Sparkle first made an impression on the R&B scene in 1998 with ΓÇ£Be Careful,ΓÇ¥ a male-versus-female duet with R. Kelly, who also wrote and produced the entire album. SparkleΓÇÖs soft, almost frail vocals offered the perfect counterpart. But two years later, the singer teams with a new producer, Steve ΓÇ£StoneΓÇ¥ Huff, who happens to mimic R. KellyΓÇÖs production style on much of the album. If you didnΓÇÖt check the credits, youΓÇÖd think that ΓÇ£ItΓÇÖs A Fact,ΓÇ¥ the albumΓÇÖs first single and a new female anthem, was produced by Kelly because of the pattern of the flickering guitars plus SparkleΓÇÖs conversational singing style and old-school edge.
Though ΓÇ£ItΓÇÖs A FactΓÇ¥ is a strong enough first release, the other R. Kelly bites ΓÇ£When A WomanΓÇÖs Heart Is Broken,ΓÇ¥ ΓÇ£All I Want,ΓÇ¥ and ΓÇ£EverythingΓÇ¥ lack any real punch. And when Sparkle ventures out to do a more original thing, she only really makes a notable impact on the syncopated, donΓÇÖt-mess-with-me album intro ΓÇ£DonΓÇÖt Know WhyΓÇ¥ and heavily hip-hop-influenced ΓÇ£Good Life,ΓÇ¥ with braggadocio-filled lyrics and all. Though her voice is pleasant and sweet enough, the overall package is just OK.
All recordings courtesy of Motown Records. ΓÇ£ItΓÇÖs A FactΓÇ¥ written by S. Huff, Sparkle; courtesy of Tuff Huff Music/Zomba Music, Diva This, Diva That (BMI). ΓÇ£When A Woman's Heart Is BrokenΓÇ¥ written by Joe, Q. Patrick, D. Conley, J. Thompson; courtesy of 563 Music Publishing (Zomba Enterprises, Inc.)/Tallest Tree Music/David "Pic" Cowley Melodic Noiz Music/Plaything Music (ASCAP)/Q ZIK Music/Music Pieces (BMI). ΓÇ£Never Can Say GoodbyeΓÇ¥ written by C. Davis, S. Huff, C. Kelly, C. Davis; courtesy of Tuff Huff Music/Zomba Music, Christian House Publishing (BMI)/Jobete Music Company, Inc./EMI Music Publishing (ASCAP).
