Review: Ciara, Goodies

With the release of her hit single "Goodies" in 2004, Ciara breathed new life into R&B with her coquettish vocal stylings and gravity-defying dance moves. The parent album Goodies went multi-platinum and spawned two additional top-three singles. Despite this, her debut album continues to be vastly underrated and serves as a reminder of a unique turning point in popular music that ultimately paved the way for R&B acts like Rihanna and Keri Hilson to achieve success.

The titular track "Goodies" with its signature whistle and Ciara's breathy vocals is a solid dance offering. It's more unconventional in its styling but provides a sound unique to Ciara. The Missy Elliott-aided "1, 2 Step" serves as a major standout on the record. With its pulsating beats and swirling electronic composition, it proves to be an infectious piece of ear candy with a memorable rap verse courtesy of hip-hop goddess Missy Elliott. "Hotline" is a melodic club-thumper which sees Ciara indulging in attempts to stretch herself vocally. "Oh" is another standout as it takes on a darker edge with Ciara purring over the winding arrangement. The guest rap by Ludacris helps to elevate the track and is a highlight on the album. Surprisingly, some of the more interesting cuts on the album are the slow jams. The downtempo hip-hop track "Thug Style" is finger-snappingly catchy and Ciara's husky vocals come across as sweet yet seductive. The twin ballads "Next to You" and "And I" are smoothly produced. The R. Kelly-penned "Next to You" features a soft composition paired with rich vocals while "And I" is an effective acoustic love song that serves as a standout during the album's latter half. Despite this, both play it a little too safe and predictable. Still, the album's most fascinating moments are when Ciara employs more conventional sounds. “Lookin’ at You” features a hip-hop groove that is reminiscent of rap music from the ‘90s while "The Title" takes a welcome old school approach to its arrangement and sees Ciara cooing over a more traditional R&B sound. Both these efforts do their job in emphasizing Ciara’s ability to adapt to a variety of styles.

As far as debut efforts go, Ciara's is definitely a goodie. It features many standout tracks and the mix of uptempo and downtempo is successful in its attempt to show off Ciara's versatility as a performer. While some tracks are fairly generic, there is a more conscious effort to be more experimental and modern on Goodies while still paying homage to the acts that came before her. Additionally, Ciara is to be applauded for her skills as a song-writer and for taking a more active stance in the music making process. Since there are only two songs on Goodies that she did not co-write, it becomes clear that Ciara is one independent woman whose songs are uniquely her own.

Recommended Listening: “Goodies,” “1, 2 Step,” “Thug Style,” “Hotline,” “Oh,” “Lookin’ at You,” “Next to You,” “And I,” “The Title”

Grade: B