| Product Summary | | Label: Sony | | UPC: 00828768032329 | | Release Date: 10/24/2006 | | Buy.com Sku: 203000571 | | Item#: M36JNQ | | Buy.com Sales Rank: 2384 | Format:  CD |
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| Song Listing |  |
Disc 1
| | Song Title | Sample | | 1. Save Room ~ John Legend |  | | 2. Heaven ~ John Legend | | | 3. Stereo ~ John Legend | | | 4. Show Me ~ John Legend | | | 5. Each Day Gets Better ~ John Legend | | | 6. P.D.A. (We Just Don't Care) ~ John Legend | | | 7. Slow Dance ~ John Legend | | | 8. Again ~ John Legend | | | 9. Maxine ~ John Legend | | | 10. Where Did My Baby Go ~ John Legend | | | 11. Maxine's Interlude ~ John Legend | | | 12. Another Again ~ John Legend | | | 13. Coming Home ~ John Legend | |
| Once Again, John Legend's new album, is many things, chief among them, it's a pop/soul album fueled by intelligence, intuition, sensuality, spirit and a creativity made possible by guests which include Raphael Saadiq, Kanye West, Craig Street and will.i.am, who brought the lead single, "Save Room," to John. Breezy and sexy, "Save Room" is a joyful, cool love song, inspired by an old AM radio single, "Stormy," by the Classics IV (a 60's Top 40 band best-known for "Spooky"). As John recalls, "will brought the sample. I didn't even know the original. I just knew it was a nice organ sound and wanted to write to it. I just started mumbling along to it, finding my place in the melody and it worked for me."
| | Album Notes and Credits |
Notes & Personnel Info |  | Personnel: John Legend (vocals, piano, organ, keyboards, background vocals); Tom Craskey (vocals, guitar, piano); Raphael Saadiq (guitar, bass guitar); Chris Bruce, David Torn , Doyle Bramhall, Evan Conquest, Rob "Fonksta" Bacon, Sharief Hobley (guitar); Dave Tozer (acoustic guitar, piano, drum programming); Sandra Parl, Krystof Kuznik, Sarah OBoyle, Kurn Lu, Jung Sun Yoo, Wen Qian, Soo Hyun Kwon, Caterina Szepes, Sandra Park, Lisa Kim, Sharon Yamada, Katherine Fong (violin); Karen Dreyfus, Nick Cords (viola); Elizabeth Dyson (cello); Helen Campo, Diva Goodfriend Koven (alto flute); Steve Williamson (clarinet); Shelley Woodworth (oboe); Steve Tirpak (trumpet, flugelhorn, trombone); Julie Landsman (French horn); Art Baron (trombone); Jerry Freeman, Jason Freeman , Corey Hogan, Richard L. Owens , Kebbi Williams (horns); Eric Hudson (piano, bass guitar); Ron Fair (piano); Chris Rob (organ); Didi Gutman, Jamie Muhoberac, Patrick Warren, Keith Harris (keyboards); David Piltch (bass guitar); will.i.am (drums, drum programming); Larry Eagle, Bobby Ozuna, Mark Biobdi, Earl Harvin, Harvey Mason, Sr. , Robert Ozuna (drums); Jack Splash (drum programming); Ken Lewis (sampler); Lenesha Randolph, Vaughn Anthony, Sasha Allen, Tara Michel (background vocals). | | Audio Mixer: Tony Maserati. | | Recording information: Blakeslee Recording Company, North Hollwood, CA; Cosmic Dust Recorders, Los Angeles, CA; Integrated Studios, New York, NY; Right Track, New York, NY; Sear Sound, New York, NY; Sony Music Studios, New York, NY; Spiral Recording, Los Angeles, CA; Studio Crash, Philadelphia, PA; Sunset Sound Factory, Los Angeles, CA; The Cutting Room, New York, NY; The Looking Glass, New York, NY; The Record Plant, Los Angeles, CA; The Studio, Philadelphia, PA. | | Photographer: Danny Clinch. | | Arranger: Daniele Luppi. | | If John Legend hadn't made his name working with Kanye West, producing Jay-Z, and playing on Lauryn Hill's classic THE MISEDUCATION OF LAURYN HILL, his 2004 studio debut GET LIFTED would have still established him as a true frontrunner in the world of R&B. His studio follow-up, 2006's ONCE AGAIN, is better than its predecessor; the music is still steeped in vintage 1960s- and '70s-flavored R&B, but Legend's songcraft, productions, and nuanced singing are even more appealing. | | Most impressively (especially for someone who swapped his birth name for "Legend"), the music is remarkably understated, subtle, and textured. The cool-toned groove of the album's lead-off single, "Save Room," is a case in point, as is the beautiful, mid-tempo "Show Me," which floats on intricate electric guitar patterns and swelling strings. The vibe is deep on ONCE AGAIN, and beautifully restrained; the productions are contemporary and tinged with hip-hop aesthetic, yet they're never overbearing. Horns, piano, tasteful strings, and a pulsing rhythm section provide a sweet canvas for Legend's seductive croon and falsetto swoops. ONCE AGAIN is a true soul record, and Legend is rapidly gaining on his competitors as the king of the neo-soul mountain. |
Producer: John Legend; Will.I.Am; Craig Street; Kanye West; Devo Springsteen; Raphael Saadiq; Eric Hudson; Jack Splash; Dave Tozer; Sa-Ra Creative Partners; Ken Lewis; Tom Craskey; Shafiq Husayn; Taz Arnold; John Legend; Will.I.Am; Craig Street; Kanye West; Devo Sp |
Engineer: Will.I.Am; Anthony Kilhoffer; Andrew Dawson; Dave Tozer; Sa-Ra Creative Partners; Glenn Standridge; Padraic Kerin; Evan Conquest; Josh Sadlier-Brown; Chuck Brungardt; Tatsuya Sato; Anthony Gallo; Michael Harmon; Ken Lewis; Tony Maserati; Hector Castillo |
| Entertainment Reviews
 | John Legend - Once Again - Music By: Sterfish - Blogcritics.org Reviews Published on: 1/15/2007 10:02 AM | | One of the best R & B albums released in 2006. Despite its title, John Legend's new album Once Again is not a retread of the concepts found on his critically acclaimed 2004 debut Get Lifted. In fact, the sound is quite different. While the production on Once Again is modern, the sound is very retro....read the full review |
| | Artist Overview | | Though it appears that he emerged fully-formed in 2004 from the mind of Kanye West, John Legend got his start on the East Coast in the mid 1990s as John Stephens, a promising neo-soul piano-player and songwriter. After he garnered the attention of Lauryn Hill--on whose 1998 classic Legend played--many high-profile studio gigs followed, including a pivotal one co-writing and playing on Kanye West's smash debut. West, impressed with Stephens's abilities, signed him (as "John Legend") to his production company and co-produced his debut album, GET LIFTED, a soul-hip-hop hybrid that wowed critics and listeners alike. Thus rechristened, a Legend was born. |
| | Compilation Appearances |
| | Associated Artists and Works |
| | Technical Info | | Release Date : 10/24/2006 | | Original Release Date : 2006 | | Catalog ID : 80323 | | Label : G.O.O.D./Sony | | Number of Discs : 1 | | Studio/Live : Studio | | Mono/Stereo : Stereo | | SPAR Code : n/a | | UPC : 00828768032329 |
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| | Professional Reviews | | Rolling Stone (p.70)
- 3.5 stars out of 5 -- "[A] bigger, better follow-up, which blends lush, elegant band arrangements with stylish synth parts and cool samples."Rolling Stone (p.107)
- Ranked #35 in Rolling Stone's "The Top 50 Albums Of 2006" -- "Legend goes from Nat 'King' Cole to Jeff Buckley on a dime." Spin (p.96)
- 4 stars out of 5 -- "Like LIFTED, ONCE AGAIN offers a mesmerizing blend of canny sample science and Stevie Wonder live-band R&B." Entertainment Weekly (p.71)
- "[Legend] conducts a songcraft master class....Musically, the CD is satisfying enough to ensure further Grammy acclaim." -- Grade: B Q (p.134)
- 4 stars out of 5 -- "It's soulful..and brims with spiritual joy. It's luxurious." Q (p.120)
- Ranked #49 in Q Magazine's "100 Greatest Albums of 2006" -- "[A]n ideally poised crossover album." Vibe (p.166)
- "Legend ups the ante musically....He's beginning to loosen up his vocals...honing his signature vibrato." Mojo (Publisher)
(p.104)
- 4 stars out of 5 -- "His most impressive skill is echoing the laid-back charm of Bill Withers and the melodic instincts of Stevie Wonder..." Rolling Stone 7 of 10
On 2004's Get Lifted John Legend stood out from the R&B pack -- and scored a Best New Artist Grammy -- with a piano-driven throwback sound and an all-star lineup of collaborators that included Kanye West and Will.i.am. Legend's famous friends are back for the bigger, better follow-up, which blends lush, elegant band arrangements with stylish synth parts and cool samples (including one of Hendrix backing Lonnie Youngblood). Over thirteen tracks, Legend ranges from strummy rock ballads (the excellent "Show Me") to McCartney-style love songs ("Where Did My Baby Go") and Temptations-channeling R&B ("Slow Dance"). Often the tunes take surprising, oddball turns -- near the end of the sprightly first single, "Save Room," a dark organ freakout emerges for a few measures before quickly disappearing. Too quickly, actually: Those moments leave you wishing Legend had indulged his weirder instincts a little more. But it's possible Legend is just too polite -- even the awesomely titled "P.D.A. (We Just Don't Care)" turns out to be a crooned ballad, complete with Vince Guaraldi-esque piano, that wouldn't sound out of place in a Nora Ephron movie.
- Jonathan Ringen
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| | Bio | | | John Legend In 2004, John Legend (then known primarily as an in-demand all-star studio session man) stepped into the solo spotlight as a premier singer-songwriter-pianist-performer in his own right with his debut album Get Lifted. Driven in part by the hit singles "Ordinary People" and "Used To Love U," Get Lifted was a critical and commercial triumph, earning John an astounding eight Grammy nominations -- he won Best New Artist, Best Male R&B Vocal Performance ("Ordinary People") and Best R&B album -- and selling more than three million copies worldwide. For most performers, achievements of that magnitude would be the culmination of a dream. For John Legend, however, awards and sales are merely fringe benefits. His real goal and gift is to tap into something honest and true within his audience and himself and to connect on that level. When asked what he hopes his fans will glean from his much-anticipated sophomore album, John replies, "I want them to hear that I've grown. That I'm trying to take them to new places and to be excited about that. This album is an expansion more than anything else. I'm trying to be me and embrace all the parts of me that have grown up, listened to more music and soaked up more influences. Get Lifted was me then. This is me now."
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