After being diagnosed in ’08 with microvascular angina, a heart-related illness, Toni Braxton says she “didn’t think I’d ever be able to do music again.” Fortunately, while undergoing cardiac rehabilitation, a conversation with an elderly patient who had survived four heart attacks motivated the six-time Grammy-winning R&B singer/songwriter to continue making music: “That’s when I found my pulse again,” she says. And today, she’s releasing her sixth album, aptly titled Pulse.
It’s been a long road since 2005′s Libra, filled with personal and professional roadblocks for Toni, but through it all she’s managed to endure. After she signed with Atlantic Records in 2008, Pulse was initially planned for release the following year, but the album found its way online and Toni returned to the studio to replace a few of the leaked tracks, including “I Hate Love”, “Clockwork”, “Melt” as well as a duet with Robin Thicke entitled “Don’t Leave”, and rework some of the others.
The album finds Toni bordering between a few mid-tempo, upbeat dance tracks and brilliant ballads, including the lead single “Yesterday”, which was released last year and failed to impact the charts even after adding labelmate Trey Songz on the remix. “Make My Heart”, the uptempo portion of a simultaneous release with the ballad, “Hands Tied”, follows, showcasing Toni’s upbeat dance track abilities while satisfying that seductive side we’ve come to know and love from her.
In a Ryan Tedder “Halo”/“Already Gone”-fashion, Toni covers the Delta Goodrem ballad “Woman”, before adding a hint of country to the Harvey Mason Jr. and Oak-produced “If I Have to Wait”. Both are great tracks before we head for the album’s low points with the dance-pop Sean Paul-assisted “Lookin at Me” and the midtempo metaphor “Wardrobe”.
Things pick up again, though, with “Hero”, which could easily find its way to an action movie’s soundtrack or, at the very least, its closing credits. Speaking of soundtracks, “No Way” is a bit reminiscent of Toni’s contribution to the Waiting to Exhale soundtrack, “Let It Flow”, with its mellow, laidback acoustic soul feel. But, before long, we’re back in ballad territory with the title track, although the original (leaked) version sounds better with its austere piano as opposed to the overbearing background vocals and music of the album’s version. The album’s closing, “Why Won’t You Love Me”, features an amazing arrangement but leaves the listener begging for more; either the order of the track listing was a mistake on the production staff’s part or an ingenious way to garner interest for the follow-up.
Either way, Pulse is one of Toni’s best albums in recent years and one of the best R&B albums of the year thus far, proving that talent trumps gimmick.
haven’t heard “Woman”…bout to youtube now….
And Im proud of Toni. Wish her the best
Atlantic is really doing there thing this year!!! B.o.B., Estelle, JANELLE MONAE (My favorite. Can’t wait until her album drops May 18th!!!), Lupe Fiasco and now…
Toni Braxton is back and I am so excited about that!
Go Toni. You are as stunning as ever : )
i love toni to death, but she needs to learn to sing louder when she performs live.
toni looks great! she is my favorite singer of all time. no one can top her and that soulful voice. i like that her voice is deep. mine is too!
@georgia i’ve heard of all those artists except janelle monae. who is that??? gonna check her out now.
i think i heard someone mention her the other day about her clothes being the same all the time, wtf? can she sing? what is her deal
SO I previewed it, I think I’m going to like this album. Toni B. is back
@noodles
you must check her out. she is the shit. she has a deep voice too! similar to toni but they are totally different.
both are geniuses with their work
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let’s just say toni can do no wrong. she is the breathe in the R&B world. her album is hot like fire. i bought my copy at mid night and i have been up since just listening to it over and over. every song could be a hit. and her voice is so strong on this album. don’t sleep on ms. braxton people
Toni is such a sweetheart. I love her for my own personal reasons. She can do no wrong in my eyes.
@ Dippin Dots..that’s kinda true. I saw her on Monique’s show last night and it was hard to hear her. She needs to belt it out like Patti Labelle does. I saw Patti sing once @ the Fox theater and the diva didn’t even need a microphone & we could still hear her up in the balcony seats.
Hmm…maybe I need to listen in full, because I wasn’t feeling the snippets on iTunes.
I checked it out. I’m not a Toni Braxton fan. However, the album is nice. Cop it.
FOLLOW ME ON TWITTER @SILLYSWAG, I FOLLOW BACK! LOL
Love the album Wardrobe…Lookin At Me is good. I love the album.
Welcome back Toni, we love you..Pulse is really nice..welcome back Toni Braxton,we missed you…
The Best 2010 R&B album so far.
I like all the songs specially Hero, No Way, Wardrobe
Go Toni !!
Welcome Back Toni B..
I will buy this album. I like the reviews. I love yesterday! I like like hero, wardrobe and the rest except for two. So therefore, since most of the songs are good I are nice to sing-a-long to, it most def worth the money i would pull outta my pocket to look to buy and charge.
I am a die-hard Toni fan, but i honestly wasn’t feeling any of the joints i heard. I was looking for the one that she made with Monique that was posted on here before, but i see that one didn’t make the album..bummer.
Deann… The Monique song appears on the Itunes deluxe version.
I love me some Toni. Picking up my copy today. Loved her performance lastnite..even though I agree she should raise the volume of her voice a notch or two
Love Toni Braxton Got the album….LOVE IT Love the title track, love yesterday w/o trey songz, love make my heart, love hands tied. Most of the album is classic toni she also tried some new things this time around she has grown as a performer and i see the growth from her broadway influence and dancing. The album is worth the money. So far this year Monica, Erykah Badu and TONI BRAXTON have the best R&B albums out!!!!!
I agree with her voice not being as level and balanced as it should be some times. However, some times she hits it right on the spot. Her new album is AMAZING, better than ‘Secrets’. And her deluxe album (which I unfortunately did not get), is so good. It has 4 bonus tracks. I bought the original album, the best this year. Go out and purchase your copy, today.
huge toni fan…i’ll be getting this one as well…i got libra and it was stellar!
Yes, I will be buying the PULSE cd when I get off of work today!
Just checked @ http://www.bestbuy.com and PULSE BY TONI is $7.99 And AMAZIN’ BY TRINA is $9.99 – so I will be buying 2 CD’s today!
Well, darn – my local best buy store does not have a copy of PULSE in. I will just go to a local CD store and pick both of them up. Oh well, at least I can buy them somewhere in town *LOL*. I got Monica’s Still Standing yesterday *finally* and I love the entire CD!
i am so happy for toni.she is so talented.very nice cd
I’ve had the cd for a month now but I actually went out and bought it to support her. I think the cd is on Libra’s level. It’s classic Toni. I disagree with J.Dakar on ‘looking at me’ and ‘wardrobe’. Those are two of my favorites. Looking at me is a fun upbeat summer song. My other faves are ‘Melt’, ‘Stay’ and ‘Pulse’. Great job Toni!
She’s back!!!!………all them wannabes had best be on the lookout…
THANKS J DAKAR!!
Welcome Back Toni…
I don’t like any of the songs, besides she can’t sing that good. She was never on any of the Big Divas level anyway.
Love the album. I brought it Tuesday, the day of release. The first 2 singles are wonderful. I also love “Wardrobe”, “Looking at me”, “Pulse” and “Wave”(on the deluxe version). The deluxe is better, because I love the song with Mo’nique on it “Caught (don’t take your hat off)” . Welcome back Toni, she ‘s defenitely on the level of all the great divas… I’m glad she’s able to have such a great comeback!
Toni’s voice is too mumble jumble for me that’s why I cant stand to watch her live- i can never understand her as she spends too much time trying to be sultry.
hope she does well.
The album sounds really great from the snippets
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Wow they called wardrobe and looking at me low points, but those are two of my favorites. Then again I was satisfied by the album as a whole, so maybe I am biased.
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