AMG Review of Fight for Love

Stephen Thomas Erlewine
All Music Guide

Part of Elliott Yamin's charm lies in how he doesn't seem to belong to his time. A disciple of Donny Hathaway (and to a lesser extent, Stevie Wonder), Yamin never felt comfortable in contemporary threads, whether it was during his time on #American Idol or afterward, when he cut his eponymous first album in 2007. That record was perched between his classicism and flirtations with contemporary R&B, but its 2009 successor, Fight for Love, tips the scales decidedly in the favor of aggressive modern flavors, a shift perhaps tipped off by its combative title. Moving in this direction only makes sense -- in order to make records, he has to sell records, and to do that he has to have songs that sound like the times. Yamin remains an ingratiating presence, possessed with a natural, almost accidental charm that's so endearing that it's hard not to wish that he was in warmer surroundings than these.