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Stars indicate the most critically-acclaimed albums.
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Evolver
by John Legend
The latest album for the Grammy-winning artist features Andre 3000, Brandy, Estelle and Kanye West as guests.
| LABEL: |
Sony |
| RELEASE DATE: |
28 October 2008 |
| DISCS: |
1 disc |
| GENRE(S): |
R&B, Soul |
All critic scores are converted to a 100-point scale. If a critic does not indicate a score, we assign a score based on the general impression given by the text of the review. Learn more...
83
Entertainment Weekly
The makeover works for the most part--even if there's something a little absurd about hearing him proposition a platonic friend ('Cross the Line') or someone he's met moments before ('Quickly') in that barbershop-quartet croon.
80
Dot Music
"Once Again" remains Legend's best record. But Evolver, in all its modernity and timeliness, may well become his biggest.
80
NOW Magazine
This album, like everything else Legend has done, showcases his skill as an artist, but it lacks the passion that would help him reach the Stevie Wonder status he strives for.
80
Paste Magazine
Known for his skills on the keys and a voice that retains a lovely purity, even in falsetto territory, Legend does indeed evolve with this record.
75
Los Angeles Times
Evolver is still grown-man party music though, and it should go a long way toward preserving his urban-boho reputation while breaking free of any NPR&B stasis in his songwriting.
75
The Onion (A.V. Club)
Smooth to a fault, Evolver solidifies Legend's standing in the pantheon of good soul singers, but greatness continues to elude him.
70
Village Voice
As the dying industry is still breathing in the toxins of useless filler, patrons like John Legend are fully indulging their creativity in all its flawed glory, just like the soul giants of yesteryear.
70
Boston Globe
As the title suggests, Legend is a work-in-progress, and this stage in his evolution is worth hearing.
70
PopMatters
This more electronic, less organic version of John Legend is more or less as enjoyable as the balladeer stuck behind the piano.
70
Hartford Courant
Evolver delivers what it promises: A singer, songwriter and musician pushing himself to grow. This is a good first step.
70
Billboard
Legend's voice remains beyond reproach, but for a guy who's an oasis of style and soul in a sea of synthetic, robo-call R&B, at times it seems like he's playing catch-up.
70
Rolling Stone
Legend can be goody-goody, but aspirational babymaking music doesn't get more skillful than this.
70
The New York Times
With reverberations and a choral backdrop straight out of Seal, it’s his only overreach. Mr. Legend is more charming one-on-one.
60
Q Magazine
This third album is more in the same gold-standard, singer-songwriterly vien. [Dec 2008, p.130]
60
Slant Magazine
For a change, Legend doesn't constantly sound as though he's trying to impress the VH1 cognoscenti with his impeccable musicality. Sure, that's to say it's occasionally dumb, but oh so approachable.
60
The Guardian
As on Legend's previous two efforts, his balladry can tend towards the beige, and oatmeal slow jams such as 'Cross the Line' prove unmemorable; but the innate warmth of Legend's voice mostly carries his material.
60
Hot Press
Though it doesn't exactly live up to its name, Legend manages to capture the optimistic sprit of Barack Obama in
60
Mojo
This is a good album, but there's a pull between the commercial and the more left-field. [Dec 2008, p.104]
60
Spin
Though he's unlikely to encounter much trouble selling these romantic conceits to his female-heavy fan base, some of the scenarios on John Legend's third studio album could be fresher
40
All Music Guide
Easily the least accomplished of his albums, Evolver is nonetheless a refreshing change of sorts, for all its faults, at least as far as missteps are concerned.
40
Blender
Prince made sexual audacity a trademark ages ago, but Legend is just too cautious to put it over--he sounds like a CPA on his first trip to the Hustler Club.
30
Paste Magazine
On his third full-length, the charisma that launched Legend’s career fails to grease the gears of a scattered and lethargic song cycle, one where he shuffles through various shades of adult contemporary and is repeatedly upstaged by high-profile guest appearances.
The average user rating for this album is 9.2 (out of 10) based on 4 User Votes
Note: User votes are NOT included in the Metascore calculation.
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