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REVIEWED: Fergie - The Dutchess


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Old 26-06-2013, 12:19
lovelife7292
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Hello again, thank you all for voting. Another landslide victory, this time for the Black Eyed Peas member Fergie's debut solo album, The Dutchess. Enjoy

After having major success with the Black Eyed Peas on their two albums Elephunk and Monkey Business, the band decided to go on a hiatus, allowing the public to receive a solo album from the only female member, Fergie, produced by her friend and ours Will.i.am. With brash, full of attitude lead singles like London Bridge, Fergalicious and Glamorous, her musical direction was reminiscent of another female, a certain Gwen Stefani, so I definitely had a lot of expectations for this album.

It starts off well. The old school, catchy sounds of Fergalicious and Clumsy really show off Fergie's wide range of vocal skills; from raucous rapping to sultry, sexy Jessica Rabbit style smoozing. All That I Got, though a slower affair, has a great chilled out, reggae vibe, as does Mary Jane Shoes, both listenable tracks and a great soundtrack to a nice summer's day.

The infectious chorus of London Bridge gives high hopes that the album is going to keep getting better, but there just seems to be too many lacklustre moments; Pedestal seems too similar to London Bridge in sound, and though brilliant lyrically, it just doesn't have the same impact as other songs on the album. Velvet and Losing My Ground suffer from a similar fate, and its surprisingly the ballads that save the album; Big Girls Don't Cry, her most successful UK single peaking in the top 3, is beautiful and boasts how good Fergie's voice is; Finally is also breathtaking, and hard to think why her voice is mostly autotuned on the latest BEP records when she can sing like this.

Glamorous is another highlight with Ludacris on rapping duties, however Get Your Hands Up and Wake Up appear like BEP cast offs, and the less said about the dodgy sampling of The Temptations' Get Ready on Here I Come, the better. Overall, the album's sound is refreshingly old school, but its too obvious what the main singles are and, with the exception of Finally, the album tracks do not offer anything different from the single releases.

TOP 3 TRACKS = Clumsy, Big Girls Don't Cry, Finally

DUD TRACK = Here I Come

RELATED ARTISTS = Gwen Stefani, Christina Aguilera, P!nk

OVERALL RATING = 6.5/10

Thanks for reading
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Old 26-06-2013, 13:42
Hav_mor91
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Great review. you sort of sum up why i never bought it just seems single heave and clunky and really not worth a purchase.
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Old 26-06-2013, 14:46
lovelife7292
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Great review. you sort of sum up why i never bought it just seems single heave and clunky and really not worth a purchase.
thanks yeah i think the singles are great but theres just not enough to back them up when listening to the album, but Finally is beautiful and she does have a great voice
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Old 26-06-2013, 14:49
Hav_mor91
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thanks yeah i think the singles are great but theres just not enough to back them up when listening to the album, but Finally is beautiful and she does have a great voice
I loved nearly all the singles but as you say didn't seem like much else to make it a great album. And agree its a shame she was underused on late BEP albums.
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