It has been almost three years since LeToya Luckett released an album. Her sophomore album, Lady Love, offers an array of tracks that range from party songs to late night, soft ballads playing on not just love, but also heartbreak and break-ups. Lady Love is available in stores now and showcases Luckett’s vocal growth and confidence, while focusing on her vocals. The album only features three other artist: Ludacris, Estelle, and Mims.
The album opens with “Lady Love”, which shares its name with the album. The song begins with twinkle sound effects laced with Luckett’s whispering voice. The tempo quickly changes and makes your head and shoulders immediately want to bounce to this hypnotic beat.
Luckett has clearly stepped out of her comfort zone in “She Aint Got”, a fast-paced, aggressive track. The second single from the album, it is a hardcore version of “She Don’t” from her first self-titled and platinum debut album, LeToya.
The first single, “Not Anymore”, is the anthem for ladies who are fed up and tired of a no-good-man and was written by Ne-Yo and produced by Bei Maejor. It reached number seven on the Billboard “Bubbling Under Hot 100” chart.
In “Lazy”, she explains why her heart gets lazy because she is simply tired of loving someone after a breakup. “Good To Me” is a slow track with repetitive piano chords throughout and heavy percussion. She designs her dream man while wishing that he will just be good to her. “Over” sounds just like Pleasure P’s song, “Under” and the echo in the hook is well done and fits perfectly.
With an assist from Ludacris on the third official single, “Regret”, Luckett explores how her ex is in regret over leaving her and wants to be back with her. This track was produced by Tank and he recycled Kelly Rowland’s “Ghetto”. The track is very similar to Rowland’s, but has more spunk and sounds like a slowed version of Mary Mary’s God in Me.
“I Need A U” is a sexy, slow ballad with a whispered melody. Luckett sings of her fantasy guy to come and “ease her pain” of loneliness. The electric guitar solo on the bridge takes this song to the next level. She threatens to “Take Away Love” on a collaboration with her friend Estelle, who spits encouraging words over Luckett’s pretty vocals. I am not a big Estelle fan and her strong accent is a horrible contrast to Luckett’s vocals.
“After Party” is such a clichéd name for a song, so I was not expecting much from this uptempo song and was right. Luckett compares moving one from a past relationship to the next is like an “afterparty.” This track is very similar to Brandy’s “What About Us”.
“Drained” is the cheesiest song on the album sounding like a Super Mario video game. The male backup singer’s voice is overpowering and is out of place. “Tears” is my favorite song on the entire album. When I was reading the song titles, I thought this song was going to be about a loss of love. I was definitely wrong. Luckett tells how an emotion is so overwhelming and so good, that it just brings tears to her eyes.
It seems that Luckett’s ex and rapper, Slim Thug, is the inspiration behind “Matter”, just like Luckett’s “She Don’t” from her first album. Being that “Love Rollercoaster” is a track on Mims’s album, Guilt, Luckett only sings the chorus and bridge. A radio friendly song, Luckett compares love’s ups and downs to a rollercoaster. This track is definitely one of my favorites on the album.
“Don’t Need You” the beat-box makes the song unique and enhances the instrumental. Luckett realizes that she needs to “keep it moving” and that she does not need her ex in her life anymore. Trying to step out of the box, Luckett experiment with a few uptempo songs, but stayed true to her signature style. My only complaint is that the subject matter of love’s ups and downs became a little bit monotonous.
I give this album an A-. “Tears”, “Lady Love”, “I Need A U”, “Regret”, and “Love Rollercoaster” are my favorite tracks on the album. I bought the album from Target for $9.98 and it is well worth the purchase price.
- Mia A. Taylor