Music : Year of the Gentleman |
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If the mark of the skilful Lothario is the one who knows to always tell his lover what she wants to hear, surely Def Jam’s R&B sensation Ne-Yo--aka Los Angeles singer-songwriter Shaffer Chimere Smith--is one of the greatest of them all. On his third album, Year of the Gentleman, Chimere channels his hitmaking talents into a suite of R&B songs that are more respectful than rampant in their approach to the romancing. “Single' is a song that reaches out to all the lonely girls, Ne-Yo promising, “I'll be your boyfriend til the song goes off,' while the Stargate-produced “Miss Independent,' lit up by neon synthesizers, suggests Smith isn't too concerned with his own machismo to test out flipping the traditional gender roles, serenading a girl who's a player in her own right: “Everything she got, you bet she bought it.' The album is at its best with the central, two-song movement of “Why Does She Stay' and “Fade Into the Background'--the former finding Ne-Yo questioning his own neglectful nature over a backdrop of shimmering keys, the latter a sombre piece that finds our narrator accepting the news that his lover has found another with a rare, heart-rending magnanimity. --Louis Pattison
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Rating: - * Another solid album ... Another solid album by Ne-Yo, I think everyone is loving this album, it's so infectious and he brings back a new vibe on every album he has delivered so far. Been loving this guys music since his first album in 2006 In My Own Words, songs like Sign Me Up, So Sick, Let Go... practically the entire album. The last album Because of You, I loved the majority of the songs on there, particularly the leading song and Make This Work. Again, he releases another album in a short period of time, and delivers us an even better set of records each fitting in with the theme of the album very well. He makes songs that fit globally and everyone can recognise his original sound and melodies. In this album, I particularly liked listening to the song Miss Independent over and over again. There is just something about this song that could make me erase every other song out right now. Also Mad, Fade Into the Background and Single are great songs. I don't know why he released Single with NKOTB but hey, I don't udnerstand half the decisions they make in this industry anymore. Another reason I love this artists work is simply because he doesn't bother with Re-Releases and Deluxe Editions and all that kind of crap. He does what all other artists should do, save the material for the next album. He's a great song-writer and I think that makes everyone more comfortable when listening to his music, knowing that he is the person that penned this, it makes it all more real. Rating: - * satisfied ... I was satified with this cd. The case had like two little cracks but you can't get perfection when it comes to shipping items like this, maybe amazon could try different packaging. Rating: - * Excellent CD from Ne-Yo ... I Love this CD of Ne-Yo's from Beginning to the End. :) Thank you, ~~Carol~~ bigmom815 Rating: - * Best album of the year! ... Neyo, I think, is so creative and so gifted in writing songs. I loooove this cd! My favorite song(s) are: Stop the World, Part of the List...everything except #2 and Fade into the background. But excellent work. I hope Neyo stays this way. Love it! Rating: - * disappointed ... Ne-Yo, well all I can say is it's NOT worth the money. Everything sounds the same. |