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album review
The release date and presentation made Ryan Leslie's self-titled album seem somewhat anticlimactic. When it came out, Cassie's mainstream blitz, engineered in many ways by the always visible Leslie, was two and a half years in the past, and a pair of lead-up singles had already fallen off the charts, released up to just over a year prior to the final product. Ryan Leslie came out in February 2009 with strikingly low-profile presentation: a simple black-and-white cover shot and a no-frills booklet with track credits and nothing else, not necessarily what was expected from a flashy and shrewd self-promoter who hired a staff of videographers to document his moves for a well-stocked archive of YouTube clips. And the album did, indeed, nearly shoot its wad before it became a physical object. Those first two singles, "Diamond Girl" and "Addiction" (neither of which cracked the Top 30 of the R&B/Hip-Hop chart), are the best of the set, easily the standouts. Instrumentally all synth trills, fillips, and bullfrog croaks, with charmingly clownish boasts on top, "Diamond Girl" also leads off the album, and it is followed by "Addiction," a crafty post-Neptunes production rooted in a barely present kick-drum pattern and synthetic hand percussion patter, ribboned in wavering (and practically queasy) synth flossing. What follows is not a series of radio killers but plenty of depth warranting repeat plays, led by "Quicksand," featuring Neptunes/N.E.R.D accessory Brent Paschke on guitar and bass. It's a slick update of In Search Of…'s springy pop-R&B (a la the album's original mix), one with a clever breakdown where the song slips abruptly into a swirl of synthesizers and Leslie's falsetto refrain. As a singer, Leslie is passable, slightly nasally, just skilled enough to pull off a falsetto without sounding silly; it's certainly the melodies and production flourishes, not the voice, that stick in the memory. And that is a blessing in disguise since the lyrics are sometimes flat-out clumsy. It could be that he was too busy with everything else and determined, after running some figures through a formula (he graduated from Harvard at the age of 19), that his creative energies could be optimized by spending more time on hooks and high-hat sounds. On five of the album's 12 songs, he plays and sings everything, while the others tend to involve no more than one additional musician (a not-exactly-heterogeneous crew including Hall & Oates and Saturday Night Live band alum T-Bone Wolk and fashion model slash rumored Leslie love interest Chanel Iman). Enjoyment of the album will be heightened if you are down with Leslie's brainiac schemer persona, but it is not a requirement. Bottom line: the album is one of the stronger pop-R&B releases of the last few years. ~ Andy Kellman, All Music Guide
more albums by this artist
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- Addiction (Single)
- Released 2008
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- Diamond Girl (Single)
- Released 2008
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- Transition (Deluxe Edition)
- Released 2009
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- How It Was Supposed To Be
- Released 2008
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listener reviews
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Stocker
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- By StockyBG
- 8/23/2009 14:00:04
- This project has a nice flavor kind of put me in the mind of a hybrid of John Legend and Musiq Soulchild.
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WoW
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- By QuayJ
- 6/7/2009 16:42:10
- RLS is a "Mad Scientist" when it comes to music. The passion exudes from within which results in great music.
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jb
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- By jbreezy659
- 6/2/2009 16:14:36
- This is a hot album
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Fresh and Clean
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- By Antoinette P B
- 5/26/2009 09:53:39
- As lesile usually does, this album has some very creative beats that are smooth and clean. It all blends so well, I indeed love what he has been producing. And finally nice to hear some genuine music again.
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Just Right
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- By ZuuKnee
- 3/21/2009 07:58:06
- This has got to be one of, if not THEE best album ever. From track 1 to 12, I just can't get enough. It amazes me how he's able to juggle producing, singing and playing all these different instruments to create his music. Dude is indeed a genius. This is absolutely one of my favorite albums. I'm definitly stuck in his Quicksand. xD
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Im addicted!!!
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- By brittanyalston
- 2/23/2009 18:49:40
- so, like where do I start?…Ryan Lesile…is opening a door for producers who are trying to do different things with their music…so, his music speaks much about him, his history and his talent for bringing something new to the stage…he is different, retro, brilliant in his way of conceptualizing the type of music he wants and knows his fans deserve…I am happy that I wanted this long for his album to drop because it was worth the wait…Good job Ryan!
- 1 out of 1 people
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Worth The Wait
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- By Sheed6929
- 2/13/2009 05:30:32
- This CD is everything i figured it would be all the songs are good my favorite songs are irina,out of the blue,wanna be good, just right, valentine, quicksand... basically the whole cd. But yea this cd was worth the wait good job Ryan Leslie
- 1 out of 2 people
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Finally
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- By Ms 211
- 2/11/2009 07:03:42
- Most of us have waited for this album to drop since the first release date last year. We all know the three top singles(addiction,how it was suppose to be, and diamond girl) were all hot but let's talk about the rest of the album. First of all.... all of his music is original. You'll have a sigh of relief(at last) when you hear this album because every song;though they aren't all the same, are all good. Well I wasn't totally completely feeling gibberish for the lyrics(lol) but the music behind it is great. Irina is the track that you'll be singing while you're at work, home, school, in the shower, and online surfing the net. Out of the blue is smooth...real smooth. Valentine and Out of the Blue are my favorites on this album(singles not included) and IRINA is runner up. I know this album won't be one that you'll get tired of in the first few weeks. This is the first album in awhile that has come out where the R&B artist isn't talking about sex and ass in all the songs.... major plus on that note. Heck, you can even play it around your children. Play it as you work as well.
- 2 out of 2 people
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