When you've had an 8-10 year gap in releases, sport a very strong debut album, span 3 decades in your career as an artist, and possess a voice equally rich and sultry- and wield it with such talent - you tend to create a pretty heavy weight of expectation for each album.
Only three women I can think of (Anastacia, Maria Christiansen [3rd Party], and Kathy Troccoli) are in the same class as Taylor Dayne. So needless to say, I am a huge Taylor fan. Unfortunately this record (and not only because of its predominantly downtempo feel) will fall short of fan expectations.
To make a great record it takes songs with catchy melodies (ideally with some poignant lyrics here and there); compelling, well-arranged music; strong production; and a top-notch vocal performance. Or for heaven's sake, cover something great! This album veers from that formula.
Midtempo opener "Beautiful" has a weak chorus ("you give me what you got, cause you've got a lot…") although it's almost catchy. Reggae (the goofy "She Don't Love You") is a style that should never be thrust upon Taylor; just bad.
Lead vocals in some tracks are too loud and end up distracting ("Under the Bridge" and "Fool to Cry") while the overly loud bassline of title cut "Satisfied" makes it a quick skip.
"I'm Over My Head" is the best cut here. It's catchy, has some great attitude and compelling programming, and is what fans would hope for and expect from Taylor. The final salvaging point of this disk is a few pleasant ballads (the midtempo "My Heart Can't Change" and "Crash," and [piano and string cut] "The Fall"). Console yourself with some one-off remixes of late on iTunes, and pray for some great remixes from this album.
