Warner
Urban Contemporary, 2005

After his previous record label went kaput, Craig David was adrift in a career limbo until he gets signed with Warner. The Story Goes… is supposed to be a comeback record of some sorts, but the tracks in this CD sound stick with fidelity to the same formula of his previous two CDs. Producer Mark Hill doesn’t seem to know how to make the tracks on this CD sound even a little different from the mellow laidback R&B grooves that made Craig David a British version of a poor man’s Usher in the past.

The Story Goes… is packed with too many songs that are too laid back for their own good. Songs like Johnny, Separate Ways, and Hypnosis can be very catchy in their own right, but only if I am paying close attention to them. The songs on this CD are too similar and therefore I find it very easy to tune out after the first two songs on the CD. Played in the background, The Story Goes… comes off like a long continuous song. With repeated spins, the CD grows on me and I find myself humming Separate Ways while I’m cleaning the sink the other day.

With it taking a while to grow on me, I can’t say in all honesty that The Story Goes… takes me to any great musical adventure. In fact, I’ve heard the songs of this CD so many times before, so to speak! A little variation of the increasingly tired Mark Hill sound would have done wonders to this CD.