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Apart from a little more drama, a notion set with the desperate urgency of opening track "Closer," not much makes Year of the Gentleman, Ne-Yo's third album in as many years, all that different from In My Own Words or Because of You. If there are any real shake-ups in the songwriter/singer's m.o., they are subtle, not glaring, typically evident only in the production wrinkles brought by his collaborators. Had each album been separated by a few years of inactivity, this lack of change might be an issue, but since breaking out with Mario's "Let Me Love You" in 2004, Ne-Yo has been nothing if not steady and consistent, a constant presence in the R&B chart who probably could not devise a gimmick if his career depended upon it -- unless you hold those natural and often uncanny Michael Jackson vocalisms, as present as ever throughout highlight "Nobody," against him. What makes the album slightly less satisfying than Ne-Yo's first two albums is that the ballads are slightly sappier and overwrought. The odds are in his favor, however, that no one has written a more gorgeous song about slothful self-loathing. That song, "Why Does She Stay," forms the front end of a two-track patch of glorious gloom -- the album's center, both literally and figuratively -- complemented by "Fade into the Background," where he watches the one who got away get married.
© Andy Kellman /TiVo
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Tor Erik Hermansen, Unknown, Other, ComposerLyricist - Mikkel S. Eriksen, Recording Engineer, Unknown, Other, StudioPersonnel, ComposerLyricist - Bernt Rune Stray, Guitar, AssociatedPerformer, ComposerLyricist - M. Beite, ComposerLyricist - Shaffer Smith, ComposerLyricist - StarGate, Producer - Ne-Yo, Producer, Co-Producer, Vocals, MainArtist, AssociatedPerformer - Kevin 'KD' Davis, Mixer, StudioPersonnel - Ryan D., Assistant Mixer, StudioPersonnel
℗ 2008 The Island Def Jam Music Group
Kevin Davis, Mix Engineer, StudioPersonnel - Shaffer Smith, ComposerLyricist - Ne-Yo, MainArtist - Kirven Arrington, Recording Engineer, StudioPersonnel
℗ 2008 The Island Def Jam Music Group
Jamal Jones, ComposerLyricist - Josh Houghkirk, Additional Mixer, StudioPersonnel - Polow Da Don, Producer - PHIL TAN, Mix Engineer, StudioPersonnel - Shaffer Smith, ComposerLyricist - Ne-Yo, Vocals, MainArtist, AssociatedPerformer - Tony Terrebonne, Recording Engineer, StudioPersonnel
℗ 2008 The Island Def Jam Music Group
Tor Erik Hermansen, Unknown, Other, ComposerLyricist - Mikkel S. Eriksen, Recording Engineer, Unknown, Other, StudioPersonnel, ComposerLyricist - Bernt Rune Stray, ComposerLyricist - M. Beite, ComposerLyricist - Josh Houghkirk, Asst. Recording Engineer, StudioPersonnel - PHIL TAN, Mix Engineer, StudioPersonnel - Shaffer Smith, ComposerLyricist - StarGate, Producer - Ne-Yo, Producer, Co-Producer, Vocals, MainArtist, AssociatedPerformer - Louro Santos, Translator - Marcibron, Translator
℗ 2008 The Island Def Jam Music Group
Tor Erik Hermansen, Unknown, Other, ComposerLyricist - Mikkel S. Eriksen, Recording Engineer, Unknown, Other, StudioPersonnel, ComposerLyricist - Josh Houghkirk, Asst. Recording Engineer, StudioPersonnel - PHIL TAN, Mix Engineer, StudioPersonnel - Shaffer Smith, ComposerLyricist - StarGate, Producer - Ne-Yo, Producer, Co-Producer, Vocals, MainArtist, AssociatedPerformer
℗ 2008 The Island Def Jam Music Group
Kevin Davis, Mix Engineer, StudioPersonnel - Jonathan Yip, ComposerLyricist - Jeremy Reeves, ComposerLyricist - Micayle McKinney, Keyboards, AssociatedPerformer, ComposerLyricist - Ray Romulus, ComposerLyricist - Shaffer Smith, ComposerLyricist - Ne-Yo, MainArtist - Stereotypes, Producer - Gene "Geno" Regist, Recording Engineer, StudioPersonnel
℗ 2008 The Island Def Jam Music Group
Kevin Davis, Mix Engineer, StudioPersonnel - Shomari Wilson, Producer, Unknown, Other, ComposerLyricist - Shaffer Smith, ComposerLyricist - Ne-Yo, MainArtist - Jaymz Hardy Martin III, Recording Engineer, StudioPersonnel
℗ 2008 The Island Def Jam Music Group
Shaffer Smith, ComposerLyricist - Ne-Yo, MainArtist - Syience, Producer, Unknown, Other - Reginald Perry, ComposerLyricist - Jaymz Hardy Martin III, Recording Engineer, Mix Engineer, StudioPersonnel
℗ 2008 The Island Def Jam Music Group
Charles Harmon, ComposerLyricist - Kevin Davis, Mix Engineer, StudioPersonnel - Chuck Harmony, Producer - Josh Houghkirk, Assistant Mixer, StudioPersonnel - PHIL TAN, Mix Engineer, StudioPersonnel - Shaffer Smith, ComposerLyricist - Chávez, Assistant Mixer, StudioPersonnel - Ne-Yo, MainArtist - Brandon Thomas, Guitar, AssociatedPerformer - Gene "Geno" Regist, Recording Engineer, StudioPersonnel
℗ 2008 The Island Def Jam Music Group
Tor Erik Hermansen, Unknown, Other, ComposerLyricist - Mikkel S. Eriksen, Recording Engineer, Unknown, Other, StudioPersonnel, ComposerLyricist - Bernt Rune Stray, Guitar, AssociatedPerformer, ComposerLyricist - M. Beite, ComposerLyricist - Shaffer Smith, ComposerLyricist - StarGate, Producer - Ne-Yo, Producer, Co-Producer, MainArtist - Kevin 'KD' Davis, Mixer, StudioPersonnel - Ryan D., Assistant Mixer, StudioPersonnel
℗ 2008 The Island Def Jam Music Group
Shea Taylor, Producer, Piano, Strings, AssociatedPerformer, ComposerLyricist - Kevin Davis, Mix Engineer, StudioPersonnel - Shaffer Smith, ComposerLyricist - Ne-Yo, MainArtist - Robert "R.T." Taylor, Guitar, AssociatedPerformer - Jaymz Hardy Martin III, Recording Engineer, StudioPersonnel
℗ 2008 The Island Def Jam Music Group
Charles Harmon, ComposerLyricist - Larry Gold, String Arranger, Unknown, Other, AssociatedPerformer - Chuck Harmony, Producer, String Arranger, AssociatedPerformer - Shaffer Smith, ComposerLyricist - Jeff Chestek, Recording Engineer, StudioPersonnel - Olga Konopelsky, Violin, AssociatedPerformer - Emma Kummrow, Violin, AssociatedPerformer - Gregory Teperman, Violin, AssociatedPerformer - Chávez, Assistant Mixer, StudioPersonnel - Davis Barnett, Viola, AssociatedPerformer - Igor Szwec, Violin, AssociatedPerformer - Ne-Yo, MainArtist - Kevin 'KD' Davis, Mix Engineer, StudioPersonnel - Charles Parker, Violin, AssociatedPerformer - Jennie Lorenzo, Cello, AssociatedPerformer - Jesse Bond, Guitar, AssociatedPerformer - John Stahl, Asst. Recording Engineer, StudioPersonnel - Montez Roberts, Asst. Recording Engineer, StudioPersonnel - H.S. Alexandra Leem, Viola, AssociatedPerformer - Gene "Geno" Regist, Recording Engineer, StudioPersonnel - Rob Martin, Violin, AssociatedPerformer
℗ 2008 The Island Def Jam Music Group
Charles Harmon, ComposerLyricist - Kevin Davis, Mix Engineer, StudioPersonnel - Chuck Harmony, Producer - Shaffer Smith, ComposerLyricist - Chávez, Assistant Mixer, StudioPersonnel - Ne-Yo, MainArtist - Jesse Bond, Guitar, AssociatedPerformer - Gene "Geno" Regist, Recording Engineer, StudioPersonnel - Big Ed Clark, Drums, AssociatedPerformer
℗ 2008 The Island Def Jam Music Group
Album review
Apart from a little more drama, a notion set with the desperate urgency of opening track "Closer," not much makes Year of the Gentleman, Ne-Yo's third album in as many years, all that different from In My Own Words or Because of You. If there are any real shake-ups in the songwriter/singer's m.o., they are subtle, not glaring, typically evident only in the production wrinkles brought by his collaborators. Had each album been separated by a few years of inactivity, this lack of change might be an issue, but since breaking out with Mario's "Let Me Love You" in 2004, Ne-Yo has been nothing if not steady and consistent, a constant presence in the R&B chart who probably could not devise a gimmick if his career depended upon it -- unless you hold those natural and often uncanny Michael Jackson vocalisms, as present as ever throughout highlight "Nobody," against him. What makes the album slightly less satisfying than Ne-Yo's first two albums is that the ballads are slightly sappier and overwrought. The odds are in his favor, however, that no one has written a more gorgeous song about slothful self-loathing. That song, "Why Does She Stay," forms the front end of a two-track patch of glorious gloom -- the album's center, both literally and figuratively -- complemented by "Fade into the Background," where he watches the one who got away get married.
© Andy Kellman /TiVo
About the album
- 1 disc(s) - 13 track(s)
- Total length: 00:52:17
- Main artists: Ne-Yo
- Composer: Various Composers
- Label: Def Soul
- Genre: Soul/Funk/R&B R&B
© 2008 The Island Def Jam Music Group ℗ 2008 The Island Def Jam Music Group
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