R. Kelly

2 stars out of 5

R. Kelly's new double-CD album is such an epic it took not one, but two, ARTISTdirect writers to review the whole thing. Here's what they had to say about Happy People and U Saved Me, respectively:

R. Kelly writes, produces and arranges his own songs - a fact that appears in the liner notes almost as often as photos of himself. He wears his Stevie Wonder and Marvin Gaye influences on his silk sleeves, but unfortunately never quite musters the originality or passion of either them. “If I Could Make the World Dance” lets the listener in on the not-too-subtle theme of Happy People: Kelly wants people to dance to this record. It’s chockfull of slickly produced, smooth grooves, but I challenge anyone to tell them apart from each other. But through quick transitions and spoken word interludes between tracks, Kelly doesn’t give his fans time to realize that he’s stretched one mediocre song over eleven tracks. - Doug Kamin

Okay, everyone who thinks sex-scandal-magnet R. Kelly's decision to release an entire album of religious songs is an act of crass hypocrisy, raise your hands. Now put them down, 'cause you were never going to buy U Saved Me anyway. Regardless of whether you think Kelly's professed spiritual redemption is a calculated act of PR or the real thing, it's hard to ignore how self-conscious he sounds about it on movie-of-the-week tracks like "Prayer Changes" and the leaden "3-Way Phone Call," a bad radio drama set to worse R&B. Elsewhere, he commits that most unforgivable of musical sins, the shameless rip-off. Stevie Wonder should get royalties for "How Did You Manage," and the lyrical motifs of "I Surrender" are straight out of Al Green's mid-'80s gospel period. Only "Spirit" and "Faith" sound inspired or inspirational, and their charms aren't enough to save U Saved Me from its own preachy pretensions. - Andy Hermann

On his follow-up to 2003's successful Chocolate Factory, scandal-plagued R. Kelly spins his notoriety for sympathy, acknowledging that he's a flawed man and a sinner, but he believes in God and is just looking for love and peace. That, in a nutshell, is the theme of Happy People/U Saved Me, a double disc containing two distinct albums (just like OutKast's Speakerboxx/The Love Below). The first, Happy People, is a seductive, late-night album about positivity and love, the second all about salvation and God. Taken as a whole, the album presents Kelly as a saved sinner who still struggles with temptation -- struggles that are chronicled joyfully on Happy People and remorsefully on U Saved Me. Since Happy People/U Saved Me delivers two distinct and cohesive albums, it offers further ammunition for those defenders of Kelly who claim that he's made the best music of his career when under fire. There's validity to that argument. Kelly has shrugged off the celeb cameos that littered his earlier work and he's backed away from any contemporary beats, relying on the classic '70s soul that has always been at the core of his best music. He's turned inward, and that insularity has helped focus him, giving Happy People the feel of an old-school loverman record. At its core, Happy People is a seduction record, and seduction has always been Kelly's strength, so it shouldn't be a huge surprise that it, overall, is the more successful album of the two, the one that sustains its romantic mood and delivers it with stylish economy. As a record, it's assured and coherent, with little flab and a consistent vision; it's one of his strongest efforts. But U Saved Me isn't far behind as a cohesive work either, perhaps lacking the hooks of its companion but never deviating from its religious spirit. Overall, Happy People/U Saved Me captures Kelly at the top of his game as a record-maker, which makes it a definitive work of sorts. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine, All Music Guide