Donna Summer

Considering Crayons is Donna Summer's first album in 17 years, it would have been nice if the return had been triumphant rather than ho-hum. Ms. Summer has made the talk show rounds, and she still looks great, but, while Crayons has a couple of strong songs, most of it is fairly paint-by-number adult contemporary sprinkled with a few attempts at contemporary sound. The dips into nostalgia work on occasion, but "Bring Down the Reign," which calls to mind Toto's"Africa," is not a shining example of such. The album's kick-off, "Stamp Your Feet," is one of the few songs that does, combining disco, including some Giorgio Moroder-esque syncopated keyboards, with handclap-fueled sass and letting Summer dip into her low range, rather than confining her to a smaller spectrum of notes. "Mr. Music" is a decent club tune, even if its reference to an iPod provokes a small cringe, and "Science of Love" may be straight out of the 1980s in its sliding pitch changes on the keyboard, but it, too, lets Summer's big voice open up on a nice melody. "The Queen Is Back," however, doesn't live up to its title, coasting on a weak, thin beat that bears no resemblance to the songs that made Summer famous; "Fame (The Game)" is similarly uninspiring, "Sand on My Feet" is a dozy song that could just as well have been done by James Blunt, and "I'm a Fire," which has achieved some club success, is thoroughly unconvincing in its attempt at recapturing Summer's old smoky sensuality. It's good to have her back, but Crayons isn't the album that should reinvigorate her career.

—Hillary Brown
05.29.08

Donna Summer sounds younger here than on her previous studio album, 1991's Mistaken Identity, or just about any of the isolated tracks that surfaced throughout the previous 17 years, which is a good thing as frequently as it is a bad thing. Crayons benefits from Summer's effortless energy; she was clearly into making this album, and her voice is as able and flexible as ever. However, almost all of the material with which she has to work -- several stylistic angles are taken with the likes of Danielle Brisebois (Natasha Bedingfield, Kelly Clarkson) Greg Kurstin (Lily Allen, Nelly Furtado), J.R. Rotem (Leona Lewis, Trey Songz), and several others -- would make more sense on an album by a female teen pop group from the U.K. or, in some cases, a young adult catering to the coffeehouse market. One exception, if only from a lyrical standpoint, is "The Queen Is Back," where Summer refers to herself in the third person, as well as her past: "So many years ago on the radio/She crept into your soul and learned to love you." But it's really the type of move you'd expect from an aspiring diva on her second or third album. In-fashion vocal effects, which Summer certainly does not need, detract from a handful of these tracks, but as a whole, the album won't have trouble pleasing fans who just want to hear their queen have a blast and tear it up. ~ Andy Kellman, All Music Guide