Ciara's 2nd CD, The Evolution, is very good especially compared to most recent works by other R&B princesses. The beats feel like their just fell out of Salt n Pepas greatest hits. The CD has retro 90's beats that still make you want to dance and feel in their own way, modern. She has many Janet Jackson like interludes that have her doing deep self evaluations and such. Those seem to be nonsense. The songs themselves, whether a slow jam or party thumper, are all danceable. The writting is also very strong with a few Beyonce-like pro-femist songs that take no prosoners. Her voice is still about as weak as ever but she works with that she has. Much better than Goodies. The standouts tracks are Bang It Up, Promise, That's Right (Featuring Lil' Jon), Like A Boy, and Make It Last Forever.

The queen of the quick-to-evaporate "crunk" genre is back in an attempt to reclaim her throne. Although the title of the album signals a sense of maturity, she is still sticking to what made her. Dance loop and club hooks evade from the opening track "That's Right" to even the second single, "Promises," which is a slow number but with a groovy beat.
Yet, including the singles, nothing stands out from the other tracks. This creates a plateau on the album that rarely waivers. Moreover, the interludes exude unhealthy amounts of pretense, that optimum enjoyment of this record requires a re-burn without them.
This effort is easily digestable with tracks so easily accessable like "Like A Boy" and "Get In, Fit In," but that is all that can be said to its withering quality.

Wow, absolutely wow! Who would've thought that singer/songwriter Ciara, the First Lady of Crunk'n'B who has commonly been labelled as a Beyonce/Aaliyah knock-off and a vocally talentless hack (both of which are untrue), would be able to bounce back from the disappointing, multi-platinum debut album that was "Goodies" and create an album that unquestionably dominates its predecessor in every aspect you could possibly imagine? Well I sure as Hell didn't think she could, but her sophomore album, "Ciara: The Evolution", is exactly what its title suggests - her once-thin and characterless vocals have strengthened both in force and range, her subject matter is more diverse, the lyrics are much stronger, her personality translates much better into her music, the whole album track listing is excellently sequenced and the album is much more balanced out with its sure-fire club bangers and smooth, emotional ballads. Even with a star-studded production line-up (Rodney "Darkchild" Jerkins, Lil' Jon, Jazze Pha, The Neptunes, etc.) and a few well-established guest rappers (Lil' Jon, 50 Cent & Chamillionaire), Ciara maintains her presence throughout the album's 14 tracks (excluding the 4 interludes that split up and balance each section of the album).

Without a doubt, lead single "Promise" is one of the album's main highlights. For once, forget the fact that she deals a cringe-worthy assortment of exhausted clichés and cheesy come-ons - Ciara's surprisingly strong and melodious vocals over Polow Da Don's hypnotic production on this smooth, club-ready ballad easily compensates for such a flaw and then some. Her vocals even make for a surprisingly good duet with rapping phenomenon 50 Cent on the sugary duet ballad "Can't Leave `Em Alone"; "My Love" & "So Hard" effortlessly captures feelings of heartbreak and emotional tensility, respectively, through smooth production, compelling lyrics and Ciara's sweet vocal delivery. However, none of the ballads strike a chord harder than "I'm Just Me", a piano-driven/synth-vocal-accompanied ballad where Ciara confidently recounts her experiences and displays her sense of self-acceptance. Such passion and lyrical density can also be found on "I Found Myself", another beautiful ballad which steadily builds up with its instrumentation and concludes with the help of grand background choir wailing.

As expected, the club bangers do exactly what they're supposed to do - pull people to the dance-floor. "I Proceed" alternates between two sets of bouncy, synthesizer-heavy production as Ciara sings, talks and whispers with sexually assertive passion ; there's an old-school-esque sensibility to Rodney Jerkin's bass-heavy, horn-driven production to the joyous "Make It Last Forever", where Ciara's strident vocals and unexpected rap easily remain relevant ; the sleek, minimalist beat of "Get Up" helps Ciara & Chamillionaire to keep the party jumping ; Destiny's Child's influence is clearly apparent on the addictive, "Lose My Breath"-esque "Bang It Up" ; and Ciara's lack of vocal force is easily compensated for with her rebellious, biting attitude and unexpected 16-bar rap on the Lil'-Jon-assisted "That's Right", a potent slice of Southern-flavoured R&B/Hip-Hop.

Food-for-thought tracks come in the form of "Like A Boy" and "Get In, Fit In". Over the former track's dark synthesizers and moody violins, Ciara sings with spite and envy as she asks why girls don't get away with certain things like men do and how she wishes she could "switch up the roles". On the latter track, Ciara inspires people to be different over more bouncy production. "Get In, Fit In", however, is a socially conscious ode to being different that joyously chucks in a bunch of catchy one-liners, an anthemic chorus, intelligent lyrics and robotic vocals over a simplistic, catchy beat.

All in all, this is a very impressive album. Apart from a few vocal and lyrical missteps, the album's closest encounter with disaster comes with "C.R.U.S.H.", an unusually addictive but nonetheless childish and immature slice of radio-bound R&B/Pop fodder. And considering how Lil' Jon's surprisingly Crunk-free production comes off as catchy, smooth, hypnotic, club-ready, click-heavy and bouncy at the same time, "C.R.U.S.H." isn't too bad of a track, even if the immature vibe & Ciara's catchy-but-annoying hook threatens to prove otherwise. 5 STARS!

Oh, and on another note, Ciara had a hand in co-writing and/or co-producing a bunch of the album's tracks, which further testifies to the artistic growth she displays on this album.

5 Best Tracks (IMO) (No Order):
"Promise"
"That's Right (feat. Lil' Jon)"
"I Proceed"
"Like A Boy"
"I'm Just Me"

Ciara is a amazing singer/dancer and her new fresh cd definetly proves she has a creative side.Her song "promise"is great.My fave tracks are promise,like a boy,leave him alone,my love,get up,so hard and get in or fit in.You will never get tired of these hot tracks.I ttly recommend this cd.

THIS CD REALLY SUCKED AND I WOULD REALLY LIKE MY MONEY BACK SHE NEED TO PAY ME 4 THIS S**T