I’m on a mission make a baby to the original ‘Secret Garden’.
…
Anyways, earlier in November, the great Q released a new album “Soul Bossa Nostra” and within the album was a remake of a classic, ‘The Secret Garden’. Now we already know that 2010 has surely been the year of the remake, so lets see what Q’s got!
The original secret garden is one of my favorite songs, the other being “Any Other Night” by Chico DeBarge. The Secret Garden was one of those songs that I wish I made, but I’m glad someone did because it captures the sensuality and the intimacy of the highest form of unity. And so you have this beautifully crafted song about love in all forms of the word. It’s sweet, it’s seductive and it can be played in any pent house suite (if you have one). Or your bedroom.
But this is a song from 1990! 2 years before I was even born into existence. It’s 2010 now and the song has made a comeback featuring a classic cast of contemporary RnB croons.
1990’s Roster: Al B. Sure, James Ingram, El DeBarge, and Barry White
2010’s Roster: Usher, Robin Thicke, Tyrese Gibson, LL Cool J, Tevin Campbell, and the ghost of Barry White
Here are the two versions in order. 1990 and 2010.
[audio:http://bamalovesoul.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/11/Quincy-Jones-The-Secret-Garden-Barry-White-James-Ingram-El-DeBarge-Al-B.-Sure.mp3|titles=Quincy Jones – The Secret Garden – Barry White, James Ingram, El DeBarge, Al B. Sure]
[audio:http://bamalovesoul.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/11/08-quincy_jones-secret_garden_feat._usher_robin_thicke_tyrese_gibson_ll_cool_j_tevin_campbell_and_barry_white.mp3|titles=08-quincy_jones-secret_garden_(feat._usher_robin_thicke_tyrese_gibson_ll_cool_j_tevin_campbell_and_barry_white)]
Alright. So right there you see what 5 contemporary singers and a rapper are up against. Barry White doesn’t count because his voice just happened to deep enough to make it on both versions.
Moving on, my thoughts about the remake are rather neutral, leaning over acceptance. The more I listen to it the more I appreciate it for what it is. You will notice first off that the tempo is double-time, and contains 808’s (dead giveaway that Jermaine Dupree produced the track). Alright cool, I can handle that, after all a remake should be a little different so I can dig the new beat. But I’m not going get it on to a 128bpm track. So instantly this song has been transformed from a sexy-time song to a later 90’s rnb revival song.
I accept.
Why? Because a rapper cant rap on a track that is 64bpm, or else he’d be doing spoken word. And LL Cool J doesn’t do that. So we have compromise. We must hit 128 and let him rap some soothing sexy poetrap’s into your woman’s ear. Honestly, I didn’t really think that LL Cool J’s verse was necessary at first but as I listened to it over and over again, it started to fit in.
Looking at the singers now, I don’t have much objection to them either. They do their part and I’m glad that they didn’t completely trash my favorite song. I wasn’t too keen with Tyrese’s autotune verse at first but what can you do. Usher’s verse was immaculate as usual and so was Tevin’s. And Robin Thicke has one of the smoothest falsetto’s ever known to ears, I’m sure he can make aliens melt inside… If they have ears. His voice is super smooth too BUT! I digress, one thing that I cannot get over is the pitch intonation when the chorus reverts back to the verse. I found it to be extraordinarily weak and cheap. It was a total cop out and I know that they could’ve tore that hook ending up if they wanted, but why didn’t they? We will never know.
One last thing that I wish they did was the outro. I was really hoping to hear the “if you think im gonna take care of you, etc etc” verses but they didn’t come through. It was a let down for me but you can’t everything you want.
All in all. I wrote this song review while the song was on repeat, and at the end of the day. When all is said and done, I think when I’m married and I come home from work, I will put the 2010 version of the song to get the wife to dance and then put the 1990 one when its time to get down to business. Overall, I do enjoy the remake and I will save it and listen to it on my ipod, thank you very much. Let’s here you thoughts.
8/10
