Disco de Lionel Richie: “Lionel Richie”

Lionel Richie had no problem switching from the mighty Commodores to being a solo artist. Here, he does an unbelievably remarkable job with such hits as "Truly", "My Love", and other tunes such as the eerie "Wandering Stranger" and the opening "Serves You Right". And "You Are" is a wonderful one, not really displayed on Richie's compilations very much. LIONEL RICHIE is probably, in my book, one of the best R&B albums of the 1980s, and I highly recommend it.

This cd is my personal best lionel Richie cd but there are other great ones as well.However for me this cd is a cut above because it speaks to the warm romantic side of me and it feels good.

Lionel Richie, singer and leader of The Commodores had penned great songs like "Three Times A Lady" and "Easy"(later cover by Faith No More) for his band and the US #1 duet "Endless Love" with Diana Ross & Kenny Rogers big hit "Lady". It was a natural step in a great artist career to go solo, and Lionel proved he was just as good as a solo singer then a member of the Commodores. With the release of his epnymous debut album he stays on fammiliar territory with mostly slow jams and midtempo R&B, simular to what he did with Commodores, but not too many funky energic uptempos, but this is what he's best at. Lionel was also involved in the writing of all songs and apart from some latter albums this feels very personal since all songs have great lyrics easy to relate too. Three quite big hits are included here, a wonderful ballad "Truly" (Us #1) and midtempo "You Are" and loveballad "My Love" the rest are songs to discover and actally most of them are great. "Serves You Right" a typical breezy 80's R&B song that sound like it could have been made for Michael Jackson. "Wandering Star", a love-ballad and definite highlight. "Tell Me", an other midtempo 80's style and last but not least the charming "Round and Round" which sound like it was from the 70's. The last two songs "You Mean More To Me" and "Just Put Some Love In Your Heart" are forgettable adult contemporary ballads that doesn't add much to the overall record, but out of 7 songs 9 are great. Unfortunately this album is a bit overlooked, and few reviews have been made to it neither. This album would launch his solo career and with the next album he would be a superstar. Even if this may be less commercial the the upcoming 2 grand slams he made, it's perhaps his finest work and defenitely recommended for people that apreciate good music.

A los que vivimos la transición entre Commodores y el solista Lionel Richie, recomiendo este album, que es uno de los mejores de los años 80.

With the massive, world-wide success of "Can't Slow Down", Lionel Richie's first solo album was somewhat forgotten. Though it orignally spawned a number of hits, only one song from the album, Truly, has aquired status as a classic. "Lionel Richie" is however a much stronger album than you might think, and while "Can's Slow Down" is certainly superior, as a whole this album stands above "Dancin'on the Ceiling".

Lionel Richie has never been an innovator, but what he does, he does extremely well. The songs on this album all display his superb ability to craft wonderful ballads and dance numbers. Many of the songs certainly deserve to be right up there with his biggest hits. A bit more pop than funk, the album shows that he had moved in a different direction than the Commodores. Whether one prefers his solo work to his work with the Commodores or not, there is no denying that he delivered a very solid debut album, which deserves to be pulled off the shelf again. Hopefully the new reissue will introduce more people to this underrated gem.