Don’t See the World Through Someone Else’s Eyes

Celebrity children have gotten a bad rap lately thanks to the reality exploits from the likes of Nicole Richie and the Osborne children. Most seem content on living off their parent names as opposed to making a name of their own on their own talents. Then there is Robin Thicke who not only didn’t use his dad Allen’s name (you may know better as Dr. Jason Seaver) to get famous, he even picked music over acting like his father, well after a few guest spots on his dad’s show as well as The Wonder Years. Thicke stuck out his first time around back in 2002 despite the catchy, Mozart sampling When I Get You Alone. But don’t feel to bad for him, he does have a Grammy for songwriting and has written songs for Christina Aguilera and Usher. But now he’s back with a new look, a new label (Pharrell’s Star Trak), and a new album, The Evolution of Robin Thicke.

The album sounds like a history of soul music as Thicke draws on some the best. Got 2 Be Down is his Marvin Gaye song; Complicated is his take on Smokey Robinson; 2 the Sky is could be a Donny Hathaway song; Cocaine would have fit well on Curtis Mayfield’s Superfly Soundtrack; Lonely World could have been from Stevie Wonder’s 70’era. And Thicke turning “to” into “2” and “you” into “U” in his songs is straight out of Prince’s playbook. With all the decent blue-eyed soul, you have to imagine Justin Timberlake is listening to the album wishing he wrote songs like Would That Make U Love Me and Can U Believe because this is album JT wishes he could make.

Faith Evans helps elevate the fun opening track Got to B Down, but the other guest spots don’t fair as well. One of the worst rapper in recent years, Lil Wayne, who goes by the even cheesier moniker Weezy, brings down the worst being All Night Long. Shooter, which is a reworking of a song on Thicke’s debut for Weezy’s Tha Cater, vol. 2 album which is somewhat catchy, but still not a good as the original. Pharrell continues his lackluster year with the production on the formulaic Wanna Love U Girl and throws in an anemic rap for good measure. Length is also an issue at over seventy minutes, had Thicke trimmed some of the fat, you may have been able to listen through the whole album without skipping a song.

Song to Download - Lonely World

The Evolution of Robin Thicke gets a on my Terror Alert Scale.