It really is something else when it comes to Robin Thicke. Rarely are the ears of listeners graced with sultry, soulful and unique sounds of this magnitude. The album, Something Else drops on the Star Trak label founded by The Neptunes. This is the ultimate co-sign that would increase the moral, as well as the pressure, of any artist. Thicke, for the most part, produces this album in a beautifully crafted and varied fashion. With it’s compilation of live instruments, introspective song writing, and tightly monitored vocal arrangements, Robin Thicke has joined the 2008 R&B class of artists delivering material to help revive a genre in dire need of a boost.
The content of “Dreamworld,” “Ms. Harmony,” and “Tie My Hands” are all able to stand out on their own, but when linked to the vocal chords of this new age Motown-esque singer, the compassion and feeling is all the more evident. Songs such as the aforementioned “Ms. Harmony,” along with “The Sweetest Love” and “You’re My Baby” seem like personal ballads from Thicke to his wife (and the oh, so sexy) Paula Patton, but they carry a universal theme that can be applied to relationships of any type, any race or gender.
“Sidestep” and “Magic” provide tons of funk-fueled adrenaline into songs where subject matter could in fact, be irrelevant. Yet, Thicke chooses to sidestep this approach and delivers tracks on playing hard to get and having that magic touch in a relationship. If the beat isn’t maintaining interest, then surely it’ll be the vocal diversity of Thicke on tracks like “You’re My Baby” and “Loverman” that captures you.
The downside comes from “Something Else” and “Shadow of Doubt,” which both sound like commercial jingles in comparison to the rest of the album. The even more unfortunate thing is that these tracks appear back to back, thus, slowing down the great flow of the album and never giving it a chance to get back up to the level of success that that first three quarters had. Especially on an album with only 12 songs, mistakes need to be minimal, but this one snowballs.
The unfortunate drop in consistency isn’t really enough to stop this from being a great album; it simply doesn’t help it to succeed in being an excellent album. Thicke certainly has a voice to carry an entire album because it can hit various vocal ranges and apply to various types of production. Nevertheless, he keeps the hot streak of quality R&B in 2008 alive with this release and extends the notion that singers should put the vocoders down.
Overall Score: 80/100
Standout Tracks:
“Magic”
“Sidestep”
“You’re My Baby”
{ 6 comments… read them below or add one }
great review sean
‘Ms. Harmony’ does it for me
A solid review for a solid album. This one from Thicke is tight. He’s last one, Evolution of Robin Thicke, is my fav R&B album of the last decade. Bold statement, but it’s just that good.
This entire album is stunning. I can contest that his voice makes the entire female population melt, but moreover, his work is timeless. By far my favorite R&B for the year.
Oh, wait. I forgot about Ne-Yo’s album …
okay, one OF my favorite this year.
strong year for R&B i think, and more to come from avant & musiq still!
ive only done a once-over with this album, and sounds pretty solid.
Sean, have u checked out Jon B’s latest yet?
it’d be great to know what u think of that compared to R. Thicke’s album…
have NOT checked out the Jon B.. damn, i didn’t even know he dropped something