When the girls -- Knowles, Kelly Rowland and Michelle Williams -- went off to do solo projects, it quickly became apparent that Beyonce hadn't simply been handed the spotlight -- she'd been the Child who most deserved it. While Rowland made a respectable impression on the charts with her Nelly duet, "Dilemma," and Williams churned out a couple of gospel albums, Beyonce sold 4 million copies of her debut, Dangerously in Love, starred in the third Austin Powers movie and won five Grammy Awards. In the past two years, Jay-Z's flaxen-haired lady friend has become a franchise unto herself and ostensibly has outgrown her childhood group. So perhaps it's admirable that this superstar diva isn't leaving her homegirls in the lurch. But, more than anything else, the new Destiny's Child album makes one ask: Why bother?

On Destiny Fulfilled, the trio does its best to justify its existence and succeed about half the time. The girls brought back "Say My Name" producer Rodney Jerkins for the sweat-soaked first single, "Lose My Breath," a percussive sex romp where they pant in time to a marching-band beat. That opening number is followed by "Soldier," a herky-jerky ode to gangsta love. "If your status ain't hood/I ain't checking for them," the girls harmonize during the chorus. "Better be street if he looking at me. . . ./Known to carry big things, if you know what I mean." To prove they're serious, they have rappers T.I. and Lil' Wayne drop rhymes glorifying the profound love between a thug and a thugette. It's a hot track, even if the message feels affected coming from these church girls.

But after kicking off on a high note, the album slumps into an endless string of overwrought R&B ballads where the only saving grace is that -- damn! -- these ladies can harmonize like nobody's business. Jerkins should hang his head in shame for having a hand in the maudlin "Cater 2 U," a saccharine tune about how low Knowles, Rowland and Williams will stoop to prove their devotion to their man. In her verse, Beyonce offers to brush her man's hair, put his do-rag on, rub his feet and give him a manicure. Rowland, meanwhile, promises to "keep my figure right," "keep my hair fixed" and, most important, if her man should come home late and she's asleep, all he's gotta do is tap her on the shoulder and "I'll roll over." Since when did these independent women become so craven?

The trend continues in "T-Shirt," another low-key R&B number about how awesome it is to sleep in your man's T-shirt. With the exception of the bumping "Through With Love," even the done-me-wrong songs muster only a smidgen of genuine anger, instead delivering the message that, yeah, you hurt me bad, but I'll get over it. The formula works out nicely on "Is She the Reason," where producer 9th Wonder lays a powerful beat alongside a trumpet-laden sample from Melba Moore's groovy "I Don't Know No One Else to Turn To."

In all but a couple of songs, the verses are divided into three sections, with Beyonce leading things off, followed by Rowland, then Williams; during the choruses, their voices combine into perfectly groomed harmonies. The design of the songs serves to highlight what we already know: that Beyonce is the powerhouse of the trio. And, despite a handful of strong cuts, Destiny Fulfilled sounds like the kind of album you make when you're saving your best material for your next solo album. Which, in Beyonce's case, better come soon.

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JENNY ELISCU

(Posted: Nov 28, 2004)