Lost in Time

A big mission for the new album

When Eric Benet was only making his first steps on the path of an R&B song-writer and performer, the absolute majority was taking him as no one but Hally Berry’s husband. After their divorce, the public stayed focused on the circumstances of the breakup rather than on Benet’s music. In the end, Eric appeared the mean-minded protagonist of the whole story. He went on to work hard to recover his name, which is always much more difficult than to tarnish it. As strange as it might seem, it was in the singer’s most troublesome times when he managed to record an album that changed many things in his career and life in general. Hurricane (2005) made masses move their attention from gossip, media and Benet’s enemies to what the man had to say. Having convinced the audience that his music was more interesting than his personal life, the singer felt extremely motivated to work even harder. Benet’s next album, Love & Life (2008), was nominated for Grammy. Eric started the preparation of his fifth record, Lost In Time (2010), in the status of one of the most famous R&B performers. This is why this album was aimed to accomplish a big mission: to maintain the artist’s reputation he was fighting for so desperately.

Lost In Time is the work marked by a exquisite style

Lost In Time starts exactly the way an Eric Benet’s album must start – with a sweet and slow composition Never Want To Live Without You. This is not the most explosive and effective opening to turn everything upside down, but this highlights the artist’s style as it is. In fact, by the moment of the fifth album’s release, the musician had already worked out a recognizable manner that he tries to stick to and that the audience enjoys greatly. Aiming to add in some variety, Eric occasionally steps aside from the ballad patters, like in the funky Paid, or has a vocal contest with other singers. He teamed up with Faith Evans on Feel Good, which sounds good enough to motivate both work together again. A theatrical act is staged in Take It where a man (Benet) and a woman (Chrisette Michele) try to see if they should be together. Yet these songs are not as good as the absolute number one hit Sometime I Cry unmistakably selected as a lead single. Eric wrote nice lyrics, created excellent music and performed everything on the highest level. There is also a song sung by Eric alongside his daughter India Benet. Well, she was given the secondary part now, but in the future that would be fascinating to listen to this couple singing something else.

Benet is able to go even farther

Lost In Time puts it quite clear that Eric Benet decided to close the door into his personal life as he recorded an album with a wider range of topics. One may wonder why Something’s Wrong was chosen to close the entire record. In this one, Eric urges to reveal more attention and understanding towards those who may be less lucky or fortunate than you are; he reminds us that everyday there are opportunities to help those in great need of help. It is obvious that nit many performers would finish their albums with such a statement. Eric Benet delivered a record that seems to consider the experience of its predecessors. It is richer in emotions than Hurricane which conducts only the artist’s negatives, and it features more diversity than Love & Life where the singer was polishing his sad ballad-oriented style. Experiments often produce some results we do not expect or want from them, so not all the tracks on Lost In Time are equally good. Nonetheless, all the minor mistakes that we can discover here are dissolved and silenced in the great many of impressive moments of this work. Moreover, it breeds a sensation that if Eric keeps searching and trying he may be able to reach an even higher level.