As the second neo-soul studio album by the talented,
John Legend, ‘Once Again’ is a beautifully composed piece of work. Released by
GOOD Music and Sony Music Entertainment late in 2006, the album had great
reviews according to The Rolling Stone, The Observer and The Village Voice. John
Legend according to Wikipedia.com “co-wrote and co-produced the bulk of the album,
working with collaborators such as Kanye West, will.i.am, Raphael Saadiq, Craig
Street, Sa-Ra, Eric Hudson, Devo Springsteen, Dave Tozer and Avenue.”
There are two Grammy nominated singles on this
neo-soul album, “Heaven” and “Save Room”. Legend won “Grammy Award for Best
Male R&B Vocal Performance” for “Heaven”. His first album Get Lifted
introduced Legend as a neo-soul artist with a calming, sultry voice. Yet, Once
Again proved he was a talented writer and musician.
The other singles on the
album consisted of the unforgettable “P.D.A. (We Just Don’t Care), “Stereo”, “Another
Again”, “Show Me”, “Slow Dance” and “Each Day Gets Better”. Each of these
singles is significant in telling a story of love which as a whole is the
underlying theme of ‘Once Again’. Critics raved that ‘Once Again’ was full of
Legend crooning peacefully exposing his gospel roots which are reminiscent of
some of the titans of R&B and soul, Marvin Gaye and Stevie Wonder.
“Save Room” was a smart, effective single to start
the album with. The sharp lyricism throughout allows listeners to digest the
notions and emotions love consists of.
“This just might hurt a
little, love hurts sometimes when you do it right. Don’t be afraid of a little bit
of pain pleasure in on the other side. Let down your guard just a little, I’ll
keep you safe in these arms of mine.”
This song is beautiful in the way it expresses how
one must be comfortable falling in love and understand being hurt sometimes may
lead to better situations if the timing is right. The mellow beat which is a
sample of "Stormy" by Gábor Szabó creates the perfect tone for the
track.
“Heaven” follows “Save Room” and it is one of the
most easy-going tracks on the album and easiest to memorize lyrically. Kanye
West co-produced this song and it’s obvious by how the song flows in a breezy
way that only Kanye fans are able to point out. The song features a sample of "Heaven
Only Knows" by Monk Higgins which was a great choice. Overall the song is
an ode to love and its ups and downs which tarnish relationships that are good
and bad.
“Show Me” is one of the most emotional tracks on ‘Once
Again’. Each lyric throughout is heartfelt and resonates to the listener. It’s
a single that gets its strength from the chorus in which Legend is seemingly on
a pedestal exposing his feelings about a past love. Raphael Saadiq is one of
the major producers of this track. The beauty of this song lies in the
production in cohesion with Legend’s ability to push the agenda of the
harshness and adversity love may bring.
“Show me that you love
me/Show me that you walk with me/Hopefully just above me/Heaven's watching over
me”
“Slow Dance” is one another of the most memorable
singles on ‘Once Again’. This is a single that makes it easy to relate Legend
to titans in the soul genre. Legend controls this track lyrically but he also
soulfully addresses his sentiments towards popular culture and how music can
take you away from the woes of it.
“Can we wait just a
minute?/Turn that TV off for a minute/Now politics and talkin' shit/Ain't
really none of my business.”
“Again” is a remarkable piece of work. This track is
lyrically beautiful and a ballad which colorfully paints cheating and dating.
It should’ve been a single. The song is artful in how it blends Legend’s voice
with the piano dramatically throughout. Legend sings about the cycle of
unhealthy habits which create a juxtaposition of twisted feelings.
“Each time you call me home in a sweet refrain/Saying things will change, you'll take away the pain/Then we flashback to the first time you put your spell on me/You envelope me, you feel good as hell to me.”
The lyrics are full of vivid imagery. As a listener
this song will always resonate with me, it’s one of my favorite John Legend
songs.
“Another
Again” co-produced by Kanye West is one of my favorite tracks on the album is a
part two to “Again”. The dichotomy between the two tracks exposes “Another
Again” as the more notable of the two in terms of positivity. With the upbeat
tone of the track it seems as though John Legend effortlessly sing about the
pain within the lyrics.
To read Rolling Stone's writer Jonathan Ringen's review of Once Again click here.
To read The Village Voice's writer Amy Linden's review of Once Again click here.
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