Either that, or the relationship is extremely up and down the singers sometimes sound as if they are addressing ex-lovers from other relationships. The sequence of songs plays out like scenes on shuffle. 'Sweat,' a slinking groove, is like the 'Love During War' to Robin Thicke's 'Love After War,' while 'Heart Attack,' near the album's end, is a retro-disco move that seems more like a throw-in than a crucial part of the album. The duo don't seem nearly as connected to them. The emphasis is on divorce, indicated from the very beginning on 'Roller Coaster,' where Babyface enters with 'Today I got so mad at you, it's like I couldn't control myself.' The set finishes with the bittersweet 'The D Word,' seemingly a Sade homage, in which Babyface confesses 'You still own my heart, forever and ever and ever.' Moments that deviate from issues of romantic strife are few. Both endured broken marriages, and presumably it's those experiences that inform the material here - a succinct collection of 11 songs, eight of which are duets.
On Love, Marriage & Divorce, Toni Braxton and Babyface, creative partners going back to the early '90s, rekindle their musical relationship.
