For my first ever music preview on this site, I have chosen the latest material from songwriting great Ne-Yo. So, the album
(Year Of The Gentleman) has finally dropped and the world has finally gotten a chance to experience, or figure out, exactly what Ne-Yo meant when he claimed that R&B, as of late, was starting to "bore" him.
In
my opinion, he couldn't have been too bored with the genre's current state, as he really didn't do too much to change it. Not all the way, at least. His lead single,
"Closer", pretty much showed his crossover potential and that new sound/direction he was going for. But apart from that and the equally-dancable follow-up single,
"Miss Independent", the rest of the album is just as R&B as R&B gets.
Ne-Yo has a gift for writing, and he never fails when it comes to giving listeners song themes that are "out there". Tracks like
"So You Can Cry" and
"Why Does She Stay" reflect just that, even though they tend to drag and fail to hold your attention throughout.
Just like many albums,
'Gentleman' has its high points and low points. I just wish there weren't so many of the latter.
Stand-Out Tracks:
"Closer", "Single", "Lie To Me", "Fade Into The Background"
