★★★★★
"We called her the first lady of LaFace. She was our Diva. Clive had Whitney, Tommy had Mariah and we had Toni." Antonio "L.A." Reid Since she's been a part of R&B's musical landscape and a recognizable part of pop culture for practically 20 years, it's hard to imagine us not hearing Toni Braxton...
- www.soultracks.com
2014-06-07
★★★★★
No matter how big an act they are there is something mysterious that happens to artists and their labels once a talent turns thirty, or at least is forced to admit it, and the curiosity lasts until the artist hits their forties, when they are considered a vet and jazz, gospel, covers and a new comeback adventurism is allowed. As we speak, this phenomenon is happening to Usher and it will be interesting to see if it happens to Beyonce when in two years, she supposedly turns 30...
- www.soultracks.com
2010-12-07
★★★★★
Toni has never had the vocal firepower of a Whitney, Mariah or Céline, so she wisely keeps her vocals at a sultry simmer. That unfortunately doesn't make up for this album's lack of hooks and insipid lyrics: "You think that I'm dumb and naive," La Braxton sings in Let Me Show You the Way (Out). This from the woman who once dated Dennis Rodman, declared bankruptcy at the height of her commercial success and still poses for photos like she's Britney Spears...
- www.hour.ca
2010-11-09
★★★★★
Time hasn't been particularly kind to Toni Braxton since her halcyon days when she was Jayne Mansfield to Whitney Houston's Marilyn Monroe. But showbiz is never kind, especially when you churn out generic crap like this. Sure, this album is polished, and sure there are a few hooks. But now that Whitney's career is in the toilet, Toni - who is also doing something weird with her voice when she sings in her lower register - has her eyes set on Alicia Keys. And Toni ain't no Alicia either.
- www.hour.ca
2010-11-02
★★★★★
"Love Shoulda Brought You Home" is a bit too much of an Anita Baker "Real Love" clone, and the rest of this slick L.A. Reid and Babyface production is just as generic. Yes, Toni Braxton can sing, but there's nothing in her songs or delivery to set her apart from any number of wine-cooler R&B; divas.
- ew.com
2010-08-27
★★★★★
No text for this review; see http://robertchristgau.com/xg/bk-cg90/grades-90s.php.
- www.robertchristgau.com
2010-08-25
★★★★★
Long before the likes of J-Lo and Britney Spears hypnotised the world with their frequently photographed rumps and midriffs, Toni Braxton spearheaded the cluster of desirable females with a knockout combination of seductive looks, silky vocal tones and an inclination towards dresses which seemed to be produced during a cloth shortage. But image aside, Braxton's career CV can't be laughed at...
- www.bbc.co.uk
2010-08-22
★★★★★
The music-buying public of the UK was not holding its breath for the first solo album from Toni Braxton, the perfect, pure voice from US gospel troupe The Braxtons (with her sisters Traci, Towanda, Trina and Tamar). However, when they heard her sumptuous phrasing, saw how beautiful she looked and heard her enormous hit, Breathe Again, she was made most welcome. Suddenly, it was as if she was everywhere...
- www.bbc.co.uk
2010-08-22
★★★★★
Toni Braxton's career looked set for superdiva stature at the point of her biggest hit Un-Break My Heart, but since that flagship moment back in 1996 her career and personal life have experienced extreme highs and lows. The singer-songwriter re-peaked on Grammy Award-winning single He Wasn't Man Enough, but plummeted with a well-publicised bankruptcy and the cancellation of her residency at the Flamingo Las Vegas owing to continuing ill health...
- www.bbc.co.uk
2010-05-13
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