It's cool - not mind-blowing great, but there are some great moments on there. The duet with Corrine Bailey Rae is the bee's knees.
The Corrine Bailey Rae track is one of the few I've heard so far and loved it - I kinda hoped that the rest of the album would match up but can't say I'm too surprised. I'll take cool not mind blowing at this stage in his career.
Finally heard this and it's pretty much what I expected. Nothing on there is going to offend but it's also extremely short of any moments that gave me the spine tingle. It's a decent album by a guy who's been in the game for over 40 years but I can't help feeling that Questlove was a little too reverential of Willie Mitchell's trademark sound - nothing wrong with mixing things up occasionally.
Finally heard this and it's pretty much what I expected. Nothing on there is going to offend but it's also extremely short of any moments that gave me the spine tingle. It's a decent album by a guy who's been in the game for over 40 years but I can't help feeling that Questlove was a little too reverential of Willie Mitchell's trademark sound - nothing wrong with mixing things up occasionally.
Yeah, I was reading some of the production notes and what makes this album different is that they made it like they made the D'Angelo album: it was more about jamming spontaneously in the studio and seeing what got created in the process rather than a more formal, organized songwriting and composition process. And to me, the album suffers for that. The producers nail the groove - as you point out - but sometimes, the songs sound more like "grooves" than "songs" if you know what I mean.
I also find it fascinating that ?uestlove's ambition was to make an album that'd be the follow-up to "Belle." This is like a retro-soul Al Green album...by Al Green.
Finally heard this and it's pretty much what I expected. Nothing on there is going to offend but it's also extremely short of any moments that gave me the spine tingle. It's a decent album by a guy who's been in the game for over 40 years but I can't help feeling that Questlove was a little too reverential of Willie Mitchell's trademark sound - nothing wrong with mixing things up occasionally.
Yeah, I was reading some of the production notes and what makes this album different is that they made it like they made the D'Angelo album: it was more about jamming spontaneously in the studio and seeing what got created in the process rather than a more formal, organized songwriting and composition process. And to me, the album suffers for that. The producers nail the groove - as you point out - but sometimes, the songs sound more like "grooves" than "songs" if you know what I mean.
I also find it fascinating that ?uestlove's ambition was to make an album that'd be the follow-up to "Belle." This is like a retro-soul Al Green album...by Al Green.
Ha! I didn't know about ?uestlove's goal but it kinda makes sense with the feeling the album left me with. Ticking the right boxes but not really doing anything amazing.
The jamming rather than songwriting also explains a lot. There were a few uncomfortable moments where the whole thing seemed a little too 'safe'.I just kept on waiting for either the musicians or Al to really let loose but instead many of the songs simply peter out to a pretty but unmemorable ending.
CherChezLaPLAN
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The Corrine Bailey Rae track is one of the few I've heard so far and loved it - I kinda hoped that the rest of the album would match up but can't say I'm too surprised. I'll take cool not mind blowing at this stage in his career.
Yeah, I was reading some of the production notes and what makes this album different is that they made it like they made the D'Angelo album: it was more about jamming spontaneously in the studio and seeing what got created in the process rather than a more formal, organized songwriting and composition process. And to me, the album suffers for that. The producers nail the groove - as you point out - but sometimes, the songs sound more like "grooves" than "songs" if you know what I mean.
I also find it fascinating that ?uestlove's ambition was to make an album that'd be the follow-up to "Belle." This is like a retro-soul Al Green album...by Al Green.
Ha! I didn't know about ?uestlove's goal but it kinda makes sense with the feeling the album left me with. Ticking the right boxes but not really doing anything amazing.
The jamming rather than songwriting also explains a lot. There were a few uncomfortable moments where the whole thing seemed a little too 'safe'.I just kept on waiting for either the musicians or Al to really let loose but instead many of the songs simply peter out to a pretty but unmemorable ending.