Search - Donell Jones :: Journey of a Gemini

Instant Classic...Best Male R&B of the Year already!

Enlightened | Atlanta Georgia | 06/20/2006

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Donell Jones, after a 4 year hiatus and recovering from a drinking problem, returns with his 4th eagerly anticipated studio album. With ten years in the game, Donell Jones is most known for his smooth production style and unique songwriting. With many hits under his belt such as Where I Wanna Be, Shorty Got Her Eyes On Me, Still, and U Know What's Up, he looks to shake up the industry again this time around.



New singer Ne-Yo can thank Donell Jones for his success because their styles are very similar but now Donell is back to reclaim his throne. His first single BETTER START TALKING is a masterpiece and it is completely baffling to me how that song flew under the radar of TV and radio. With its light airy summertime instrumental courtesy of Ryan Leslie (Next Selection...Cassie...they bout to blow!) and surprisingly nice rapping from Jermaine Dupri as well as Donell Jones sounding better than ever; this song should have been HUGE! I don't know what happened with the promotion but it may be because he's on JIVE records...so he's pretty much on his own. Whatever the reason, it's a complete tragedy that this song is not bigger than it is.



Continuing on, Donell Jones returns with classic tunes. Every song is nice and the cd can be played the whole way through. I won't hesitate to say that this album is the best of the year so far and will certainly be the best R&B of the summer unless something else comes along that is completely amazing (which I doubt). Songs such as Special Girl (which has been out since last year but still sounds good), Spend The Night, Portrait of A Woman, Cry, Ooh Na Na, and Cuttin Me Off are all stellar tracks. And with production by Ryan Leslie, The Underdogs ( most recently on Chris Brown's album), Mike City, Tim & Bob (Bobby Valentino album), as well as puttin his own signature production touch on tracks, writing most of the lyrics on the album, and his smooth voice; Donell Jones is poised to make some noise with this album. It will be a complete tragedy if this album doesn't do well because Donell has released the best cd of his career and deserves credit and recognition. 5 Stars."

Donell Jones does it again

J. Highsmith | Mitchellville, Maryland United States | 07/07/2006

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Although, I liked "In The Hood" and Donell Jones' remake of Stevie Wonder's "Knock Me Off My Feet", I still wasn't sure if I should purchase Donell's debut CD, "My Heart". It wasn't until 3 years later when Donell Jones released "Where I Wanna Be" when I knew that I would be a fan of his for many years that I finally purchased "My Heart". When I saw Donell's video for "U Know What's Up" w/Left Eye (R.I.P.), there were no doubts at all that I would purchase this CD. Once I did, I was glad that I could play the CD in its entirety.

My favorite tracks ended up being "Shorty Got Her Eyes On Me", "Have You Seen Her", This Luv" and my all time favorite Donell Jones track, "Where I Wanna Be". Three years later Donell Jones dropped "Life Goes On". The CD's first single was "You Know That I Love You" and that ended up being one of my favorite tracks on "Life Goes On" as well as, "Where You Are", "Still" and the title track.



This time around, Donell Jones is back with his 4th CD, "Journey Of A Gemini". Although, this CD hasn't got alot of promotion, "Journey Of A Gemini" is right up there with "Where I Wanna Be" and "Life Goes On". The 1st song that I heard from this CD was the uptempo "Better Start Talking" w/Jermaine Dupri. Ryan Leslie & Sean Garrett did an excellent job with the track and Donell Jones does the rest with his vocals. If Donell Jones doesn't release a slow jam as his next single, then this track should be the choice. The 1st single from this CD, "I'm Gonna Be" is definitely the best song on "Journey Of A Gemini", in my opinion. Tim & Bob took a break from Bobby Valentino tracks to lace Donell Jones with some heat. Unfortunately, I haven't seen a video for the track and the song isn't getting the promotion that it deserves. This midtempo track is right up there with "You Know That I Love You" and "U Know What's Up" as Donell has no problem telling his woman what he would do and what he doesn't mind doing to do things for the woman in his life. There is also a version of the song with Clipse towards the end of the CD as well. Clipse & Pharrell have a certified banger out right now entitled, "Mr. Me Too". "My Apology" is just that as Donell wants to explain to his woman he does the wrong things at times and he even goes as far as blaming the well known "Split Personality Astrology sign" (Gemini) to explain why he treats her the way that he does. "Spend The Night" is a stellar uptempo track that will give you another reason why Donell has been in the game as long as he has. Donell gives you straight forward lyrics and Mike City provides the tight track. "Portrait Of A Woman" falls right in line with R Kelly's "A Woman's Threat" and Joe's "Treat Her Like A Lady" as Donell gives his spin on why a woman should be cherished and not left hanging to dry by "us" men. Donell gets deep on "Cry" as he talks about 2 unfortunate situations that happened in particular when families didn't pay attention to each other. This is a change of pace for Donell Jones but the formula works for me. "Ooh Na Na" and "Apple Pie" are self explanatory but these seductive slow jams work for me, since I have always liked Donell Jones' slow jams. Tim & Bob produce another banger in "Feelin' You". When I first listened to this CD, I must have played this track atleast 3 times back to back. Donell blesses us with another slow jam on "Can't Wait". He describes a situation where he had been with a particular woman and how it was hard for him to keep waiting without trying to "Dew The Do". Donell always makes songs that any man can relate to, which is one reason why I like his music. "If U Want" features Bun B from UGK and is produced by Ryan Leslie and Sean Garrett once again. The track is pretty good but Bun B's rap starts to fade once he gets to the middle of his 2nd verse. Bun B is better when he sticks to his "Get Throwed" formula of just being the "King Of The Trill" and not trying to be the king of an uptempo r&b track. "Another Life" has Donell talking about a situation where he was with a particular woman where there were just so many things going on that things just didn't work out. If things could be different or as Erykah Badu would say in the "Next Lifetime" we could be together.



I can honestly say that there aren't too many faults that I can find with this CD other than Track 1, "Special Girl" where there was nothing special about the song at all. "Baby It's You" is going fine until Rico Love gets on the track and does the song no justice at all. The problem that some Donell Jones fans may have is that some of the songs sound very similar so after awhile it may sound like "Journey Of A Gemini" is just one long track.



Overall, I am glad that Donell Jones has released another CD. It's a shame that he can't get more promotion for a job well done on a CD. It reminds me of Jon B's "Stronger Everyday" in the way that you have 2 nice CDs but for some reason the marketing departments at these two labels don't realize the product that they have. If you are a Donell Jones fan and you enjoy his previous CDs, then you will enjoy "Journey Of A Gemini" as well. If you are searching for Donell Jones songs that aren't on his CDs then you should definitely pick up the "Love & Basketball" soundtrack for the stellar "I'll Go" and the soundtrack to the remake of the movie "Shaft" to hear the impressive "Do What I Gotta Do"



James' Top 5



1) I'm Gonna Be

2) Better Start Talking

3) Feelin' You

4) Can't Wait

5) Apple Pie



Ranking Donell Jones' Discography



1) Where I Wanna Be

2) Life Goes On

3) Journey Of A Gemini

4) My Heart"

Feeling It

*Concrete Rose* | 07/12/2006

(5 out of 5 stars)

"So Amazing. Donnell delivers once again on this one. Just like "Where I Wanna Be"...every song on this album can be played all the way through without skipping through a single song. don't believe me, see for yourself. I'm sure you will enjoy this cd as much as I did.







Great listen:

*My Apology

*Spend The Night

*Ooooh Na Na

*Cuttin' me off

*Cry"