Search - Brigette Mcwilliams :: Take Advantage of Me

Brigette's second album did her justice.

Manuel | California | 08/13/2003

(2 out of 5 stars)

"DEFINITELY steer clear of this one, folks! Even Ms. McWilliams herself admitted she had ZERO creative control in the development of her debut at the time. When you hear it all the way through, that fact becomes even more apparent. A Mary J. Blige "wannabe"? McWilliams??? NOT IN A BILLION YEARS, LOL!!!



So 'Take Advantage of Me' should be thoroughly deleted from Virgin's catalog and her superior sophomore release ('Too Much Woman') be brought back into circulation ASAP. Many of today's young people are actually being robbed of some pretty good music in recent years, especially coming from this talented woman whose second album has quickly become one of the best kept secrets around.



GET WITH THE PROGRAM ALREADY, VIRGIN!!!"

Disappointing

C. Jake | Ohio | 06/09/2003

(2 out of 5 stars)

"I actually heard this album after her amazing second album Too Much Woman" because it's much harder to find. TMW set the bar pretty darned high, but it seems Brigette wasn't at that level at the time of Take Advantage of Me. The only good tracks are Cherish this Love, the title track and You Got Somethin I Want, which is the only Steve Harvey produced track on the album. Luckily, Harvey had a much bigger role in TMW, and it really shows. Steer clear of this one, but PLEASE don't sleep on Too Much Woman."

Didn't Get The Push She Deserved!

Charles L. Hubbert | Milwaukee, WI | 02/03/2006

(4 out of 5 stars)

"A lot of you probably aren't familiar with this hidden gem. Right around the time when Hip-Hop and R&B were becoming more intermingled is when Brigette McWilliams released Take Advantage Of Me. Artists like Mary J. Blige, SWV, and Adina Howard were mixing their seductive voices with hip-hop flavor and commanding all the attention from R&B lovers. A little more publicity and financial backing by Virgin on this project probably would have been the start of a great career for McWilliams. Few even got to chance to hear Take Advantage Of Me, including myself. I didn't hear this album until about a decade later when I was given a copy to listen to. There's no reason why this couldn't have been pushed by her label.



From the opening sequence, you know exactly the groove Brigette was going for. "Cherish This Love" has a heavy dose of hip-hop edge, "Baby Don't Play Me" is a soulful rhythm with a similar vibe, and the title track is a heartened plea for someone to do just what she's asking. "No Groove Sweating" goes right along those lines but resorting more on a jazzy background though. "Gotta Be Down" is a radio-friendly cut that will remind you of Adina Howard in a heartbeat. "I Get The Job Done" is a brash mid-tempo melody about how she puts it down, "That's On Me" superbly mixes Hip-Hop, R&B, and Jazz like you've never heard, and "Blankets Of Playboys" is a drawn out tune that could have been left off the album. She closes the cd with the funky track "You Got Somethin' I Want" and the hip-hop laced "(Don't Let Me Catch You) Slippin."



Brigette McWilliams is like a lot of R&B artists that are around today. They can sing, they can get the party going, and they can slow it down when the time is right. And with everybody trying to do the same thing, somebody's going to be left out in the cold. Take Advantage Of Me wasn't taken advantage of at all, and that's truly a shame. Brigette McWilliams would try once again a few years later with Too Much Woman. And even though that album was just as good (if not better than her first), it too didn't see its full potential. If you want to have a cool R&B album from the early 90s, then this is one of the cds to get."