Lionel Richie Album: “Just For You”

Description :

Personnel includes: Lionel Richie (vocals); Daniel Bedingfield (vocals) <p>Personnel include: Lionel Richie (vocals); Daniel Bedingfield (vocals); Chieli Minucci (guitar); Lenny Kravitz (acoustic guitar, electric guitar, piano, drums, background vocals); Chuckii Booker (piano, keyboards, programming); Mark Smith (bass instrument); Tawatha Agee (background vocals). <p>Recording information: 2004. <p>Lionel Richie's talent for crafting picture-perfect pop songs cannot be understated. In fact, his remarkable success during the 1970s and '80s, as both the leader of the Commodores and a solo artist, often overshadows his reputation as a remarkably deft songwriter. His singles--"Hello," "Still," and "Sail On," for example--could seem subdued and simple, but they each contained a certain melancholy mood and stories within stories, like successively smaller Russian dolls. After virtually vanishing for over a decade following his multi-platinum record DANCING ON THE CEILING, he resurfaced in the late '90s. <p>JUST FOR YOU is the third album by this reborn Lionel Richie, and it finds him getting comfortable in his new mode, which is refreshingly close to the pop classics he penned years before. The album is stocked full of simple yet multifaceted pop songs swimming in hooks; there's a dash of R&B from his old days, especially on the jazzy, funky "Do Ya," but, for the most part, Richie sticks to his trademark brand of adult-contemporary pop.

Lionel Richie can write and sing circles around most of the no-talent people who are on the radio these days. This is the latest album from a truly talented superstar.

You know, music is like an artists painting... either it touches you or it doesn't. Well, Lionel Richies music moves me. I hope you like it as well.

Ok, let me preface this with the fact I am a huge Lionel Richie fan...he could put out a pile of poo and I would purchase it. With that said, while there are some good songs on this albums (and his recent albums) but as a whole the albums leave you wanting more. His classic albums held you from beginning to end while this a his recent albums are "hit and miss" at best. It is tough to say but I think one of the drawbacks recently is the songwriting...y'know wouldn't it be nice to just hear Lionel play the piano and sing and not worry so much about production and getting that "modern sound." Don't get me wrong there is some quality material here that if you are a fan of LR you will love...it just does not grab you and hold you from beginning to end...(like he used too). HMMM...maybe a reunion with the Commodores is in order!!!!!!! Now that would be outrageous!

The songs on this CD are amazing. There are so many potential hits like "Just for You", "I Still Believe", "Long Long Way To Go", "Just to Be With You", and "The Time of Our Life." The first two songs, "Just for You" and "I Still Believe", bring out some newer directions for Lionel, whereas "Long Long Way To Go", "Just to Be With You", and "Time of Our Life" (with Lenny Kravitz) are classic Lionel. These songs make you think about love and life for sure. Lionel's voice sounds better than ever. I only hope he gets the mainstream play that he deserves with these songs.

Lionel takes risks on this CD while most succeed at hitting the target some encourage critics to once again mock this talented composer/artist. The chord structure on the opening track appears to be misguided. It seems inspired from recent U2 material. It's an improvement over his last single released "Angel". That production on that song sounded strongly borrowed from Cher's 1999 hit "Believe". The bulk of material produced on JUST FOR YOU remains faithful to the styling of RICHIE and will surely delight fans. All in all, RICHIE, one of the biggest male vocalist of late 70s early 80s, finally offers to the public a CD that officially registers him as an artist for the new millenium.

After reading all the comments for this album so far l just had to add this...

As a fan of Def Leppard AND Lionel Richie - I think they BOTH do beautiful versions of "Long Long Way To Go". Both artists are successful and deserve the repect they have earned by being in the the music business for so long.

As a whole though, l did find this album a little dissapointing after absolutely loving his last two releases "Time" and "Renaisance". Lionel could do better....