georgia mae: Album Review: Ne-Yo, Libra Scale

Album Review: Ne-Yo, Libra Scale

Ne-Yo

Libra Scale (released Nov. 22, 2010)Who was the marketing genius that decided to release Ne-Yo's new album the same day as Kanye West and Nicki Minaj? No wonder Libra Scale flew under the radar.

I've been known to dismiss Ne-Yo at times myself.

It was Progressive Soul's Desiree who introduced me to Ne-Yo years back. Back then I wrote him off as another faceless R&B singer (before they were an endangered species) who was certain to be a one-hit wonder. But his debut, In My Own Words, made me a fan.

Since then, I've had a love-hate relationship with the guy - I know his creativity and solid songwriting but I hate his constant pining after Michael Jackson. It's one thing to be influenced by the guy, it's another to all rip off his style.Libra Scale is yet another MJ-influenced project. Sort of like Moonwalker, Michael's sci-fi video collection from the late 80s, Ne-Yo's new album is the history of a superhero battling for love. Most listeners will only picking up that concept via the album's linear notes and Ne-Yo's latest music videos - the fin of you who still watch videos, that is. The actual songs mostly sound like typical smoothed-out Ne-Yo fare, for better or for worse.The album starts really secure with the upbeat "Champagne Life," which manages to get the company started without the usual radio-friendly cliches (like substituting actual singing for psuedo-rapping - see Songz, Trey). The remainder of the album is fairly low-key. "Know Your Name" breezes by gently while "Telekinesis" creatively uses the superhero theme to set the mood. Things pick up a bit with the feel-good "One In A Million" (no, not THAT one. but Ne-Yo again stays in his comfort zone.And that's the problem. The album is a bit too safe. With only 10 songs in the set, the album's brisk running time doesn't provide much room for mistakes. Inoffensive but ho-hum, generic tracks like "Genuine Only" and "Crazy Love" really harm the album in the long run. "Beautiful Monster" employs those annoying Euro-techo synths that have corrupted most of today's R&B songs. It's like the new auto-tune - everyone uses it and it still sucks. And "Do I Said So" is the requisite MJ copycat track - Ne-Yo imitates Michael so often that you roll up thinking to yourself "man, I want this was a real MJ song." I'm reasonably sure that's not what Ne-Yo was leaving for.Libra Scale winds up being a firm release, but it'll definitely get confused in the mix of high-profile releases this quarter. It's not rather the big-budget film it aims to be. If Kanye West's album is Batman Begins, Libra Scale is Batman Forever - good, but it could have been much more.At least it's not Batman and Robin - that honour goes to Nicki.

Best tracks: "Champagne Life," "Telekinesis," "Know Your Name"

3.5 stars out of 5