Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #623258 in Music
• Released on: 2007-10-30
• Number of discs: 1

Album Description
International pressing of the 2007 album from the multi-platinum R&B sensation featuring one bonus track: 'Let Me Love You' (Acoustic) . The album's first single, 'Crying Out For Me', is produced by Polow Da Don famed for his unique style of production and is one of R&B's brightest stars. His recent work includes Fergie's 'Glamorous' and Rich Boy's 'Throw Some D's On It'. 13 tracks. Sony/BMG.

Amazon.com
Often, young R&B guns go about proclaiming their maturity by slyly tucking a steamy lyric into a late-disc song, say, or busting out a contribution from a rapper with an R-rated reputation. Not so Mario. Right out of the gate on Go, the 20-year-old lets his heretofore virgin-eared listeners have it, deploying the F-bomb repeatedly and with something like fervor. Which is not to say that the song doesn't sound great. In the three years it's taken Mario to get Go going, he's clearly done his share of musical soul-searching. As the track list moves from the sincerity-draped sizzler "Cryin' Out For Me" to the bouncy "Skippin'," shades of Usher and R. Kelly surface, but Mario tempers them with his own calling card, an old-soul perspective. He may be no Alicia Keys, but there's a beauty and believability to songs like the retro-flavored "Right and a Wrong Way" and the autobiographical "Do Right," written for his mother. Whether that helps the demure get right with the seductive "Lay in My Bed" and the unabashedly sexed-up "Let Me Watch," featuring Juelz Santana, remains to be seen. But the faithful should know this: Mario, now a man, has arrived, and his music merits more whirls through the MP3 player than ever. --Tammy La Gorce

Customer Reviews

Go Mario Go!
Mario Barrett's third album "Go" was scheduled to be released in December 2006 but got pushed back time after time. In May 2007 it was days from finally getting released when it was pushed back another time but what happened during this occasion was that most of the songs from the album leaked out and it became impossible for the record company to release them when the album finally saw daylight. Instead we find half of the songs erased and replaced by newly recorded songs, which is a shame since many of the older songs were really good (I'll get back to that later). Mario debuted in 2002 as a 16 year with the album "Mario", the only big hit was a remake of Biz Markie's "Just a Friend" which itself was based on Freddie Scott's classic soul hit "(You) Got What I Need". Mario's second album "Turning Point" two years later also had one hit, The Scott Storch produced "Let Me Love You" but what a hit!, the song spent an amazing 9 weeks at #1 on the Billboard charts and did not only made Mario a overnight sensation but also it's writer Ne-Yo. Unfortunately Mario couldn't follow up the success with that song from his other singles from that album but he showed alot of promise while he was at it.

Third album "Go" has gotten the attention from some of the finest producers around and it's obvious that the CEO's have huge expectations of him this time around. Even if some songs went MIA the new one's are pretty good replacements and the one's that weren't removed are some of the best this year. Having said that, "Go" should become Mario's best album and it got enough good songs for another smash hit. Most songs are ballads or midtempo and in all honesty that's what suits his voice best, a few songs stick out diffrently like the opening title track, with it's effective beat from the Neptunes. As good as the song is, the lyrics are very sexual when Mario sais that "Ain't really tryna meet yo mother, just wanna FU you like no other". Considering how radio stations mostly edit out the foul words it should make no diffrence. Polow Da Don produced one of his best songs with "Crying Out For Me" that is currently climbing on the charts. A well produced romantic ballad in the same class as "Let Me Love You" where the lyrics make references to Superman "But it's time I put on my cape and/Put that S on my chest/Girl I wanna come and save you". In the end You can hear Polow vocoder just like he did on Ciara's "Promise". The producer Mad Scientist make two contributions, "Skippin" and "Music For Love" both decent love songs/ballads, especially the latter. The best song is perhaps "Kryptonite" a midtempo that is the expected third single. Once again Mario want to be superman but all the pretty girls are taking his Kryptonite, a better way to admit you're unfaithful I guess but the song is fantastic apart from that uneccesary Rich Boy verse in the end. Stargate's "How Do I Breath" is ofcourse a ballad, it was the first single and show Mario at his most sensitive. Good song.

Timbaland's "No Defination" is a typical Timba song with it's drums and electro beats but it isn't among his better this year. It's another love song but in faster pace. The same producer that did "Kryptonite" called Warren "Oak" Felder, makes an amazing job with "Why" aswell. Great lyrics and production makes this another standout. "Lay in My Bed" is a song for the bedrooms, romantic but not too memorable. "Right and the Wrong Way" a good Keith Sweat cover is followed by a naughty odd choise called "Let Me Watch" produced by snap music producer Mr Collipark and features Jules Santana. Not one of my favorites even if it's alright. The closer "Do Right" from Akon is what you call a conscious ballad that R. Kelly used to do, The lyrics deal with chosing the right direction in life and Mario explains he's where he want to cause of it while friends chose fast money and got locked up instead, he also make a verse to his mother.

Overall, with or without the old songs, this is an hell of an album and one of the best of the genre on the same level as "Exclusive" and "Because of You". With good songwriting (Mario wrote many of the songs by himself) great production, a unique voice and alot of charm, Mario Barrett will be a performer to count on for a long time forward. Usher and Chris Brown look out!. R&B fans, check this out, it won't dissapoint you.

FYI. Some of the songs aren't available here were a duet with Tyrese called "Who" a ballad called "If that later was given to Beyonce and the sound used for Trey Songz "Can't Help But Wait". Then a Ne-Yo song called "What's It Gonne Be" and "Ghetto Love" from Dre & Vidal.

One of the best RnB albums of 2007
Its the end of the year so I'm giving my top RnB picks.

1)Bobby Valentino - Special Occasion
2)Mario - Go
3)Chris Brown - Exclusive

I listen to alot of RnB and it hard to categorize these into the same category as other great RnB artists this year (Musiq, Jill Scott, Chrisette Michelle). But I think these have the most listenability in my book. My 2007 honorable mentions goes to Jagged Edge and Jaheim, both albums overlooked in my estimation. Biggest dissapointment this year: Neyo (tough to follow up a great first release; not a bad album though, i just expected more).

Now to the Go album.
1. Go - great song it'll force you to dance (10 of 10)
2. Crying Out For Me - like the ending when he hits those notes (8 of 10)
3. Skippin' - really feeling this one (9 of 10)
4. Music For Love - (8 of 10)
5. Kryptonite - not feeling it at first release but now (10 of 10)
6. How Do I Breathe - very pop but hot (9 of 10)
7. No Definition - timbaland does it again (9 of 10)
8. Why - (9 of 10)
9. Lay In My Bed - (8 of 10)
10. Right And a Wrong Way - love keith sweat but (8 of 10)
11. Let Me Watch - catchy beat, song is just bleh (7 of 10)
12. Do Right - corny but passable (8 of 10)

Mario has always felt more pop to me than RnB but if we were to classify this as RnB this would be amongst the top ones this year. Despite most of these songs being released/leaked much earlier this year, I still LOVE this album. I've heard Go, Crying Out for Me, Kryptonite, and How Do I Breathe hundreds of times before copping this album yet I do not skip them when I'm listening to this album. This is a big change from his last album which was just bleh to me. Overall Rating: 9 of 10 (leaning more towards 10)

'Go' For It!
Many recording artists that start off young in the music business try to make their transition to more mature material as smooth as possible so that everybody can see the progression. Mario does an about face and goes full throttle on his third album Go. The biggest indicator before even opening the case is the parental advisory sticker on the album cover, a rarity in R&B music but a red flag that the subject matter isn't going to be the same as his more innocent offerings of the past. And he pulls no punches on the title track "Go," a song where Mario gets ballsy with his language for a ruffneck approach to enticing the female listeners. "Kryptonite" is the other audacious track, with most of the language coming from guest rapper Rich Boy. And "Let Me Watch" is pretty self-explanatory in subject matter, but there's no explaining the horrible flute in the background or Juelz Santana's uninteresting rap. Luckily for Mario, the rest of the album features less overt attempts at showcasing his newly-attained 'Grown And Sexy' status. "Crying Out For Me" is a great single for Mario because it incorporates a lot of his signature sound but slightly modified to appeal to his newer listening audience. "Music For Love" is even more in-line with other adult-oriented contemporaries like Usher and Marques Houston, all artists who've grown up since their years as teen heartthrobs. "Skippin" is a fun ditty where he talks about how the very presence of a certain woman is enough to get him excited. "How Do I Breathe" is the monster single produced by Stargate that everyone fell in love with last summer and provided a glimpse at Mario's more sophisticated side. "No Definition" is a decent offering, while "Why" is a good song with a good energetic flow throughout. "Lay In My Bed" sounds a bit overproduced, but the impassioned lyrics from Mario help to detract from this misstep. Listening to Mario's take on the Keith Sweat classic "Right And A Wrong Way" will not only provide proof for few naysayers of the singer's crooning abilities but you may very well like the new rendition more than the original! He closes out the album with the inspirational "Do Right." Anyone thinking that Mario wasn't the real deal will think twice after hearing this album. And even though there are some miscalculations here and there, Go is definitely his best work to date.