★★★★★
Troubled 11-time Grammy-nominated R'n'B singer Fantasia Barrino has been trying to live up to the hype ever since she won American Idol in 2006. The girl can sing, it's just her choice of generic R'n'B pop numbers that leaves much to be desired, including Bittersweet, the one hit on this album that's also nominated for a 2011 Grammy. Still, she sounds like the girl America fell in love with on the retro soul of Collard Greens & Cornbread.
- www.hour.ca
2010-12-13
★★★★★
There is a tendency among Old Schoolers to argue that modern R&B is a poorly mutated descendant of Classic Soul, where basic song structure and melody have been sacrificed (or discarded) for the sake of beats and attitude. And while that is an oversimplification, it rings true on enough new releases that it can't be totally dismissed...
- www.soultracks.com
2010-12-07
★★★★★
With a galvanizing, gospel-grown, sultry soprano and a fiery, crackling stage presence, Fantasia Barrino is, indisputably, one of the most talented and versatile performers of her time. She wasn't the most likely person pegged to win the coveted first-place slot on American Idol in 2004---because, honestly, what single mother and high-school-dropout would be...
- www.soultracks.com
2010-12-07
★★★★★
As the winner of American Idol Season 3, Fantasia is already a huge star in the States, although she's yet to make her mark on UK shores. That's set to change when her second, self-titled album arrives here at the end of February. It will no doubt help that she's got no UK equivalent, as execs over here wisely put an end to the show after Michelle McManus' dubious Season 2 'triumph'.The Americans, though, love the show and Season 5 is about to begin over there...
- www.gigwise.com
2010-11-23
★★★★★
Lovers off gut-wrenching, heart-warming R&B;, give yourself this New Year's gift. With her intense, malleable voice reminiscent of a young Mary J. Blige, Fantasia can sex up your life with songs like Baby Makin' Hips or the sure-fire radio kicker Hood Boy, featuring Big Boi, just as she can bring a tear with the likes of When I See U...
- www.hour.ca
2010-11-02
★★★★★
On the surface, season 3 American Idol winner Fantasia has only one thing on her mind in her second effort: boys! It's a theme that permeates Fantasia, whether she's advocating that her lover receive a bedroom Oscar in "I Nominate U," firing a boyfriend without severance in "Two Weeks Notice," or extolling the virtues of her reproductively blessed curves in "Baby Makin Hips...
- ew.com
2010-08-27
★★★★★
It would be too bad if tabloid headlines surrounding Fantasia's alleged sex tape and her overdose take attention away from the strength of this comeback record. Hard-core cynics may imply a correlation between the timing of the news and this release, but that still can't diminish what Fantasia has done here. She has dropped the synthetic trappings that often felt so false on her two previous discs. Fantasia has matured (Broadway experience can do that)...
- www.boston.com
2010-08-27
★★★★★
One of the common knocks against American Idol is that it caters to mass-market tastes in pop music, pushing bland, unexceptional talents into a market already overrun with interchangeable performers. Season-three winner Fantasia is something of an exception to that rule...
- www.slantmagazine.com
2010-08-25
★★★★★
Fantasia Barrino is arguably the only American Idol winner who didn't need the show to achieve some level of success. Her gritty vocals are strong enough to garner comparisons to Aretha Franklin and Mary J. Blige yet original enough to allow her to create her own sound. On her 2004 debut, Free Yourself, Barrino struggled to balance her R&B roots with her pop stardom. The album was watered down and aimed at securing more mainstream acceptance...
- www.prefixmag.com
2009-06-08
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