French DJ
David Guetta’s R&B-meets-house formula had topped the charts around the globe by the time his 2011 effort,
Nothing But the Beat, saw release, so it shouldn’t be surprising that this star-studded collection of big-room tunes plays like a hits collection. His previous album,
One Love, felt the same way, with every track a potential single, but the differences are in each album’s appropriate title. This one plays like Now That’s What I Call Guetta 2, with
Snoop Dogg acting as an avenging disco Doggfather on the Auto-Tuned “Sweat,” while
Nicki Minaj does a pole dance on the operating table for “Turn Me On,” which turns a doctor visit into double entendre overflow.
Jennifer Hudson guests on the cut “Night of Your Life,” making it the diva uplift track you’d expect from such a title, and
Sia’s “Titanium” is a decent stab at
Coldplay-for-the-house-music set. But something’s missing, something along the lines of “When Love Takes Over.” Without that soulful kind of anchor,
Nothing But the Beat offers the same experience as one of
Guetta’s numerous remix sets, which is a compliment if you’re a dancefloor and a caution if you’re a pair of headphones. ~ David Jeffries