One Love - David Guetta

Aug 11, 2009 04:08 pm

A manifesto for the synthesis of dance and hip-hop, French DJ David Guetta's new album turns out top 40-friendly songs while remaining true to dance club culture.

The title One Love is not only a complete turnaround from David Guetta's usual credo, radio show moniker, and mix album title F*** Me I'm Famous!, it's also a misrepresentation if meant to infer "unity." This album is more a jumble of tracks than any previous releases from the house producer, with one selection, "I Gotta Feeling," officially a Black Eyed Peas song that Guetta produced. Still, the strength of the material is undeniable, especially the almost trance opener, "When Loves Takes Over," which steals a riff from Coldplay and adds the powerful voice of Kelly Rowland for one grand, uplifting floor-filler. The herky-jerky electro-house that's his signature is in effect on "Gettin' Over," a cut that also features the gospel-trained and gospel-huge voice of frequent Guetta guest Chris Willis. Akon and guilty pleasure lyrics ("She's nothing like a girl you've ever seen before/Nothing you can compare to your neighborhood whore") make for a perfect match on "Sexy Bitch," then a handful of B or B-plus material fills the middle before the BEP cut and Estelle's uplifting title track take it to another level. Even if everything seems built for the 12" format and then landed on an album anyway, Guetta's fans get all the well-done house music they desire, and then some. ~ David Jeffries, All Music Guide