daPrettyman said:

It's certainly his most boring single.

vainandy said:

you're crazy!

Babyface's 'Tender Lover' album is perfect.I don't even like alot of late-80s R&B,but this album is exceptional.Every song is superb.In addition to the numerous hit singles,the album also includes the gem "Sunshine",a wonderful ballad that could have easily had been a single too.It would have been a Top 10 smash.I think you would like this album because it's got an entire side of uptempo jams...lol...it's not just ballads and slow jams.Out of all the uptempo songs,my favorite is "You're My Kinda Girl".

SoulAlive said:

Tender Lover is a good album, but (to me) his masterpiece is "For The Cool In You". Every song on that album tells a story. "A Love Story" is probably the 2nd best album he's done.

Babyface is not a genius. Just an average talent to writing and producing R&B music. If anything he's overrated.

Graycap23 said:

Then George Michael is no genius. James Taylor is no genius. Luther Vandross is no genius. Smokey Robinson, Springsteen, Maurice White, Gamble and Huff, Bon Jovi, Simon and Garfunkel. I could list more, but the point is Babyface is as good a singer/songwriter as just about anybody. In some ways better than the names I listed.

BenS71 said:

Why is his overrated? Is it because he is not the average writer these days, that write about getting the coochie? Which is what most of today's knuckleheads write about anyway. If that your type of song then, that's cool. But, what he used to write about was good old fashion romance and real situations. These new singers of today and some of the old one's,(the one's who have gotten their priorities twisted and are now doing it strictly just to fit in) just don't have it in them. These are the one's that I believe are overrated.

funksterr said:

Interesting as I would not consider any of those names as a genius. That does NOT mean that Babyface or any those people were not good at what they do.

Graycap23 said:

Who do you consider a musical genius? I can't think of anyone that truly fits the title.

funksterr said:

Maybe the 70's version of Stevie. He came pretty close to that title during that time period.

funksterr said:

The term is over used.
My list is quite short:
Ray Charles
Stevie Wonder
Prince
.....and I might add George Clinton/Bootsy combo that that list.
That's about it.
[Edited 9/5/08 12:07pm]

daPrettyman said:

I love For the Cool in You, but Tender Lover is his best IMO.

Graycap23 said:

Everybody has their flaws:

Prince, nah. Dude can barely carry his own weight when in a room with seriously knowledgeable musicians. he can rock and funk, but there isn't a lot of genius to that. Quincy Jones and Herbie Hancock can kick Prince's ass in terms of writing and arranging. P's lyrics are superficial at best.

Stevie Wonder - I dig him too. But you can't look past how much input he received from Syreeta and the rest of Motown. He is truly great, but is he genius? nah

Ray Charles - I'm a huge fan, but he has his limitations. I mean Prince would play circles around him, and Stevie knows chord changes that Ray couldn't even dream about.

I would add James Brown to the list, since he pioneered funk and soul, but again everyone has their limitations. Babyface belongs in the discussion just as much as anybody.

funksterr said:

I dig. It is subjective at best.

AlexdeParis said:

Maybe I like FTCIY better because of the fact he had really grown as a songwriter. He was long past his 20s and trying to take care of a woman and buy her everything. He actually had grown past the capturing of a woman's attention to actually loving her (Never Keeping Secrets).

daPrettyman said:

For me, "Soon As I Get Home" sucks the big one. Can't stand that wimpy-ass song.

uPtoWnNY said:

It never was a single. The official singles from Tender Lover were:
It's No Crime
Tender Lover
Whip Appeal
My Kinda Girl.

Radio stations just played the hell out of Soon As I Get Home, Where Will You Go (which is my favorite slow jam on the album) and Sunshine.

I'm not crazy about SAIGH too much either. I think it got played way too much for me to continue to enjoy it.
[Edited 9/5/08 15:29pm]

Then by that reasoning, Q and Herb can't carry their own weight when P walks in since they can't rock and funk as well as P, so I'm not quite understanding the "jab" at P. It's like you're penalizing P for not knowing all genres of music, or at least being adept at them, but you don't apply that same scrutiny to Q and Herb. Plus, lyrically, I'd give P an edge over both Herb and Q. P at least gets political, Q not so much so and Herb neither.

daPrettyman said:

I absolutely love "Where Will You Go"! That is my song!

MuthaFunka said:

Actually Herb and Q can funk it up just as much as Prince. In fact they are pioneers of the genre. Not really looking to take a jab at Prince., because I respect his work, too. But at times people go way to far in assessing his talents and underestimate the roles of his band mates, particularly Lisa Coleman.

funksterr said:

I guess you haven't heard, "Power Fantasic"? To me, that was one of his must beautifully arranged compositions. For a man to be as talented as he is, and to play as many instruments as he does; Prince must be able to arrange all types of music.

funksterr said:

In all honesty, you won't find many, if any, true funkateers to agree with that. Actually, Herbie probably pioneered the fusion of Jazz and Funk, but I've talked to a ton of Funkheadz and not one has ever mentioned him as being a pioneer of Funk. And I've never heard Q mentioned in that capacity either. If it came down to those 3 in a Funk-Off, I'm takin' P every day of the week and twice on Sunday.

MuthaFunka said:

Not gonna disagree with you much except to say that Prince used to admit himself that he wasn't a funk artist. But once hip-hop started dominating the scene, he embraced the funk title. Herb is funky, he is one of the pioneers of synthesizers in funk. And how many funk records was Q a part of while Prince was still a kid? Come on. But this thread is about Babyface, so I'll leave it there.

by the way Just Stand Up is a MASTERPIECE! BAbyface is truly back, or should I say LA Reid :p

funksterr said:

That's what I wanna know because I don't know. And when you say "a part of" in what capacity?

funksterr said:

Stevie ain't a genius?!

bboy87 said:

Trip, ain't it?

funksterr said:

I think we all need to define exactly what "genuis" means.It's obvious that some of us have different definitions of what a musical genuis really is.To me,Stevie Wonder is the ultimate genuis.

SoulAlive said:

I agree but there is not one definition that we could all agree upon. How a person could NOT call Stevie or Prince a genius in the world of music is beyond me.

Graycap23 said:

Exactly.