bartok violins and faint background claps that send my spirits flying over the ocean. This magnificent combination of instrumentals, represent the introductory phase for the first 17 seconds into the track. After seventeen seconds, the initial production theme explodes into a refreshing melody of soothing keyboard bass, relaxing background violin notes and percussion snares.
I have to admit, Beyonce really does an aesthetic job with the musical elements of her production scheme when she sticks to her original R'n'b vibe. But when she goes for pop synthesisers just for the greedy sake of making cake, her heart and soul in being a good producer goes flying outside the window!
Lyrically, the subject matter of Fancy revolves around a certain kind of female or girl that the Destiny's Child singers dislike. Beyonce goes into profundity to describe the girl's jealousy saying to the girl '_....you wanna use me for what I got...._'. She raises this issue for all the times she and her group have '_....always been so nice...._' to the girl. Yet according to the rhymes, the female takes Destiny's Child singers' '_....kindness for weakness...._' too many times.
One thing that I personally enjoyed about the lyrics is that all three members of Destiny's Child engage in the subject matter . In short, Beyonce, Kelly and Michelle sing together like a team of R'n'b singers, not Beyonce monopolising the vocals like she did on Survivor.
Destiny's Child's lyricism is well written too as I observed on the Internet and I also find it entertaining to listen to on wax, as their delivery is quite scintillating. The charismatic delivery of the R'n'b singers lyricism and vocals blend with the musical rhythm of the instrumental perfectly. In short, the lyrics are captivating for my eyesight.
Overall, Destiny's Child's FANCY never once cheated on me and I really enjoyed my fantastic relationship with this majestic, female R'n'b song from Destiny's Child. I also FANCY this track to the extent that it harvests repeated listens from me.
Rating: 10/10
6. APPLE PIE A LA MODE (2:58 min)
My magnificent experience and predicament of listening to 'SURVIVOR' through tracks 4 and 5, vanishes as I enter APPLE PIE LA MODE. All of a sudden, the musical environment around me changed quickly. I felt like I was in sitting at a table in an American diner, with an unnappetising mess of APPLE PIE slammed right in front of me.
The first thing that came to my mind as I listened to the Destiny's Child singers perform on Apple Pie La Mode is filler. Initially I did not like this song at all owing to the boring production combined with the fact that it is very short. However ever since I started examining Destiny's Child's lyricism more closely, the song has grown on me and it has become a bit more, tasty to my eardrums.
Beyonce's lyrics are nicely written upon my visual examination. Beyonce Knowles showcases her in-rhyming skills and wordplay, enclosing a surprisingly adequate number of pollysyllables, especially for the first verse.
[Beyonce - 1st verse] '_....Are you married cause your very very exordinary, kinda scary_ I want your name in my vocabulary
The aspect of Beyonce's lyrical performance that I find genuinely special is how she adopts a third person approach to describe a man '_....entering the club with love in his eyes...._'. And she questions the man about his goals and motivations for the future in the form of singing '_....tell me your dreams and your aspirations_....'. These lyrics carry a conversational tone that reflects the social life of a relationship between a man and a woman in the real world. Kelly and Michelle are confined to the hook where they sing '_....your chocolate covered, strawberry, apple pie a la mode_....' to metaphorically describe their '_....lullaby love...._' of a man.
Inevitably the intelligent subject matter that Beyonce portrays should make Applie Pie La Mode an excellent song, but the lame production prevents that. This is where Beyonce and Rob take the criticism for their role in supplying the beat. The beat sounds rather exhausting and simplistic with its sleep-inducing bass decorated with digital alarm loops that feel pessimistic to say the least. In short, the production tastes like a mutilated Applie Pie that was previously half-eaten by a dog and made soggy by rainwater from the sky.
I would rather have a bowl of vanilla ice cream topped with HP barbecue sauce and Heinz tomato ketchup than listen to the dull instrumental again. If it was not for this bad standard of production, I probably could have awarded Applie Pie La Mode an 8/10.
Rating: 5/10
7. SEXY DADDY (4:06 min)
The pattern of my destiny in meeting filler tracks with appalling lyrical content continues as I meet SEXY DADDY.
Beyonce and Damon Elliott (for Elliott Entertainment) lace an experimental production that is quite unique to the collection of musical elements throughout the 'SURVIVOR' album. Their production carries an alternation of fast-moving techno, reggae bass lines and slow-moving, soft-toned drum machines..... and I HATE IT!
The subject matter that Destiny's Child delivers is obviously about Sexy Daddy to whom they say '_...I think it's your lucky night...._'. But the subject matter is very poorly executed due to lazily written rhymes that are COMPLETELY repetitive for the whole of the track. I mean.... the way the three girls rhyme their words, are so hideous and ridiculous, I dare not show it to you Ciao readers. But just imagine a naughty schoolboy writing the same sentence 200 times on the blackboard in detention. That's what the layout of Destiny's Child's Sexy Daddy lyrics look like on the Internet and to say the least they are NOT a pretty sight for my eyes. In short, the lyrics suck.
This Sexy Daddy track and the preceding one, Applie Pie La Mode have pretty poor beats. Both tracks are driven on electronic keyboard bass, but the bass lines are used all wrong.
It's pretty clear from my thoughts about SEXY DADDY that I obviously don't FANCY this track.
Rating: 0/10
8. PERFECT MAN (3:41 min)
Produced by Rapture Stewart and Eric Seats for Key Beats Inc.
Rating: 8/10
9. INDEPENDENT WOMAN PART II (3:45 min)
Now INDEPENDANT WOMAN PART II is just another very horrible song by Beyonce and her so called Charlie's Angels friends, Kelly and Michelle. I found this song so disgraceful from a lyrical and instrumental standpoint that it makes me think of Independent Women Part I as being 100 per cent beautiful. Independent Women Part II is a very foul remix of the original prequel version that was released as a single.
Destiny's Child's topics about '_....drive my own car and spend my own money_....' is so stupid, I feel reticent to talk about it. But one statement that I think is pertinent enough to describe these lyrics is that they are arrogant and cliche, exemplifying crap commercial music.
Beyonce lures Kelly and Michelle into the death trap of sounding egotistic, singing crap like '_....if you pimp him ( male ) I congratulate you...._' in profundity. The way she writes her rhymes, as I observed on an Internet site is funny in a bad way too. Her rhyming as usual is simplistic and is sorely lacking in clever similes or metaphoric wordplay to make her materialistic verses sound reasonably good.
Beyonce's attempts at being a producer for this particular track is laughable with all those terrible, cartoonish bass lines hopping all over the place like bunnies. The cartoonish bass lines move awkwardly with claps of cymbals that may I mention, sound like someone is farting through constipation. Keeping that in mind, Beyonce tops her whack production with animated cracks of cartoon flutes that make the track sound even more, corny on my eardrums. In addition, the production as a whole sound like Destiny's Child recorded this track with Daffy Duck and Porky Pig in Warner Brother's Looney Tunes Studio. Or as a matter fact, make that Animaniacs and Tiny Toons!
I would rather receive a nice, strong kick up the a*s by an INDEPENDANT WOMAN wearing knee-high, sharp pointy boots than hear this awful track again.
Rating: 0/10
10. HAPPY FACE (4:19 min)
Produced by Beyonce Knowles for Music World Productions Inc.
Rob Fusari for White Chocolate Productions
Rating: 7/10
11. DANCE WITH ME (3:43 min)
This is a tedious track with yet more repetitive lyrics and a lame electronic, bass-driven tempo that puts ME to sleep.
DANCE WITH ME also suffers from the fact that Kelly Rowland and Michelle Williams are virtually absent from this track. If Dance With Me was recorded solely for a Beyonce's solo album, this would be acceptable. But for the attention of Destiny's Child as a band, I think it was a terrible decision for Dance With Me to make the cut to the 'SURVIVOR' album. This goes especially for the fact that song is definitely substandard anyway.
The track doesn't give me the inspiration to want to DANCE any part of my body to it as the production is too uninspiring to keep me at attention. Beyonce with Soulshock & Karlin for Soulpower Productions lace pop-influenced, deep bass lines that lack creativity or any kind of variety to them.
Beyonce's delivery is also uninteresting and Dance With Me is rather boring, like trying to DANCE in clogs to that Crocodile Shoes single by Jimmy Nail. Beyonce writes a song about a man asking to DANCE with her, but her rhyming skills is mediocre on numerous occasions. All in all, I'm not feelin' this DANCE track.
Rating: 4/10
12. MY HEART STILL BEATS (FEATURING BEYONCE) (4:08 min)
Produced & Arranged by Walter Afanaiseff
Co-Produced by Beyonce Knowles for Music World Productions
This is a soppy ballad song where I am more than likely to hit the SKIP button. The instrumental and vocal by Beyonce are too dull to be of any interest to me. The absence of Michelle and Kelly so that Beyonce can monopolise the vocals also contributes to the low score.
Rating: 2/10
13. EMOTION (3:56 min)
Produced by Beyonce Knowles for Music World Production Inc. and Mark Fiest for the real MF Productions
Co-Produced by Matthew Knowles for Music World Productions
Rating: 7/10
14. BROWN EYES (4:36 min)
Produced & Arranged by Walter Afanaiseff
Co-Produced by Beyonce Knowles for Music World Productions
The production is an absolute disaster and diverts my attention away from Destiny's Childs subject matter. It is so hideous, it is indescrible even for a detailed reviewer like me, but ironically it saves me from actually hearing Beyonce's terrible lyrics. Kelly and Michelle's voices are completely masked by Beyonce's forced vocal delivery and squalid ballad-like production.
I would rather get slapped in the face and booted up the butt*cks by an angry women with BROWN EYES than listen to this track in general.
Rating: 1/10
15. DANGEROUSLY IN LOVE (5:06 min)
The classic moment of the 'SURVIVOR' album arrives as I become DANGEROUSLY IN LOVE with track 15, a fantastic moment of my jouney.
Beyonce Knowles and Errol "Poppi" McCalla Jr. for Music World productions team up together, to craft the most dangerously excellent beat of their career! Their production is absolutely astounding due to a beautiful harmony of Latin American guitar strings that rage DANGEROUSLY through the song. I can hear various guitar strings playing at different levels, but the arrangement is so discrete and professionally done it magically fascinates me as an R'n'b listener.
Kelly Rowland and Michelle Williams provide the background vocals to complement Beyonce's and Errol's instrumentals, making up for a magnificent sounding song. However, acclamation must especially go to Beyonce because she really surprised the HELL out of me with this production effort. I wished I could listen to Beyonce lace a fantastic instrumental like this for many other tracks like Bootylicious to make 'SURVIVOR' a classic, magical experience for me.
As Beyonce sings along the guitar riffs, she delivers a truly passionate subject matter about her LOVE of a man in this wonderful song. I can sense the genuine emotion in her voice and she carries out the execution of her rhymes with perfection. Even her hook is more than amazing enough to grab my attention instantly as she switches up the flow of her vocals to stressfully admit:
'_....I am in love with you (in love), you set me free_....'
Dangerously In Love is the best piece of music on the otherwise non-classic 'Survivor album and that is no question. Destiny's Child should have released Dangerously In Love as a single and arranged a video for it, not that atrocious, worthless Bootylicious bullsh*t.
Rating: ++10/10
16. THE STORY OF A BEAUTY (3:31 min)
Produced by Beyonce for Music World Productions, Inc.
The band of Destiny's Child singers try to get introspective as they tell THE STORY OF A BEAUTY who was raped by a man but their rhyming is uncreative.
The track also registers as boring and rather uninteresting due to a garbage fairy tale instrumental that doesn't fit with the overall concepts of the song. The standard of rhyming and singing is mediocre too.
Rating: 4/10
17. GOSPEL MEDLEY (Dedicated to Andretta Tillman) (3:24 min)
Produced an arranged by Beyonce Knowles for Music World Productions Inc.
Rating: 9/10
18. OUTRO (DC-3) THANK YOU (4:04 min)
Produced an arranged by Beyonce Knowles for Music World Productions Inc.
Rating: 3/10
CONCLUSION
'SURVIVOR' appears to be the worst record in Destiny's discography, standing at just two stars compared to all of their other albums that I would rate 5 stars.
Too many of the album's tracks are either poorly designed club tracks, trying too hard to make Destiny's Child act like POP singers or are just simply fillers. In this context, its mostly the case of bad songs being infested with self-centered subject matter or lazily written lyrics, sung over squalid beats. Bootylicious and Sexy Daddy are the songs that mostly enter the equation of clumsy club tracks written to a very lazy standard. The beats on other tracks like Brown Eyes are in very bad condition and among the poorest production to touch my ears.
Fancy, Happy Face, Dangerously In Love and Gospel Medley are some good songs that shine through most of the nonsense on 'Survivor' album. If I put this into perspective, 'Survivor' could have been a creative R'n'b album if other tracks followed the formula of those amazing four, productive tunes.
I will admit, Beyonce does have her good moments as a beat-maker when she concentrates more on R'n'b vibe and I give her credit for that. But for much of the 'Survivor' album, she gets over excited with her instrumentation, resorting to repetitive pop synthesisers that render her songs an abomination.
Unlike the last two albums, 'SURVIVOR' finds Beyonce's awkward style of instrumentals guiding Destiny's Child into cheap, heavily synthesized, formulaic pop, making the tracks sound generic. Nasty Girl and Fancy are some of the few exceptions from this rule, because they find Beyonce reverting to her R'n'b roots. Other no name producers like Damon Elliott and Rob Fusari who worked with Beyonce Knowles behind the boards, failed to raise the standards of numerous beats.
Granted that Beyonce would love to blossom as a producer in addition to being an established singer. But next time I pick up a new Destiny's Child album, I'd prefer to hear the instrumentals from experienced producers like Dwayne Higgins, Kevin Briggs and Wycleff Jean. These qualified beat-makers have the class and innovation to match the vocals of the three Destiny's Childs singers with heart-warming R'n'b production at its finest. This was precisely the case on 'Writings On The Wall'.
Yo peace I'm out. Respect.
FOR THA RECORD
In summer 2001, I bought the 'SURVIVOR' album on an isolated island while I was on holiday in the South Pacific. I traded 11 coconuts and 99 palm dates in exchange for Destiny's Child's 'Survivor' album priced at £11.99 pence.
APPENDIX
Best beats: DANGEROUSLY IN LOVE, NASTY GIRL - the only track whose classic beats is a true survivor! Worst beats: INDEPENDENT WOMEN PART II, SEXY DADDY, BROWN EYES
Best video: EMOTION Worst video: BOOTYLICIOUS - Man, I really HATE that stupid video single!
Overall rating for album: 8/10
Total marks = 89, 18 music tracks * 10 = 180
88/180 = 4.9/10 = 2.45/5 = 2/5 = 2 stars
More details
How does it rate alongside the competition
Unmemorable
Cover / Inlay Design and Content
Satisfactory
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