Domination. That’s what the dolls claim they’re doing with their new album, but domination of who, what, where?’ On the album, the girls manage to explore what is really means to command a situation, and in doing so, they reveal situations when they can be the boss, and some when they cannot.
‘ ‘ ‘ Now, I love these girls, but it seems they have fallen into a track that many pop artists do. They feel the only way they can be popular is making songs that are shaped to promote themselves in everyway.’ When does a song stop being a song and become an advertisement placement? Oh yeah, Chris Brown’s song ‘Forever.’
‘ ‘ ‘ These girls, let’s not forgot, started off as a dance troop which then turned into a vocal group led by Nicole Scherzinger.’ After proving to be successful with their first album ‘PCD,’ they’ve now got big time producers, like Timbaland, working with them on their projects.’ Because we know their beginnings, we can understand why they may want to make every song on their album a hit.’ What’s surprising, though, is that most of the songs on ‘Domination’ are hit-worthy.
‘ ‘ ‘ Following in the fashion of made-for-radio songs like ‘Fergalicious’ and ‘Gimme More,’ the first single off of PCD’s album, ‘When I Grow Up,’ just makes every girl think back to the dreams they had when they were little.’ Despite the song’s ability to conjure up happy memories, there is one detail about the song that has the possibility to drive every girl mad: it’s that the Dolls actually got famous, and we didn’t. Still, the song has a fresh and funky beat, and Nicole does well with trying out novel singing techniques.
‘ ‘ ‘ Besides the Dolls’ questionable attempts for self-promotion, they do try to include us in some of their less glamorous escapades throughout the album when talking about the hardships of love. ‘Hush Hush’ is a great step for the group, where Nicole really sings out in a very similar style of ’90s radio-dominators like Toni Braxton and Whitney Houston.’ She shows great range as she tells the story of a failed relationship, and the other Dolls perform well on the track by supporting her vocals with great harmony.
‘ ‘ ‘ Tracks like ‘Bottle Pop’ are a little less surprising to see on the album. For guest artist Snoop Dogg, this is ‘Drop It Like It’s Hot,’ part two. But for PCD, this is pretty novel.’ A slow beat commands the song, and Nicole does a fantastic job commanding the situation while being equally seductive with a chorus line in a very low pitch.’ Any lower, even the doll Nicole could have sounded manly.
‘ ‘ ‘ Missy Elliot also makes appearances in ‘Whatcha Think About That,’ a song that could have easily fit in PCD’s last album, and should be a favorite among early fans of the group. Another, ‘Magic,’ immediately strikes up memories of the hit song ‘Buttons’ with a strong Middle-Eastern influence.’ In this style of music, the girls will always dominate.
‘ ‘ ‘ One song that drags the girls down on the album is ‘Halo.’ There really is nothing special about it, and it sounds eerily similar to Natasha Beddingfield’s new song ‘Angel,’ the most pseudo hip-hop song I’ve heard on the radio in a while. For PCD to sound like this guitar-pop is a step-down.’
‘ ‘ ‘ Another song that I just don’t understand is ‘Whatchamacallit.’ where the girls just call out girls that want to hit on their men and asking them wear they got their hats. Besides the fact that the song sounds like something out of a wacked-out synthesized Tim Burton film, the lyrics say, ‘you can’t quite figure us out.’ Well, girls, I guess you pulled one over on me
‘ ‘ ‘ One thing to also mention is that although it took the girls a little longer than expected to get their act together and put this album out, the CD is packed full with 16 tracks of styles that can appease anyone who likes to just dance.’ And that’s really what PCD is about. Although they may put out great hits, the Pussycat Dolls real talent is dancing.
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