Average User Rating: 80% (15 Reviews)
5 / 5	Her live perfomances are amazing... this album will be too! Pippa "Pippa" (UK) - 9 March 2008 I saw Estelle perform at the BBC Electric Proms a few months ago and she played a lot of her new material. Whilst staying true to her distinctive style we experienced with "The 18th Day", the songs on this album song totally fresh and unlike anything else on the market at the moment. The input of her new mentor John Legend might make it sound more "American" but the songs are excellent and Estelle's voice is incredible so I have no doubt they will shine through the production. In all honesty, Estelle is unlikely to do as well as she deserves to in the UK (like so many of our home-grown talents like Terri Walker and MIA) but if you give her a chance you'll grow to love her and you won't be able to stop yourself from dancing and singing along with her. "Wait a Minute" was the first single to be released from this album and she will shortly be releasing "American Boy" which features man of the moment Kanye West. ... Read Full Review »
5 / 5	Will `keep coming back coz the girls tight' - about time she got her props D. Mwiinga "Ecclesiastes" (Rdg Area, UK) - 3 April 2008 From the first time I heard the track `wait a minute', I went and wrote a review and I said in my review that if the rest of the album is anything like this first single, then we are in for a treat. And to say I was right would be an understatement. Move to the states First things first, I think it was a good move for her to go to the states coz it would have been much harder as a female UK rnb/hip-hop artist to commercially break through and go as far as getting a number 1 single. You could argue that it was coz of Kanye West that she got the number 1 spot but that would just be plain silly coz Kanye don't even produce the number one single `American boy'. So props to her for doing what it takes to get her much deserved recognition coz she has been slept on for too damn long. The album This album is right on so many different levels. I listened to it at work, in my car and at the gym just to get a feel of it and I have to say that it is seamless as it just plays through so nicely. The choice of songs e.g. subject matter, beats, production etc is just on point. I have to say the album has got that John Legend-esc feel to it but that's expected as JL worked a lot on this album. Its almost perfect because it has songs that are suitable for almost every mood, from the number single `American Boy' with Kanye that just gets you to bump your head to the mellowed out "more than friends". From the very first song "wait a minute", the album just sounds really good and if you like up tempo "shine" as well as mellowed out music "come over", then this is the album for you. This album is like a blend of John Legend's Once Again "no substitute love, Back in Love", Lauren Hill's Miseducation "so much out the way" and Estelles own first album and you just know that's a good combination. With every song, the melodies are just so sweet and easy going and then before you know it, Estelle comes through with the London twang that does not sound over the top, it s beautiful. I can imagine she/they carefully picked the tracks for this album and that's why there are only 12 tracks, no fillers at all, each song with its intended purpose. Its nice coz you get that John Legend mellow-ness and then you get that Estelle brush London witty thing going on with her clever and sometimes funny rhymes. This album shows real maturity on her part and I think she has raised the bar not only for herself but for all the other artists out there both male and female and also on both sides of the Atlantic. If you also look at the production as well as the features on this album, you can tell she meant business coz even the samples she uses are classics, from Bob Marley to Paul Simon and then she solicits the help of heavy hitters like Wyclef, Cee-lo, Kardinal Official, Kanye West. Well what more can I say. Best part The best part of this album is that it does not fit into one genre of music at all, it sort of transcends them. In only 12 songs, she manages to do a bit of everything in an exciting way that works. She has tracks with a hint of reggae, tracks with a hint of rnb, tracks with a splash of hip-hop etc. You not only get good lyrics, but you get good beats and interesting subject matter although it revolves around love, it is done in an interesting way, not your typical damsel in distress or man hating (opposite of a misogynist) type. It is an interesting album and it is about time she got her props coz she is a smart young lady who has worked hard. So you can applaud her for doing more for UK artist abroad and also for just being so creative and relentless. You might say it sound a bit American but that cant be helped seeing that it was made in America but when Estelle spits her rhymes, you remember that she is reppin Britain for sure. Big up Estelle. ... Read Full Review »
3 / 5	Enough shining moments for your money IWFIcon - 12 April 2008 Imagine my surprise when I heard Estelle's new single American Boy; how in the hell did she drag Kanye West into the proceedings...? And then get him to rap about Ribena and WAGS? Little did I know that John Legend had taken a, ahem, shine to Estelle, signed her to his label and the rest is, as they say, history. And it's a history few would have predicted given her first album's failure (it only scraped the top 40) and dare I say that Estelle herself might never have imagined the day where Mark Lamarr would be replaced by Kanye West in her video's... You can't ignore the Kanye effect; last November, the single release of Wait A Minute failed to even trouble the Top 100, and it's difficult to imagine one of her non-collaborations would have fared any better. But credit where credit is due, American Boy is a great little pop song and if I'm being churlish it would be amazing if a record produced by ten of the finest producers John Legend's money can buy didn't come up with some sublime moments but even if nothing quite lives up to the single, there's more than enough to make this a worthwhile listen. More Than Words is a lilting jazz-inspired track that Joss Stone would give up her year's supply of Flake's for, and the collaboration with Cee-Lo, the Mowtown-esque Pretty Please could conceivably follow American Boy to the upper reaches of the charts. There are the duff moments for sure, and Estelle doesn't quite manage to carry off an entire album on her charismatic personality alone, but there are more than enough killer tracks and hooks here to please most pop fans.... Read Full Review »
2 / 5	Second Impression - Lacklustre The Wolf (uk) - 18 June 2008 I gave this one some time. I really did. "Don't let first impressions get the better of you" - That's what I told myself. I want to like Estelle but there's something disingenuous about this album which keeps me at arm's length. Perhaps it's the celebrity pals. A pretty blatant US market launchpad. Perhaps it's the uneasy slipping and sliding between West London and American brogues...NB 'More Than Friends'. Perhaps it's that the voice is pretty ordinary truth be told. Lacking in dynamic variation and uncertain in tone. Of the twelve songs in this collection only a couple rise above the middle of the road. 'Come Over' and 'Pretty Please' both possess a degree of sassy charm. 'So Much Out The Way' and title track 'Shine' however are real stinkers. Unfocussed and disappointing. ... Read Full Review »
5 / 5	Go girl! M. Cameron "misaddy" (UK) - 31 March 2008 Imagine yourself being Estelle at her age. This is a really well laid out set of tracks. Estelle has done well to keep it real, despite having to go stateside to give us her second sample. She has given us a tasty eclectic mixture of reggae, disco, gospel, soul, rare and rap to name a common few and with her galaxy smooth vocals this album is just cute, yet manages to keep tight from start to finish. With some tracks you might think Floetry, Corrine, US production etc....okay but on the whole an american artist could not give us so much seasoning in one pot! This makes a great Spring debut as the weather is getting warmer and we need something local sounding to drive to and remind us why we (at times) like being different! Hope you enjoy and appreciate her efforts in our difficult UK market. Thanks Estelle.... Read Full Review »