Review Summary: Feel like a woman for 55 minutes!
Everyone knows that for the most part, pop albums suck. They have 3 or 4 good singles then a bunch of songs that are used to make it an “album” while in the process making it a “piece of ***.” Sure, there are exclusions to the rule, but I wont be deterred from that main sentiment.
But then again, those singles are often really awesome. Thus, I may be one of the few people who really do love Greatest Hits collections. Even being a lover of Greatest Hits, I was skeptical at downloading Destiny’s Child’s Greatest Hits album,
#1’s. I’ll admit that I’m the last person who had any real like for them while they were still “together” and I often ridiculed them in the company of my friends.
Obviously, I’m a lot gayer than I (and everyone else) thought I was, because
#1’s is just great.
Destiny’s Child rely n a wonderful mix of new age Soul/R&B and liberal doses of pop goodness. Think of the gap between Aaliyah and Britney Spears, and that’s a good indication of where they reside as a pop group. Everyone knows that, for better or worse, the group quickly became the vehicle for Beyonce to jump-start a nearly-as-successful solo career, and it makes the other girls of Destiny’s Child an afterthought. While normally I’d find it a fault, the fact that there aren’t three dominating vocalists but rather one dominating figure and two nice-sounding backups is a lot more endearing in practice.
What’s more important is that they released it at the perfect time. Its been long enough since most of these were big hits that they’ve lost the overplayedness, but its soon enough that they still have some sort of relevance and “Hey that was cool song” factor. The album hits you with recognizable hit after recognizable hit, and they are all pretty much as perfect as contemporary R&B-pop gets.
“Say My Name” is still the best song your local hits station played in 2000. A simple song abut about the realization of a disintegrating relationship, the Timbaland-esque production and hook (quite simply “say my name, say my name“) wouldn’t be matched by a radio hit until six years later (“SexyBack” still rules). Mostly the songs follow a similar pattern; Soul inspired grooves and rhythms with incredibly catchy hooks and choruses. “Survivor” is probably the most “emotional” song (oh god pop being emotional) and also the most-upbeat, a strong roar of self-empowering womanhood. So the lyrics might be a little ridiculous, but damn do they sing em well anyways.
To be quite honest if you don’t know who Destiny’s Child are at this point, there’s a very very large chance you’d hate this. They’re the prototypical women’s pop group for the 21st Century, and they’re not for music elitists who think the radio is the worst invention since the government (down with the fascist regime!!!!). However, if you ever found yourself grooving to “Independent Woman” while on your way to the gym to um you know bulk up and stuff, then I’d recommend checking out
#1’s. It’s filled with bubblegum R&B pop, but what the hell is wrong with that anyways?
