Review Summary: I've been waiting to listen to this album for a while and, overall, I'd say it meets my expectations.
Body Talk Pt. 1 wasn’t perfect, but it had plenty of great songs. It had good beats and, for a dance-pop album, really exceptional lyrics. Sure, it was no masterpiece, but it did fill me with anticipation for the sequel. So, when I started playing Body Talk Pt. 2 on Grooveshark, I was disappointed when the first two tracks were average at best.
The first part of this planned trilogy began with two great songs. “Don’t ***ing Tell Me What to Do” had the feeling of a classic house track, while “Fembot” was possibly Robyn’s best song. The second part of the trilogy opens with “In My Eyes” and “Include Me Out” which, while not necessarily bad songs, are very forgettable. But, just as I started to feel my hope deteriorating, “Hang With Me” started playing.
“Fembot” may be my favorite Robyn song at the moment, but I don’t think it’s a stretch to say that, with multiple listens, “Hang With Me” could take it’s place. It’s the catchy, melodic ballad that “Dancing on My Own” wishes it could be. It’s a fantastic song, with the great lyrics that made Pt. 1 such a great album, and that I felt were missing from the first two songs on the album.
“Hang With Me” is followed by “Love Kills”. This track feels like it’s here merely to keep the flow going. It’s catchy enough that it doesn’t interrupt anything, but it‘s not as great as the previous track. Let’s just say that it’s passable filler. It’s followed by “We Dance to the Beat”, which is a lot like “Don’t ***ing Tell Me What to Do”. It’s very house influenced, and very good.
The final three tracks are all pretty good. “Criminal Intent” is a very sexy sounding song, which reminded me of “Fembot”, quite a bit. “U Should Know Better” is a good song, with one minor flaw: guest vocals from Snoop Dogg (nothing against him, but he does so many album cameos that it has become a cliché). The album ends like the last one, with an acoustic version of a song that will (hopefully) end up on the next album. This version is done much better than the last one, which just seemed boring to me (oddly enough, it was “Hang on Me”).
This is quite a good album. It’s much more of a pop album than Body Talk Pt. 1 but, like the first part, it’s not a masterpiece. It has plenty of good songs, but it still has a bit too much filler for me to say I absolutely love it. Which one do I prefer? I’d have to say I prefer the previous album. But, this is a trilogy, so I suppose they’re meant to be looked at as one whole album. In that sense, it’s pretty close to a masterpiece. Still, both albums make me really want to hear Pt. 3, which is due in December.
