NE-YO v THE DREAM

i wasn't really conflicted any further than that i slept on the album for ages cuz i hated 'falsetto' so much, and only checked it out after rich juzwiak put 'ditch that' and 'living a lie' on his fourfour mix. i still hate 'falsetto' and skip it every time though but its obnoxiousness doesn't really bleed into any of the other songs.

if anything i get where al's coming from a bit more - i dunno how good a songwriter the-dream really is, lines like "springtime summertime falltime winter" (and loads more across the album) do seem awfully hackish out of context, but he sells it on record.

man, "Falsetto" is the most classic slow jam from a record with several

it's the actual falsetto bit i can't listen to

it's a bit nails-on-blackboard

uptempo mix of 'falsetto' be miraculously great though.

(almost as good as 'outward boxer', one of my fave wire songs.)

will answer reservation q's in a bit once i've reread everything i already said on rolling r&bs on the past - we do all so hate endlessly repeating ourselves round here, after all.

in the meantime, what are yall's thoughts on 'rocking that thang'? i look forward to seeing it on your 2010 lists.

yo rtc i remember empathizing with yr confusion -- i think i recognized immediately that it was great but what was weird was just that it was great in spite of his frequent corniness -- like there are some lyrics on this thing that would be huge clunkers on anyone else's record. def a 'more than the sum of its parts' experience

For a long time I've assumed it was "I feel like an out worked boxer on the very first round" but I had this mental CLICK last week and now I hear it is "I fell like an out worked boxer on the very first round."

I didn't find "Falsetto" obnoxious really, but (especially post-"Bed") in isolation it seemed like the schtickiness of his schtick was this perhaps ignominious distillation of all voluptuous sex-obssessed mid-noughties synthy slow jams, R Kelly X pixeldust with nowhere to go.

And then of course the album presents this as like a corner that you have to turn around to make it to the unexpected territory of "Nikki", "Luv Songs" et. al. Like he's orbiting the earth twice so that he can use that force of gravity to shoot off into space. In the context of the album "Falsetto" works really well, it's like the exhausted gooey centre of the "Fast Car" --> "Nikki" --> "She Needs My Love" journey.

Love/Hate has a booklet with the lyrics, and the lyrics read "And I feel like an out work boxer in the very first round."

"Fast Car" --> "Nikki" --> "She Needs My Love" --> "Falsetto" is so key to this album

it's like the exhausted gooey centre of the "Fast Car" --> "Nikki" --> "She Needs My Love"

i think this is the big key - the song is supposed to feel like this relieved release after the tension of the previous two. it's kind of palpable in how "falsetto" is so spacious musically as opposed to "nikki" and "she needs my love" which are pretty busy

that boxer lyric is why "playin in her hair" is my favorite on the album - that and the "can i get a ay? aayyyyy!" part

Ha that's like me and "I'm about to mess that shit up" in "Purple Kisses".

BTW "Rockin' That Thing" is brilliant heart-tugging mush (totally <3 the synth-horn sound he's rocking here), although the falsetto here is verging on Prince circa 1987 roleplaying and there's not a huge amount of his own personality coming through here.

Pat Benatar's "We Belong" came on afterwards on my iTunes and it totally worked.

^ overuse of "here".

My favorite part of the album is in "Fast Car", when he's going on about how sweet she is and how much he trusts her and how great she is, then disses her for the bad girl

the lil jon single is a big FAIL tho

yes. Very much so.

"My favorite part of the album is in "Fast Car", when he's going on about how sweet she is and how much he trusts her and how great she is, then disses her for the bad girl"

Compare/contrast with Ne-Yo's "What's The Matter", where he sensitively deconstructs this social phenomenon.

"Let Me See The Booty" >>>> "Rockin That Shit", which is nice enough but it's just a retread of the 1st album. "Right Side of Ya Brain" is the best track from this so far though.

i like "let me see the booty" outside of the context of the dream i just don't see how it would work on the album

Who cares about 'album context' this song is generic as Dick

i capitalized 'dick' bcuz i posted that from my phone

but yeah

this aint bad

heres a mix someone did of a bunch of dream songs http://www.zshare.net/audio/52990013e04c8348/ havent listened to it yet enjoyio

thnx ice craem

rockin that thang is so gr8, good way to end the mix

why did jim jones and ne-yo get into a fistfight

because Ne-Yo was with some Def Jam lackey who's the brother of one of Jay-Z's best friends, apparently.

"why did jim jones and ne-yo get into a fistfight"

I was hoping this was the first half of a joke.

love/hate song with mariah

feelin it

http://www.zshare.net/audio/53891333925f82cc/

my b - love vs money song with mariah duh

also album out feb 17

lol @ "who's been lovin you lately?/ who's been willing to go half on the baby?"

wtf is the immense synth riff from 'rockin that thang' reminding me of

'stripper love' is big too, and yeah def feeling this mimi.

this DRAEM/Mariah tune is dope

imo "right side of my brain" is a worthy little brother to "cry me a river"

btw

who's in love with yo ass like crazy?

i like how on "right side of ya brain" the customary "aaaayyyyyys" are all screwed and sad sounding

same song duh - what's it even called anyway

"Rockin' That Thang"
"Walkin' On The Moon" ft. Kanye West
"My Love" ft. Mariah Carey
"Put It Down"
"Sweat It Out"
"Take U Home 2 my Mama"
"Love Vs. Money"
"Love Vs. Money: Part 2"
"Fancy"
"Right Side Of My Brain"
"Mr. Yeah"
"Kelly's 12 Play"
"Let Me See The Booty" ft. Lil Jon
"Touch & Feel"
"Nothing But Love"

"Kelly's 12 Play"

hahaha

^^^hahaha thats such a the-dream type joke/probable metaphor -- should be real awkward but itll be real well written, sort of like ignoring the soulja boy style "YOUUUUU"s in "luv songs"

the crank dat ref in "luv songs" is awesome - the o_O one is "Mr. Yeah"

lil jon tribute song perhaps

"Love Vs. Money"
"Love Vs. Money: Part 2"

I'm hoping these flow into one another, the segue being announced by a sudden irruption/eruption of melodramatic strings.

right side of ya brain, right side of ya brain, right side of ya brain...you loved me baby, unlove me baby

so insanely looking forward to this album

"rockin that thang" video is v great - i wasn't so hot on the song until like last night but yeah. my fav part i think is when he goes "we beat it up like gorillas..." and you're just waiting for those DREAM DRUMS to come in. also "i wanna change your name to mrs. nash"

haha i was just about to post that video and say something about him taking the shades off being NAGL.

qu'est-ce que c'est DREAM DRUMS?

I've always wondered why someone who looks so much like something with six legs and wings to begin with would rock big, bug-eyed shades.

looking thinner too

anyway idk what you're saying but by DREAM DRUMS i mean those exhaling (tm) drums that are on "bed" and "purple kisses" and the like

btw "my love" - potential smash?

when you've got a chubby face like him you can wear those huge shades and look aaight imo

i'm just being a pedant and objecting to referring to drums by the songwriter and not by the producer... I always associated those swinging toms with Los (who did "Bed" and "Purple Kisses") but since Tricky produced "Rockin'" maybe Dream is the common link. go figure.

i've only listened to "My Love" once but it left zero impression on me. I liked "Touch My Body" alright but i can't see a whole album of maria/dream collabs not being really lame.