The success of each work depends on the vocalist and how well they fit their style into Harris' sound. For example, Ellie Goulding's cold innocence in 'I Need Your Love' works much better than Florence Welch's desperate howl in 'Sweet Nothing'. Elsewhere, Kelis' cheeky and confident work on 'Bounce' looks fresh and fun, and Ne-Yo's smooth vocals complement 'Let's Go' nicely, but Example's vocals add nothing to the mediocre 'We'll Be Coming Back', and Tinie Tempah couldn't save the usual party anthem 'Drinking from the Bottle'. The two little-known names on the album perform the best: Harris himself drives the album's second best track, "Feel So Close," with a distinctive style and pleasingly subtle emotion, while Aya Marrar's vocals bring Harris' best tune to life with elegant understatement. That the album's success relies so heavily on the vocalist on each track brings to mind the album's main flaw: with the exception of a few instrumental interludes and the not-so-interesting hip-hop track "Here 2 China," every song sounds like an exact copy of the "We Found Love" template. This reliance on a particular sound works better on a case-by-case basis - Harris seems to realise this himself, as six of the album's 15 tracks were released as singles prior to 18 Months' debut.
- Tim Sendra - allmusic.com
