Review: Fantasy Ride - Ciara

Her career thus far has been an interesting one. Bursting on the scene in 2004 with Goodies, Ciara was quickly dubbed the "Princess of Crunk." Featuring the hit singles "Goodies" and "1,2 Step," her place on the R&B/Hip-Hop charts was entirely solidified. Her follow-up album Ciara: The Evolution (2006), while not by any means a failure, proved to be a disappointment in comparison to her well-received debut. Clunky in places, the second album did spawn two substantial hits: "Get Up" (also featured on the Step Up soundtrack) and "Like a Boy."

Her third album has been in the making for years. It was originally slated to be a concept album titled Fantasy Ride and divided into three discs, each with a genre focus. The first single released ("Go Girl") was a commercial failure, leaving much doubt as to whether or not Fantasy Ride would see the light of day. A subsequent sequel was released soon after ("Never Ever"), and while not a smash, it certainly outperformed the flop single of "Go Girl." The month before Fantasy Ride was scheduled for release, a brand-new track appeared out of seemingly nowhere, featuring Justin Timberlake as both a contributing vocalist and songwriter. The startlingly funk-oriented single "Love Sex Magic" rocketed to the top ten on charts around the world.

While the path leading up to Fantasy Ride was a bumpy one, the final result is a coherent and engaging album. Featuring a Ciara no one has ever seen before, one gets the idea that the real Ciara may have more in common with her "Super C" alter-ego on this album than the blatantly crunk/hip-hop Ciara of earlier releases. The production is slick and the album is very listenable. The opening "Ciara to the Stage" is highly reminiscent of a chilled-out Janet Jackson jam infused with a harder-edged crunk sensibility. Tracks such as "Work (ft. Missy Elliott)" and "Turntables (ft. Chris Brown)" are engineered for the club, with a fresh take on what often proves a redundant genre. Unfortunately, "Turntables" will probably never receive the tightly choreographed music video and performances it deserves for very obvious reasons involving its featured guest vocalist.

Ciara also shows off a darker side on the utterly bizarre tracks "Like a Surgeon" and "High Price (ft. Ludacris)." Her autotuned pseudo-soprano voice on the latter track is effective and memorable, but will probably divide listeners as to whether or not it is artistic or just flat-out creepy. Another nice surprise is her ability to craft effective mid-tempo jams, a rare talent in the "Crunk 'n' B" world Ciara inhabits. "Keep Dancin' on Me" is haunting, tinged with electronica and ready for the dance floor. Ciara would do well to embrace this direction more fully in the future.

It is impossible to listen to this album without Janet Jackson coming to mind at multiple turns. From the seductive and borderline freaky undertones to the juxtaposition of hard-edged dance tracks with sensitive slow-jams, one practically waits for Ms. Jackson if You're Nasty to jump out of the woodwork. Whether or not this will prove an asset to Ciara or merely a grounds for critical comparison remains to be seen.

While Fantasy Ride isn't particularly groundbreaking, it is a surprise stand-out in terms of coherency and originality, showing a genuine growth in Ciara's music that leaves one eager to see what direction she will embrace in the future.

**** out of *****