This album was released while Destiny's Child still had its original members LaTavia and LeToya as well as Beyonce and Kelly. Over the period of time around this, LaTavia and LeToya left due to alleged power struggles within the group, were replaced by Michelle and Farrah, and then Farrah left also, leaving the trio that still existed until the announcement of their break-up recently.

TRACK LISTING

MY OPINION

Let's take the hit singles which this album spawned as prime examples of what I'm trying to say here. First release "Bills Bills Bills Bills" tracks a relationship breakdown due to the man taking advantage of a woman's financial situation - the response is that he can get his hands off and "you and me are through." "Bug-a-Boo" (my favourite track!) tells an annoying guy to get out of their life - truthful and to the point. There are no apologies for this, just straight talking. "Jumpin' Jumpin'" is about girls going out and leaving their guys at home, just having a good time - reinforcing the idea of friendship over relationships. The only release to veer off the beaten path is "Say My Name", in which the lyrics clearly show hurt emotions - but the vocal delivery is fairly dispassionate which echoes the themes of the other tunes.

Of course, there is the duff track end of the spectrum and this mainly involves the ballads, as well as an awful gospel version of "Amazing Grace". Don't you go on about God enough without singing about it, girls??? The one exception to the slow song equals bad song rule is "Temptation", a sweet sexy song about being in a club and seeing a man and being tempted - but resisting. With a great deal of difficulty! It manages to remain catchy in spite of its slow speed, and has a scary similarity to the nursery rhyme "this old man"! Sounds a bit odd I know, but give it a listen, you'll get my point!

Back to the album in general,not only do we have cool lyrics and pack-a-punch attitude, we also have unbelievably infectious tunes! Ably assisted in points by Rodney Jenkins, Missy, Kevin "Sh'kespear" Briggs and songwriter extraordinaire Kandi, as well as contributions from the DC gals themselves, this album is full of songs which will make you want to shake your ass, throw your hands in the air and sing along at the top of your voice - especially when you are having man trouble! I would say there is a distinct "if it ain't broke don't fix it" vibe being applied here in that the pattern the songs take musically can be slightly formulaic, but each song has enough individuality to conform to this musical formula, and yet stand alone as a great memorable and overwhelmingly infectious track. The girls can make even a mid-tempo song seem catchier than it really is due to their style of singing - that quickfire-rap-style singing which seems to be their trademark and means they can fit an often extraordinary amount of words into one line. Listen to "So Good" and you'll see my point!