Customer Reviews

Love vs Money

5 star:		(37)
4 star:		(9)
3 star:		(5)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

The-Dream had the misfortune of releasing his lauded, though underrated 2007 debut during the busy fourth-quarter of the year, in which debut artists normally get swallowed by big-time releases from well known artists being purchased for Christmas. That is exactly what happened, as the talented singer/producer's LOVE/HATE debuted at #30. I don't remember the numbers he posted (somewhere in the 60-70K range I'd estimate), but they weren't representative of his talent, though that could be said of so many who have come and gone in/out of the industry. Despite horrible odds stacked against LOVE/HATE, it managed to go gold after a number of strong singles including "Shawty is Da Sh**" (feat. Fabolous), "Falsetto", and my personal favorite "I Luv Your Girl". What was striking to me is how people could possibly sleep on what was one of the most unique R&B releases in some time, strung together as a narrative almost, an approach the dream would use on Mary J. Bliges's Grammy winning GROWING PAINS. But theories aside, LOVE VS. MONEY is even stronger than LOVE/HATE and has the chance to make more of an impact - if people get out and buy this fantastic album. It does something I haven't seen a contemporary R&B album do for sometimes - have a consistent album that has not one miss and I mean none. This album is nearly perfect.

I tend to favor neo-soul releases as far as R&B is concerned, but a solid contemporary R&B release like this one is again another inescapable album by The-Dream. First single "Rockin' That Thang" (or "Rockin' That Sh**") is another fine first-single for The-Dream, not dissimilar from "Shawty Is Da Sh**". In my eyes, it may be even catchier than its predecessor, despite inherent similarities in both production and conception. If The-Dream does one thing on this album that was lacking on LOVE/HATE, it is he heightens his songwriting skills while his producing buddy "Tricky" tightens up at the boards.

"Walkin' On The Moon" featuring Kanye West shows this progression. Here style/tempo changes (not-so subtle) help to show The-Dream as an innovative soul in the R&B realm, something that the style needs, particularly contemporary R&B. West sounds fine here, but The-Dream holds down this neo-disco track fine, just to show you his strength. "My Love" featuring Mariah Carey is excellent too, and could prove to be a strong hit on the Pop/R&B charts. If The-Dream makes concessions to commercialism, it is with a track like "My Love", which proves to be less conceptual than some of the more experimental, less commercial tracks from LOVE vs. MONEY. Of course LOVE vs. MONEY is a very commercial album, but it also allows for The-Dream to experiment like a rock star would. Think Prince ladies and gentlemen, only with modern-day styling.

"Put It Down" and "Sweat It Out" are by far the best tracks of LOVE VS MONEY, as hard as it is to pick when every track is strong. Here, The-Dream really stretches out and over these lengthy Tricky-helmed ditties, as an R&B listener, you truly hear different sounds than have been heard/experimented previously. Honestly, The-Dream goes above and beyond what R-Kelly does, showing how relevant The-Dream has become in urban music. "Take U Home 2 My Mama" lays just as well, while the exceptional linked "Love vs. Money" and "Love vs. Money Part 2" are both equally alluring. Production is top rate and The-Dream sounds as if his vocal chops have grown, though they were already solid.

"Fancy" plays on true minimalism with a repetitive piano loop that eventually adds sounds/instruments - brilliant. "Right Side of the Brain" doesn't live up to "Fancy", but as a 4-star track, it has no shame whatsoever in my eyes and just adds more evidence towards the true magnitude that is LOVE VS. MONEY. "Mr. Yeah" and the massively creative "Kelly's 12 Play" are superb while the banging club bonus track "Let Me See The Booty" (feat. Lil Jon) just maybe TOO COOL to appear on any R. Kelly album (not knocking Kelly, but The-Dream is quickly giving him a run for his money!). What more is there to say? LOVE VS. MONEY is by far the year's best R&B album and honestly in what has began as a stale year in many respects, this is one of the very best albums of 2009. I hope to see you nominated for Grammys Dream, it's about time. 4.5 stars.

I was first introduced to The Dream when I heard his song Shawty is 10. Sometimes I liked the song and I would turn it up whenever it was played on the radio and sometimes it got on my nerves. Then I starting hearing The Dream on the remix for other artists..and his lyrics definitely stood out to me.

I bought his album Love Vs Money and instantly fell in love with. I can tell he put a strong effort into this album. The lyrics are a pleasure to listen to, love most of the beats and his album definitely stands out from what's out right now.

Here's my ratings of the songs:

Rockin That Sh** (5)...this is one of my favorite songs on this album. LOVE it!
Walking on the Moon (5) ..another one of my favorites. Love the prince feel to it and Kayne killed his verse!
My Love (5)..I have this song on repeat in my car! I Love love love this song! Mariah lyrics are on point with the concept of this song! Another one of my favorites!
Put It Down (3) ..nice beat. starts off good and then gets corny and much too playful
Sweat It Out (4 1/2)...cute song. nice beat. It has a RKelly feel to it. Love it
Take You Home 2 My Mama ..didn't like it all. corny lyrics
Love Vs Money (4) ..could have been a banger with a different beat. love the lyrics. hate the beat
Love Vs Money Part 2 (5) ..deep song. love it
Fancy (5) ...now this is what I call CREATIVE! Love this song. Smooth, flowing and relaxing beat. Love the lyrics.
Right Side of my Brain (5)..at first I didn't like it, but after I took time and listen to what he was saying I LOVED it.
Mr.Yeah (5) ..cute song. love what he's saying
RKelly's 12 Play ...hated it
Let Me See Your Booty (3) nice beat! lyrics were just okay. I've heard this song soooo many times by every male artist..NEXT!

So overall it was a nice album! 4.5 rating. It won't be coming out of my cd player for awhile.

Amazingly talented he is.. and though he's still an underdog right now, since he hasn't been receiving as much credit as he deserves, I have faith he'll make it way past it all to the Grammy's... album's totally lovable as is his last one... be ready to dance while singing aloud...

The-Dream's career has hardly slowed down, because he and his partner Tricky Stewart have continued to pen a few songs on just about everyone's albums over the past couple of years. But when I heard HIS album Love/Hate, I found it to be yet another example of an artist giving all his good material away and leaving himself with the scraps. Still, I decided to listen to Love vs Money.

The album's title might trick some people into thinking a Dream album actually has substance this time around, but it doesn't seem to be the case. The only song that really stands out is the Mariah Carey duet, "My Love", and by the way, I wonder why Mariah is hitting her famous high notes on HERE but not on her own album (but DREAM shouldn't be doing that; see "Put It Down"). And "Fancy" is tolerable, but most of the rest of the album talks about...yep, you guessed it: sex, sex, and more sex. And the problem lies in the sleazy way he talks about it, as evidenced by "Sweat It Out" and the bonus track "Let Me See the Booty" (with Lil Jon). But what takes the cake is "Mr. Yeah", which is corny enough but then it ends with Dream asking, "Can we F now?"

There's also "Kelly's 12 Play", where Dream brags about how good it is when he and his girl do it to that classic album (that's not a good thing, when you think about it). Songs that aren't about sex don't always work either, as part one of the title track is really annoying because there's too much going on in the background. Dream's singing IS a little better; if only I could say the same for his material (and that "EY!" chant all over the background is beyond irritating). Love vs Money is better than his first album, but that really isn't saying much.

Anthony Rupert

The dream does it again. This is straight FIRE!!! Went to Best Buy this morning...it was sold out! Glad I could get it here, should have come here first.

Twenty years ago if they wanted to make a splash in the R&B charts, almost every R&B singer or group would either go to Jimmy Jam & Terry Lewis, Teddy Riley or Babyface for their lead single for a new album release. While The Underdogs don't come anywhere close to the R&B genius of Jimmy Jam & Terry Lewis, they get the job done. With The Dream & Ne-Yo you have the Teddy Riley & Babyface for the IPod generation. Ne-Yo & Babyface both provide amazing R&B slow jams and have amazing crossover success. While Riley & The Dream have never been, nor will they ever be strong singers. However, both provide good music for other artists and still saving hits for themselves. With his second album, The Dream continues to make a dent in R&B music, even if some of the production start to sound the same, it works to great effect.

1. Intro - Self explanatory.

2. Rockin That Thang - The lead single from the album, which makes me want to groove every time I hear it.

3. Walking On The Moon feat. Kanye West - When I first heard that The-Dream & Kanye were doing a track together, I wondered if the result would be a hit or miss. Much to my surprise the song is a hit, and like many of Dream's songs, Walking On The Moon has an eighties Prince feel to it.

4. My Love feat. Mariah Carey - After the weak Livin A Lie feat. Rhianna from his first album, initially I had my reservations about The Dream doing another duet with a female, especially a diva like MC. Once again The Dream surprised me as he sings this song to the best of his abilities, while Mariah doesn't over sing it.

5. Put It Down - The first real ballad on the CD and its The Dream at his best. Put It Down is easily on par with Luv Songs & Purple Kisses from The Dream's first album.

6. Sweat It Out - Another sexually charged R&B ballad, and while it does get repetitive after a while, it still works.

7. Take U Home 2 My Mama - I really wasn't feeling this song and I think this is a song that should have been given to the R&B group Brutha.

8. Love vs. Money - Another weak one, the beat on this song sounds very similar to Nikki from his previous CD.

9. Love vs. Money Part 2 - If I wasn't partial to the previous, then why would I want a sequel? The Dream seems like a down to earth cut, but he comes off as a drunken angry rapper with this song.

10. Fancy - After two horrid, back to back tracks, The Dream redeems himself with a decent slow jam. When the song starts out, I was expecting an interlude but the song runs a whopping six minutes. A stronger singer would have killed this song, but given his limited vocal range, The Dream makes it work.

11. Right Side Of My Brian - The song seems better suited for Justin Timberlake, but given the deep complexity of the song, I'll let The Dream pass.

12. Mr. Yeah - This was an ok song, but the chorus becomes kind of repetitive.

13. Kelly's 12 Play - After reading about this song in an interview, I was anxious to hear this one. I've always liked slow jams where an artist references another artist (i.e. the slept on Turn It Up by Johnta Austin & the classic Slow Jams by Quincy Jones.) The Dream plays tribute to R&B's original nasty man and I can almost guarantee R. Kelly & The Dream are going to make one hell of a remix.

14. Let Me See That Booty feat. Lil Jon - The original lead single that never really caught on. The Lil Jon hype is pretty much dead, which is why this song didn't really catch on.

Top Tracks

1. Kelly's 12 Play

2. Walking On The Moon

3. Put It Down

4. Sweat It Out

5. Rocking That Thang

Missteps

1. Love Vs Money Parts 1 & 2

2. Take U Home To My Mama

3. Mr. Yeah

The Dream has produced a worthy follow up to his first album. While I would loved Cringing & I Ain't Looking For Love to replace the weaker tracks, Love Vs. Money is still a very worthy follow up. With his second album, The Dream piggy backs on the formula that made his first album a success. While the album has it's share of missteps, the slow jams more than make up for it.

The-Dream's sophomore disc received a rating of 86 on Metacritic (which averages ratings scores from various critics and ranks albums on a scale of 1 to 100). Billboard even stated that he "pushes the envelope" and even made a comparison to Prince. This coupled with the fact that he's written/produced a few smash hits ("Umbrella" Rihanna, "Touch my body" Mariah Carey) made me feel this would be an R&B album with a difference so I got the album the week it was out.

I just don't seem to be hearing the same album all these 5 star review writers on Amazon are hearing. Generic R&B, no envelope pushed, no Prince influences anywhere, just generic R&B. Production-wise, he sounds like Timbaland.

That's not to say it's bad. There are some standouts; "Rockin' that s**t", the upbeat Clubby "Walkin' on the moon" with Kanye west, the lovely ballad "My love" with Mariah Carey (for some odd reason, I keep expecting them both to burst into Mariah's "We belong together" during the chorus; they sound similar), the steamy R Kelly-style ballad "Sweat it out", the similar "Mr. Yeah", and the rather clever piano/string ballad "Fancy" (one of my favourites).

Much like a few other songwriter/producers (Ne-Yo), he's not exactly a brilliant vocalist, but he does make the most of his smooth baby-sounding vocals, especially on the beautiful ballad "Right side of my brain".

There must be some other album these critics are hearing because I don't get it. Simply adequate, nothing more. Then again, much contemporary R&B is dull and lifeless so it's no mean feat to be a champ in a sea of mediocrity.

People who know The Dream know he's primarily a songwriter, that's his key ticket to fame, because he writes for the hottest artists in the R&B game. Since songwriting is supposed to be this dude's specialty, why do many of these songs seriously lack in this department?

1. Rockin That S*** - 5/5. Hot start, great beat and good singing. Lyrics ain't that nice but I can forgive it here.
2. Walkin on the Moon - 4/5. This one's uptempo, good singing and lyrics this time too and thank goodness Kanye doesn't sing on here.
3. My Love - 5/5. Maybe the best song on here, a cool ballad. MC clearly outshines Dream on vocals but this one's got chart-topper written all over it.
5. Put It Down - 2/5. The beat's almost exactly the same as J. Holiday's "Bed," and The Dream even copies Holiday's "Ooh ooh" from that song here. Loses serious originality points and the chorus sucks.
6. Sweat It Out - 1/5. Trash song. Meant for the club exclusively, not even a good love making tune. Lyrics and singing are lousy.
7. Take U Home 2 My Mama - Trash song. See above.
8. Love vs. Money - 5/5. The Dream actually has some poetic lyrics this time and the beat's solid. It's also amazing how better lyrics translates to better and more meaningful singing.
9. Love vs. Money: Part 2 - 1/5. He dropped the ball for part 2 though.
10. Fancy - 4/5. He sings "fancy" kind of oddly, but it's different from the usual and got a good feel to it.
11. Right Side Of My Brain - 3/5. It's ok, but the chorus where he sings the title is lackluster.
12. Mr. Yeah - 1/5. Trash song. See "Sweat It Out."
13. Kelly's 12 Play - 5/5. Love this one, the second best song after Rockin That S***.
14. Let Me See The Booty featuring Lil Jon - 1/5. Trash song. Lil Jon's made better club bangers in the past and so has The Dream (Falsetto's my ish!). I couldn't even make it to the end of this one.

Basically, I prefer artists like Musiq Soulchild and Lyfe Jennings, who can make uptempo tracks, yes, but can also slow it down and have something meaningful to say. I know The Dream is capable of this, but he decided to throw in some club trash to increase album sales and he deserves zero credit for that. Don't buy the album, just give it a listen and download whatever songs on here you happen to like.

I absolutely love this album. I have had it playing in my car on repeat since the day I got it. Walkin on the Moon and Kelly's 12 Play would have to be the two best tracks in my opinion. The Dream's voice is amazing and I never get tired of listening to him.

This cd is a great cd. You can listen to every track on the cd, and not there isn't too many other cds that you can really listen and get into each track. In my opinion every single track on the cd could have been its own single. This will be in my favorite cds categories.