Review: Marques Houston - "Veteran"

Veteran, the third solo album by former child group singer Marques Houston, is surprisingly good. Out of all the other R&B singers who used to be in boy groups Marques and Omarion are the two who have most successfully made the transition to adult stardom. Of the two, Marques arguably has the most talent and several tracks on Veteran do a great job at showcasing his still-evolving vocal style. If anyone's still doubting Marques' credentials as a legitimate adult R&B singer, the sophisticated Veteran may put many of those doubts to rest.

Veteran opens with an intro of an old recording of a 2-year-old Marques talking about how he's going to be rich and famous some day, followed by a grown-up Marques talking about his life so far and what makes him a veteran in the recording industry. The intro serves as a reminder that even though he's only 25, Marques has been a star in the music industry for well over a decade.

Being a star doesn't necessarily equal talent, but fortunately for Marques, he has enough skill as a singer to keep him relevant. Exhibit A: The lovely, luxurious slow-tempo ballad "Always & Forever," where he sings about what it is about his woman that's got him declaring his undying love: "It's your thighs, your lips, your calves, your lips, it's your hair - did I mention your lips?"

The song perfectly utilizes his strong, but soft voice and masks and minimizes his weaknesses as a vocalist. The same can be said, for almost all the album's songs, particularly first single, "Favorite Girl," which sounds suspiciously like a knock-off of Donell Jones' "U Know What's Up."

To paraphrase an old anti-perspirant commercial, Veteran is strong enough for a man, even though it was made for a woman. Many songs are slow- and mid-tempo ballads - since that's what his strength is - but none of the songs are so sappy that guys should be embarrassed listening to them. Veteran isn't exactly a neo-classic and probably won't turn out to be one of the best albums of the year.

But Marques does a good job of solidifying his status as a sexy R&B singer in the mold of artists like Jagged Edge, K-Ci & JoJo and Tyrese.