To put it crudely, Erykah Badu's "Neo-Soul" material on both
Baduizm and
Live is Jewel's coffeehouse stuff set on rhythm and blues.
Sometimes pretentious, sometimes poignant, Badu was perfect to
headline Lilith Fair this summer. It's obvious that
Live was released to capitalize on the tour; there's little
new material, most of it from
Baduizm with the rest of it being extended arrangements at
the most..
Soul Music doesn't put up sophisticated aires; the "soul" part in Neo-Soul always sounded like the artists involved are comparing themselves to the likes of Aretha Franklin or Chaka Khan. Badu has that contrived feel in "Next Lifetime" and "Ye Yo", the only two songs sounding anywhere near Soul Music. Her cover of Khan's "Stay" exhibits her extraordinary voice (held in check for most of the album) but doesn't bring anything to the original; the voice sounds similar, but what else?
Pretentions aside, the bare-bones synthesis of jazz and blues makes for an experimental side of R&B hard to find nowadays. The near-scatting of "Apple Tree" can make any no-rhythm foot tapping to time. "On & On" uses bazaar imagery along with its bazaar lyrics ("cipher keeps rolling like a rolling stone") to set the quasi-exotic mood for the rest of the album. This is not your Billboard variety of predictable grooves and recycled lyrics; R&B listeners are kept on the edges of their ears to catch every innovative phrasing, which Live has a satisfying abundance of (as there was in Baduizm).
The standout track shows potential to this Neo-Soul thing; "Tyrone" brings fresh air into the tepid, overused repertoire of R&B lyrics (think Babyface) without going all artsy on us (Missy Elliot). Terry McMillan could've penned the relevant, respect-conscious piece. Too bad the studio version overdoes the record-static effects in their atempt to make it sound '70s groovy.
I know I've said all that in the beginning of this review but I actually like this album. Innovation is too rare in R&B to simply ignore. For those of you who're getting sick of Brandy's no-voice crooning (I couldn't get myself to review Never Say Never), pick up something Badu.