Girlicious were crafted together as a spin-off Pussycat Dolls who just so happen to share the same management. But unlike PCD they have yet to dominate International markets or leave their mark on the ever-changing music industry. With a name as craptacular as Girlicious, it's hard to take these girls seriously especially since everything they do surrounding their image, packaging and whatever else is a carbon rip-off from the mother of today's all-girl pop group. Their album, however, surprised me, because I wasn't feeling their singles prior to the album leaking earlier this week. The wee bit of curiousity told me to give their album a chance. Even just to listen to the first minute of each song before moving along. Surprisingly I found myself suckered in and repeating most of the songs after listening to them in full the first time round. Matter of fact, the album has several very good dance-pop songs.The album encounters production from top producers such as The Runners, Jazze Pha, Dre & Vidal, Jonathan Rotem, Rico Love, Madd Scientist, Beau Dozier and Marsha Ambrosius just to name the extremely popular ones. The open number 'Do About It' was one of the tracks that stood out. It was co-produced by Marsha Ambrosius. After the siren-intro, it launches into a hard-hitting pop-anthem, which was a brilliant way to start off the album. 'Baby Doll' was somewhat of a grower though. I wasn't instantly drawn to the track as the others but with it's quirky synth-pop production, I could see it doing rather well on radio and it would fit right in with Danity Kane's 'Welcome To The Dollhouse'. I like it far better than singles 'Like Me' (lyrically, a lame rehash of PCD's 'Doncha') as well as 'Stupid Shit' which isn't really saying much. 'Liar Liar' which features Flo Rida is hot and is feisty and caustic with its R&B-pop beat.
The pace in music changes with the guitar-laid ballad 'Here I Am' which is embraced with light but solid vocal delivery. The lead singer totally held it down and the song has a slight rock edge as it progresses. Nice track. Album cuts like 'Save The World', 'Already Gone' and 'It's Mine' entices with their sure-fire rectro-pop melodies whilst the infectious 'I.O.U.1' has a crunk appeal to it's streetwise, modern R&B sound. The R&B ballad 'My Boo' is charming and very impressive. Other standouts that go without fail include 'Radio', the JR Rotem-produced 'Still In Love' (featuring Sean Kingston) and the bonus track, the Marsha Ambrosius-produced 'Mirror' which should have been a main album cut. However, it goes without saying, the album does have it's shortcomings such as the singles 'Like Me' and 'Stupid Shit' which are the worse songs on the album and were only released to epitomize the girls as a sexy but feisty in-your-face quartet, much like their peers. I didn't like their cover of 'The Way We Were' either. In my opinion, it served no place on the album whatsoever but that said, 'Girlicious' was more than solid - it was sonically, a VERY good album.
Rating: 3.5/5
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