Track Listing

1. We Need A Resolution (featuring Timbaland)
2. Loose Rap (featuring Static from Playa)
3. Rock The Boat
4. More Than A Woman
5. Never No More
6. I Care 4 U
7. Extra Smooth
8. Read Between The Lines
9. U Got Nerve
10. I Refuse
11. It's Whatever
12. I Can Be
13. Those Were The Days
14. What If

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #13851 in Music
• Released on: 2001-07-17
• Number of discs: 1

Amazon.com's Best of 2001
Seven years after her debut at just 15 years old, Aaliyah assembled a third studio album that was astonishingly mature. Sadly, her death just a little over a month after its release stilled a promising voice in R&B. At 22, when most artists would just be getting started, Aaliyah had already progressed from pop to street to an unconventional retro-modern, risk-taking version of R&B. While lead track "We Need a Resolution" is as mainstream as it gets, there are fewer hits on this album than on previous efforts. Instead, this collection is an extraordinary romantic exposition of passion and pain. While Missy Elliott is cranking out jams for all her "club freaks," Aaliyah is like a modern-day (if less vocally gifted) Minnie Riperton, exploring the pains of moving from child star to adult sex symbol. Tracks such as "Never No More" and "I Care 4 U" (featuring Missy) are slinky, twisted ballads imbued with film-noir sultriness, as diva Aaliyah steps catlike away from the bubblegum R&B of her contemporaries. There's also the obligatory rock track tacked on near the end ("I Can Be"), but even this excels above the standard hip-hop/rock/R&B crossover fare with its Prince-like influences coupled with Aaliyah's own instinct for seduction. Aaliyah also signaled a move away from her long-standing musical relationship with producer Timbaland, who contributes just three cuts. Having started out heavily supported by R. Kelly, it appeared that Aaliyah was more than able to go it alone. --Jake Barnes

Customer Reviews

Rest In Peace, Baby Girl
Aaliyah's third and sadly last album is one that took me by surprise. I had come to expect the standard pop charts-friendly songs that had brought her to a place of fame. Although uptempo tracks are not my favourites, her songs had proven to be very good. I an act of memorial, I purchased the album.

I discovered an album that was very different from what I expected. As well as several amazingly listenable uptempo tracks, their were some really lovely ballads. The track "It's Whatever" almost makes me cry everytime I hear it. The song sounds so sad, and her voice is so beautiful and fits perfectly.

Many of my friends and my cousin think this album is not that good, but I think they missed the point of this album. Well done Aaliyah, may you rest in peace.

Aaliyah---Still One in a Million
It has now been five years since Aaliyah's last studio album "One in a Million", and I can see that the time off was well spent. The singer did not rush back into the studio trying to catch lightning in a bottle and call it an album, but crafted what is sure to be a top 10 release. On "Aaliyah" the singer explores a range of different musical styles. Though radio didn't fall in love with the first single, "We Need a Resolution," the cut does manage to establish its groove. Even better is the erotic "Rock the Boat" in which the singer challenges her love interest to "work the middle" and "change positions". Another standout track from the album is the smooth "It's Whatever" which seems perfectly in line with Aaliyah's soft, breathy vocal. Also impressive is the socially conscious "Never No More" on which Aaliyah recounts the history of an abusive relationship. In all, Aaliyah labored an brought for a respectable album. Though Alicia Keys she is not, Aaliyah breathes life into this album as only she could. I just hope that I won't have to wait until 2006 for the next.

Eclectic, Smooth, Powerful
It's simply great. Far from the conventional and hyper-commercial albums that have invaded the music industry those days, Aaliyah is undoubtedly one of the best r'n'b album of the year, where Aaliyah's pure voice is underlined by a smooth, effective production signed by Timbaland (on 3 tracks, the irresistibly arabic "We need a resolution", the future hit "More than a woman" and the emotional retro-modern "I care 4 U") and Rapture/Eric Seats (on most of the titles).

Highlights include, not to mention the Timbaland-produced cuts, "Extra Smooth" (my personal favorite) that mixes RnB rhythms with a brilliant jazzy/hip hop atmosphere, "I Refuse" where the powerful lyrics meet orchestral arrangements, the jazzy-inspired "Read between the lines" and the heady "Loose Rap", but each track has its own vibe, its own personality, its own flavor.

At the junction of many different musical genres (R'n'B, hip hop, jazz, ska,...), Aaliyah combines catchy chorus and credible lyrics with a personal and eclectic touch. All in all, this new attempt, her best yet (so much better than the monotonous One In A Million) is a REAL MUST HAVE, that takes ( at last!) contemporary R'n'B to another level.