Artist: The Dream
Album: Love King
Release Date: 6.29.10
Since he first arrived on the music scene as a performing artist in 2007, The Dream has been noted for releasing hit singles with inescapable hooks and energetic beats. With each album, those beats and hooks have overrun Dream’s content, leaving not much else. Love King is mostly predictable, seasoned with content that’s overly flashy, overly sexual and overly cocky – hence the ‘KING’ reference. If you have any of his previous albums, chances are there’s not much here you haven’t heard. If you’re trying to decide between the Deluxe and Standard release – less is more with this album: the best offerings are found on the standard edition.
If there’s one thing you can always count on from The Dream, its great singles – and Love King was the most intelligent choice as nothing else on this LP matches it in quality for radio airplay. Though I would’ve chosen F.I.L.A. as a follow-up single for its sound and appeal, it offers nothing you haven’t heard on previous projects from The Dream. Clearly inspired by Prince (sonically) is Yamaha, one of the albums best offerings. Despite the album’s title, Dream’s best work seems to be born out of the heartbreak heard on Abyss, a somber but engaging look at the jaded lover’s emotional struggle with a past lover. Nikki Pt. 2 is worth a listen, especially to longtime fans as it revisits Nikki from the LoveHATE album, updating that storyline. Sex Intelligent (Remix) effectively outshines the original version, also found on the album – it’s just a more enjoyable song. The latest single Turnt Out evokes the sound of the sensual style of 90’s R&B, a good choice for third single despite Dream’s barely-there vocals.
The album takes a nose dive on tracks like Panties to the Side, and Florida University. On Panties, Dream goes on a profane rant about his sex game, and there’s no redemption for the horror that is Florida University – the song fails at making a play on words and is just totally a disgrace – especially in the lyrics. For those who consider purchasing the deluxe edition, the songs therein are total letdowns, most of all Sorry, for its unforgivable vocal performance.
This album is plagued with some of the same issues as its predecessors – unnecessary vulgarity/profanity, bad lyrics, and recycled content. It offers nothing new to Dream’s story, but has some ear candy that’s decent at best. Though he has previously stated this would be his final album, he announces on the Sex Intelligent Remix that 6.7.2011 is the release date for the next album LoveAffair, which I’m hoping brings more versatility and a stronger presence. This CD had to grow on me, and in my opinion is the worst of his catalog. On a positive note, the production is pretty good; if Dream could mask his bad vocal performances in concert, some of these tracks would be great to hear from a full band. He claims he’ll “never be a pop star”, but this project offers very little beyond beats and hooks. Don’t mistake ‘catchy’ for ‘quality’, LoveKING offers an abundance of the former, very little of the latter.
Sound-Savvy rates The Dream’s Love King with 2.5 out of 5 platinum headphones.
his best album was his 1st one, hands down. There’s only a few tracks that stay in constant rotation, but, he owes his fans more than this.
every artist tends to progress with each album, definitely not the case with this….glad I saved my money & downloaded this coaster of an album