Notes & Personnel Info |  | This is an Enhanced CD, which contains both regular audio tracks and multimedia computer files. | | Personnel includes: Cee-Lo, Pharrell, Jazze Pha, T.I., Ludacris, Big Rube, G-Rock, Timbaland, Menta Malone (rap vocals). | | Producers include: Traxx, The Neptunes, Thomas Callaway, Timabaland, Jazze Pha. | | Recorded at Darp Studios and Stankonia Recording, Atlanta, Georgia; Eagle Sound Studios, Doraville, Georgia; Hovecraft Recording Studios, Virginia Beach, Virginia; Criteria-Hit Factory, Miami, Florida. | | This is an Enhanced CD, which contains both regular audio tracks and multimedia computer files. | | Personnel: Ben Allen, Claybourne Lewis, Mike Haatnett, Charles Pettaway (guitar); Dave Robbins , Ken Ford (strings); Horns Unlimited, Russell Gunn (horns); Ced "Keyz" Williams, Sleepy Brown (keyboards); James "Jockey" Young (congas, percussion); Jazze Pha (programming, background vocals); Thomas Calloway, DJ Base (drum programming); Calaway Sisters, Gaelle Adisson, Chimere, Jacasta, Good Time Guys & Girls, Nivea, Timbaland, Tori Alamaze (background vocals). | | Audio Mixers: John Frye; Jimmy Douglas; Phil Tan; Timbaland. | | Recording information: Criteria-The Hit Factory, Miami, FL; Darp Studios, Atlanta, GA; Eagle Sound Studios, Doraville, GA; Hovercraft Recording Studios, Virginia Beach, VA; Stankonia Studios, Atlanta, GA; The Dungeon, Atlanta, GA; ZAC Studios, Atlanta, GA. | | Photographer: Jeffrey Schultz. | | Cee-Lo's debut album had been an interesting listen but resonated with very few listeners, so some changes were due for his second go-round, Cee-Lo Green Is the Soul Machine, which is indeed a drastically improved effort. Arista head honcho L.A. Reid had no doubt let Cee-Lo fly his freak flag high and mighty for Cee-Lo Green and His Perfect Imperfections (2002), for what resulted was an album that was, in a word, curious -- a sprawling carnival of Dirty South-inflected soul singing that knew no boundaries whatsoever, willfully professing its weirdness on out-there songs like the lead single, "Closet Freak," the closest Cee-Lo came to crossing over commercially. In other words, cross over ? la OutKast he didn't -- not by a long shot. In fact, most listeners took him at face value and wrote him off as a freak. It'd be a real shame if that happened again with Cee-Lo Green Is the Soul Machine. Sure, the big guy is still fairly weird here, but he's tastefully weird and, above all, focused this time. He's written a stronger batch of songs and has aligned himself with some of the best producers in the industry (the entire industry, that is): Timbaland and the Neptunes, most notably, and also Jazze Pha, Organized Noize, and DJ Premier. How he managed to rein in such a team of big-money producers is a good question (maybe the concurrently dismissed L.A. Reid can answer that one), but the result is nothing short of delightful. The album opens with a flawless run of radio-ready tunes -- "The Art of Noise" through "My Kind of People" -- and then spins off into a m?lange of Cee-Lo-isms: stream-of-consciousness spoken word-style raps that cut deep, stirred into kaleidoscopic musical arrangements that straddle the hip-hop and deep soul eras simultaneously, all of it utterly distinct from track to track, ultimately culminating all too soon at the 65-minute mark. Once again Cee-Lo has recorded a peerless album, except this time he's recorded one that should connect, or at least deserves to. OutKast's Speakerboxx/The Love Below (especially Andr? 3000's half) is probably the best touchstone you're liable to find this side of your imagination, in terms of not only style but also quality and vision. ~ Jason Birchmeier | | A hip-hop artist perpetually swerving from a high-pitched rap style entirely his own to a sultry croon just to the left of Al Green, Cee-Lo layers incredibly original poetry over mesmerizing beats of all strains. Formerly a member of Atlanta's grossly under-appreciated Goodie Mob, Cee-Lo revealed the depth of his talent in 2002 with the glorious, complex, and aptly titled CEE-LO GREEN & HIS PERFECT IMPERFECTIONS. | | CEE-LO GREEN...IS THE SOUL MACHINE retains the wonderful unpredictability of its predecessor, but it finds a stronger sense of focus within such an eclectic range. He opens Gil Scott-Heronesque "Sometimes" with the easy observation "ya know, sometimes I wanna rap, sometimes I wanna sing," a Zen-like reflection that sums up Cee-Lo's intriguing contradictions. On other tracks, he can cruise along in a Sly & the Family Stone style on "My Kind of People" or flow on the socially conscious yet Dirty South-like "Scrap Metal" or even rail against the music industry on the country-tinged "Die Trying." Cee-Lo's brain clearly races along from idea to idea at speeds well exceeding normal limits, but he has found a way to rein it in for a fantastic, prismatic album--at one angle an avant-garde experiment, and at another a funky pop record. | | Cee-Lo's debut album had been an interesting listen but resonated with very few listeners, so some changes were due for his second go-round, Cee-Lo Green Is the Soul Machine, which is indeed a drastically improved effort. Arista head honcho L.A. Reid had no doubt let Cee-Lo fly his freak flag high and mighty for Cee-Lo Green and His Perfect Imperfections (2002), for what resulted was an album that was, in a word, curious -- a sprawling carnival of Dirty South-inflected soul singing that knew no boundaries whatsoever, willfully professing its weirdness on out-there songs like the lead single, "Closet Freak," the closest Cee-Lo came to crossing over commercially. In other words, cross over ? la OutKast he didn't -- not by a long shot. In fact, most listeners took him at face value and wrote him off as a freak. It'd be a real shame if that happened again with Cee-Lo Green Is the Soul Machine. Sure, the big guy is still fairly weird here, but he's tastefully weird and, above all, focused this time. He's written a stronger batch of songs and has aligned himself with some of the best producers in the industry (the entire industry, that is): Timbaland and the Neptunes, most notably, and also Jazze Pha, Organized Noize, and DJ Premier. How he managed to rein in such a team of big-money producers is a good question (maybe the concurrently dismissed L.A. Reid can answer that one), but the result is nothing short of delightful. The album opens with a flawless run of radio-ready tunes -- "The Art of Noise" through "My Kind of People" -- and then spins off into a m?lange of Cee-Lo-isms: stream-of-consciousness spoken word-style raps that cut deep, stirred into kaleidoscopic musical arrangements that straddle the hip-hop and deep soul eras simultaneously, all of it utterly distinct from track to track, ultimately culminating all too soon at the 65-minute mark. Once again Cee-Lo has recorded a peerless album, except this time he's recorded one that should connect, or at least deserves to. OutKast's Speakerboxx/The Love Below (especially Andr? 3000's half) is probably the best touchstone you're liable to find this side of your imagination, in terms of not only style but also quality and vision. [Though Cee-Lo Green Is the Soul Machine is a fairly clean-cut album overall, Arista released a thoroughly clean edition as well.] ~ Jason Birchmeier |
Engineer: Ben Allen; Brian Frye; Locksmif; Andrew Coleman; Sean Davis; Senator Jimmy D |
Musical Guests | | Pharrell Williams | | Ludacris | | T.I. | | Jazze Pha | | Big Rube | | G-Rock | | Timbaland | | Menta Malone | | Sir Cognac The Conversation | | Chazzie |
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