Hurt No More received mixed to positive reviews from music critics. Allmusic editor Andy Kellman called the album "one of the finest R&B albums of the year." He found that while "nothing about Hurt No More is radically exceptional, it is, however, full of small surprises [and] as rich as humbled, sincerely sensitive male R&B gets in 2004."[2] USA Today writer Steve Jones wrote that "in his second solo album, Winans spends much of his time taking the blows from all sorts of bad relationships [...] After years of playing in the background, it seems that the talented Winans is ready for his close-up."[5] Vibe editor Tim Bower called the album a "charming throwback."[6] Jon Caramanica from Rolling Stone rated Hurt No More two out of five starts. He felt that "though his melodies are strong, his lyrics lack punch. And while his voice quivers with hurt, it never achieves true angst, suggesting that even heartbreak can be smoothed over."[4]
Mario Winans-Hurt No More Full Album 12
Outside of some significant background details, nothing about Hurt No More is radically exceptional. It is, however, full of small surprises. Not only is it a Winans record with a parental advisory sticker; it's also a Bad Boy release with production and instrumental duties handled by one person. That person is Mario Winans, whose return as a solo artist was announced by a Top Five single that is literally haunted by the spirit of Enya circa 1987. Primarily a producer and multi-instrumentalist, with credits up the ying-yang for big-name gospel and secular artists alike, Winans' rebirth as a solo artist -- after a false start with Motown in 1997 -- is as rich as humbled, sincerely sensitive male R&B gets in 2004. Lead single "I Don't Wanna Know" trumps Ruben Studdard's "Sorry 2004" as the most touching R&B single by a broken-spirited male for 2004, made by a subdued drum pattern, Enya's ambient presence, a sprinkle of piano, and Winans' hushed, pained vocal -- which begs his woman to keep her infidelities low-key. Winans has experience making a wide range of music for others, but he excels most at creating slow, sophisticated grooves for himself. Songs of this kind make up most of this album, and that aspect has a lot to do with why the record is successful. Winans doesn't wear the few occurrences of harder-edged material so well -- "Pretty Girl Bullsh*t," featuring an ill-matched verse from Foxy Brown, is particularly out of character and disrupts the lush, sensual flow of the record. A couple minor blunders like that hardly prevent Hurt No More from being one of the finest R&B albums of the year. 2ff7e9595c
댓글