Frankly, I generally don't buy much music anymore for various reasons. However, when I saw Mario's album in the store, I gave it a quick listening-through and simply purchased it spur of the moment because I really liked "Let me love you" and because the other songs didn't seem to sound abysmally bad. Unfortunately, after listening to the album for several times, I had to discover that other than "let me love you," there really weren't any other songs on the album that I liked. I find myself skipping song after song until I end up at track 2 yet again. Of course, music taste is truly subjective but I still would think that there should be at least one other song on an album that is worth listening to. This album falls very short of that.

This is a new album from a fresh new talent so you can't expect too much out of it. Nevertheless, it is still a great album with one of the biggest songs of 2004 "Let Me Love You" and the new single "How Could You" and with hits like these, he is on his way to superstardom. He has become one of the hottest stars of 2005 with appearances at the Grammy Awards, BET Spring Bling and countless interviews and he has appeared in many different magazines including People. This album contains some Usher influenced R&B as well as some reggae and his vocals are amazing which makes this CD worth buying. If you like Usher, R. Kelly or even B2K, then most probably you'll like this album so don`t wait any longer and buy it.

Singing first...Mario has a great voice and is one of the most talented young people at playing his vocal instrument. His falsetto needs some work and I hope someone tells him to never, ever talk/rap/calloutcitites ever again, but his singing is a treat.

The lyrics could use some work, but almost every thing I've heard in the last 10 years needs work on the lyrics. (You composers/producers out there need to hire some of us lyricists cause y'all are falling short and it's starting to get real boring.)

Mario can sing better than virtually all of the hip-hop artists put together and that is the real strength of this cd. Some of the songs are really fun, a few of them are boring, but all in all I recommend this cd to everyone who enjoys good singing.

Mario's new album "Turning Point" is mainly about him losing a girl, and finding out she was cheating on him, and now she decides that her new man is not treating her the way she wants, so she goes back to Mario. Ugh, another break-up album.

Yes, Mario's vocals shine throughout the CD, specifically on "Directions", "Like Me Real Hard", and "How Could You". His vocals are not original, as stars as Omarion and Usher can pull-off the same thing, but his vocals seem to have a bit more clarity, style, and creativity in them. What? Yuo didn't think vocals could be creative? Think again. And Mario has absolute no trouble with his vocals, unless you're talking about the dancier and rappier tracks like "18", and "Shakedown". Of course, some R&B artists (Lloyd, Omarion, Usher, lately Akon) decide to express hip-hop in their tracks. This is okay, but you need to know how to rap to do this. Mario has talents in vocal ability, but not in rapping. That is probably why those are the least-liked tracks of "Turning Point".

The lyrics, especially, need work. "How Could You" being the biggest fixer-upper. "How could you? How could you forget about me? How could you? How could you?...". That is repeated so many times, 31 exactly, that it almost comes close to Ruben Studdard's "Sorry 2004" (sorry repeated 54 times, had nothing else to do). No wonder it was so minor. Other lyrical problematic songs include "18" taking about having 7 years to catch up, "Boom" about "all we need is a hell of a beat...", which sounded like a recycled version of Murphy Lee's "Wat Da Hook Gon Be?". "Nikes Fresh Out The Box" comparing Nike shoes to his girl (I thought what the hell for some time as well), and "Shakedown" about being in a club with his girl. Also, the repeated subject of his girl break-up with "Girl I Need", "Call The Cops" and "How Could You" (which I declared the biggest lyrical bomb of "Turning Point"). He does have some so-so lyrics, but it feels very cheesy with his excellent voice.

The beats of the CD are a high point. The danceable ones like "Shakedown" and "Boom", and the smooth ballads like "Let Me Love You", "Couldn't Say No", "Directions", and "Like Me Real Hard". The cheesy beats happpen to be in "How Could You" and "Girl I Need", with not much clarity and more kiddish and quite boring. Though, as an overall statement, the beats are nice, both dance and ballad.

Overall, the lyrics of "Turning Point" may have bombed, the vocals are some of the best in the music industry. And the beats weren't too bad either. 2005's Usher or one-hit wonder? The question still remains. I'll leave you to figure that out, but for now, this wouldn't be a bad CD to pick-up. 3 stars.

Mario's second album is better then the first that gave us his version of Biz Markie's "Just a Girl" but not much more chart hits then that. Mario has matured and become a young man. "Let Me Love You" was one of the best R&B ballads so far this year and topped the Billboard and is obviously the highlight if this album. This album both got some great ballads and uptempo songs. "How Could You" is a good ballad aswell and "Girl I Need" is a uptempo song with reggae feautures and "Here I go again" uptempo and "Nikes Fresh Out the Box" sounds like R. Kelly old school, both great additions. There are quite few good male R&B artists these days, and even if Mario both sound and dance simular to Usher he probably got a bright future ahead of him and should not be mistaken for Usher at all. "Turning Point" is a good album, both catchy and mature for a 18 year old, that grows on you the more you hear from it. Don't be mislead by the 3 stars, this album is good if you like R&B.