Syleena Johnson's Chapter 1 Love Pain & Forgiveness was such a great record that it was my favourite record of 2001. The question is, can Syleena continue such good quality with her third album?
With the release of the more mediocre Tonight I'm Gonna Let Go (that also contained an even more mediocre remix with Busta Rhymes and, alas, that remix is also featured on the CD) as the first 12", I wasn't so sure what to expect from her with Chapter 2; The Voice, her second album for Jive. But my worries were unnecessary.
Syleena says: 'Each chapter has a thesis. Chapter 1 was about me healing. Chapter 2 is about spirituality. In Chapter 1, I went through the healing process, which led to Chapter 2 where I found God and began to heal spiritually. I’m still healing, but healing my spirit has allowed me to become happier.'.
So the overall feeling to Chapter 2 is a little different, it's less about abusive relationships but about love with unfortunately some trivial lyrics on the musicwise very good Now That I Got You, that uses Deniece Williams' Free to good effect, but lyrics like 'And tell me how your day has been while I rub your feet/ Do you need a massage?/ Maybe something to eat/ All day you've been on the job/ Now you belong to me' sounds more cliche-ridden to my ears. And it's quite the contrary of the R. Kelly penned Guess What, that finds Syleena as a realistic material girl in the 21^st century dealing with a man in a long term relationship but still unmarried ('Listen baby, I don't see no rings on these fingers/ So I'm not gonna deal with your drama/.../Now we've been shackin' up since '93/ I ain't getting no younger, I need some guarantees/ The best years of my life is what I've given you/.../Wanna play the boss, guess what/ You've gotta pay the cost').
More realism contains the opener The Voice where Syleena tells about her doubts of being a singer and her weight problem, which isn't really an issue since she has such a powerful voice so it really doesn't matter what she looks like, I still prefer hearing records to seeing videos.
Impressive and funny lyricwise is No Words that sees Syleena wailing with more Ooohhhhs and Is than real lyrics, but then Syleena could sing the telephone book and it would sound good.
Other hightlights include Guitars Of The Heart (Happy) that's just Syleena, a guitar and some finger snipping, the only cover version on Chapter 2 If You Play Your Cards Right (good, but with covers by LaTanya and Brownstone recorded some time ago it really wasn't necessary to do another cover), the bonus track Took My Heart, Faithful To You and Dear You where Syleena tells us it's sometimes easier to tell something in a letter than be confronted with someone in person.
Chapter 2 is a very good sophomore album to her Jive debut Chapter 1, it may not be the best album in 2002 with very strong releases by Ola Onabule, Conya Doss, Julie Dexter or Juliet Roberts but it's certainly somewhere in the top league.