Level II (Blackstreet album)
Level II | ||||
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Andreao "Fanatic" Heard | ||||
Blackstreet chronology | ||||
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Singles from Level II | ||||
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Aggregate scores | |
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Source | Rating |
Metacritic | (59/100)[4] |
Review scores | |
Source | Rating |
AllMusic | (favorable)[5] |
Blender | [4] |
Chicago Tribune | (mixed)[6] |
Entertainment Weekly | C+[2] |
Mojo | [4] |
People | (mixed)[7] |
Rolling Stone | [1] |
The Situation | [8] |
Slant Magazine | [9] |
Uncut | [10] |
Vibe | [4] |
Yahoo! Music UK | [11] |
Level II is the fourth album by
Founding members Teddy Riley and Chauncey Hannibal patched things up to record Level II. A few years earlier, they were involved in a very public dispute that signaled the group's demise at the end of 1999.[13][14][15][16] After Blackstreet's eventual dissolution, Riley entered into a short-lived reunion with his previous group Guy.[17] Hannibal attempted a solo career, while Eric Williams returned to writing and producing for other artists such as Dave Hollister, Donell Jones and Jaheim.
Riley also attempted a solo career as well, with a deal with Virgin Records in 2000.[18][14] His solo recording Black Rock was shelved despite promotional copies of the album being issued.[19] Another project that he worked on was the Capitol Records singer Michael "Mike E." Etheridge, a former member of The Neptunes.[20] His debut album Master Plan- which was executive produced by Riley- was also shelved, and as a result, several songs on the unreleased albums made their way on Level II. "Look In The Water" was originally recorded by Mike E. for his album,[21] but Riley re-recorded the song with Blackstreet's vocals. Several songs from Riley's unreleased album Black Rock ("Friend Of Mine", "You Made Me", "Deep" and "Bygones") were also re-recorded for this album.[22] Level II was released with little to no promotion, as DreamWorks Records was on the verge of being absorbed by their previous label Interscope Records.[23][24]
The artwork for the edited version has the logo colored blue as opposed to the red color on the uncut version.
Track listing
No. | Title | Writer(s) | Producer(s) | Length |
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1. | "Ticket To Ride (Intro)" | T. Riley, T. Lucas, R. Stanard, Andreao "Fanatic" Heard, Sherrod Barnes | 4:20 | |
15. | "Interlude: Still Feelin' You" | 2:05 | ||
16. | "Brown Eyes" | T. Riley, B. Reeves, P. Lees | Teddy Riley, Philosophy | 3:34 |
17. | "Wizzy Wow (featuring Mystikal)" | T. Riley, R. Stanard, M. Tyler, C. Black, E. Williams, M. Middleton, M. Watts | Teddy Riley | 3:22 |
Samples
- "Ticket To Ride" contains a sample of "Earth, Wind & Fire", as performed by Earth, Wind & Fire
- "Don't Touch" contains a sample of "Brick House", as performed by Commodores
- "She's Hot" contains an interpolation of "Warning", as performed by The Notorious B.I.G.
- "Ooh Girl" contains an interpolation of "Ooh Boy", as performed by Rose Royce
- "It's So Hard To Say Goodbye" contains a sample of "My Love", as performed by Gene Chandler
- "Why, Why" contains an interpolation of "Human Nature", as performed by Michael Jackson
- "Look In The Water" contains a sample of "Holding Back the Years", as performed by Simply Red
Personnel
- Teddy Riley, Jean-Marie Horvat - recording engineers, mixing
- Brian Turner, Jim Quarles - assistant engineers
- David Campbell- string arrangements & conducting
- Tony Dawsey - mastering
- Joseph Cultice - photography
- D.L. Warfield - art direction, design
References
- ^ a b "Rolling Stone review". Rolling Stone. Archived from the original on May 12, 2006. Retrieved 2013-04-28.
{{cite magazine}}
: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link) - ^ a b Coates, Ta-Nehisidate=2003-04-04. "Level II". Retrieved 2022-06-21.
{{cite web}}
: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link) - ^ "Level II - Blackstreet | Songs, Reviews, Credits | AllMusic". AllMusic.
- ^ a b c d Critic reviews from Metacritic
- ^ Allmusic review
- ^ Chicago Tribune review
- ^ People review
- ^ The Situation review Archived 2008-08-20 at the Wayback Machine
- ^ Slant Magazine review
- ^ "Blackstreet - Level 2". Uncut: 92. June 2003. Retrieved 2013-04-28.[permanent dead link]
- ^ "Yahoo! Music UK review". Archived from the original on July 23, 2004. Retrieved 2013-04-28.
{{cite web}}
: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link) - ^ Cinquemani, Sal (9 March 2003). "Blackstreet - Level II (review)". slantmagazine.com. Slant Magazine. Retrieved 2015-10-05.
- ^ Ivory. "SoulBounce's Class Of 1994: Blackstreet 'Blackstreet'". soulbounce.com. Soul Bounce. Retrieved 2015-07-19.
- ^ a b Schumacher-Rasmussen, Eric. "Teddy Riley Ready To Make Solo Debut". mtv.com. Viacom International, Inc. Retrieved 2015-07-16.
- ^ DeCurtis, Anthony (August 2000). "Blackstreet's Chauncey "C-Black" Hannibal tells all about Teddy Riley". Vibe Magazine- August 2000. Retrieved 2015-04-26.
- ^ Neal, Mark Anthony (10 April 2003). "Blackstreet Level II (review)". popmatters.com. PopMatters Media, Inc. Retrieved 2015-10-05.
- ^ Gill, John. "Teddy Riley Focuses On Guy Rather Than Blackstreet's Uncertain Future". mtv.com. Retrieved 2013-05-16.
- ^ "R&B Visionary Teddy Riley Signs With Virgin Records America". prnewswire.com. PR Newswire Association, LLC. Archived from the original on 2015-07-17. Retrieved 2015-07-16.
- ^ "Special Feature: Teddy Riley". njs4ever.com. Archived from the original on 2011-08-23. Retrieved 2013-05-16.
- ^ Saidman, Sorelle. "Teddy Riley Steers Mike E's "Master Plan". mtv.com. Retrieved 2013-05-16.
- YouTube
- ^ "Teddy Riley - Black Rock". album credits. discogs.com. Retrieved 2013-05-16.
- ^ "Universal Music to buy DreamWorks Records". deseretnews.com. Deseret News. 12 November 2003. Retrieved 2015-04-28.
- ^ Gallo, Phil (9 January 2004). "D'Works diskery reborn at UMG". variety.com. Variety Media, LLC. Retrieved 2015-04-28.