Never Say Never

Brandy

Product Details

• Audio CD (June 9, 1998)
• Original Release Date: June 9, 1998
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Atlantic / Wea
• ASIN: B000006OB0
• Also Available in: Audio Cassette  |  Vinyl  |  MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (409 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #7,015 in Music (See Bestsellers in Music)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

Brandy has a lot to prove. She's had five Grammy nominations; she's won one Billboard Music Award, one American Music Award, and several Image and Soul Train awards; and she's sold over 4 million records--all by the age of 19. Never Say Never enters the scene after four years of sophomore jitters and plain old fear. And it enters with a bang. Brandy's voice suggests serious vocal training from her father, and strong songs--some written by her now-19-year-old woman-child self--attempt to take R&B back to its proper plateau. The album's first single, "The Boy Is Mine," and the Mase duet "Top of the World" serve as proof that Brandy still has the chops, determination, and cuteness to take a record to the top. --Asondra R. Hunter

Entertainment Weekly

Although [Brandy's] soft, smoky voice is better suited to a croon, there are moments in the gospel-fired "One Voice" that find her effortlessly raising the roof. But she'd rather play it low-key and go with the groove, so that even the Bryan Adams emote-a-thon "Everything I Do (I Do It for You)" ends up more funky than fiery.

Musically, it's hard to argue with Brandy's deference to the rhythm, especially when she rides one of producer Rodney Jerkins itchily propulsive tracks.... But as much as that might up the album's dance quotient, it flattens its emotional range.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

25 of 25 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars One of the best R&B CDs out there..., December 15, 1999

By A Customer

Top 5 Reasons this is one of the best CDs: 5. Wrote it herself: Brandy wrote almost all of the songs on this CD, which I appreciate musically, because many artists are just in a hurry to make a CD and sell it, so they don't even try to write their own songs. Brandy does try, and succeeds enormously. 4. It's not all happy-ever-after: Too many R&B and pop singers are just spreading around the fake "ooh baby, I finally found you and everything's perfect and we'll live happily ever after together with absolutely no problems at all." Life's not like that, and music is usually about life- at least R&B music is. Brandy covers all emotions: not just feeling happy that you found your "one true love." 3. Good tunes: Not only are the feelings and emotions in the lyrics great, but she has also written great tunes to fit them. Not many song-writers can do both, and it enhances the CD so much. 2. Good Role-Model: Brandy isn't one of those female singers that gets up on stage to show off her body. She is actually wearing real clothes on the CD cover, and the songs aren't sex-centered. 1. All Clean: While keeping the real rythym and blues feel, Brandy still keeps the lyrics clean. There's absolutely no profanity in the whole CD at all. Instead of comparing Brandy with Monica and other female R&B singers, enjoy the music: You can't have too much of a good thing, so why complain about artists singing the same type of music?

26 of 28 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars "Never Say Never" Indeed!, May 3, 2000

By	Kenny (Brooklyn, New York) - See all my reviews

Brandy, Brandy, Brandy, two words come to mind. TRUE DIVA. Brandy's work on "Never Say Never" is astonishing. I totally love her to death. It's been two years since she has released this album and it is still as good since the day it was first released it.

She has laid down tracks that are true pieces of work in music history. "Have You Ever," excellent pop ballad that pretty much everyone can relate to. The song, "Almost Doesn't Count," is my favorite on the album. This song truly shows her outstanding vocal talent and how it matches well with accompanying harmonic beats. Excellent message represented in the song "Sitting On Top of The World" and the hot "department-storish" single "Angel in Disguise" is also among my favorite. "The Boy Is Mine" which was the duet with Monica was pretty good.

Brandy is such an absolutely beautiful girl who is such a positive role model in the music industry. She has such a nice outlook on life and her image is lovely. She's been raised quite well from her parents. I've been a fan of Brandy since she came out with her first album. And I'm anxiously awaiting some more new stuff from her. She's not only a great singer but also a great actress. I've been forever a fan of her UPN show Moesha. Brandy keep up the great work...your wonderful image and beautiful personality have inspired many individuals across the country to follow in your footsteps. By following positive aspirations and dreams in life. It's great to have such a grounded performer in the music industry today!

"Never Say Never" by Brandy receives a Kenny rating of A+. Excellent Album....Trust me you will have fun with this one.

11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars ...THE BEST POP/R&B ALBUM OF 1998..., January 17, 2002

By	Knyte "To The Stars" (New York, NY) - See all my reviews

When Brandy dropped her debut in the fall of 1994, she was the first 90s R&B solo artist to successfully mix her sound with pop music without trying to sound like she desperately wanted to cross over. With ultra-catchy singles like, "I Wanna Be Down", "Baby", "Best Friend", and "Brokenhearted", Brandy Norwood's rise to fame was swift, yet solid. In 1995, Brandy even blessed the Babyface-produced 'Waiting To Exhale' soundtrack with "Sittin Up In My Room". Then in 1998, Brandy dropped this jewel of an album, featuring incredible production by the soon-to-be "most wanted" hitmaker, Rodney "Darkchild" Jerkins. I firmly believe (especially after hearing Brandy's latest single, "What About Us") that Rodney Jerkins saves his best work for Brandy.

The type of sonic chemistry shared between Rodney Jerkins and Brandy on the 'Never Say Never' album is strikingly reminiscent of the musical synergy created two years earlier by Timbaland and the late Aaliyah on the 'One In A Million' project. Both 'Never Say Never' and 'One In A Million' were sophomore projects, and both Brandy and Aaliyah had reinvented themselves (new look, new sound) for their second albums. Also, both 'One In A Million' and 'Never Say Never' were marked improvements over their notably successful predecessors.

We begin with the "Never Say Interlude" that employs Timbaland-esque studder beats really well. Then, we're off into the dark, misty, and mysterious-sounding "Angel In Disguise", a jaded, bittersweet midtempo (featuring vocals by R&B singer Joe) that kicks off this album perfectly. Next up is "The Boy Is Mine", a duet with R&B singer Monica. Back in the spring of 1998, this song was a bona-fide hit, and an MTV staple. By September however, a very real "beef" had developed between Brandy and Monica, culminating in an extremely tense performance at that year's Video Music Awards. Needless to say (but I'll say it anyway), a future collaboration between Brandy and Monica is highly unlikely.

"Learn The Hard Way" is a guitar-laced, decent midtempo that oh-so-perfectly segues into "Almost Doesn't Count" which ended up becoming the album's fourth U.S. single. "Almost Doesn't Count" (like much of this album) has a "grown-up" feel to it. No more happy tunes like 1994's "I Wanna Be Down"...this album is all about heartache, pain, and a little bit of fun. "(Sittin On) Top Of The World" served as the album's second U.S. single. Featuring Bad Boy rapper Mase, this uptempo number addressed "haters" in a fun, lighthearted way; I like this one. "U Don't Know Me (Like U Used To)" was the fifth (and sadly overlooked) U.S. single...but I liked the remixes better than the original.

"Never Say Never" (the title track) was one of my favorites when I first heard it, and it still sounds as refreshingly crisp to me as it did back in 1998. However, my absolute favorite song on this album is track #9, "Truthfully". Written and produced by Marc Nelson (former lead singer of Az Yet), "Truthfully" is a beautifully arranged ballad that sounds as serene as a secluded, shimmering pond in the still of a warm summer night.

"Have You Ever?" was Brandy's hugely successful third U.S. single, and also a huge hit on MTV. "Put That On Everything" is a decent slow jam. After a spoken interlude, we go into "Happy", a song I felt should have definitely been a single; I've even heard it being played on occasion in a few department stores. "One Voice" is a surprisingly strong inspirational ballad, with powerful vocals by both Brandy and the splendid choir put together for this song. "One Voice" is easily one of the best songs on the album...

On "Tomorrow", Brandy gives her best vocal performance to date on this sad, yet empowering song about moving on from a less than satisfying relationship. Featuring lyrics like: "goodbye sorrow, I won't cry no more", a ballad like "Tomorrow" sounds like it was inspired from a real experience. In my opinion, "Tomorrow" should have been followed by an interlude, and closed the album. But no, we're given what I consider a bonus cut (and the album's only real misstep), in the form of an update of Bryan Adams' "Everything I Do (I Do It For You)" that unfortunately doesn't quite live up to the original...oh well.

It took me almost four hours to write and edit this review...I really wanted to get this right. I could write a whole lot more (believe me), but I think I'll end it here for your sake (smile). In a nutshell, this is a wonderfully consistent album...pretty much every song here is top-notch. If you love Pop/R&B music, then I highly recommend this album be added to your collection. Grade: A

Thanks for reading!

Knyte, aka C.H.R.