Love Songs - Slow Jam Favorites by Destiny's Child

Remember that old lady from the Wendy's commercials? “Where's the beef?” God rest her soul, if she were here today and heard the new Destiny's Child reunion song “Nuclear,” she’d be crowing, “Where's the hook?” She’d be right to ask. After all, Destiny's Child, to an unusual degree, were all about the hook. Even their best songs were mostly just danceable filler built around a catchy chorus. So Beyoncé Knowles, Kelly Rowland, and Michelle Williams got back together in the studio after all these years (their last album of all-new material came out in 2004), with Pharrell Williams producing, and nobody remembered to provide a memorable refrain.

In an interview with MTV, Michelle Williams proclaimed the track—which she co-wrote—“dope,” but honestly lines like “I never know how we keep our shit together” just sound dopey. The chorus even tries to rhyme “nuclear” with “two here.” The track concludes the new Love Songs compilation as a way to bait completists since the other 13 tunes are all culled from previously released albums.

The only hits included here are “Cater 2 U” (from 2004’s Destiny Fulfilled) and their Bee Gees cover, “Emotion” (from 2001’s Survivor). Otherwise it’s all deeper cuts selected primarily from the group’s four studio albums, handpicked by the ladies themselves. The Timbaland Remix of “Say My Name” comes from 2002’s This Is the Remix. Wouldn’t the hit single version have been preferable? Well, that was already included on last October’s Playlist: The Very Best of Destiny’s Child. I guess the remix kind of counts as a rarity. The other loopy choice is “Heaven,” from Kelly Rowland’s 2002 solo debut, Simply Deep. Surely there must be a group track that could’ve been slotted in instead.

Unless their recent five-minute performance for the Super Bowl XLVII halftime show is indicative of future reunion projects to come, those longing for the trio to continue will have to be satisfied with this second compilation in four months. “We really did this for the fans,” Williams claimed in that recent MTV interview, but honestly, what kind of favor is it to pick their pockets yet again for a bunch of stuff they already have? Get “Nuclear” on iTunes if you must, but don’t say I didn’t warn you.