Search - Frankie J :: Priceless

His best album, and no one cares

Anthony Rupert | Milwaukee, WI | 09/11/2007

(4 out of 5 stars)

"I never questioned Frankie J's vocal ability, but his albums as a whole were never very exciting. His first album What's a Man to Do didn't really have much to offer outside of "Don't Wanna Try", and although his second album The One had more hit material, it also still had about the same amount of filler. Plus, no one really paid attention to it after "How to Deal" lost fire (possibly because it sounded a little too much like Usher's "Burn"), even after tacking on a decent remake of Extreme's "More Than Words". This is probably why Frankie released a Spanish album only a few months later, and then he released his third English album (yes, editorial reviewer; this is his THIRD English album, not his second) Priceless a few months after THAT. While normally that would be the sign of a rush job, this is actually his best album.



One relieving thing is that Baby Bash is nowhere to be found on this album (I hear he has a new album coming out this year...*sigh*), but other guest rappers hold up pretty well. While "That Girl" (with Chamillionaire and Mannie Fresh) didn't exactly get people running to the record store, the song is pretty good. Layzie and Krayzie Bone also deliver good stuff on the aptly titled "Never Let You Down".



And speaking of that, Frankie is a lot better with fast songs than he used to be. When he tackles extramarital affairs, he impresses, whether he ends up getting away with it ("I Ain't Trippin'") or caught ("Hurry Up" -- although it's hard to picture when he talks about the other man being 7'9"). And "If He Can't Be" does a good job of interpolating Billy Idol's "Eyes Without a Face". But Frankie also still scores with ballads, as evidenced by "Still" and the title track.



"Top of the Line" (featuring Slim of 112) doesn't really help or hurt the album, and the necessary song with a message ("Daddy's Little Girl") is a little hard to get into. But the corny "Dance" should have been left behind (especially when Frankie talks about liking the girl's Janet Control). But this is still a great album. Sadly, I wouldn't be surprised if Frankie is dropped from Columbia, especially considering this album has been out for almost a year and this is only the tenth review for it. But Priceless is still worth picking up.



Anthony Rupert"