Danity Kane

The opening sound on Danity Kane's second album is that of a music box being wound up before their creator Sean Combs introduces them by name. Considering that the girl group was put together on a reality show (Making the Band), evoking mechanization seems appropriate, and the album that follows is a smooth-geared, modern machine, thoroughly designed to poke you in your pop senses. The girls don't differentiate themselves much from each other vocally, and the repetition of "erotic" themes in songs made for taking one's clothes off ("Strip Tease," "Ecstasy," "Lights Out") suggests that they're nothing more than Pussycat Dolls-Redux, but that assumption would be unfair. The lead single, as voted by visitors to their website, is "Damaged," a number that belies its tale of vulnerability with an aggressive beat driven by a kick drum and a pack of low synths that play nicely with the girls' chorus of R&B Barbies. "2 of You" may have a strange premise ("You’re so hot, there must be two of you"), but its kicky beat courtesy of Bryan-Michael Cox, who shaped Mariah Carey’s "Shake It Off," overcomes the weird lyrics. When the pace lets up, as on the ballad "Poetry," which is also the longest track here, Danity Kane has to rely more on canned emotion, attempting to articulate feelings with a heavy-melismaed brush, and the record flags, but as long as the beats-per-minute stay high, the energy does too. Guest turns by Missy Elliott and Rick Ross add some variety, but Aundrea, Aubrey, Dawn, Shannon, and Wanita have no help on many of the songs nor do they need it.

—"Hillary Brown"
04.03.08

Danity Kane exist in a strange netherworld of pop culture, where you either know everything about the girl group or you know nothing about them. Despite debuting at the top of the Billboard charts with their eponymous 2006 debut, on its way to eventual platinum sales, the group didn't seem to make any impact outside of MTV, the place where their construction was meticulously, endlessly documented on the third season of Making the Band. The popularity of Making the Band 3 pushed Danity Kane into the Top Ten, and the very existence of a Making the Band 5 featuring DK and subsequent MTB winners Day 26 and Donnie J, all making albums at the same time and jockeying for success, no doubt gave hope to Danity Kane and their producers that the group's second album, Welcome to the Dollhouse, might also achieve a high chart placement. All five of the DK girls are conventionally pretty in their voices (not to mention their looks), and were picked for the group because they're pliable. Although they thoroughly disappear into these productions, dense on rhythms but lacking hooks, there are some notable tracks -- "2 of You" has slinky rhythms that make up for the nonsensical "you've got me having breakfast in the afternoon" refrain and "Lights Out" has an appealing dose of Minneapolis funk in its keyboard, as does "Key to My Heart," which shimmers slyly. Nevertheless, hearing Welcome to the Dollhouse will be most interesting if you've witnessed the labors on Making the Band. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine, Rovi