John Legend is about as ordinary as a guy with an eleventh toe. Yet in every album he releases he likes to talk about just how ordinary he is.
In his latest effort “Evolver which is his third album ever, the artist seems to have completely ‘evolved’ in his musical endeavors.
Enlisting a little help from his friends Andre 3000 and Kanye West, along with Brandy (who apparently is not dead) and Estelle – (for a little bit of female flavor), he tries to liven up his playlist with vocalists who actually can lay a beat. With the catchy single Greenlight” hitting airwaves the album released last week has been getting some serious attention.
At times Legend tries to be someone he’s not. The last song on the album a version of “It’s Over featuring West, is straight off a Neyo album beat reject pile. The fact that he even has a song called Satisfaction where he basically repeats the word through the whole song, is just sad.
But, then there is a glimmer where he gets it right. In the song I Love You Love Legend softly tells the one he loves that they are meant to be together, and there is just no way that one would not believe his candor.
The real question is: What happened to Mr. Piano-Man? Yes, it’s nice to have a beat every now and then, but when one is actually a talented vocalist/instrumentalist, there is no need for Britney Spears’ tactics, such as adding electronic background noise. Never better is this Ohio-native when he is stripped down to his soul and his piano, singing to nothing but the hearts of women everywhere.
Legend has been a busy bee this year. Not only has he released a new album, but he too has jumped on the bandwagon of devoting his life to Obama and has been giving free concerts on the Obama campaign trail. It’s no wonder he opted to.
Although the album has its share of talking about love and bedrooms and women (including, in one song, anecdotes of a friend he wants get to know better), it feels as if the word Obama” should be chanted in every pause. Especially prevalent in the song “If You’re Out There where he sings, We’ve been looking for a song to sing / Searched for a melody / Searched for someone to lead/ We’ve been looking for the world to change/ If you feel the same Then go on and say.”
John Legend is not an ordinary person. He is extraordinary. Although this album will not be the stuff of legends the offerings within its tracks add a little light to a time when all things are not so ordinary.
3 out of 5 stars.