Once Again

1 rating: 3.0

R&B album by John Legend

It takes guts, if not outright egomania, to abandon your given surname and adopt a loaded one like Legend, but the former John Stephens must have sensed that loftiness would one day be his calling card:Once Again,the follow-up to the Grammy-gobbling, … see full wiki

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"I don't care about propriety / Let's break the rules / Forget society."

Nov 13, 2006

by MzJen_2_review
posted in Music Matters

Rating:

His explicit banner doesn't string high enough to pull off the mischievous boast of "P.D.A.": to place Legend as a bad boy. Instead this album places Legend on doing throwback to clean-cut crooners like say ....Smokey Robinson, which makes him once again, an appealing singer-songwriter and a legend in the making. Even though Kanye West shifts his cocky nature further into the corner this still comes out a great album. "Once Again" is defiantly more low-key and less bold than his debut album. But I think his new album is far more ambitious. Usually with more ambition comes a higher degree of difficulty. Once I gave this album a second round I fell madly in love with it.

From the opening track "Save Room" to the last emotionally thoughtful track "Coming Home" this album is great and I'll say it again....... It's great! I can listen to this entire album without skipping one track. I love most of the tracks but some of the best cuts are from Legend's vintage soul era and several Motown-styled tracks produced by Will.I.Am -- "Each Day Gets Better," "Save Room," of course and "Slow Dance" -- is well suited to Legend's classic soul vocals. "Stereo," "Show Me," and "Where Did My Go," are just as beautiful as well as lyrically stimulating because he manages to have you sing right along side with him.

After hearing this album it proves to be a successful second coming. I don't consider it a disappointment in the least. You have to applaud and appreciate an artist that's not afraid to walk the beat of their own drum (so goes the saying). To me it would have been way too easy to make another "Get Lifted," so instead of taking the easy way he decided to shift gear, take on to this challenge and managed to executed it very well.

I'm glad to have this album and I also support his desire to try new things and explore other areas of music while still maintaining his R&B roots. Legend might lose a lot of dedicated fans regarding this album but a lot new fans can accommodate those vacant areas and then some. Much Love John.

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