Customer Reviews

Mahogany Soul

5 star:		(67)
4 star:		(26)
3 star:		(7)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

First of all, I would like to apologize to all of the Angie Stone fans that told me that this CD was definitely one that was worth being in heavy rotation. Ladies and gentlemen, when I first bought "Mahogany Soul", the CD stayed on Track #17. I am not going to tell you how many times I played the "Brotha" Remix and then put the CD back in the case. I enjoyed the original version but the remix definitely caught my attention more than the original. With Alicia Keys and Eve joinging in to help make this remix one to remember, that's all I could find myself playing. About a month ago, I started playing this CD in it's entirety and let's just say that I am glad that I did. "Mahogany Soul" is definitely more than just the "Brotha" (Remix). The 1st song on the CD, "Soul Insurance" get this CD off to a good start and it sets the pace for what is yet to come on the CD. There are several songs that are in the running for the best song and they all for the most part fall in line with her debut CD "Black Diamond". I have been reading a few reviews on different websites and it seems that Angie isn't getting the props that she deserves. Believe me, this is definitely a CD that should be in your collection. My current favorite song on the CD is "Wish I Didn't Miss You" which takes the beat from The O' Jays' "Backstabbers" and Angie rips it with her vocals. I am a huge fan of 70s music so once I heard this song I was hooked. "The Ingredients Of Love" w/Musiq Soulchild is also another tight song and a nice collaboration between the Neo Soul artists. "What U Dyin' For" has Angie letting a man know that it is basically "time to move on" with your life because the woman that was in your life is gone. Ali Shaheed Muhammad, formerly of A Tribe Called Quest and Lucy pearl, lays down a nice track on this song. Other noteworthy tracks include "Soul Insurance", "Bottles And Cans", "20 Dollars", "Snowflakes", "Mad Issues" and "More Than A Woman" w/Calvin. When Angie sings you can tell that she is a seasoned veteran in the game eventhough she has just been getting recognized over the past few years. Her switch to J Records was a smart move though and you know Clive Davis will make sure her career stays on the right track. If you are an Angie Stone finatic make sure that you check out the Disappearing Acts soundtrack. She has a track on there called "Got To Get To Know You Better". It is classic Angie Stone. "Mahogany Soul" is a step up from "Black Diamond" if you ask me. I would recommend this CD to all of the Neo Soul fans out there. Here is the correct track listing:

1) Soul Insurance
2) Brotha (Original Version)
3) Pissed Off
4) More Than A Woman w/Calvin
5) Snowflakes
6) Wish I Didn't Miss You
7) Easier Said Than Done
8) Bottles & Cans
9) The Ingredients Of Love w/Musiq
10) What U Dyin' For
11) Makings Of You (Interlude)
12) Mad Issues
13) If It Wasn't
14) 20 Dollars
15) Life Goes On
16) The Heat (Outro)
17) Brotha (Remix) w/Alicia Keys & Eve
18) Time Of The Month (Bonus Track)

MAHOGANY SOUL as Angie Stone's sophomore album after Black Diamond continues her own personalized grasp of neo-soul. With the influx of rhetoric hip-hop tracks from the likes of Destiny's Child, Enimem, LFO, Angie Stone stays true to her roots to give a unique 70s sound with textured themes. Just her first single "Brotha" on racism and xenophobia against black males is enough to justify her talents; her take on Al Green's " 20 Dollars" describes a tragic story on poverty, "So pissed off" has enough angst to drive the frustrations of her life and man. Teamed with sterling producers including Gerald Issacs on the love soul ballad "Bottles and Cans", Raphael Saadiq, Curtis Mayfield et al, Angie Stone puts her husky vocals to sublime effect. Her duet with Musiq Soulchild on "Ingredients of love" a soul-drenched love ballad that is worth a spin, catchy soul pop like What U dying for - are what makes Mahogany Soul more accessible. Yet it never erases the fact that Angie Stone is a class of her own when it comes to being a soul sista. It is a refreshing soundvibe and a deep con-soulation to what soul music is truly all about.

Angie Stone is not a young ingénue and she isn't afraid to sing from an experienced point of view. Ms. Stone's second album, Mahogany Soul, full of songs with mature lyrics and some of the best grooves to come out this year. She samples some familiar beats into her songs, but reworks them to make them sound fresh and original. The best song on the album, "Wish I Didn't Miss You" takes the beat from The O'Jays' classic "Backstabbers", but totally reworks it into a taut groove. She takes a bit from "Lady Marmalade" in the album's opener "Soul Assurance" and gets into an Isley Brothers' early 70's soul-folk sound on "Bottles & Cans". Ms. Stone falls into the neo-soul category, but she has a much more expansive sound that most artists in that genre. "Easier Said Than Done" has a pop sound and "Brotha" is laced with a funk guitar. Songs like "Mad Issues", "Time Of The Month", "Life Goes On" and "Make Love" showcase her mature lyrics as she deals with relationships. Mahogany Soul continues the tradition of the greats like Marvin Gaye, Stevie Wonder and Curtis Mayfield.

This one is a keeper. Angie Stone is one of the few talents around these days to bring real meaning, and true soul to her music. She puts herself into her music, it's a very real thing. Anyone could relate, with tales of relationships gone bad, that paycheck that you never got, etc. But it also celebrates many of life's good things. She gives respect where its due on "Brotha", the lead single, a tight R&B jam that will keep your appetite satisfied, until the next track. The whole album is excellent. Her last album BLACK DIAMOND was a nice surprise, and this one just continues in that same vein, adding new elements into her soulful music. Some highlights include "Pissed Off", "Snowflakes", "Wish I Didn't Miss You", "The Ingrediets of Love (with Musiq Soulchild), "If It Wasn't" and more. If you liked BLACK DIAMOND, you'll love MAHOGANY SOUL. If you're interested in hearing real soul music from someone who's lived it all, you'll love MAHOGANY SOUL. Give this one a whirl, you'll be pleasantly surprised.

I bought Angie Stone's first solo album back in 99' and I thought it was pretty good, but I think that the new one is a must have. Angie Stone deals with a lot of issues on this album and she addresses them in such a way that you cannot help but relate to. My favorites are Brotha( A much needed ode to Black men.), More Than A Woman(Probably my favorite track on the album.), What U Dyin' For(Remember "Bone 2 Pic" from the last album? Well, this is another example of the dopeness you get when you link Ali Shaheed Muhammad with Stone.), Time Of The Month and the remix of Brotha featuring Alicia Keys and Eve. On the first listen, I knew that this would be an album that I would keep in heavy rotation for a while. This album ranks among my top five favorites of the year, so far. Mahogany Soul is like a breath of fresh air, in the polluted industry of generic music posing as "soul". I recommend this album, as well as Stone's previous album, Black Diamond.

Mahogany Soul is outstanding. On this C.D Angie speaks on love that was lost. Whatever he(D'Angelo) did to her she reaches all the way down in her soul to belt out the tunes from 1-18. #18 is a definite women's PMS anthem if I have ever heard one so sit back and let me give you a review, hopefully you will pick it up and relax.......maybe you can relate to how she is feeling....
My favorites are 1-18 but I had to pull some out on the top-
1. Soul Insurance-a nice opening where she is keeping it real
2. Brotha-giving the man props no matter what he is doing to make ends meet
3.Pissed Off-Angie is mad, tripping off of him cause he ain't recognizing what he has, walking around like love don't exsist
4. More than a woman-all I gotta say is listen to the duet, it is dripping with mad lyrics
5.Snowflakes-kinda makes you close your eyes and let the music penetrate your soul-beautiful
6.Wish I didn't miss you-Backstabbers(Ojays) background-in love and hurt trying to get over the feeling
7.Easier said than done-she is basically saying, "I'm through with the lies" I'll belive it it when I see it
8.Bottles & Cans-Oooh Wee!!-Tell me this ain't love-gotta listen for yourself
9.Ingredients of love w/musiq-the recipe is plain and simple and it marinates in 365 days
10.What u dying 4-real smooth
11.Claudine's remake(Gladys Knight)-I'm telling you to trust me on this one, only a real proffesional with some serious soul can touch Gladys-Angie hooked it up
12.Mad Issues-brotha man has some problems with in his self to deal with
13.If it wasn't,14.$20(next time someone wants to borrow your last-play this song), 15. Life goes on,16.The heat, 17. Brotha re-mix are all slamming and pleasing to the ears
18.Time of the month-Definitly the woman's anthem-All I gotta say is ladies-feel this one and let it play, I am sure you can relate to this & brotha's please understand us when we have our time of the month, it ain't nothing personal
Pick it up ya'll-show Angie the love, from 1-18 she is doing her thang!!

Tired of R&B with all that silly video dancing and redundant subject matter? Sick of hip-hop because the only topic of discussion is that tired Jay-Z vs. Nas beef? Then tune in to neo-soul, the no-frills music genre of the moment! And what better way to start it with than Angie Stone's sophomore album Mahogany Soul?

Many neo-soul albums have come before this one, but this one is not only the best album we've heard in the while but the best one that Angie has done. What's the best song on the album? Pick one: "Brotha" shows Angie's love for, well, brothas; "The Ingredients of Love" (featuring Musiq) is a fun duet with neither artist trying to outshine each other (same story with "More Than a Woman" with Calvin); and the ballad-y "Bottles & Cans" is a sweet song that wears its heart on its sleeve.

"Easier Said Than Done" is a great example of Angie turing the played-out "I-can't-take-this-ish-no-more" topic into an enjoyable listen, especially with the playful bassline in the background. But my favorite have to be "Mad Issues" because of the saxophone during the bridge alone. Hey, even the PMS ode "Time of the Month" sounds entertaining, me being a guy. But while that song may only relate to women, "20 Dollars" will relate to EVERYBODY, as it talks about someone constantly asking Angie for money when s/he didnt pay her back from before.

Why only four stars? Well, uh, let's see...the album is kinda long (75 minutes), proving that you can have too much of a good thing. Angie should have saved one or two tracks for soundtrack albums like she did with "Get to Know You Better" and "Slippery Shoes". Also, the "Brotha" remix with Alicia Keys and Eve sounds like it should have been on Ms. Keys's album. Still, this album from Angie shows that that Alicia isn't the only promising star on J Records.

Angie Stone's "Mahogany Soul" signals the return of soul music, with a twist for the new mellenium. Thanks to Stone, Soul music is back, and it is ready once again to bring listeners to their knees and then make them jump up and testify. Angie is for those of us who grew up on--or at least know and respect-- the soulful grooves of Betty Wright, Al Green, and Curtis Mayfield, not the laddie-da tunes of Destiny's Child.
In the cut Life Goes On, Angie draws on the vocal stylings of Betty Wright. This is a welcome treat for those of us who know that the real Miami sound has nothing to do with Gloria Estefan and her Sound Machine. The influences of Miami soul divas Betty Wright and Gwynn McCrae can be heard on Stone's new CD. Stone also puts her neo-soul twist on a remake of Curtis Mayfield's the Makings of You. Other standout cuts include the smooth-grooved Easier Said Than Done, which is laid over an Ojay's tune. And putting the finishing touches on this Mahogany Soul masterpiece, Stone joins forces with Alicia Keyes, another sister committed to forging a new tradition of soul music, and Eve, Ms. Caramel complexion herself. Together, these sisters step up the CD's slower, mellowed tempo and rock on this dance remix of My Brotha.

To me, this is one of the best and most overlooked CDs of 2002. Angie Stone doesn't break new musical ground, but the ground she treads is simply an awesome listening experience. Out of 18 tracks, there are only 2 or 3 I regularly skip, and they're not bad, just not my cup of tea. The first three songs are good, but to me the album really picks up at #4, "More Than A Woman," and has a GREAT stretch straight through to #13, "If It Wasn't." (The track listing on Amazon is incorrect). It's just amazing to me that some of these melodies haven't been used before. Particularly "Snowflakes"...just an awesome, awesome song; one of those that makes your stomach tense with emotion. "Bottles & Cans" is just a damn good love song. "Easier Said Than Done," "If It Wasn't," "Wish I Didn't Miss You"...so many of these have hooks that will stick with you all day and really lift your spirits. And I gotta mention "Brotha (Remix)" featuring Alicia Keys and Eve. Oh. My. God. It's such a positive celebration of African-American males, and I don't care who you are, it will make you, as Angie croons, "Get on the floor and dance." This CD is highly recommended.

Angie Stone's sophmore project is a rarity on today's R&B scene: a neo-soul record which borrows from the past to create something new as opposed to simply rehashing sounds from decades past. Examples? Well start with the album's highlight, "Wish I Didn't Miss You" which samples the OJays "Backstabbers" but flips it with a percolating backbeat provided by Swizz Beats (?!) and sublte echo effects to bring it into the new millenieum. "Snowflakes" is built around an obsure Four Tops record, but again, the original is simply used as a jump off point at which the lush and layored production can begin, and Stone's understated, but intense vocal stylings can take over. In case you forgot the role Stone played in crafting D'Angelo's classic debut, she drops "More than a Woman", a collaboration with new comer Calvin Richardson, a southern tinged ballad with more than a passing similarity to Mr. Voodoo himself. Nearly as solid is the duet with Musiq Soulchild, "How We Make Love". The album does hit a lull about two thirds of the way through, but is boosted by "20 Dollars", a bluesy vamp which utilizes the same Al Green sample that Mary J. Blige used early this year on "PMS". By the time the "Heat" outro begins to fade out, it is clear that Angie Stone has avoided the sophmore jinx, and crafted one of the better R&B albums of the year. The club ready bonus track "Brotha Remix" is just icing on the cake.