What does an artist do after his debut album was nominated for eight Grammy Awards, went platinum and received both commercial and critical acclaim?
If that artist is John Legend, he continues making music and writing songs – a lot of them.
For his release Once Again, Legend recorded more than 30 songs in just three months and then spent weeks picking the 14 to show up on the album. The R&B crooner’s result is a diverse set of tracks that come together in a respectable sophomore effort.
Never one to shy away from his influences, Legend thrusts the classic soul elements of his music into the forefront while also maintaining the modernity of his first album, Get Lifted. This mix is apparent in the undeniably retro “Where Did My Baby Go,” a song that could fit seamlessly into a collection of King of Soul Sam Cooke’s greatest hits.
Once Again also displays Legend’s expanding sonic horizons, as seen in the first single off the album, “Save Room.” The track features an organ strangely reminiscent of The Phantom of the Opera and a crooning vocal that Legend must have picked up from his recent collaboration with Tony Bennett.
But the album’s standouts are “Show Me,” “Maxine” and “Another Again.” “Show Me” is a haunting ballad that combines a Hendrix-like guitar riff and Jeff Buckley-esque singing style, creating a composition completely unlike anything in R&B right now. On the opposite side of the spectrum, “Maxine” sounds like modern Gershwin, and “Another Again” is this album’s “Ordinary People,” guaranteed to generate Grammy buzz.
Despite its all-over-the-map qualities, Over Again flows like a complete album. Legend seems to have matured as a songwriter – the pieces are longer and richer than they were on Get Lifted, and producers such as Kanye West are no longer the main creative forces. Gone are the overly long special guest rap interludes, and without them the songs can shine with strong melodic structure. Even “P.D.A. (We Just Don’t Care),” a not-so-subtle song about having sex in public, is saved by Legend’s competencies as a songwriter: “Oh I don’t care about the propriety/Let’s break the rules and ignore society/Maybe our neighbors like to spy, it’s true/So what if they watch what we do when we do?”
But Once Again – just like Get Lifted – is all about love found and lost. Though the majority of Legend’s songs display mature and insightful lyrics, the repetitive subject material is a disappointment. Since the release of his last album, Legend has made appearances on The Bill Maher Show and showed that he has something to say about the state of global politics. But he willingly chooses to ignore this musical angle, especially in “Slow Dance”: “Forget about the news/Put on your dancing shoes/Forget about the war and what they fighting for/I propose we go to the floor and slow dance.”
One of the only songs in which Legend does get into heavier subject matter is the album’s closer, “Coming Home.” The song is an intense ballad about a soldier fighting to return to his family, and Legend sings, “We’ll make it home again/Back where we belong again/We’re holding on to when/We used to dare to dream.”
If Legend continues to move closer musically to his idol Stevie Wonder, his future goals won’t affect the greatness he achieved with this effort. Get Lifted alluded to the talent he had as a performer; Once Again is the manifestation of an artist working in top form.
Contact reporter Jesse Fox at diversions@dbk.umd.edu.
