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Chrisette, naturally, sounds outstanding throughout, as a supernaturally talented vocalist whose songs are nonetheless easily relatable to anyone going through a breakup--or, to a significantly lesser extent here, newfound love--but the album could have really used more rhythmic punch than a token throwback strutter.
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Michele is more wry than most feel-good sisters, and never sentimental. She doesn't offer any solutions to the predicament of women caught up in sweet, rough love; like those blues queens of yore, she just takes you there. The journey is gift enough.
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As pianos flutter and faint bass lines pulse in these sultry mid-tempo gentlemen's ballads--written and co-produced by Ne-Yo, who also guests on 'What You Do'--she makes those kiss-offs go down easy.
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The entire album is executive produced by Ne-Yo, which gives Epiphany both a more modern R&B edge as well as a more unified sound than Michele's 2007 debut--which could be good or bad, depending on how you look at it.
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Chrisette Michele has delivered a consummate R&B album: controlled, beautiful, thoughtful, with some oomph. The cameos are sparse, the up-tempo tracks are still soulful and the perils of love are dominant.
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Epiphany is an unusually labored album, two artists missing each other at the pass.
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While the material is strong, this is all about Michele's stylish but subtle vocalizing and its jazzy inflections and nuances.
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She continues to lay down the law on 'Porcelain Doll' and 'Another One,' both of which find her claiming she is a "grown woman" over a choir-like production and acoustic guitars, respectively. But not all is heartbreak on the mature-sounding set.
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While it makes a virtue of Michele's strong-female fortitude, Epiphany rarely balances that heat with hooks.
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Despite the fact that you know that the album is designed to appeal to a mass audience--whatever that means--it feels more organic and lived-in than the neo-soul/jazz music that the industry is trying to steer Michele away from.
User score distribution:
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Positive: 4 out of 6
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Mixed: 1 out of 6
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Negative: 1 out of 6
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AlenaBMay 12, 2009
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MissTMay 11, 2009