Aaliyah waited nearly five years to deliver her third album, but considering that she was essentially growing up -- it was the equivalent of spending time in college -- when she came back with an eponymous record in the summer of 2001, she came back strong.
Aaliyah isn't just a statement of maturity and a stunning artistic leap forward, it's one of the strongest urban soul records of its time.
Where such peers as Macy Gray and Jill Scott work too hard to establish their ties with classic soul, Aaliyah revels in the present, turning out a pan-cultural array of sounds, styles, and emotions.
This sound is entirely unfamiliar -- part of the pleasure is how contemporary it sounds -- but she sounds just as comfortable within the sonicscapes of Timbaland as Missy Misdemeanor Elliott and, possibly, less self-conscious.
Aaliyah never oversings, never oversells the songs -- this comes on easy and sultry, and there's a lot of substance here, in terms of the songwriting and the songs themselves.
Urban albums rarely come any better than this, and there haven't been many records better than this in 2001, period.
| Title/Composers | Performer | Listen | Time | Size | Size | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | We Need a ResolutionS. Garrett, Timothy Mosley | Aaliyah, Timbaland | Play | 04:02 | 9 MB | 26 MB |
| 2 | Loose RapS. Garrett, R. Stewart | Aaliyah, Static | Play | 03:50 | 8 MB | 25 MB |
| 3 | Rock the BoatS. Garrett, R. Stewart | Aaliyah | Play | 04:34 | 10 MB | 35 MB |
| 4 | More Than a WomanS. Garrett, Timothy Mosley | Aaliyah | Play | 03:49 | 8 MB | 26 MB |
| 5 | Never No MoreS. A. Anderson, S. Garrett | Aaliyah | Play | 03:58 | 9 MB | 25 MB |
| 6 | I Care 4 UMissy Elliott, Timothy Mosley | Aaliyah | Play | 04:34 | 10 MB | 28 MB |
| 7 | Extra SmoothS. Garrett, R. Stewart | Aaliyah | Play | 03:54 | 8 MB | 27 MB |
| 8 | Read Between the LinesS. A. Anderson, S. Garrett | Aaliyah | Play | 04:20 | 9 MB | 32 MB |
| 9 | U Got NerveR. Stewart | Aaliyah | Play | 03:43 | 8 MB | 27 MB |
| 10 | I RefuseS. Garrett | Aaliyah | Play | 05:57 | 13 MB | 40 MB |
| 11 | It's WhateverS. Garrett, R. Stewart | Aaliyah | Play | 04:08 | 9 MB | 27 MB |
| 12 | I Can BeS. A. Anderson | Aaliyah | Play | 02:59 | 6 MB | 19 MB |
| 13 | Those Were the DaysS. Garrett, R. Stewart | Aaliyah | Play | 03:24 | 7 MB | 23 MB |
| 14 | What If | Aaliyah | Play | 04:24 | 10 MB | 29 MB |
| 15 | Messed Up | Aaliyah | Play | 03:34 | 8 MB | 25 MB |
| 61 mins | 140 MB | |||||
| 61 mins | 421 MB | |||||
| Artist | Job | |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Aaliyah | Executive Producer, Primary Artist, Vocals |
| 2 | S. A. Anderson | Composer |
| 3 | Stevie Blacke | Strings |
| 4 | Ron Blake | Horn |
| 5 | Chandler Bridges | Assistant Engineer |
| 6 | Bud'da | Mixing, Producer |
| 7 | Michael Conrader | Engineer |
| 8 | Gemma Corfield | A&R |
| 9 | Sean Cruse | Guitar |
| 10 | Jimmy Douglass | Mixing |
| 11 | Jeff Dunas | Photography |
| 12 | Missy Elliott | Composer, Writer |
| 13 | S. Garrett | Composer |
| 14 | Ben Garrison | Mixing |
| 15 | Bernie Grundman | Mastering |
| 16 | Barry Hankerson | Executive Producer |
| 17 | Jomo Hankerson | Executive Producer |
| 18 | Jonathan Mannion | Photography |
| 19 | Timothy Mosley | Composer |
| 20 | Tim Olmstead | Assistant Engineer |
| 21 | Steve Penny | Assistant Engineer |
| 22 | Rockstar | Instrumentation, Producer, Programming |
| 23 | Senator Jimmy D | Engineer |
| 24 | Static | Guest Artist, Primary Artist |
| 25 | R. Stewart | Composer |
| 26 | Timbaland | Guest Artist, Mixing, Primary Artist, Producer |
| 27 | Albert Watson | Photography |
| 28 | Scott Wolfe | Engineer, Mixing |
| Quality | Format | Encoding | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| Standard | MP3 | 320kps 44.1kHz | MP3 is an audio coding format which uses a form of lossy data compression. The highest bitrate of this format is 320kbps (kbit/s). MP3 Digital audio takes less amount of space (up to 90% reduction in size) and the quality is not as good as the original one. |
| CD Quality | FLAC | 16bit 44.1kHz | FLAC is an audio coding format which uses lossless compression. Digital audio in FLAC format has a smaller size and retains the same quality of the original Compact Disc (CD). |