Face 2 Face

When Babyface stepped on the music scene in the late 70's, he was a teenaged guitarist in the short-lived funk band Manchild along with future collaborators Daryl Simmons and Reggie Griffin. By the time the 80's rolled around, he became a member of another funk band- the electro-funk outfit The Deele. It was there he would meet his future songwriting and production partner Antonio "L.A." Reid, and where they would get their start at Solar Records. In 1986, Babyface released his debut solo album "Lovers"- an album that was actually good, but didn't perform well on the charts. However, his work from behind the scenes garnered the most attention. He and L.A. Reid wrote and produced hit songs for the likes of The Whispers, Sheena Easton, Pebbles, Bobby Brown and Karyn White- just to name a few. He decided to give his solo career another try and released his now-classic sophomore album "Tender Lover"- which featured the hits "It's No Crime", "Whip Appeal" and the quiet storm favorite "Soon As I Get Home". He continued his winning streak well into the 90's as a solo artist, but as a songwriter and producer he had to go it alone- primarily due to Reid's desire to run their record label LaFace Records. By the time he released his fourth and final record for the Epic label- 1996's "The Day"- Babyface stayed behind the scenes for the rest of the 90's.Fast forward to 2001, when Babyface signs a deal with Arista Records to release his next album "Face 2 Face". It's an album that is different for two reasons- one being that it's a more dance and neo-soul oriented recording and the other being only half of the songs were produced by Babyface. Mike City (Carl Thomas, Sunshine Anderson) produces the opening track "Outside In/Inside Out", while The Neptunes produces "Stressed Out" as well as the first single "There She Goes". The production team Tim & Bob hand in "Work It Out", Heavy D. produces the Al Green inspired "I Keep Callin'" and Megahertz (Nas, De La Soul) produces the Snoop Dogg assisted "Baby Mama". However, the album's biggest surprise is the addition of D.I.T.C. producer Buckwild- who functions as producer on the closer "Lover And Friend", and as a session musician on the songs "Wish U Was My Girl" and the suspicious female friend rant "How Can U Be Down". While "Face 2 Face" is a great album, it suffered from two things that hindered its success. The first of which was Babyface's longtime fans being thrown off from the abrupt change in his usual ballad heavy sound. The second being the record was released on September 11, 2001- the day of the terrorist attacks. Despite those setbacks, this album is one of Babyface's most overlooked recordings and could very well be one of his best.

I absolutely love this CD especially the song What If. I know I have played it at least 50 times.

This CD is definitely Babyface's most daring album to date. That's why it has mixed reviews. But ignore the negative reviews (You know the 1, 2 and 3-starred ones) because this disc is a keeper. It's not perfect really but there is more good than bad going on here. Trust.I really wanted this album ever since I heard "There She Goes" but never made the plunge. Glad I bought it used last year though because it's really good. There are some filler tracks like "Baby's Mama" (kind of an average stinker) and "Work It Out" (not horrible but probably the most repetitive #) but many of the songs are nice. The good faster songs are "There She Goes", the funky "Outside In/Inside Out" and of course "Stressed Out". "I Keep Callin'" is a decent mid-tempo. The ballads on this album are mostly beautiful though: "What If" is really good and "With Him" is exceptional and quite heart-wrenching in the way he vocalizes slowly and emphasizes the words during the chorus. It's kind of sad but so beautiful. In the song 'Face is basically asking his ex how she could possibly fall in love with "that" guy. You know the kind. He then tells her that he thought they would love long and grow old together. Definitely the best track on the album.I touched on more than half of the album. All of the songs get a 4/5, 4.5/5 or 5/5 from me on this album except "Baby's Mama" which I'd award a 3. If you don't mind Babyface stepping out and away from ballad upon ballad then this album is for you. They aren't gone mind you. Just lessened in number. I say get it!4.4 stars.

This came from England and showed up very quickly. My copy had gotten scratched and wasn't playable any more so when I found this at a reasonable price, ordered it right away.

I love this CD. It is a CD that was very hard to find in stores.

...This is not Babyface's best work. I wasnt expecting him to recreate his previous work because I understand that artists must move on. The thing that makes this album questionable is him trying to cater to younger audiences. Anytime a R&B legend tries to cater to a younger crowd the end product will always be questionable and Babyface is a legend. The Neptunes-produced songs(There She Goes and Stressed Out) are not bad but they're not vintage Babyface tracks. Outside In/Inside Out, What If, Still In Love With U are Babyface at his best. How Can U Be Down is cool. It's Babyface telling a story of how a conniving friend(who has the hots for Babyface) of his girlfriend is trying to destroy their relationship with lies and he is asking his girl how can she be down with somebody like that. Even with those good tracks the bad ones offset them. If I had to pick which song on this album is the worst, my vote would be Baby's Mama featuring Snoop Dogg. Work It Out and Lover And Friend are both terrible songs that should have been Michael Jordan slam dunked into yonder trash. With Him is close to old-school Babyface but no cigar. I Keep Caling and Wish U Was My Girl are Babyface at his most uninspired. And I hate to say it but Babyface is not good at singing falsetto and painful tracks like U Should Know and Dont Take It So Personal are concrete evidence of that statement. Bottom Line: Face2Face is huge dissapointment from a giant who is capable of better work. This albums sounds forced and uninspired and you know he is much better than this. Babyface should stick to formula that made every album prior to this one great and leave to desperation to stay relevant by catering to younger crowd for the artists that really need that gimmick.

Fast shipping Good

On first play of this CD, I didn't think it was as good as the 3 other Babyface albums that I have. However, after playing it again, I realised just how good it was - I played it every day! Love 'You should know' & 'What if'.

R&Bの良さを改めて感じます。休みの日は車の手入れをしながら聞いてます。

I only got this for one track.

Pour commencer je suis un fan absolu de Babyface et ce depuis ses premières productions avec Whitney Houston, ça ne date donc pas d'hier. Je ne connaissais pas cet opus et encouragé par vos bonnes critiques j'ai donc sauté le pas. A la réception on trouve un livret plutôt "fourni" avec le descriptif des titres. Passons à l'écoute puisque c'est ça qui nous intéresse, et dès les premières notes ce que j'entends me plait moyennement, que ce soit au niveau des mélodies, des arrangements ou de la voix du maestro je ne suis pas emballé du tout par les titres qui s'enchainent, d'autant plus que le chanteur s'essaye dans le registre aigu tout au long de cet opus comme pourrait le faire un justin timberlake ou un prince sauf que ce n'est pas le registre dans lequel il est le plus à l'aise ni dans celui dans lequel on le préfère. Il faut attendre l'avant dernière chanson où avec "still in love with U", on retrouve un morceau à l'exemple de ce qu'on aurait aimé trouver pour tout l'album. Au final je suis extrêmement déçu de ce cd, j'ai mis trois étoiles parce que je suis fan de l'homme mais j'ai hésité à ne mettre que deux étoiles. Je recommande donc aux potentiels acheteurs d'écouter auparavant ce cd sur les plateformes d'écoute pour vous faire une idée de la chose et pour voir si ce cd vous plait. Pour les amateurs/fans de Babyface je conseille donc de se tourner vers les excellents "the day" ou l'unplugged MTV"