Kelis - Flesh Tone
List Price:
Our Price: $3.99
You Save: $6.01 (60%)
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Buy Used: from $0.86 (click here)
Category: Music CD
See more CD details
Buy this Music CD at online store in your country
Canadian Music Store
Canadian Music Store
CD Details
Artist: KelisEdition: Music CD
Audio: English (Unknown)
CD Release Date: 2010-07-06
Music Label: A&M Records
Soundtracks:
- INTRO
- 22ND CENTURY
- 4TH OF JULY (FIREWORKS)
- HOME
- ACAPELLA
- SCREAM
- EMANCIPATE
- BRAVE
- SONG FOR THE BABY
Music reviews of Flesh Tone
Music Review: Don't let the addictive, clubby beats fool you; there's loads of emotion here
Rating: 5 Stars
For years now, R&B chanteuse Kelis has been releasing innovative, emotive singles and albums, a large majority of which, sadly, have been sorely underappreciated (at least in the United States). This is a marvel, given what freshness she brings to just about any genre she works with. Even her most successful U.S. singles, "Milkshake" and "Bossy," which catered to a much more mainstream crowd and were generally more mindless and less ambitious than the vast majority of her work, had a bewitching, skittering bite to them. With `Flesh Tone,' her fourth U.S. album and fifth internationally, she delves even deeper into the electronica she'd previously dabbled with in work with the likes of Moby and Richard X. `Flesh Tone' is a surging, pulsating blend of trance, house, dance-pop and heavy electronica from start to finish, and not so startlingly, given her previous track record of creative successes, it works.
What really makes it a standout in her discography, however, is that like Madonna's `Confessions on a Dancefloor,' the dizzying dance beats are accompanied by expressive, contemplative lyrics. The decidedly desolate intro has Kelis lamenting, `You draw me in/every time I think I'm free you win/your force so dark now my life feels uninspired/I heard the signs but now everything is quiet/the pain's so vicious but it must be that I like it.' The rest of the album isn't nearly as bleak, but melancholy is always expressed beautifully on a Kelis album ("Get Along With You" remains one of her brightest moments), so it meshes perfectly with the more blissful moments regardless. The words "we control the dancefloor" segue the intro into "22nd Century," a pounding and futuristic yet simple filtered bassline tune.
The `Segues' that filter the songs into one another throughout the album are made up of several swirling, vocal-free electronic beats, a few of which, although oftentimes blending into the mood of the following track, deserved to be entire songs of their own (the bombastic Segue 2 in particular). The Moby-esque "Fireworks (4th Of July)," the album's second single, has Kelis proclaiming "nothing I ever say or do will ever be as good as loving you," along to a synthy piano sample. "Home," by far one of the album's best tracks featuring a transcendent, trance-y chorus, seems custom-made for endless nights of raving.
The simple, skittering, David Guetta-produced "Acapella," the album's lead single, opens with a beat heavily inspired by minimal techno, a sub-genre of electronica sparsely known among most mainstreamers. The instrumentation and beat grow slightly heavier as the song plays, and although this song may not click with some listeners right away, its increasingly infectious hook and sincerely heartfelt lyrics become difficult to resist. If you're feeling doubtful, stick with it anyway, because it is one of the album's biggest highlights, and one of Kelis's strongest singles.
"Emancipate" is graced with a fantastic Benny Benassi beat, but ironically, it is likely the album's weakest track. The highly repetitive, cacophonous chorus just doesn't gel, and although Kelis had the right idea with this one's concept and lyrics, it's unlikely to earn any repeat listens. "Brave" swiftly picks up the slack, however, with its dizzying surge of a beat; Kelis even manages to keep things lyrically engaging this far into the album, vulnerably providing a dissertation of her divorce from rapper Nas. The song's hard, booming beat is an intriguing contrast to the deeply personal lyrics. Ending things on a positive note is the gorgeously uplifting "Song For The Baby," which should pretty much speak for itself. The finale makes unique use of horn and piano samples all while riding an impressively upbeat (literally and metaphorically) beat and hook.
Although the genre of pure electronica in and of itself hasn't quite taken yet here in the United States, it certainly seems to be the general direction the mainstream is headed in with pop/R&B crooners and rappers alike weaving progressively noticeable undercurrents of trance, techno and dance into several of their biggest singles. Electronic music is sometimes pigeonholed as being cold, calculated, emotionally detached music, but here Kelis has displayed what electro-pop should sound like in 2010: with `Flesh Tone,' she's crafted an electronic album with feeling. Hopefully the U.S. will come to recognize a genre-and artist-they've unjustly been neglecting.
Description of Flesh Tone
Flesh Tone was singled out by spin.com as one of the "25 Summer Albums That Matter Most" and The New York Times called it "one of her strongest records yet." Perezhilton.com hailed it as "one of the summer's best," adding: "There are soooooo many good songs on Kelis album! Actually, they are ALL good!" Reviews in the U.K. have been stellar also. "Kelis. Genius. Pop Auteur. Credible diva. Welcome back," said NME, giving Flesh Tone an 8 out of 10 rating. The Sunday Times of London called it a "celebratory slice of dancefloor heaven" while Glamour gave it five stars. "She's still fierce and fabulous, and we're thrilled to have her back!" said Time Out London.Flesh Tone Production Credits: INTRO - Produced by: Burns; 22ND CENTURY - Produced by: Boys Noize; 4TH OF JULY (FIREWORKS) - Produced by: Damien Leroy aka DJ Ammo; HOME - Produced by: Free School; ACAPELLA - Produced by: David Guetta / Co-Produced by: Fred Riesterer; SCREAM - Produced by: David Guetta / Co-Produced by: El Tocadisco (Roman De Garcez); EMANCIPATE - Produced by: Alle & Benny Benassi; BRAVE - Produced by: Alle & Benny Benassi / Co-Produced by: will.i.am; SONG FOR THE BABY - Produced by: Free School
Kelis debuted in 1999 with Kaleidoscope, which featured the ubiquitous MTV/BET hit "Caught Out There." The track entered the U.K. Singles Chart at No. 4 and Kelis went on to win a BRIT award ("International Breakthrough Act"), an NME award ("Best R&B/Soul Act") and a Q award ("Best Music Video" for "Caught Out There"). Over the past 10 years, she has worked with a wide variety of artists, including The Neptunes, Andre 3000, Björk, Enrique Iglesias and Raphael Saadiq. Perhaps best-known for her GRAMMY-nominated, Top 5 smash "Milkshake" and the million-selling ringtone "Bossy," the fashion icon is also a certified chef and a recent graduate of Le Cordon Bleu.
Dance & DJ CDs
Music Genres
Bestsellers in Dance & DJ CDs
J'ai Ete au Bal: I Went to the Dance, Vol. 1Release date: 1993-12-01; Music CD
Best price: $11.18
Price in other shops:
Fibre - Sub Aquatic MemoriesRelease date: 2011-01-14; Music CD
Best price: $0.99
Price in other shops:
Paul Schutze - Deus Ex MachinaRelease date: 1997-08-19; Music CD
Best price: $8.99
Chubb Rock, G-Man - Treat Me RightRelease date: 1996-12-24; Music CD
Best price: $6.97
Price in other shops:
Tangerine Dream - MelroseRelease date: 1990-09-25; Music CD
Best price: $24.39
Gabrielle Roth & The Mirrors - StillpointRelease date: 1996-09-19; Music CD
Best price: $7.88
Price in other shops:
Ganga - River Of LoveRelease date: 2001-08-15; Music CD
Best price: $10.58
Price in other shops:
Karuna - Devotional SongsRelease date: 1997-08-13; Music CD
Best price: $13.64
Price in other shops:
Christian Bruckner, Eva M Hagen - Der Fall GreenfieldRelease date: 2006-08-25; Music CD
Best price: $16.96
Martin Schneider - Best of MaddinRelease date: 2003-12-08; Music CD
Best price: $18.04
Price in other shops:
Similar CDs
Madonna - Hard CandyRelease date: 2008-04-29; Music CD
Best price: $3.78
Price in other shops:
Kelis - Hits (Snyr)Release date: 2008-03-11; Music CD
Best price: $1.32
Price in other shops:
Gwen Stefani - Love. Angel. Music. Baby.Release date: 2004-11-23; Music CD
Best price: $3.40
Price in other shops:
Gwen Stefani - The Sweet EscapeBaker & Taylor; Release date: 2006-12-05; Music CD
Best price: $3.89
Price in other shops:
Kylie Minogue - AphroditeRelease date: 2010-07-06; Music CD
Best price: $3.68
Price in other shops:
Madonna - Confessions on a Dance FloorRelease date: 2005-11-15; Published: 2005; Music CD
Best price: $3.17
Price in other shops:
Janelle Monae - The ArchAndroidRelease date: 2010-05-18; Music CD
Best price: $5.24
Price in other shops:
![Tasty [EXPLICIT LYRICS] Image](/images/Tasty-EXPLICIT-LYRICS-B001U3HUNG-X.jpg)
Kelis - Tasty [EXPLICIT LYRICS]Release date: 2009-03-31; Music CD
Best price: $2.52
Price in other shops:
Kelis - KaleidoscopeRelease date: 1999-12-07; Music CD
Best price: $4.77
Price in other shops:
Kelis - Kelis Was HereRelease date: 2011-06-08; Music CD
Best price: $1.97
Price in other shops: