Anyone got it? What do you think? I am thinking of getting it,but wanted to get some opinions first.
[Edited 9/16/08 10:32am]

EmeraldSkies said:

On my way to pick it up now

banks said:

Really? Could you let me know what you think when you get a chance to listen to it?

I'm interested in knowing how the CD is too. I will be checking on this thread to read the reports.

It's alright. I was really liking Closer, but it's the only interesting song on the entire album.

Nobody and Fade Into The Background are cool, but everything else is C average

EmeraldSkies said:

No problem.. I purchased it on my lunch break, I'll let you guys know what i think when I get home and listen to it tonight

banks said:

Thanks!

Excited to hear what you guys think IN DEPTH

So far bboy giving it a "C" disapoints me a bit, cus he has good
taste, and this album was being hyped as being, "The NEW Michael Jackson
sounding album for 2008-2009."

Alas, did it miss the mark?

Vanilli said:

they gave it 4 **** in Rolling Stone

I havent heard that album, but I thought he was running around saying how he wasnt going to do R&B and do mostly dance and different type of music.

paisleypark4 said:

That's why I'm waiting to hear what others say about this CD. To his defense, he also said that he knows that he can't stray too far from the R&B world cause that's where his audience is. Who knows, like I said, I'm waiting for the reviews.

banks said:

Thank you!

i'm also intriuged to hear this album especially after he said he was bored with r&b. i'm waiting for the reviews too!

Its just very much of the same, its typical RB with the typical RB production. Its a smack in MJ's face to call him the new MJ, thats an insane HYPE builder for someone thats doing the "norm" in rb

I thought it was pretty poor. Closer and Nobody are good tracks, but after these first two it descends into a generic, faceless r'n'b mush. None of the other tracks stand out at all and seem to merge into one. It could have been made by any number of similar acts out there right now. I was disappointed.

Still, Lindsey Buckingham's excelllent Gift of Screws has more than made up for the dissapointment
[Edited 9/16/08 15:32pm]

pjh1972 said:

100% agree, i have been loving the Lindsey cd since Friday, one of the years best. And 100% agree on the Ne-yo cd, i got this as a promo from the label last nite, and you summed it up, its just "there", nothing is impressive, nothing stands out, everyone seems to be satisfied with being like everyone else

lastdecember said:

Yep, the other tracks don't even sound fun or soulful. They just sound laboured and even turgid. I heard a track called Let's Just Be on an advance leak which was as good as Nobody and Closer, but it's been inexplicably left off the release version of Year of the Gentleman.

It certainly makes the 'New Michael Jackson' hype that's been going around look ridiculous in retrospect.

Sounds like him singing outtakes from a Michael Jackson cd

jthad1129 said:

Apart from Nobody and Closer I don't think there's anything good enough on there to be an MJ outtake, to be honest.

closer and miss independent are the only songs I can tolerate, and from the snippets I heard a few days ago, it's no wonder mj got bored and turned down his tracks. His last great tracks were the ones for janet's discipline album and that's it.

alphastreet said:

I bet someone in his camp said, "lets just stick to pleasing 'the ladies' on this album"...and he gave in

"Year Of The Gentleman" might not be the best R&B ever but anyone who doesn't think this album is an improvement on the absolutely horrid previous two is kidding themselves. Compare it to those and it's flaw don't seem so bad anymore. He's actually improving (something I didn't expect) and that's making me not want to write him off completely.

Furthermore, compared to that worthless, uninspired mess Raphael Saadiq came with, the choice is clear as to which album to buy this week (if you were wondering).

I wrote a mini-review on another site about this album. Considering the fact that I am an unashamed Ne-Yo hater, I was quite impressed actually...



Best song: "So You Can Cry"
~ I was picking my brain trying to figure out where I had heard a similar melody. Well it sounded familiar because, well, he's done a song like this before: It's part 2 to "Angel" off of "Because Of You"

"So You Can Cry" is THAT song I will be repeating. His vocals impressed me for the first time EVER and I was getting a very strong mid-90s pop/rock vibe that made me perk up. For that matter, it sounds like a John Mayer outtake from "Room For Squares". A good one. This is a route he needs to continue down...No...It's THE route he needs to continue down.


Worst song: "Lie To Me"
~ A weird, ineffective melody paired with weird, ineffective lyrics..."Tell me another lie"? Ummm...


*blank stare*
I'm shocked that I'm really feeling this album. I guess I need my words back so I can eat them. Thankfully, it looks like most of the terrible songs I heard beforehand were discarded. ("Fade Into The Background" was actually one of them but it HAD to be a demo version because what I heard was like musical anesthesia; the mastered version has a nice kick to it.)

What's funny is that the entire album is a bit left of Urban and that takes a lot of the corny and contrived factor out of it (the closest song to traditional Urban would be "Miss Independent", which is predictably one of the worst songs). Although, the lyrics still have their LOW points, there was less eye-rolling than the other two albums.

This is the first album Ne-Yo's done that makes up for his frustratingly weak range with strong (occasionally interesting) melodies and production and (what seemed like something forbidden to Ne-Yo) energy. Plus, the album is short enough that it ends before the consistency (something Ne-Yo usually despises) dies. Who would have thought he could actually do something surprising?! Unfortunately for Ne-Yo (very, very good for listeners), if he couldn't get a bunch of radio hits out of his last album, he'll get even less out of "Year Of The Gentleman", but I respect that he exercised some damn quality control for once!

* Good example: "Single", which definitely marks the return of Polow's reign over R&B...I didn't even pick up on it at first but when I did, I noticed that this song is pretty fresh all the way around.

As usual, though, there are a couple tracks that bore themselves into a grave six feet under: "Part Of The List", "Back To What You Know" and "Lie To Me" but the songs that surround that group of songs make up for it. I'll take them, though, because Lord only knows what even more intolerable songs from the Ne-Yo vault could have replaced them.

Still, at it's best ("So You Can Cry", "Nobody", "Single", "Why Does She Stay", "Fade Into The Background"), there's a lot to get out of here. I'd say this actually is the best male R&B album since Mint Condition's "E-Life" (Coincidentally, Ne-Yo seems to channel their sound on a couple tracks).

Stunned...absolutely stunned...
[Edited 9/17/08 10:39am]
[Edited 9/17/08 10:41am]

I actually love it, I mean yeah he needed more uptempo songs but its better than any other mainstream music out there atm. Mad & Nobody FTW!

overall, the album is not too bad, but not a classic by any means.

i prefer the New Kids On the Block duet of "Single" rather than Neyo's own version on this album.

Some of the singing style is definitely similar to MJ, and you can clearly see where Neyo gets his inspirations from. He is obviously an MJ fanatic.

Having said that though, maybe, and it might be a big maybe, its quite possible Neyo could help Michael Jackson make a decent record.

Maybe MJ might bring out the best in Neyo and vice versa.

Out of all the current crop, it looks like Neyo is the only one who seems to be upping his game slightly.

Usher was a flash in the pan with his Confessions crap, and his last album flopped.

So it looks like neyo is the best available in a crappy market.

lastdecember said:

Every Male R&B artist is supposed to be "the next Michael Jackson." No wonder why R&B sucks today.

jthad1129 said:

His songs sound like second-rate Michael Jackson outtakes.His stuff sounds like he takes MJ's "Rock With You" and tries to modernize it so that it sounds current.

I listened to clear samples this time, and I like the first 5 tracks, and a couple of last ones. A good effort, but I'm not going to buy it. Nobody or the third track may have been nice for mj, but Ne Yo has done so much better.

I just listened to this again to give it another chance and I think it seemed worse than the last couple of times I heard it, bar the first two tracks.

The majority of it is just a samey, pedestrian r'n'b mush with no tunes or hooks at all from what I can hear.

yeah I agree that it all sounds the same and it's no wonder mj got bored with ne yo

Not buying it. I'll hold out for the real thing.
And if it never happens, I'd settle for some B-sides from Sony in
another 100 years.

I've listened to most of it so far- 3 songs to go. I think his singing has improved, absolutely. I don't hear much MJ in it- I mean obviously the singing style is inspired a bit by MJ and we all know he's a big fan, but as far as the music goes, I don't hear a lot of Mj.

Closer is easily the best song on the album I think.