Customer Reviews

A Rose Is Still A Rose

5 star:		(22)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(4)

 

 

Many people have mixed feelings about this album, both hardcore fans and people that just liked the title track. The fact is that this album is a solid example of late '90s R&B, with Aretha in good voice on virtually every cut. Let's look at each one in order.

1) The title track, produced by the amazing Lauryn Hill, stands on its own merits. I personally don't feel it's the most comfortable song for Aretha to sing, but it's a great number nonetheless.

2) Never Gonna Leave You Again - mellow and low-key, with a very laid-back beat. Nothing overly special, but pleasant to listen to.

3) In Case You Forgot - A typical Aretha song, in the good sense. Strong production values, with a message to her suitor that he should remember how good she's been to him.

4) Here We Go Again - watch out Janet: 'Ree sampled Change's "The Glow Of Love" 2 years before you did on this one. Funky little groove that was a minor hit for Aretha.

5) Every Lil' Bit Hurts - Another mainstream R&B number about the heartaches of love. Not bad but the Queen's voice is a little frayed on some of the higher notes.

6) In The Morning - One of my favorites. She made up for not being in top voice on the previous track. Her voice is clear as a bell, with some 1970's notes coming through. The song itself is solid and with proper marketing could have been a hit or the centerpiece for a movie soundtrack.

7) I'll Dip - I'll pass. I'm a hardcore Aretha fan but I question whether this song should have made the final cut. Good beat, but the arrangement is wrong for Aretha and she sounds quite uncomfortable in singing it.

8) How Many Times - Very classic radio ballad that Aretha puts her heart into and it shows. Solid arrangement that sounds just a little '80's but this song will stand the test of time. One of the albums's best cuts.

9) Watch My Back - Again, I love Aretha more than the casual fan, but let's face it: she's not 20-something anymore, and she shouldn't use a lot of jargon and slang as though she is. This song is full of this type of thing, some of which you can't even understand. Definitely not up to Ree's standards.

10) Love Pang - this song is worth the price of the CD alone. With an outstanding production by Michael J. Powell, Aretha makes you feel how good SHE feels after an intimate night with her lover. Just like the "In The Morning" track, her voice is without peer and she hits some notes she hadn't come near in years. This cut could have easily come from the "Sparkle" album if that gives you an idea of the concept of it. Lush and luxurious.

11) The Woman - an Aretha-written grand finale that starts out slightly churchy and ends with a lounge-club feel with some scats between her ad-libs.

Solid effort by the Queen.

Aretha Franklin can do more with one note than most singers can do with a complete aria. So what if it's not up to her best, anything that she does is worthy of at least four stars...and this one doesn't disappoint.

...And the Queen is still the Queen. I bought the cd on the strength of the single, and was not disappointed. It spent most of the summer in my Discman, and I found myself humming the songs when I wasn't listening to it. Franklin has still got it, and can sing rings around most of today's female singers, without so much as breaking a sweat. While some of the material doesn't stand up to the quality of the title track, this cd is still worth a listen, and belongs in any Franklin fan's collection.

A ROSE IS STILL A ROSE is the best Aretha Franklin full length in several years. The title cut produced by Lauryn Hill is great for modern hip-hop music lovers. The cuts with Jermaine Dupri are alright and ditto for Puffy, but the cat's meow here is contained on three cuts: "In The Morning", "The Woman" (written by Aretha) and "In Case You Forgot". This album should hopefully propel Clive Davis to get R. Kelly, Gerald Levert, D'Angelo and The Artist as producers on her next album. Also please bring back Babyface (along with Darryl Simmons), Lauryn Hill and try something with Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis. In the meantime, this is Aretha Franklin ready to go into Y2K. Let's hopeshe keeps the soul coming. Less "Nessun Dorma" type moments, and more of a return to r&b.

Aretha returns to the top of the pop/R&B scene with her latest release, A Rose Is Still A Rose. In the 90's, Aretha's least prolific decade since she began recording in the late 50's, none of her offerings matched the track-for-track quality of Who's Zoomin' Who. Until now. A Rose Is Still A Rose masterfully diplays the incredible musicality, artistry, and range that made Aretha the penultimate singer of an era.

The tracks, produced by a host of talent the likes of Sean "Puffy" Coombs, Micheal Narada Wilson and others, complement each other with a blend of upbeat singles coupled with blazing torch songs. "Every Little Bit Hurts" displays Aretha's superb handling and use of background vocals. On "In the Morning," a soulful ballad, Aretha's vocals shine, again reminding listeners how she earned the appelation "Queen of Soul."

While some tracks are more compelling than others, each track on this CD has something to offer. The CD improves with each hearing. Previously unnoticed licks and phrases continue to register, even after numerous plays.

A Rose Is Still A Rose marks the beginning of a new Renaissance for Aretha. Much like Who's Zoomin' Who launched a resurrection of her career in the early 80's, A Rose Is Still A Rose marks a new watershed. With the return of her top vocal range after the cessation of a decades-long smoking habit, Aretha has embarked on a spate of well-received concerts and appearances, culminating with her appearance at the 1998 Grammy Awards. Standing in on a moment's notice for Luciano Pavoratti, Aretha belted out Puccini's "Nessun Dorma" in Pavoratti's tenor key. Closing the aria, Aretha sounded like the Aretha of old, and her performance simply brought the house down.

Aretha has served notice that she intends to continue to set standards for artistry, quality, and musicality that most performers will only dream of reaching. The woman who was close friends with Dr. Martin Luther King and sang at his! funeral, as well as Mahalia Jackson's funeral, and who gave voice to the spirit of a generation with classics like "Respect," Think," and "Natural Woman" has been restored to her throne with her latest release. If indeed she ever left.

I pulled this CD out of my collection recently and have been listening to it quite a bit over the past 2 weeks. When I purchased it in 1998, I didn't care for it too much but now I have a new appreciation for Ree's effort on this album. She shows that she can keep up with today's chart topping R&B artists. Her collaborations with some of today's hottest producers are flawless. From the title track (written and produced by Lauryn Hill) to Never Leave You Again with P. Diddy, Ree shows that she can still carry the flame after age 50.

The best cuts on this album are her collaborations with Jermaine Dupri (who's been getting thumbs up for his work with Mariah Carey on her Emancipation of Mimi album). The two tracks he co-wrote and produced for Ree on this album are off da chain! Here You Go Again is a funky, upbeat jam that samples Change's The Glow of Love (before Janet did it in 2001) and the following track is the ballad Every Lil' Bit Hurts.

I guess if there was one track that didn't need to be on the album, it would have to be I'll Dip that was written and produced by Dallas Austin. It's the kind of song that was probably written for Monica or Brandy. Not to mention that Ree sounds very uncomfortable singing it.

Overall, the album is a stellar effort and Aretha remains the Queen of Soul. A much better collection of songs than its follow up, the sadly disappointing So Damn Happy album.

I am so glad to see that after the flop of her latest new studio album, aretha got back on the right track!
She ensured this one would have worked out at its best, even though her vocals are not that powerful anymore...
She's carefully chosen among the best new producers of R'n'B and Soul and the result is this real nice compilation of new songs.
You can feel the energy she's about to unleash directly from the titletrack, a one-woman work done by Lauryn Hill.
From there on til the last track, Aretha soulfully glides thru upbeats (HERE WE GO AGAIN, I'LL DIP) to the usual ballads she accomplishes grandly - my favourite ones are IN CASE YOU FORGOT and EVERY LIL' BIT HURTS.
NEVER LEAVE YOU AGAIN is an odd pairing with Puff Daddy and HOW MANY TIMES with David Foster.
THE WOMAN is the closing track, and it spells out Aretha's motto: I am the woman and I am here to stay!

The Queen of Soul's final studio album of the century doesn't measure up to her groundbreaking late-'60s and early-'70s output, but on its own terms it's one her best '90s efforts, in part because Franklin seems completely comfortable with the hip-hop inflected backings Young Turk producers including Puffy Combs and Lauren Hill bring to the party. Of course, Franklin's soaring voice sounds good in almost any context, but here she sounds more energized than she has in years, in particular in Hill's smokily atmospheric title song and her own elegant soul ballad "Woman."

You people must dont have the same CD I do, because Aretha is the bomb. This should have been a multi-platinum disc because Aretha can still deliver the goods when so many singers dont even try. She cant even be compared to these tired singers of today. She sweeps them all under the carpet. Im sure most of the reviewers here just made the 13 cut and wouldnt know real singing if Aretha slap them in the face. Her voice still packs an emotional punch that few can come close too. Aretha is comfortable in any setting and this new direction is fresh and exciting from one of the few singers who can rightfully be called a legend in her own time.

What can I say about the Queen. She is in rare form and proves to all these so called new Diva's what it takes to even touch the hem of her garment. Her voice is like fine wine it only gets better with time. This CD proves once and for all that Aretha can sing anything Hip Hop to Jazz, Blues and most certainly gospel. Is there nothing she cant do? Keep on singing it Ree.