Most modern-day female pop singers start their careers doing their sexy, stylish dance-oriented material then settle into a career as an adult contemporary crooner.
Toni Braxton didn't follow that route.
She started the '90s singing elegant, refined quiet storm ballads and ended it singing sleek dance-pop tunes as she slinked around in skimpy outfits.
She wasn't the only one of her peers to follow this trajectory -- Mariah Carey pretty much did the same thing, only to the extreme -- but it's a little odd to listen to Braxton evolve from the sophisticated urban contemporary crooner to oversexed R&B thrush, even if it's not a bad thing at all.
One thing that elevated Braxton above her peers is that she was a controlled, powerful singer who rarely oversang, and she had a good selection of material, much of it written or co-written by Babyface.
That's why her 18-track hits collection Ultimate Toni Braxton works well even through her shifts in style -- she is a confident enough performer to sell both the slow romantic ballads and material that swings harder.
That's not to say that there aren't some slow spots here -- the previously unreleased cuts are no great shakes, and sometimes the abundance of slow numbers makes things sound too samey -- but she was one of the top urban soul singers of the '90s, and this is the album that illustrates why.
| Title/Composers | Performer | Listen | Time | Size | Size | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Give U My HeartBabyface, L.A. Reid, Daryl Simmons, Bo Watson | Toni Braxton, Babyface | Play | 04:00 | 9 MB | 30 MB |
| 2 | Love Shoulda Brought You HomeBabyface, Daryl Simmons, Bo Watson | Toni Braxton | Play | 04:51 | 11 MB | 34 MB |
| 3 | Another Sad Love SongBabyface, Daryl Simmons | Toni Braxton | Play | 03:49 | 8 MB | 26 MB |
| 4 | Breathe AgainBabyface | Toni Braxton | Play | 04:15 | 9 MB | 30 MB |
| 5 | You Mean the World to MeBabyface, L.A. Reid, Daryl Simmons | Toni Braxton | Play | 03:59 | 9 MB | 28 MB |
| 6 | How Many WaysToni Braxton, Philip Field, Noel Goring, Vincent Herbert, Keith Miller | Toni Braxton | Play | 04:26 | 10 MB | 31 MB |
| 7 | Let It FlowBabyface | Toni Braxton | Play | 04:09 | 9 MB | 30 MB |
| 8 | Un-Break My HeartDiane Warren | Toni Braxton | Play | 04:28 | 10 MB | 31 MB |
| 9 | I Don't Want ToR. Kelly | Toni Braxton | Play | 04:17 | 9 MB | 30 MB |
| 10 | He Wasn't Man EnoughLaShawn Daniels, Fred Jenkins III, Rodney Jerkins, Harvey Mason, Jr. | Toni Braxton | Play | 04:00 | 9 MB | 31 MB |
| 11 | Just Be a Man About ItJohnta Austin, Ted Bishop, Toni Braxton, Bryan-Michael Cox | Toni Braxton | Play | 04:16 | 9 MB | 27 MB |
| 12 | Hit the FreewayChauncey Hawkins, Pharrell Williams | Toni Braxton, Loon | Play | 03:47 | 8 MB | 29 MB |
| 13 | Un-Break My HeartDiane Warren | Toni Braxton | Play | 04:28 | 10 MB | 31 MB |
| 14 | Seveb Whole Days (live) | Toni Braxton | Play | 04:40 | 10 MB | 33 MB |
| 15 | You're Making Me Night | Toni Braxton | Play | 04:06 | 9 MB | 28 MB |
| 16 | I Live Me Some Him | Toni Braxton | Play | 04:36 | 10 MB | 32 MB |
| 17 | Whathu Need (Previously UnReleased) | Toni Braxton | Play | 03:38 | 8 MB | 25 MB |
| 18 | The Little Things (Previously UnReleased) | Toni Braxton | Play | 04:31 | 10 MB | 32 MB |
| 19 | Un-break My Heart (Sound-Hex Anthem Radio Edit) | Toni Braxton | Play | 02:19 | 5 MB | 17 MB |
| 20 | Spanish Gitar (Bonus Track) | Toni Braxton | Play | 04:49 | 11 MB | 34 MB |
| 83 mins | 191 MB | |||||
| 83 mins | 599 MB | |||||
| Artist | Job | |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Johnta Austin | Composer |
| 2 | Babyface | Composer, Featured Artist, Guest Artist, Primary Artist, Producer |
| 3 | Ted Bishop | Composer, Producer |
| 4 | Toni Braxton | Composer, Primary Artist, Producer |
| 5 | Bryan-Michael Cox | Composer, Producer |
| 6 | LaShawn Daniels | Composer |
| 7 | Daniela Federici | Photography |
| 8 | Philip Field | Composer |
| 9 | David Foster | Arranger, Producer |
| 10 | Jon Gass | Live Mixing |
| 11 | Noel Goring | Composer |
| 12 | Bobby Guy | Group Member |
| 13 | Chauncey Hawkins | Composer |
| 14 | Vincent Herbert | Composer, Producer |
| 15 | Allen D. Hong | Assistant |
| 16 | Fred Jenkins III | Composer |
| 17 | Richard Thomas Jennings | Art Direction |
| 18 | Fred "Uncle Freddie" Jerkins III | Composer |
| 19 | Rodney Jerkins | Composer, Producer |
| 20 | Karlin | Arranger, Producer |
| 21 | R. Kelly | Arranger, Composer, Producer |
| 22 | Ernie Lake | Group Member |
| 23 | Loon | Featured Artist, Guest Artist, Primary Artist |
| 24 | Andrea Martin | Composer |
| 25 | Harvey Mason, Jr. | Composer |
| 26 | Keith Miller | Composer |
| 27 | The Neptunes | Producer |
| 28 | Joe-Mama Nitzberg | Creative Director |
| 29 | Herb Powers | Mastering |
| 30 | Kenisha Pratt | Composer |
| 31 | L.A. Reid | Composer, Live Mixing, Producer |
| 32 | Daryl Simmons | Composer, Producer |
| 33 | Soul Solution | Group, Producer, Remixing |
| 34 | Soulshock | Arranger, Producer |
| 35 | Soulshock & Karlin | Composer |
| 36 | Gloria Stewart | Composer |
| 37 | Diane Warren | Composer |
| 38 | Bo Watson | Composer, Live Mixing |
| 39 | Pharrell Williams | Composer |
| 40 | Bryce Wilson | Composer, Producer |
| 41 | Jim "Z" Zumpano | Engineer |
| Quality | Format | Encoding | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| Standard | MP3 | 320kps 44.1kHz | MP3 is an audio coding format which uses a form of lossy data compression. The highest bitrate of this format is 320kbps (kbit/s). MP3 Digital audio takes less amount of space (up to 90% reduction in size) and the quality is not as good as the original one. |
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