*** Welcome to piglix ***

Rokstarr

Rokstarr
Taio Cruz Rokstarr.jpg
Studio album by Taio Cruz
Released 12 October 2009
Recorded 2009
Genre Dance-pop, R&B
Length 44:00
Label Island, Mercury, Universal
Producer Taio Cruz, Fraser T Smith, Dr. Luke, The Arcade, Alan English, Benny Blanco, Sandy Vee
Taio Cruz chronology
Departure
(2008)
Rokstarr
(2009)
The Rokstarr Collection
(2010)
Singles from Rokstarr
  1. "Break Your Heart"
    Released: 13 September 2009
  2. "No Other One"
    Released: 30 November 2009
  3. "Dirty Picture"
    Released: 5 April 2010
  4. "Dynamite"
    Released: 30 May 2010
  5. "Higher"
    Released: 26 November 2010
  6. "Telling the World"
    Released: 20 March 2011
  7. "Falling in Love"
    Released: 15 April 2011
Professional ratings
Review scores
Source Rating
AllMusic 3/5 stars
BBC (favourable)
The Boston Globe (positive)
Digital Spy 3/5 stars
Entertainment Weekly (B-)
NME 2/5 stars
Rolling Stone (mixed)
The Guardian 3/5 stars
The New York Times (favorable)
Yahoo! Music 1.5/5 stars

Rokstarr is the second studio album by English recording artist Taio Cruz. It was released on 12 October 2009 in the United Kingdom. On 11 June 2010, a revised version of the album was released in Europe and the United States, appearing as Cruz's debut album there. On 22 May 2011, a second revised version of the album was released in Brazil, other South American countries and Europe. The album debuted at number 14 on the UK Albums Chart and number eight on the U.S. Billboard 200.

Speaking to Pete Lewis of the Blues & Soul, Cruz explained the musical background behind the album: "This album shows quite a bit of scope. In that, while it's still got underlining hip hop, dance and R&B-type tones to it, it also has like rocky and indie rock elements. And lyrically, because essentially I come from a ballad place of listening to people like Boyz II Men and Babyface, many of the songs do tend to be about relationships in one way or another. But the difference this time is that, as well as the full-on love songs, I am having a little bit more FUN with it all!"

The album has received generally mixed to positive reviews from critics. At Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, the album received an average score of 61, based on 11 reviews, which indicates "generally favorable reviews".Mike Driver from BBC gave an extremely favorable review, saying that: "Rokstarr bounces to a beat that feels fresh and vibrant". Ken Capobianco from The Boston Globe says that Rokstarr is "an agreeable, singles-going-steady kind of collection that should make for endless radio fodder."The New York Times review states that "There are vapid lyrics to navigate ("Hit the floor cause that's my plans plans plans plans/I'm wearing all my favorite brands brands brands brands," on "Dynamite"), but they don't disrupt the mood, which is emphatic and rarely sensual: turns out Mr. Cruz has no off switch."Entertainment Weekly opined that "The only song of equal caliber to "Break Your Heart" on his Stateside debut is the Ke$ha-assisted sexting number "Dirty Picture". The rest of the tracks are forgettable and include a cut for throwing hands in the air ("Dynamite") and one awkwardly placed effort to uplift ("I Can Be")."


...
Wikipedia

...