0075678959301. Pre-Owned: Good condition. CD. After the release of 2005 s barely promoted Libra Toni Braxton followed Wayne Newton as the headline act at Las Vegas Flamingo Hotel and Casino competed on Dancing with the Stars and endured a variety of professional and personal setbacks. Braxton s first album for Atlantic Pulse was delayed over a year due to leaked material which prompted the singer to record several new songs. None of the remaining collaborations with big-name artists made the cut either. Even when low expectations are factored Pulse is irrefutably satisfying. There s a high level of conviction that does not waver and it s particularly impressive given that the album covers so many stages of a romantic relationship. Few others can pull off such powerful drastically contrasting material -- certainly not in the course of one 40-minute album -- like Braxton. She hops from one extreme to the other during the first two songs. Yesterday is a bitter breakup ballad in which the teeth-clenched I don t love ya/Don t need ya/Can t stand ya no more sounds very real while Make My Heart is a rapturous club track put over the top by some of Braxton s most athletic vocals. Relatability is no issue since Braxton is able to pull the listener into the songs. A couple ballads are sonically lukewarm and lyrically platitudinal but even so this is easily the singer s best work since The Heat. ~ Andy Kellman Rovi