R&B’s #1 playboy, Trey Songz, has had a pretty consistent ride through his career. He’s dominated the radio since 2005 with a plethora of hits and features (Gotta Go, Wonder Woman, LOL :-), I Invented Sex, and countless others). That’s not all that this ladies man has been involved in though. From being a Rocawear model to numerous performances and tours, this guy has been on top of his hustle. Most recently his Nikky Minaj assited hit, Bottoms Up, has been heating up radios, ringtones, and message boards across the nation. The Virginia native’s latest is your everyday mixture of romance, heartache, and love rolled up into one more reason to have sex. Even though his subject matter is typical for an R&B artist, he definitely gives an interesting perspective on all sides of the board.
Here We Go Again, the first track, hits the nail right on the head. Again, again, and again we endure Trey’s sexual innuendos and scant musical attempts. Maybe it’s because he’s young with raging hormones, or maybe he’s exploiting the slogan “sex sells”. We’ll never know. Either way, Trey comes out swinging with Love Faces. A melodic song with a heavy, steady bass line side by side with Trey’s pleading vocals. Get ready to sweat out your perms and for intense touching, ladies; you still have two more rounds to go with Massage and Alone. Trey Songz eases his way up your shirt with Massage while he prepares to get you Alone. Love Faces, Massage, and Alone are definitely a triple threat in the bedroom, but eventually become boring until his lead single, Bottoms Up, begins to play.The Kane Beatz produced Bottoms Up hits the album by storm and relieves you from the previous songs. Nikki Minaj makes an impressive appearance with character, humor, and genuine entertainment in her verse. The up and coming female rapper stretches her voice and plays with words in such a way that would keep you entertained for hours. Considering the beat, exciting chorus, and Nikki’s cartoonish verse, Bottoms Up has listeners wondering why Trey Songz has a verse on this song at all.
We hit intermission on Passion Pain and Pleasure with the dramatic, almost opera like interlude named Pain. This interlude makes you wonder why Trey Songz won’t dive into deeper subject matter and let listeners hear more of him instead of his acts in the bedroom more often. Broken heart maybe? Food for thought…
Moving right along we have another song of heartache touching on the negative effects of good sex between friends. Trey shows his maturity on Can’t Be Friends and gives you a breath of fresh air. Even though he’s still talking about sex, he’s show diversity. Though this is a good song, its not material that should be used as a single, at least not in this day and age.
Any true fan of real R&B can appreciate Please Return My Call. Trey takes us on a journey through a man’s apologetic nature and pleading ways. If we had more songs like this from Trey Songz we wouldn’t notice his pitchy vocals on every other song and we indivertibly hold Trey at a higher regard. Two thumbs up on this one Trey!!
Unfortunately Passion Pain and Pleasure loses its momentum dramatically with the next few songs. Made To Be Together is boring musically and makes Trey seem weak and pathetic as a man. Pleasure annoys you at first listen and could actually anger some one. Red Lipstick takes you back to sex and is Trey’s horrible attempt at being sassy. Why he even wrote or chose to perform this song, I don’t know.
Drake makes his way into the album on Unusual. Everything about this song is unusual. The drums are sloppy and the beat is very unorganized. Drake’s verse is just as sloppy as the drums and is actually the most unusual thing on the song considering his track record of witty lines and melodic placement of words on songs. Ultimately, some one with an acquired taste can only appreciate Unusual.
Trey takes us down another sexual highway with Doorbell. Any pervert with a brain stem can figure out Trey Songz’s repetitive “ding dong” line playing through out the song.
The best song on the album unfortunately has a late arrival. Unfortunate is a clever song vocally. The dramatic, yet subtle beat keeps you drawn in, and the words complement it with a certain feeling. Feeling is one of the last things you get from a Trey Songz song. Lol songz song. Humor made especially for me, don’t mind me. Picking back up on his creativity, Trey Songz has learned how to ease in his vocals and keep the listener hypnotized by using his voice properly. Unfortunate should have been put out in the 90’s for true appreciation.
Trey ends the album out of breath with Blind and You Just Need Me. Though he still shows hope for diversity on these two songs, Its evident Trey Songz has a long way to go musically.
Trey Songz is obviously one for first impressions. At first listen, Passion Pain and Pleasure is an instant keeper. But…Once spun in your CD changer a few times, you get tired of certain songs and you realize that Trey has given us more sex and less music. More then half of the actual songs of the album are sexual in one-way or another. Passion Pain and Pleasure is an album for the young and horny rather than the young and sexy.
If you want a better version of Drake vocally, look for his other half Trey Songz. As flattering as that may sound, you shouldn’t take that statement too far in your mind. Trey songz’s vocals still remain pitchy and shaky. Ultimately, Trey has no diversity vocally, but he is tolerable. That’s the difference between Drake and himself. Over all this album is average with a few high points. One thing we can say about Trey though is he’s growing as an artist slow but surely. Better late than never, right?!
1.) Here We Go again ---}Intro{
2.) Love Faces – 3.5/5
3.) Massage – 3.9/5
4.) Alone – 3.6/5
5.) Bottoms Up (ft. Nikki Minaj) – 4.2/5
6.) –Pain---} Interlude {
7.) Can’t Be Friends – 3.7/5
8.) Please Return My Call – 4.1/5
9.) Made To Be Together – 3/5
10.) –Pleasure---} Interlude {
11.) Red Lipstick – 2.8/5
12.) Unusual (ft. Drake) – 3/5
13.) Doorbell – 3.2/5
14.) –Passion---} Interlude {
15.) Unfortunate – 4.4/5
16.) Blind – 3.8/5
17.) You Just Need Me – 3.3/5
3.8/5 3.4/5 3.5/5
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