Album Review Day 26 Forever in a Day
Sophomore Release from "Making The Band Four" Group
Apr 14, 2009
Boy bands ruled the 1990’s but in the new millennium few groups have garnered as much success as solo artists. Sean Combs better known as “Diddy” decided to take the chance by investing the time and capital resources in a search for a boy band reminiscent of some of the greatest boy bands of the past.
August 26, 2007 marks the day of the birth of Day 26 as a male R&B group. Q, Mike, Robert, Brian and Will are five talented young men with impeccable voices who make up the group Day 26. Day 26’s self titled debut album release in March 25, 2008 introduced the world to the sound of an R&B group with an appreciation for love ballads and a few up-tempo inspired tracks.
The album sold modestly but the quality of music produced definitely set the stage for creating a trademark sound for Day 26 as a solid brand name in the music business. Hoping to overcome the sophomore jinx Day 26 decides to make bold choices on “Forever in a Day” by not only sticking to smooth R&B beats. This album includes a series of up-tempo tracks that seems to aim at evoking listeners to dance instead of just bobbing their heads to a melodic beat.
Growing pains for Day 26
Day 26 once again collaborates with industry hit makers in the production of “Forever in a Day.” Producers Timbaland, Jermaine Dupri, Brian-Michael Cox, Diddy and Mario Winans help the album showcase the progression of a group working on creating a distinctive sound.
However, Q, one of Day 26’s members wants the group to explore a more pop sound which becomes more evident in each episode of the "Making Band Four" series in its 2009 season. The group members all agree that the sophomore album should step Day 26 outside of the R&B box but not by completely abandoning what made the group initially successful.
Throughout the new season of “Making the Band Four” as the group works on the sophomore album release Q and the other members constantly butt heads on the albums direction. The new album is here and on April 14th the world gets to hear the result of the blood, sweat and tears of a group who sometimes appears in a love and hate relationship with one another.
Diddy decides to intervene by telling Q to spend some time apart from the group and by leaving the remaining members to experience performing without one its members. Overall, the true test will be for Day 26 to decide on as one of their debut albums tracks suggests, “Are We in This Together?”
Stadium Music’s Subliminal Message
"Stadium Music" is a track on “Forever in a Day” that seems to send a subliminal message for setting the tone of the album in the group’s aim to reach for a larger and more diverse audience. Staying true to a tune of love Day 26 takes a more aggressive approach in lyrical delivery in experimenting with guitar strings and slightly more rock inspired beats.
The newly released single and video for “Imma Put it on Her” certainly steps the groups game up in boasting the confidence to provide a lover with guaranteed satisfaction. Hopefully, word continues to become bond for Day 26. The other stand out, tracks in this area are, “Shawty Wats Up”, “Just getting Started” and “Think of Me.”
Something for Day 26 R&B Lovers
Day 26 understands that the group fans know and love the R&B ballads that originally made the group famous. “Forever in a Day” continues in a similar fashion with several R&B tracks that are definitely worth remembering. The R&B songs that stand out on “Forever in a Day” are: “So Good”, “Babymaker”, “Then There’s You” and “Perfectly Blind.” One thing becomes certain with “Forever in a Day” mastering the R&B sound is something that Day 26 does well.
Overall, Day 26’s sophomore album is pretty good but will the group survive the Making the Band series curse of groups falling apart after two album releases remains a question left unanswered.
Check out the Bad Boy Records website for more information on Day 26.
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