U Turn

‧全球销售冲破1500万张的节奏蓝调美声英雄～2003全美排行热门大碟 ‧首支单曲”Shoulda,Woulda,Coulda”率先引燃全美电台热播风潮 ‧嘻哈大师Nelly、美声歌手Joe、福音跨界天王Kirk Franklin、Carl Thomas热声助阵 与Vanessa Williams对唱排行季军单曲”Love Is”崭露头角，再以全美流行单曲榜8週亚军”Badk At One”征服情海，更是葛莱美奖5项得主Alicia Keys/艾莉西亚凯斯、天后Mariah Carey/玛丽亚凯莉、N’SYNC/超级男孩合唱团主力团Justin Timberlake/贾斯汀、萨克斯风天王Kenny G指定合作对象的节奏蓝调全才歌手布莱恩麦肯奈特，自’89年出道至今，接连以『Anytime』（97-双白金）、『Back At One』（’99-三白金）、『Superhero』（2001-金唱片）等专辑累积全球1500万张的专辑销售，2002年以精选大碟『1989-2002 From There To Here』划下个人歌唱生涯首段里程碑，并从离婚事件中沉淀创作心情，2003年春季以最新专辑【U Turm】重新出发，希望乐迷以新的态度与心情来接受他的蜕变。 荣获全美音乐奖、灵魂列车音乐奖、百视达奖等音乐大奖并数次获得葛莱美奖提名的布莱恩麦肯奈特在身兼创作与製作大任的全新专辑【U Turn】中脱胎换骨，拾弃了他在前３张专辑中侧重吉他的创作作与编曲模式，又回到了出道时所惯用的钢琴唱作，来烘托他那随光所散发的香醇成熟美声，当然更有嘻哈劲奏的全新尝试。 描写布莱恩与老婆分手心情”Shoulda,Woulda,Coulda”率先引燃全美电台热播风潮，与嘻哈大师Nelly/尼力斗阵竞飙的”All Night Long”绽放布莱恩的热情活力神采，由DMX幕后製作大将Rockwilder操刀製作的标题曲”U Turn”邀请饶舌歌手Fabolous与新进歌手Six John热声，身为全方位歌手的他还在”Good Enough”这首隽永的美声恋歌中号召Joe、Carl Thomas、Tank等节奏蓝调红牌歌手展露男性美声的重唱魔力，而与福音跨界天王Kirk Franklin的”One Of The One’s Who Did”则是根据圣经的启示录所改编的性灵告白佳作。 by John Bush Brian McKnight found a good pattern for his releases after 1997's Anytime, which featured the breakout hip-hop crossover "You Should Be Mine (Don't Waste Your Time)." After that, he usually made concessions to changing trends in R&B (since a few changeups are good for any artist), but dedicated most of his records to the type of smooth jams he loves to sing and his fans love to hear. U Turn isn't the change of direction hinted at in the title; in fact, it's very close to format, with a pair of rap features (for Nelly and Fabolous) but plenty of space for McKnight's earnest, heartfelt crooning. Over half the album was not only written by McKnight but performed and produced by him as well, and although his writing is among the best in R&B, the backing tracks are bland meldings of piano, synthesized strings, and canned beats. No surprise then, that the best tracks here are the ones where he can focus on his voice, like the classic regret ballad "Shoulda, Woulda, Coulda," the backing left in the capable hands of veterans Damon Thomas and Harvey Mason Jr. The rap crossovers are solid, more than just pairings with commercial successes; loved-up rappers like Nelly and Fabolous work well rhyming over McKnight, and the Rockwilder production on the title track is a good match with an R&B singer.