|
|
Your Learning Zone - Get Lifted
|
List Price: $13.98
Our Price: $5.74
Your Save: $ 8.24 ( 59% )
Availability: Usually ships in 24 hours
Manufacturer: Sony
|
Average Customer Rating:  
|
|
Binding: Audio CD
EAN: 0827969277621
Label: Sony
Manufacturer: Sony
Number Of Discs: 1
Publisher: Sony
Release Date: 2004-12-28
Studio: Sony
|
|
|
|
|
|
Spotlight customer reviews:
|
Customer Rating: 
Summary: Irritating!
Comment: Augh! This late review comes because I was never a fan/ never bought the CD. Ordinary People was cute but I have been in this business long enough to know a one-hit wonder when I hear one. Due to weekend circumstances, I was made to listen to this CD and its various selections repeatedly. I think I would have preferred fingernails on a chalkboard to this CD. Nothing on this disc has the magic of Ordinary People and Sony may have been better off (from a non-cash-in standpoint) going the full-on acoustic/ adult contemporary route with this artist. I actually thought that's where they were headed "then" but I later got a whiff of the follow up... while at the cinema of all places. While waiting for my feature presentation to begin, they actually played the video. Great marketing there as people will undoubtedly think they have been enlightened when relieved of those dull, boring slides. The song's name and melody escape me at the moment... Case in point, no? Now, the man has got talent. It's just showcased poorly here. And that's why it's so irritating. I read the negative reviews about lyrical content. Fortunately or unfortunately for me, I was so irritated by the vocal/ music pairing that I didn't even allow my mind to process the lyrics. Having only heard Ordinary People in awards ceremonies near the time of its release, I can still pull its melodies and a bit of the words from my memory. Having heard the full CD just four days ago, I can't recall anything other than the chorus of Let's Get Lifted.
Customer Rating:
Summary: So much potential, and yet...
Comment: Ordinary People and Used To Love U are very good, old-fashioned soul songs with a modern twist. Unfortunately there's not much else here that maintain that high quality except for the sublime interlude Let's Get Lifted Again. Now here John Legend & Co. are really onto something special.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Decent singer, but What's all the fuss about?
Comment: Perhaps it's just the hype that has surrounded Mr. Legend for the last few years or so, but after listening to "Get Lifted" I wonder what the fuss is about. Sure he has soft vocals and appears talented on the piano, but I think every 'fan' has heard better.
He is no "Luther (Vandross)." Not that he should or wants to be compared to that great voice, but those songs stand the test of time and are iconic in this genre of music. Legend is entertaining and light, but not groundbreaking. Perhaps we have gotten so used to hip-hop tainted songs about violence or even the sappy, doo-wop love songs from R&B boy bands that populated 1990s airwaves, making John Legend somewhat of a breath of fresh air. Maybe so, but I expected more.
That is not to say that he is not talented. His live performance DVD is spectacular, and some of the tracks from his follow up cd are amazing, particularly "Show Me," which is haunting and beautiful with some of the most thoughtful yet simple lyrics that truly great songs are made.
A few elements of "Get Lifted" are cute. The voicemail message from his parents is a nice touch, although it is juxtaposed against the explicit lyrics of one of the tracks that indicates even this fresh new voice can't seem to stay away from testosterone laiden rap lyrics about sex.
The cd is worth having since there are so few original male vocal R&B artists making thoughtful, relaxing and contemporary music. I recommend buying the DVD instead.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Great!
Comment: Seriously, it's one of the best debut albums I've ever heard. Almost all the songs are standouts. Definitely worth the cash spent.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Truly Gifted
Comment: John Legend is amazing. The soul, the swagger, the sexy!! I can hear this cd all day, everyday!!
|
|
|
Editorial Reviews:
|
Given the sped-up classic soul samples with which Kanye West has made his mark, it comes as no surprise that the producer/rapper would pick a tradition-minded R&B singer as his first big pet project. Legend first made his name on Philly's incense-clouded, '70s-obsessed neo-soul scene, then found his way to New York and became West's right-hand man in the studio. His patron's pop smarts serve Legend well--while many contemporary R&B records rely too heavily on a singer's cadence and skill to carry underdeveloped tunes, Legend and West have composed genuine songs like the perky "Number One," which has a lovestruck West jabbering that he no longer believes that "my heart don't got nothing to do with my penis." (It's way more convincing than Snoop Dogg's pledge of love on the next track, "I Can Change.") And even when the melodies are slight, West slides some nasty bass lines underneath, hinting at just enough of a hip-hop sensibility to keep the album from drifting into retro nostalgia. Yet Legend is no mere producer's plaything. His voice isn't immediately distinctive; he's neither as careworn as Anthony Hamilton nor as creamy as D'Angelo. But his gift for restraint sets him apart: the sex-as-drug metaphor of the title track is hardly fresh, but Legend delivers it smoothly enough to make it work, without pressing the issue. All bedroom come-ons have been used before. This late in the game, it's a matter of how well you use 'em. --Keith Harris
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
