D.N.A.

over five stars
this album shows the growth of his music. I love this cd. break up, thinking about you,get out, stranded, ooh baby, I miss my friend, shows that Mario is all grown up. Oooh Baby has became my favorite song on the cd. Mario fans this is a must have. I RATE THIS CD A TEN STARS.

Worth the purchase
Great album overall. Some of my favorite tracks (5/5 rating). Soundtrack To My Broken Heart Starlight I Choose You Thinkin' About you Don't Walk Away Not my favorite but still good (4/5 rating) Break Up Get Out Ooh Baby I think he could have gotten more sales if this was not a Mature rated album.

Solid; 3.5 stars
Mario has always been underrated - overshadowed in fame and respect by 'bigger' R&B stars. His crowing achievement was "Let Me Love You" from his Grammy-nominated Turning Point, also his sole platinum certified album. That album silently entered onto the charts during the saturated holiday season, eventually going platinum thanks to a 9-week reign of that ubiquitous hit. 2007's grown-up Go failed to even capture an 'iota' of the success of 'Turning Point'. The album sold more than 50% of 'Turning Point's' initial weeks sales and hasn't been certified. Commercial bombing aside, the album showcased a quality that has never seemed to properly merge commercially to make Mario a genuine star. In layman's terms, the talent has always been there (Mario has a fine voice), but he has never received his just do. On D.N.A., similarly, Mario has crafted a fine, if somewhat bland-at-times, R&B set that will most likely fall commercially on deaf ears. Despite this there are enough high points to make 'D.N.A.' a critical success, beyond being underrated commercially. Opening with the top 15 hit "Break Up" featuring unlikely collaborations with Gucci Mane and Sean Garrett, Mario gets the show started right off the bat. The main problem is, that "Break Up" proves to be the 'very best' of D.N.A., hence making the rest of the album feel a little weaker in comparison. Sure follow-up single and second track "Thinkin' About You" is great and a standout, it takes a while for it to truly 'stick'. As great as "Break Up" is as the debut-track of the album, maybe it should have been shifted slightly later in the track list to strengthen the album. Following the great, if somewhat understated "Thinkin' About You", the aggressive, hard-drum antics of "Get Out" are much appreciated by the listener. The song isn't necessarily stronger than "Thinkin' About You", but it has slightly more personality for sure. "Soundtrack to My Broken Heart" is middle-of-the-road adult contemporary styled R&B - don't get me wrong, it is a solid song, but a bit 'flat' in comparison to what 'it could've been'. Sure Mario sounds fine, but the song is boring and kind of follows the general sentiment of some of this album - 'middle of the road.' "Starlight" proves to be much more fun than "Soundtrack to My Broken Heart" and finds Mario in excellent voice. However, it isn't Christopher "Tricky" Stewart's/The-Dream's best; still a strong presence on this album. "Stranded" is a good touch showing off Mario's beautiful pipes. "Ooh Baby" isn't bad, but it isn't incredibly memorable either - but then is there much memorable on this album as a whole? "Before She Said Hi" re-energizes the album with it's old-school busy drum beat. It isn't quite another "Break Up" or "Thinkin' About You", but it certainly breaks up a slowly building monotony about 'D.N.A.' "I Choose You" proves beautiful and easily stronger than "Ooh Baby"; it proves to showcase the lovely timbre of Mario's soothing vocals. Similarly, "Don't Walk Away" is enjoyable, if not incredibly 'distinctive.' Both "I Miss My Friend" and the concluding "Hardest Part" are strong moments on D.N.A. Essentially, D.N.A. is a good album, though it suffers from some uninspiring moments. Mostly, the album is kind of bland, especially compared to better R&B albums from 2009, namely the fine Ready by Trey Songz, who similarly banks on some adult-contemporary helmed R&B. Not perfect, but solid and enjoyable overall. 3.5 stars.

Solid
Initial let down of the lead single notwithstanding, this album solid. don't let 'break up' give you the wrong impression.

Mario's D.N.A.
D.N.A. is a really good album. I can actually play it all the way through. Unlike last album, "Go", I spoiled myself with all the song leaks. By the time the real retail album leaked, I was tired of all the songs. This time, I decided I'd wait cause I knew half of the leaked songs would be on "D.N.A." Well I am glad I waited! D.N.A. is a mixture of R&B, Hip-Hop, and Pop and it actually works! My favorite songs are: Stranded(nice mellow slow jam) Starlight(love the bridge) Get Out(very funky) Ooh Ooh Baby(nice midtempo cut) Before She Said Hi(an slice of old school Hip-Hop) This album will surely be overlooked but why don't you give it the time of day. You will be pleasantly surprised! I was.