AMG Review of Lyrics

Andy Kellman
All Music Guide

A 2007 best-of compilation tied a bow around Donell Jones' four-album, decade-long spell on LaFace. It took three years for the singer to resurface with his own label (supported by E One), and while he returns with an independent release featuring little in the way of star-power support -- Yung Joc guests, Mike City produces one track, and that’s about it -- the majority of it convincingly picks up where 2006’s Journey of a Gemini left off. Jones has nothing to prove nor to lose, and that's the way this album sounds. He writes, plays, and produces most of the material and gets only a small amount of instrumental assistance. The probing “Imagine That” and “Blackmail,” along with delicate-but-durable slow jams like “Love Like This” and “The Finer Things in Life,” will be enough to please Jones’' followers. That said, when it comes to the two dance-pop detours, one of which features a lead vocal from Jones' niece, the jury could be out until album number six.