Angie Stone Album - Stone Love

It's been five years since Angie Stone's debut and her third album, Stone Love, is still taking the neo-soul approach with dabbles in hip-hop, funk, and classic soul from throughout the years. The big song is "I Wanna Thank Ya," a funky, up-tempo hip-hop break that sees Stone dueting with Snoop Dogg--the production is a fresh take on the old skool sound while Stone's melody has a breezy disco-soul vibe. "Stay for a While" with Anthony Hamilton and "You Don't Love Me" are two highlights from the selection of silky smooth numbers where the warmth in Stone's voice is enhanced by the subtle arrangements. There are some poppier moments in "My Man" and "Lover's Ghetto" where the sound is influenced by the decadence of 80s soul, best summed up as a hybrid of Luther Vandross and Chaka Khan.

Stone Love is another great album for both soul lovers and people who like their pop with a bit of soul in it. There is very little filler and above all, with Angie Stone's experiments in all things urban, it never gets repetitive or boring. --Georgina Collins

Customer review - 2004-07-11

- Angie Stone is the Bomb!!!

I honestly have to say that Angie Stone is the most underated singer out there today. The CD Stone Love is phenomenal even even though I prefer her prior cd Mahogany Soul. It's amazing how people think that people who sing off-tune like Ashanti are talented and critize real talents like Angie Stone. My favorites on this cd are My Man with Floetry(Very funky track), I wanna thank ya(version w/o rap), U-haul, That kind of Love,Karma. In fact I love almost every song on this album and you know that is very rare these days, most cds out there have only one good song. My advice to any real music lover out there, if you don't have Angie's previous two cd's go pick them up and you won't be dissappointed. Whenever she's in your town check her out because she's phenomenal on stage...

Customer review - 2004-07-24

- No Stone Unturned.

Nobody would disagree that Angie Stone would make a great soul singer of the 1970s. Her musical style pays so much homage to that decade, that many of her songs, save the modern production, sound as if they could have been released in 1974 and not 2004. But while her music may be old school, it's definitely not old fashioned. Her third and most consistent album, "Stone Love," is overall more favorable than 2001's solid (if long-winded) "Mahogany Soul." There's nothing here that tops "Brother" or the knockout "Bottles and Cans," but at 55 minutes, it's lean and to the point with no throwaway songs. She ropes in Floetry for "My Man," teams up with fellow nu soul-er Anthony Hamilton on the standout "Stay For a While," emotes with conviction on "You Don't Love Me," and delivers a killer breakup jam "U-Haul," which, as the title implies, finds our heroine moving out of her man's crib and life. While Stone often wears her soul influences on her sleeve, there's enough good stuff on "Stone Love" to make it worth checking out.

Customer review - 2005-02-21

- Music Great . . . Actual CD Disappointing

I'm a casual Angie Stone fan, and I was blown away by this disc. It's an amazing third effort from Stone. "Stone Love" covers several genres of R&B/Soul music, from the currently popular "neo-soul" to Betty Wright-influenced cuts and soul with a pop edge. My biggest complaint--big enough for a two-star loss--is the copy-protection on the CD. I could only rip the disc to my PC in WMA format, which means I couldn't transfer it to my iPod. I can understand artists and especially greedy record companies not wanting consumers to "bootleg" albums, but I've been prevented from using this music in a legal manner. My only legal option is to purchase the album again on iTunes, but I am instead forced to download the album from a p2p. Thanks a lot, J records!

Customer review - 2004-09-12

- Some cookin' soul music!

Stone Love is for true soul music lovers. Don't buy this album if you're expecting to hear music similar to Brandy, Janet Jackson or Ashanti.

The first single I Wanna Thank Ya (w/Snoop Dogg) is a toe-tapping, finger-snapping track sampling Joyce Sims' hit Come Into My Life. It's a catchy single but didn't really need to have Snoop on the guest rap. Angie was smart though, she has a no-rap version of the song at the end of the album, which received more airplay here in Canada.

Other standout and SOULFUL tracks include My Man (featuring Floetry)--BTW,I didn't know those ladies could kick it like that! and how about U-Haul with Missy Elliott and Tweet? Angie's duet with Anthony Hamilton is something out of a basement house party with blue lights in the basement. How about her collaboration with Betty Wright? It can't get any better than this!

I also love Remy Red, You Don't Love Me Anymore and Cinderella Ballin'. This is some of Angie's best work. If you love SOUL music, pick this CD up. You won't stop listening to it...

Customer review - 2004-07-16

- Angie Stone....RULES

This is the most satisfying CD that I have bought so far in 2004, just slightly better than my other 5 star--Lizz Wright's SALT.

Angie Stone is such a PRO, such a great songwriter and so damned REAL. The woman has a direct line to the old school SOUL vibe and she turns it on better than anybody!!! There's only 2 tracks on here that I sometimes skip over, but the rest of the CD is so fantastic, so smooth and so enjoyable that I just have to represent with 5 stars. Angie Stone is the bomb.

My favorite cuts are..U-Haul, Remy Red, I Wanna Thank You, Stay for a While (with Anthony Hamilton), Karma, Cinderella Ball'n and Lover's Ghetto. Every damn one of them songs is a classic!!

Miss Stone, my hats off to you. You brought it for real this time. Excellent!!!

And don't forget to pick up SALT by Lizz Wright. Another sure-fire excellent CD (but it's Jazz).

List of Angie Stone albums

Angie Stone Album - Stone Love