- reviewed by Chris G.

Is there any good reason why John Legend's album was pushed to the last week of the year? Beyond record label dynamics, the only reason I can see is so that he could warm the hearts of women across the map this winter. An album full of songs dipped in straight talk that show him being devoted to the game of love, without adolescent hormones talking up phat booties or tissue soft, overly romantic sweetness drowning out the message in the music. John Legend sings about relationships, commitment, and infidelity in a way that you feel as though you had a conversation with one of your boys.

There is a void of male R&B singers that can do their thing without dropping the shirt or getting extra-pimpilicious. There is a place for that, but listening to this album makes me feel as if we've been missing something more..

- reviewed by Chris G.

Is there any good reason why John Legend's album was pushed to the last week of the year? Beyond record label dynamics, the only reason I can see is so that he could warm the hearts of women across the map this winter. An album full of songs dipped in straight talk that show him being devoted to the game of love, without adolescent hormones talking up phat booties or tissue soft, overly romantic sweetness drowning out the message in the music. John Legend sings about relationships, commitment, and infidelity in a way that you feel as though you had a conversation with one of your boys.

There is a void of male R&B singers that can do their thing without dropping the shirt or getting extra-pimpilicious. There is a place for that, but listening to this album makes me feel as if we've been missing something from what's been served up as quality music over the last few years. That may sound like an exaggeration; I honestly believe that this is one of the best R&B albums released in a long time. Better then Usher? Yeah. Better than Anthony Hamilton? Yup. How about R. Kelly? Well if he could get past the things that have him wiggin out and put down the camcorders, if only for the time that it takes to nut, he could easily crown himself the King of R&B, but this ain't fantasy land.

You know, this isn't even a competition. I've said this before.. it's not about being better, it's being different, letting your personality steer the way that makes for success in any creative venture.

In much of the same way that Alicia Keys is able to make music that straddles the neo-soul and traditional R&B categories, John Legend sat at his piano and banged out 14 imaginative and entertaining songs that defy being labeled by either category.

The first single "Used To Love U" could easily be a floor-filler at the club. If you're a DJ with a 'mature' crowd and haven't dropped that at the prime hour, you're wack.

I first heard "Used To Love U" when I saw the video, which didn't really catch my attention. The snap of the drums and the meaning of the song come through better with the CD in hand. Saying he can't afford the girl, maybe she should be with Baby, Puffy, or Jay-Z, and it doesn't matter because he's not feeling her the same way anymore. That totally escaped me with the church scenes in the video.

The single is a small sample of what the album contains. Take "She Don't Have To Know", I listened to it the first time without... again.. not noticing what he was saying. Here he is all over the song screaming "SHE don't have to know" and I'm grooving with it like it's nothing.

On the second listen, while it played I was reading the lyrics and my brain doubled back. I said, wait a minute.. that doesn't sound right? If he's singing SHE don't have to know, does that mean HE's creepin with some chick's boyfriend? That would mean he's singing to another dude about wonderful times. Now I'm no homophobe, but it would give the song a way different meaning. So now I'm really checking the lyrics out.. "I've got my shades on to cover up my eyes/ Hopin' that nobody sees me passin' by/ Through my disguise"

He's all covered up and creeping like he's a Down Low brother, that didn't clear up anything. I read on.. "I know you've got a little secret of your own/ Sneakin' out with me while your man's at home."

OK. So he is dealing with a chick; somebody mixed up the pronouns when they submitted the track sheet. How could a mistake like that not be caught before it was printed? Hmm. He is singing "she" in the chorus, that can't be it. More reading.. "I go to the other side of town so I/ Never risk the chance we'll catch her eye, oh no/ She don't have to know, She don't have to know."

There it is.. and I smiled at the absolute brilliancy: the girl is cheating on her man with him and she also has a female jumpoff on the side. She's bisexual. Trisexual, however you want to put it. I love the way that song is put together.

The best song on the album is "Ordinary People", backed by one instrument: a piano. Legend delivers a masterpiece that when played in the presence of anyone unaware of the song, would cause them to say.. "who dat?" John Legend's voice is warm and honest as he tells his woman that they've been through some things, they argue, have been sick of each other, made mistakes, but through it all they are just ordinary people… 'We don't know which way to go/ Cuz we're ordinary people/ Maybe we should take it slow/ Take it slow.. This time we'll take it slow."

That song is characteristic of the album, here you have a sweet, tinkling piano, backing a song that doesn't express a fairy tale situation. This is real talk, real music. I'll be playing that one for awhile.

"Alright" goes the furthest towards showing the contrast between his image, which is somewhat pretty boyish, and who he can be. In the song he's admittedly "drank a little bit too much," maybe at the club, whatever. He's pushing up on some chick who has a man nearby. Legend gets his grizzle on singing.. "I don't even care if he roll up/ Wit somethin' to say/ You better tell him he don't want it with me/ ..You got body for days/.. I got my keys if you're ready to leave/ It's alright with me"

Real talk, real situations. That's what makes this CD work. It doesn't hurt that the music bangs ridiculous. If you're into guest appearances Snoop makes a brief stop on "I Can Change" that neither helps nor hinders, it simply exists. Kanye West executive produced the CD, actually putting his hands on "Used To Love U", "Alright", and "Number One" where he also delivers a verse. However this is John Legend's show. His voice is like no one else and the songs sketch out a personality that will have women shoulder to shoulder at his shows and dudes at the bar nodding in approval. "Get Lifted" fo' real.