Customer Reviews

Nu Day

5 star:		(27)
4 star:		(18)
3 star:		(9)
2 star:		(10)
1 star:		(5)

 

 

Tamia's first album is one of my favorites. She is an awesome singer. That said, this album is disappointing. If you like the R&B that is popular nowadays, you will like this album. Most of it is mid-tempo, with programmed rhythm, and lacking in melody. Her biggest asset, her voice, is wasted. The closest she comes to singing is on Stranger in My House, a so-so song.

The songs are nothing great. None really stand out. By the end, they all pretty much sounded the same. The guest rappers are annoying, mostly because I would rather be listening to HER. And since there are no lyrics included, there are some phrases that will forever be a mystery.

She is still one of my favorites, though.

Words cannot express how disappointed I am with this CD. I have Tamia's first CD, and I totally love it and I have friends that love it. I was really proud of myself for just deciding to pick up that CD. Well, I thought it would be the same with this CD, although I was a little hesitant when I read how many hands Tamia decided to have up in this pot, called A Nu Day. But I told myself, well her voice will save it. NOT! I want my money back. I mean it. The only song I will play off this CD is Stranger in My House. This song brings back memories of Tamia's debut CD. Incredible vocals, the whole thing. But everything else...sucks, sorry to say. "Go" is ridiculously annoying, the other two or so tracks before that are forgettable. "Love Me in a Special Way" is aiight, no big deal, "Long Distance Love" had me running to my radio to press fast forward. At first I thought this song would be okay until I got the rundown of all the telephone companies. Whoever wrote that song should have never admitted it. The other songs are nothing to write home to mom about. Though "If I Were You" is listenable, Tamia has done better ballads than that. Boring. I am so disappointed. I would give this CD one star, but I'll give it the two for Tamia's beautiful voice (which struggles to overcome this horrible material) and "Stranger in My House". That's a great song. Tamia, dear, call Quincy J.

Tamia really needs to work with better producers. Shep Crawford was the only one able to capture the essence of her voice in any sort of way. Dallas Austin and Missy Elliot are big names, but they don't really do anthing for Tamia's voice or singing syle. Elliot's best contribution is "Can't no Man". The lyrics are pretty simple, but Tamia's singing and cooing saves it. "Long Distance Love" just plain, bad lyrics and "Go" needs to go. (I don't know how it made the cut) Whose idea was it to include this song? "Dear John" is catchy and bouncy. "uuh to you" has dance club potential. Best songs: "Stranger in my House"(just a kinda clever, drama induced, tell a story type of song, and Tamia gets a little theatrical toward the end) "Love me in a Special Way" (just the way her voice takes off and soars , plus the words are great) and "If I were you" (a very pretty, tender sort of ballad). I think Tamia's best work or shall I say best "album" is ahead of her. She is definitely on her way.

When it comes to R&B slow jams and love ballads Tamia ranks up their with the likes of Whitney, Chante Moore, Toni Braxton and in some way surpasses her fellow R&B vocalist. On "A NU Day", Tamia takes off from the start. The "Interlude" definetly shows her vocal range is not to be messed with. Tracks like "Love Me in a Special Way" and "Stranger in MY House" are solid and enjoyable to the ear's. But the standout track on this CD is number 10: "Can't no Man" with Tamia's voice and a pretty laid back sexy track provided by Missy Elliot this song was in heavy rotation in the player. Other tracks on the album to take note of are 8: "Wanna Be", 9: "Un'h...To You and 13: Cant't go For That" Remix with the Dogg Father himself Snoop.

Overall this is a pretty good sophmore effort by an experienced and vocally beautiful singer. Definitely worth the dollars spent.

This young lady has a beautiful voice. Many have remarked that they are less than pleased with some of her material and song choices, but none can complain about her voice. She sings in the high range with just as much ease as she sings in the lower ones and sounds beautiful both ways. Her voice is crisp, clear and she enuniciates perfectly, something that many of the new female singers do not do. Many slur thru words or cut their words off, but not Tamia. I hope her next album is all ballads with lush instrumentation -- pianos, violins to compliment her voice. Tamia's singing style kind of reminds me of old school R&B diva, Deneice Williams, with that ability to sing soprano, yet sing the lower register as well. Tamia sounds like some of her peers, mostly because they all use the same overused producers, but she has a uniqueness about her singing that sets her apart from the others. She done "love me in a special way" proud by staying true to the original, yet giving it a new flavor. "can't no man" is beautifully sexy, and "stranger in my house" is gorgeous. "if I were you" is very pretty. Tamia sounds wonderful singing with a choir. Really looking to hear more and more from Tamia.

ALL THE TRACKS ARE GOOD
I PLAYED THIS ALBUM ALL THE TIME
IN 2001 I SILL LISTEN TO IT
NOW AND IT'S STILL A GREAT
RELEASE I FEEL.MY HIGHLIGHT ARE:
UHH....TO YOU,TELL ME WHO,CANT GO FOR THAT,GO,
DEAR JOHN,STANGER IN MY HOUSE AND IF I WERE YOU.
TAMIA IS A GREAT ARTIST GO OUT AND SUPPORT THIS ALBUM.

After it's success from the leading single "Stranger In My House", "A Nu Day" took off nicely on the charts, as it slowly, but surely reached gold status, and I can definately see why. Tamia has always been a talent in my eyes, as well as one of my favorite singers out there. Her first CD was nicely done, with all the Quincy Jones-penned ballads, and all the nice party tracks, but nothing compares to this one. Just like most other artists, you see maturity in Tamia, as she has grown since her 1998 debut, and she basically takes you on a voyage in this one. Not only has she grown vocally, but she has also grown in the content that she sings about, all through the album. Where this album also offers it's nice little majority of ballads, you can't help but feel all of the nice little party tracks in the middle. The album opens up with the first song on the album, "Dear John", which is a nice little song, metaphorically speaking of a "Dear John", or [Break-Up] letter, as this song is a nice break-up song. She then rolls into the smooth remake of "Can't Go For That", and she definately pulls it off nicely, adding her own flavor to it, as well as Missy Elliott's nicely added lyrics. This was the first single, but of course, it was over-looked for the tremendous power-ballad "Stranger In My House", which is also a re-make of the Ronny Milsap original, but once again, with Tamia's own special flavor added to the track. It was a very nicely done ballad, and a great summer song of 2000. Tamia also remakes an old DeBarge classic, with "Love Me In A Special Way", which worked as the third and final single for the disk. And she pulls it off beautifully. Other highlights are the party anthem "Go", a nice, bitter-sweet, emotionally-packed song. Another highlight is the very creative, and fun "Wanna Be", which I consider to be one of the album's strongest suits, eventhough this one flows just over the 3 minute mark. Another nice track would have to be "Tell Me Who", which has very CREATIVE lyrics, that you could only find Tamia singing.. the situation will have you laughing a little bit, but you will definately enjoy this track. My favorite of all would have to be track 12, "Tell Me Who", as she really outdoes herself on this track, and sings her heart out on it. She lifts the song up so many times at the end, just as you think it's coming to an end.. I love it, and it's really easy to relate to! The album ends with the "Cant Go For That, Remix" featuring 213 and Snoop Dogg. To me, I could do without this track, but it's fine if you like a little hip-hop flavor. The only other low point to this CD would probably be track 6, "Long Distance Love", which KILLS the flow of so many of the other tracks, as it is placed in between two of the nicest tracks (the remakes) of the album. The song is alright vocally but it just didn't do anything for me. And plus the corny background of a phonebook's pages didn't help much either. But besides that, Tamia delivered well, and I hope that she continues to make great music, and that she only gets better as she does so! This is a must have for any of you guys with an R&B CD collection! Your collections will not be complete without this disk!

We all know how cyclical music is. What's red hot right now could very well be garbage tomorrow. Unfortunately, when a genre is on fire - the market become saturated with similar acts and so it becomes difficult to discern who's who and of that group, what's worth listening to. For those reasons, Canadian-born R&B singer Tamia's sophomore album "A Nu Day" went largely unnoticed and the powerful singer's talent has gone unappreciated.

Discovered by Quincy Jones, Tamia's career held a wealth of promise. Backed by the maestro and armed with a strong and beautiful voice - Tamia should be one of the more popular and premier R&B singers but for the already-mentioned reasons, has never been quite able to cross the threshold and become a full on star.

- Track Listing -

01. Interlude
02. Dear John
03. Can't Go For That
04. Go
05. Love Me In A Special Way
06. Long Distance Love
07. Stranger In My House
08. Wanna Be
09. Un'h...To You
10. Can't No Man
11. Tell Me Who
12. If I Were You
13. Can't Go For That [remix featuring 213 Click]

What killed "A Nu Day" almost before it was released was perhaps the first single released: a take on Halle & Oates "Can't Go For That". Produced by Missy Elliott - the song just lacked any real oomph and wasn't a good lead for the album. The second single had a little more body. "Stranger In My House" is a seductive ballad about love gone wrong. With this song you get to hear the sultriness and depth of Tamia's style. She's got an interesting voice that has a little vibrancy behind it and it shows on this track.

Perhaps one of the more spectacular tracks on the album is "Dear John". One of the many tracks that has an anti-man vibe to it, "Dear John" goes from understated to a peak rather quickly and it would have been an excellent choice for release as a single. It's catchy enough to draw folks on, but because it jumps from mid-tempo to subtle - it makes for a good listen. "GO" is another of the standout man-hating tracks. Produced by Dallas Austin who is most recognized from his work with TLC, the track is very evocative of his style but even though it's more up-tempo - his style suits Tamia's vocals.

Less spectacular is the take on Debarge's "Love Me In A Special Way". It's not that the song isn't within Tamia's vocal reach - but that the stripped down structure of the song just doesn't move me. "Long Distance Love" another Missy produced track is better than her first production effort. Another mid-tempo love song - the only downfall of the track is Missy's ad-libs in the background that need to be turned down. With the exception of that - this is one of the stronger cuts on the album. Perhaps one of the other reasons that "A Nu Day" wasn't as successful as it could have been was the lack of album cohesiveness. The album has a definite man-hating theme, but it's speckled with tender love songs that don't seem to fit the scheme of the album.

Tamia has a great voice and sometimes the hip sounding production and the busyness of the music overshadows it. She is capable of carrying tracks other than ballads, but her voice sounds so amazing doing that, that you have to wonder why she just doesn't slow things down a bit. The album does end on a good note with "Tell Me Who" and "If I Were You", which slow down the pace and let you hear Tamia for who she is - a capable and talented singer.

- Final Thoughts -

It's a shame that more folks aren't familiar with Tamia's voice. In a sea of so-so singers, Tamia should be heads and shoulders above the rest. It's not groundbreaking R&B but it is good R&B.

I've been a fan of Tamia since she collaborated with Quincy Jones on the song "You Put A Move On My Heart". I fell in love with her music at that moment. I purchased this cd maybe about a month ago and I've been listening to it off and on. The cd is good but it's not Tamia's best work. I have her first cd and that one is actually better than this one. The best songs on the cd are "Love Me In A Special Way" (DeBarge remake), "Stranger In My House" (one of my favorites that tells a story of how a mate changes in a relationship, serious drama), "If I Were You" (another of my favorites), and "Can't Go For That". The other songs on the CD didn't strike me to be Tamia's style of music from following her career. The producers of these song are more on a hip-hop style of music and Tamia has more of a jazzy, R & B flavor. On her next album Tamia needs to work with producers like Quincy Jones, Babyface, Diane Warren, Mario Winans, Cool World (they did Carl Thomas) and Stevie J to maybe help with better songs. Her husband, NBA player, Grant Hill plays the piano and I'm sure if she collaborated with him she could've probably had maybe some better songs. Tamia has a beautiful voice and she needs to, along with her label pick better songs that accents her vocal range.

After a lot of weak comebacks this year (I don't need to name any names, you all know there have been some poor returns this year), it's refreshing to hear an artist who has improved so much since her debut. Tamia's new album is fresher, vocally stronger, and altogether better than her debut. The uptempo tracks and the ballads are both strong, and the balance between them is just about right.

"Can't Go For That" is the first single from the album, and the best track that Missy Elliott has produced for a while. This track also gets the remix treatment for track 13 of the CD, and the video can be found on the CD-Rom component of this CD.

"Tell Me Who" is probably my favorite track of the CD. Tamia breaks it down at the start, letting the audience know that this track is going to be exactly how she wants it, and not anyone else. The lyrics are thought-provoking, and take a refreshing look at a common situation.

The best showcase for Tamia's vocal talents on this album is "Stranger In My House". This beautiful ballad about a relationship that has changed out of recognition is full of emotion, and is also re-worked a cappella style for the album intro.

Perhaps the worst track on this album is a song called "Go". It's not particularly bad, it's just that the beat doesn't seem to match Tamia's style particularly well.

All in all, a great album! Also, check out the track "Unh To You" - this song starts out sounding like filler material, but the more times you hear it, the more addictive it gets, and it's actually a great, fun track.