Album review: David Guetta's 'One Love'
August 24, 2009 | 6:18
pm
"One Love" certainly comes stocked with a roster ripe for a mainstream crossover: Akon, Ne-Yo, Kid Cudi and Kelly Rowland all turn in guest appearances, as do will.i.am and apl.de.ap of the Peas; they return Guetta's favor in "On the Dancefloor," a pulsating disco-rap jam replete with space-station keyboard squiggles. Estelle crops up too, in a dramatic title track that recalls the early-'90s work of Deee-Lite.
Guetta is at his best (and his most commercial) when he's equipped with a melody as chewy as his beats. "When Loves Takes Over," with Rowland, works beautifully as a cheesy synth-pop makeover of Coldplay's "Clocks." Unfortunately, he whiffs on a perfect opportunity for a tuneful techno-soul bomb in "Choose," his strangely flat Ne-Yo collaboration.
For the most part, though, Guetta knows what he's doing here. Bring America to the club? Nah. He'll bring the club to America.
-- Mikael Wood
David Guetta
"One Love"
Astralwerks
Three stars