Review: Drake - Take Care

Drake Take Care
Typically, a sophomore does one thing - it solidifies and improves on everything that you liked about the first album.  No great left-turns, no stylistic departures, just stick to the script and use whatever cash you made off the first album to go bigger this time around.
So it is with Take Care, Drake's second release and a sonic improvement on the first, which is a compliment considering the exquisite backdrops provided by the likes of Noah '40' Shebeib the first time around.
First track Over her dead body sets the tone, with a characteristically squelched-out bassline carefully balanced against a simple chord progression and Drake bringing us up to speed on the last year of his rapid rise to fame.  The most notable changes are that the lyrics are more positive than before, like Drake is determined to enjoy his fame, or at least make us think he is.  For the most part, the juxtaposition of smug braggadocio and atmospheric beats fits him well.
Headlines is the obvious single, with it's drumline beat and dismissively egotistical lyrics.  Crew Love is saved from it's irritating drum by a earthy cameo from Abel Tesfaye from The Weekend.  Take Care almost works despite itself, but even with a winning hook from Rihanna, Drake doesnt quite integrate his speak/sing raps into what is essentially a straight up house track.
Drake is back on familiar ground with We'll be fine and Make me Pround, the girls, drinks and club subject matter an easy fall-back at this point.  Though both tracks are by a producer named T-Minus, they fit seamlessly into the Drake canon of sleazy bass-heavy club tracks.  Lord Knows is a more successful stretching of the aesthethic, the beat a more anthemic version of his signature sound, this time courtesy of veteran Just Blaze.
From there is a distinct drop-off, with a couple of guest-heavy straight-up R&B tracks in Doing Wrong and The Real Her.  Whilst Drake is a competent singer, the beats are never interesting enough to hold our attention or push Drake out of his loverboy comfort-zone.  Look what you've done feels like an indulgent waste of time, and at this point I was convinced that Drake should have kept this record to 10 or 11 tracks.
To be fair, this is review is off a first listen, and some of the stronger will I'm sure grow on me.  However, there is a bit of filler here, and I guess it's good that they've shoved it at the tail-end of the album.

Check out some of the new tracks HERE