Back in the late '90s, Jon B was one of the rising male stars of R&B, a gender distaff version of Teena Marie, only more focused on smooth midtempo balladry than raw funk -- his Are U Still Down: Greatest Hits record is a fine testament to this.
Unfortunately, his 2008 "comeback" album, Helpless Romantic, only testifies to the fact that he's run stone out of ideas, or anything else remotely interesting to say.
Really, anyone who finds lines like "pimpin' is overrated/when I'm makin' love to my baby" particularly, well, romantic (that lyric is from the title track) gets what they deserve.
The production is utterly adult-R&B-cliched throughout (i.e.
gently bumping grooves that go nowhere, so as to not offend), and even the one attempt at quasi-street cred here is an appearance (on lead-off track "Ooh So Sexy") by rapper Paul Wall, a fellow Caucasian whose 15 minutes ended a good half-decade ago.
This is dull R&B, mediocre at best, and truly bad at worst -- and the real worst is that it comes from an artist who should know better; did his tutelage at the feet of Babyface teach him nothing? Apparently not.
| Title/Composers | Performer | Listen | Time | Size | Size | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | It's U | Jon B. | Play | 03:33 | 8 MB | 27 MB |
| 2 | Helpless Romantic Interlude | Jon B. | Play | 00:32 | 1 MB | 2 MB |
| 3 | Helpless Romantic | Jon B. | Play | 03:46 | 8 MB | 26 MB |
| 4 | Paradise In U | Jon B. | Play | 05:44 | 13 MB | 37 MB |
| 5 | Drops Of Rain | Jon B. | Play | 03:31 | 8 MB | 24 MB |
| 6 | Need It Badd | Jon B. | Play | 03:32 | 8 MB | 26 MB |
| 7 | On And On | Jon B. | Play | 03:56 | 9 MB | 27 MB |
| 8 | Everybody Here Wants You | Jon B. | Play | 04:44 | 10 MB | 34 MB |
| 9 | Say Yeah | Jon B. | Play | 03:45 | 8 MB | 27 MB |
| 10 | Part Of U | Jon B. | Play | 03:40 | 8 MB | 24 MB |
| 11 | In Too Deep | Jon B. | Play | 06:29 | 14 MB | 43 MB |
| 12 | Ooh So Sexy (feat. Paul Wall) | Jon B. | Play | 04:31 | 10 MB | 32 MB |
| 13 | Get What U Want | Jon B. | Play | 04:26 | 10 MB | 30 MB |
| 14 | The Ride Of Our Lives (feat. Jonseii) | Jon B. | Play | 05:06 | 11 MB | 34 MB |
| 57 mins | 131 MB | |||||
| 57 mins | 399 MB | |||||
| Artist | Job | |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Jonny B | Atmosphere, Bass, Executive Producer, Guitar, Keyboards, Mixing, Vocals, Vocals (Background) |
| 2 | Kevin Buck | Bass (Electric), Main Personnel, Strings |
| 3 | Joaquin Bynum | Audio Production, Beats, Drum Programming, Main Personnel, Producer, Vocals (Background) |
| 4 | Jim Caruana | Mixing |
| 5 | D-Mak | Bass Instrument, Main Personnel |
| 6 | Danette | Main Personnel, Vocals |
| 7 | Krishna Das | Mixing |
| 8 | Emile Ghantous | Producer |
| 9 | Max Gousse | Executive Producer |
| 10 | Tyrone Griffen | Cornet, Main Personnel, Trumpet |
| 11 | Tyrone Griffen | Cornet, Trumpet |
| 12 | Bernard Jacobs | Stylist, Wardrobe |
| 13 | Jon B. | Audio Production, Drum Programming, Drums, Keyboards, Mixing, Primary Artist, Vocals, Vocals (Background) |
| 14 | Denaine Jones | Audio Production, Main Personnel, Vocals, Vocals (Background) |
| 15 | Jim Jonsin | Mixing, Producer |
| 16 | KD | Mixing |
| 17 | Tim Kobza | Audio Production, Bass Instrument, Guitar, Guitar (Electric), Guitar (Nylon String), Guitar (Rhythm), Main Personnel |
| 18 | Jim Konsin | Mixing |
| 19 | Mr. Lee | Audio Production, Drum Programming, Main Personnel |
| 20 | Dan Naim | Mixing |
| 21 | Erik Nelson | Producer |
| 22 | Ozz Saturne | Executive Producer |
| 23 | Paul Wall | Main Personnel, Vocals |
| 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). |