It's been a minute since we've heard from Carl Thomas. After doing pleasing fans with many hits during his time at Bad Boy Records, Carl is back but this time he's working the independent game. His new album shows that he hasn't lost his touch and can still hit you with some nice tunes

Pure soul reigns supreme on "Thought You Should Know" featuring Lalah Hathaway. The song sees Carl expressing his love fully to his women and urges men to care for their ladies. Lalah Hathaway brings out the beauty of the song with her talented voice. "Somethin Bout You" is an effective song as Thomas lets loose on that feeling of liking someone but not knowing what really attracts you to them. As the album continues Carl slows it down smoothly with "Late Night Rendezvous". The song's title explains everything; just one of those nights with that pretty young lady. The remix to this song with E-40 is a real added bonus adding a Hip-Hop touch to an already great cut.

If it's not broke don't fix it and this is definitely the case with Mr. Thomas. For the most part Carl sticks to what he knows creating effective songs like the album's title cut. The album slips a little with the reggae influenced "Oh No You Can't Be Serious", but a bonus remix with Baby Cham aids the song giving it an authentic Reggae feel.

Carl Thomas' "So Much Better" is a solid album. To be able to take time off and come back with something as strong as this LP says a lot about Carl's true talent as an R&B artist. And while he may have lost some of that street edge he had during his time with Bad Boy Records, Carl Thomas' latest LP is proof that he can stand on his own and really make music that is "So Much Better" than before.