Monica is back on the music scene a year after the successful release of her album Still Standing, which featured successful singles “Everything To Me” and “Love All Over Me,”

Still Standing showed the world that Monica is still a force to be reckoned with 15 years after the release of her first record, and that she was an extremely happy newlywed with her husband, professional basketball player Shannon Brown.

Now that life’s greatest moments have been accomplished, what’s a girl to do? If you’re Monica, you celebrate them. But in the case of New Life, her seventh album, some celebrations were better than others.

The album starts with a poignant recording of a conversation where Mary J. Blige is heard encouraging Monica to keep going and to be thankful for her blessed life. The album then jumps to a fierce girl-power anthem featuring fellow 90’s superstar Brandy called “It All Belongs To Me.” The song is good but it doesn’t have the “wow” factor that you think R&B divas like these two should be heard singing. Some of the other songs on the album, such as “Man Who Has Everything” and “Daddy’s Girls,” are simply generic R&B songs that have no place on this album.

Have no fear however, Monica uses her current life with Brown as material for the latter half of the album to save it from being a complete flop. Her honesty about love on “Without You” and “Amazing” will tug at the strings of hopeless romantics. Songs like “Until Its Gone” will reopen old wounds for those who have recently lost loved ones, while songs like “Cry” and “Time to Move” signifies love that she once possessed that wasn’t meant to be.

Overall, the album has a few good tracks, but it is not a stellar work. If you’re a true fan, go support Monica and buy New Life; if not, keep the hope alive for a better album next time around.