Jordin Sparks

For an artist who's always emphasized her sweet, youthful innocence, Jordin Sparks' second album is kind of dark and twisty. Building on the success of the tormented "No Air," Battlefield trades primarily in intense, relationship-themed mid-tempo and slow jams (the title track, the almost writhing "Watch You Go"), plus a few sexy dance jams (the Shannon-sampling "S.O.S.") and a second half weighted down with dramatic ballads. Sparks' voice has also grown up, taking on a richer, huskier tone, though she's still learning to sing with restraint, one of the hardest things for a young singer to do.

Something's got this American Idol down on her second album, and it's not the recession.
Sparks emotes about bad love amid beats that mix snazzy electro with stadium-rock
bigness. She also comes off like a scrubbed-up deep feeler who doesn't distinguish herself,
delivering pat lines like "When you fall the hardest, you find out how strong you are" and
falling flat on "S.O.S. (Let the Music Play)," a piece of bland disco that wishes it w... More >