Search - John Legend & the Roots :: Wake Up!

Disappointed

Thomas E. Moore | Fairfax, VA | 10/02/2010

(3 out of 5 stars)

"I'm with those who are disappointed with this album. From the concept I thought it could be a dynamite album. But it's only half good, thanks to poor song selection and mostly ho-hum arrangements. With all the great anti-war and social consciousness songs available from the 60s and 70s, they picked a weak crop. "Compared to What" is a of course a classic choice, but this arrangement doesn't compare to the rave-up Les McCann/Eddie Harris version on the Montreux live album. It's just ok. "Wake Up Everybody" is another classic song and at least in this case the album delivers a worthwhile remake, thanks to the vocal duet with Melanie Fiona and the inclusion of a rap break. But otherwise, I'm just not that impressed. I had an inkling this might be the case when I heard the album was being promoted through Starbucks. By and large I haven't liked the company's taste in music."

Chemistry

Endarkened | Bowie, MD | 10/06/2010

(5 out of 5 stars)

"These are the right artist, with the right songs, for the right time. This CD is bigger than John Legend, and bigger than the Roots. This music transcends the moment, this is what R&B wanted to be when it grew up - in an era where none of the songs on this CD have any commercial appeal it is an amazing product. I am glad it was made for me to enjoy. After you play this CD you may as well turn off the radio and sit in silence cause no song made in this generation is worthy of following any track. This is what music use to be like. It use to mean something, it use to make you feel something and artist were once musicians. When you buy this CD a little of the artist soul comes with it. This CD was not made to sell records, it was made because it had to be."

Didn't realize it was mostly covers

Mr. Ben | mid-michigan | 10/04/2010

(3 out of 5 stars)

"I must be a little young and uncool to not realize that the album consists mostly of covers. I guess thats part of what you miss out on when you buy the MP3 album, so you don't have liner notes. Either way, the album is solid, and because it mostly covers of old funk and soul songs it should appeal to a broad range of people. This is a safe bet as a gift.

However, its due to this apparent "safeness" that I did not love the abum. The album starts out strong, but I felt that despite the great work of the band, that the arrangements themselves were either flat, or a little uninspired. The title song "Wake Up" has some of the weakest "we can do it if we try" lyrics I've ever heard. Its not a call to social action, its a song about "things are gonna be ok, so lets go do our jobs well." yawn.

In all, the album reminds me of being at a Barack Obama rally (I actually did attend one). Before he came on, the music was similarly funky but safe. Its all inclusive, but in the end it has no teeth. And that's why I have to give this album three stars."