I remember first hearing Faith Evans as a background singer on my favorite Mary J Blige track of all time, "I Never Wanna Live Without You". ..."Baby won't you stay with me a little while", were her words. It was already determined that Faith had talent, as she did the hook to her late husband's "One More Chance/Stay With Me (Remix)". The question was could Faith Evans convert her talent into a good CD. The question was definitely answered by her debut CD, "Faith". Songs like "No Other Love", "You Used To Love Me" and the slow jams "Soon As I Get Home", "You Don't Understand", and "Reasons" still get a lot of airplay to this day. This was definitely her best work. Her follow up CD, "Keepin' The Faith" was just as good but a slight notch underneath her debut. She still had songs to remember on there like the ultimate roller skating jam, "Love Like This", "My First Love", "Anything You Need", the Babyface produced "Never Gonna Let You Go" and "Lately I". Faith took time to show up on Funkmaster Flex's Volume 4 Mixtape with "Good Life" and she did a remix and a video of the same song with Ja Rule, Vita and Cadillac Tah on the "Fast And Furious" soundtrack. Both songs reminded Faith's fans that she could do the uptempo songs as good as she could do the slow jams. Afer droppin' her 1st single on "Faithfully", "Can't Believe" w/Carl Thomas on P Diddy And The Family's "The Saga Continues", people were anxiously awaiting her new CD. The song sampled the beat to the Dr. Dre produced "Phone Tap" which The Firm (Nas, AZ and Nature) did a nice job on. "Faithfully" starts out with the strongest track on the CD, in my opinion, "Alone In This World". This midtempo song samples Biggie's "Who Shot Ya" and actually sounds like a dedication to her late husband. This song is classic Faith Evans. "Alone In This World" is followed by the CD's current single, "You Gets No Love" which features P Diddy and Loon. The a&r definitely made the right choice for this single because this is another good uptempo song from Faith Evans. "Faithfully" has a lot of midtempoo songs. You won't find a lot of slow songs on here as you did on her other CDs. However, the quality of the CD is not affected by this. The song that definitely should be the next single is the nice midtempo song, "I Love You". The song is produced by Buckwild, P Diddy and Mario Winans. This is in a close second for my favorite song on the CD. Other noteworthy songs on this CD include the nice midtempo song "Don't Cry", "Do Your Time", one of the few slow songs, "Brand New Man", "Where We Stand" and "Love Can't Hide". Ladies and gentlemen, if you have been a fan of Faith's two previous CDs then you will enjoy "Faithfully". I agree with reviewer, "I.B." because this CD definitely has an upbeat vibe to it. It is very similar to Mary J Blige's "No More Drama" in that aspect. Any fan of real r&b music will enjoy Faith's new CD.
Faithfully
"Faithfully" was well worth the wait...this is Faith's best album by far. "Back To Love" is her most disco song yet, and sounds fantastic and could become a huge crossover smash. "I Love You" is a classic waiting to happen, and "Love Can't Hide" finds Faith sounding like Ella Fitzgerald. This album steers clear of the sap which weighted "Keep The Faith"--nearly all the songs on this set are up or mid-tempo, and the few ballads are great. "Faithful" is a terrific, gospel-infused interlude, and at two minutes in length should be its own song. "Do Your Time" and "Heaven Only Knows" are very elegant, and almost sound like French pop songs. "Brand New Man" and "Where We Stand" are pure soul. Faith is totally growing as an artist, and one can only imagine what she'll do next. Fantastic!! Only bummer is that the version of "You Gets No Love" doesn't feature her rap.
Despite all of the fast hip-hop tracks, there is a huge element of jazz in her voice and in the songs on this CD (and I love jazz!). She deserves a lot more credit than she gets. I love Faith, and I have to say that she really stepped up with this. I can't say anything else except: BUY IT.
, she does it again
Overall, a very solid CD. From start to finish. I Love You, Where We Stand, Love Can't Hide and Alone In This World... best tracks. Can do without Back to Love [don't really know what she was trying to do with that one.] Otherwise, not as romantic as the first, but more exciting than the second.
Her best album by far
Faith Evans found her way back with this release and although it did not become a huge seller for her, it is her 2nd best album behind her wonderful debut. I'm not sure why the public is so accepting of Mary J Blige but not Faith, who imho is a much better, technically trained singer than Mary (althought I love them both, there is just something more soothing about Faith's vocals in comparison to Mary's).At the time this album was released, I was one of the fans hoping that Faith would finally be able to leave Bad Boy because I truly feel that Puff is not interested in the music biz anymore and has lost his touch as far as being a "hit maker" is concerned.
All that aside, I believe that this was one of the best r&b records released by a female in 2001 and I will continue to be a Faith Evans fan till the end. Although I feel that this album is really good and each song is excellent in its own right, the standout tracks to me are:
I Love You - one of my fave ballads
You Gets No Love - terrific video, catchy song
Can't Believe - beautiful duet & video with Carl Thomas
Burnin Up
Don't Cry
Heaven Only Knows
Sadness is etched in Faith Evans's smoky vocals, an underpinning of regret and the blues that gives her a vulnerability and realness that's compelling. That hint of heartache is perfectly suited for love-lost midtempo ballads, like her 1995 hit "You Used to Love Me," and in many ways Evans (once married to the late Notorious B.I.G.) is a modern-day torch singer. Yet like Mary J. Blige, her sister in sorrow, Evans has added more uptempo rhythm to her moody mix, as evidenced by the thumping first single off her third CD. Set to a banging, West Coast-style beat, "You Gets No Love" (produced by newcomer Michelangelo Saulsberg) is club ready and playful, yet Evans's wistful tone is almost overwhelmed by the bounce. That's why the strongest songs on this satisfying CD are cuts like the lush "I Love You" and the stand-by-your-man anthem "Do Your Time," both coproduced by P. Diddy. She can sing just about anything, but when Evans lets her love light simmer, she creates a smoldering flame. --Amy Linden
