Release Date: Nov 16, 2004
Genre(s): Pop, R&B, Urban
Record label: Sony
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Destiny's Child have never quite seemed like a true group, possibly because Beyoncé Knowles always took the spotlight in the group's hits and videos. When the group went their separate ways in the wake of the blockbuster success of 2001's Survivor, it was easy to assume that the split was permanent, a suspicion that only grew when Beyoncé became a superstar with her 2003 solo debut, Dangerously in Love. As it turns out, she was reluctant to leave the group behind -- an attachment that might have been telegraphed by the fact that her solo album shared a title with a song from Survivor -- because she reunited with Kelly Rowland and Michelle Williams for 2004's Destiny Fulfilled.
It restores your faith in pop stars to see Beyoncé Knowles returning to the fold to lend her less successful mates, Kelly and Michelle, a hand. More surprisingly still, despite her A-list status, she doesn't dominate. Lead vocals on these 12 songs are as likely to be sung by one of the others as by Bouncy, making this a truly democratic album. But it's not, of course - Destiny's Child is now Knowles Plus Two, and torpor has afflicted their songwriting.