Once upon a time there lived a very rich man. His name was Diddy, and he was so powerful that no one dared tell him his name was ridiculous. But despite the Armani suits and private jets, there was still something missing from Diddy’s life. Then one day, it hit him – he needed an all-girl group! But not just any all-girl group, he needed a group of women he could completely control. This group would be his musical doll collection; he’d dress them up, make them sing his songs and tour where he told them.
So Diddy started a tv show, and on that show he found five beautiful and talented women who felt so grateful for the chance they’d been given they would follow his every instruction. Diddy’s doll collection was eventually named Danity Kane (he was so powerful no one dared tell him their name was ridiculous) and he promptly put them to work making him money.
Years went by and Danity Kane had became the most popular girl group in the country, although there was very little competition. The group was sure their second album, which they appropriately titled Welcome to the Dollhouse, would catapult them to even higher fame and fortune. So they recruited some of the best producers in the game and in a mere five weeks had recorded a full album. Sure the music was often formulaic and shallow, but who cares, it was hot!
There was only one problem, Diddy wasn’t sure which track should be the lead single. So Danity Kane let their fans choose the single, and lo and behold they chose Damaged, a song with a simple beat, some impressive vocal harmonizing and of course a pointless monologue from Diddy. Even though every guy who heard the song was terrified (“damaged” women are often psychotic women), their female fans could certainly relate. Many people thought Pretty Boy would have been a better choice for a lead single, after all it was more club-ready and the skittering beat, courtesy of Danja, was much better than Damaged’s. What’s more, Pretty Boy allowed Danity Kane to flex some vocal style, even if they got carried away and said things like “wipe me down,” but the fans’ selection was final.
Like all good dolls, Danity Kane knew they needed to look and sound pretty to attract attention from men, so they loaded Welcome to the Dollhouse with tracks that would be sure to get the fellas salivating. They started the album off with Bad Girl, another Danja beat, this one even more club-oriented than Pretty Boy, and threw in every vocal trick in the book, from the strangely operatic “when the red light comes on I transform” to the almost robotic“I can be your addiction if you wanna get hooked on me.” For good measure they even secured a verse from Missy, shockingly only one of two guest features on the album. But that was just the tip of the sexual iceberg: there was Strip Tease, a sultry dance hit that was oddly reminiscent of Britney Spears (pre-crazy pills), the song Ecstasy burned with some Rick Ross-fueled trill flavor, and Sucka For Love used an un-inspired Bryan Michael Cox beat to remind us once again that they were “addicted to touching and rubbin.”
Diddy was so pleased with Danity Kane’s ability to make the kind of music he wanted he let one of the dolls, Dawn Richard, co-write a song with Mario Winans called Secret Place. Apparently the song was located in such a secret place they could only find the first minute of it and called it an interlude, even though it exhibited a level of soul and passion that would have made it the best song on the album. But dolls can’t feel, they can only pretend to feel what their label tells them to. So while Welcome To The Dollhouse contained several slow songs and ballads, most notably Poetry and Is Anybody Listening, they all lacked that element of raw emotion that makes a song truly great. Perhaps they should have made a visit to the great and powerful Mary J. Blige for some pointers. But even with all of these shortcomings, Welcome to the Dollhouse gave the public exactly the kind of immediately accessible album it wanted. And those surefire album sales meant everyone got to live happily ever after…except the reviewer who had to listen to As I Am on repeat to remind him what heartfelt music truly sounds like.
I watched the show, spoke with several members of the group, listened to the album and now have come to my conclusion...
Welcome to the Dollhouse has its peaks and valleys, but it ultimately flat lines. All the talk that the album would allow the ladies the chance to really open up their creative 'voices' went nowhere.
This album is 98% calculated and at some point, unless the ladies go their separate ways, they are going to need to demand more control over their own project. There is a difference between a doll and a puppet and this treads that very thin line.
at first listen I thought this album sucked, but after listenin a few time its grown on me songs that stand out are "Exstacy", "bad Girl",& "lights Out". But i was feelin the interlude the most at least 2/3 Secret place & flashback were the best materials on the album n shooda been made into full songs. flashback sample the old classic "Time after time" and was written by dawn & D-woods...why in the world diddy didn't let these girls write at 60% of this album idk but it wood have been far far better. I agree that these girls besides "Dawn" lack true emotion in their voices i thk in time they may become very very good but they still got longs way to go.
The first half of the album was sick with all the party songs and stuff. Pretty Boy is a sick song just for the first 5 seconds alone. Did u guys hear that sick Danja beat? Oh and ectasy is a little on the addictive side. I agree that the slower songs lacked emotion tho. Anybody who watched the show saw that they weren't very interested in the slower mid-tempo songs. My biggest complaint is that the interludes would've been great if they were full songs. I still say that the dance tracks are sick tho!!!
i belive everyone in this section is TOTALLY WRONG! Welcome to the dollhouse was FIRE! Every song is different. Every girl lead! There is NO comparison to them. I've listen to the album trying to see if i wanted to skip a song and go to the next.....no chance! Every run, every cord, every harminazation, every beat was AWESOME! I do agree the interludes should have been longer espicially secert place! If you didn't like the album something is wrong with your musical taste. I proudly give this album 4.75 stars out of 5! DK is here to stay!
the cd is dope its def sumthin u can bang in the clubs and at parties. but overall i love the cd and the group cus they are very talented and all the girls get their shine its not jus one particular girl leading the entire group.
This album exceeded my expectations by a long shot!!! I love EVERY SONG except the last one with Day 26. It's hot and sexxxy and very unique. LOVE IT LOVE IT!!
DK ALBUM IS NOT BAD PPL NEED TO TAKE IT FOR WHAT IT IS THOUGH. THE ALBUM IS UPTEMPO POP WHICH IS THE DIRECTION THEY WANTED TO GO IN. THE HARMONIES ON THE TRACKS ONLY ARE GOOD ENOUGH TO SCORE THEM A 3. THE SLOW SONGS DO HOWEVER LACK EMOTION AND THATS JUST SOMETHING ARTIST NEED TO WORK ON THEMSELVES. THE ALBUM THOUGH HAS SO GOOD PRODUCTION BUT THEY NEED TO FIND BETTER SONG WRITERS BECAUSE SOME SONGS COULD HAVE BEN WRITTEN BY CHILDREN(2 OF YOU)BUT OVERALL GOOD ALBUM I EXPECT IT TO SELL.
you can say what you want i get more request for there songs then a little bit and me personally i think if you like things with a pop feel yet its still nods your head this is the album but if your looking for the mary j type r and b then your not going to like it
i have the album and the songs that i can listen to ova and ova are secret place (even if it is not the whole song), lights out, ecstasy, poetry, and is anybody listening maybe the other songs will stand out to me later on but they are not right now
I listened to it and i would give it 3.75 rating so i rounded it up to a 4. The CD is alot better than their 1st attempt. Gets a little annoying after Damaged..but then comes Lights Out. That song is reason i gave it a 4 stars. Thats the best song they have ever made by far. If they make it a single it will be big.
i am soo excited to get danity kanes new album. the first one was kick assss!and im sureee welcome to the dollhouse will even bettter! i love you danity kaneeeee!
AT FIRST I DIDNT REALLY CARE FOR THIS ALBUM BUT NOW I CANT STOP LISTENING 2 IT,ITS CRAZY CAUSE I NEVER THOUGHT THAT I WOULD ENJOY THIS KIND OF MUSIC BUT I LOVE IT,ITS ACTUALLY MY FAVORITE CD RIGHT NOW
This album does not meet the level of expectation from the last album. Like (I forget his name) the producer said on the show, they made a bid mistake by trying to change the feel of the album. Even if they wanted to have a "club feel" to the album, they should have made better choices. It seems that what would have been some of the best tracks on the album, albiet ballads, were relegated to interludes. Other than that there were only about two track that I could listen to more than once. They need to stop trying to change so much and follow the formula of their debut release.
thiiS wUZ tOO kUtE i pROMiSE i mEAN i wATChED thE maKiN Of yOU gUYS AND yOUR tHE bEST bANd diDdY hAS maDE iN mY oPiNiON tHE bOyS hAV a lOt OF cOMpEtEtiON n yOu aLL haV nUn..i LOVE yU gRLS
Posted on Apr 28, 2008
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