After penning hits for the likes of Beyonce and Rihanna and work with legends Michael Jackson and Whitney Houston on the scheudule, one might think that you would be in for a treat on Ne-Yo's third album, 'Year of the Gentlemen', but the surpises are few and far in between.On the opening and lead track, 'Closer', Ne-Yo catches your ear with the enthralling beat and lyrics, but this isn't a connection that is made immediately, but rather something that begins okay and grows more pleasant after each listen. The track did show there's more to Stargate than the what he normal offers up. 'Mad' is an impressive track complete with a great vocal delivery and emotional depth lyrics. 'Nobody' shows Ne-Yo taking on Michael Jackson ground or damn near close and while the track is pretty great, it would have probably been better suited for the king himself. Other notable tracks include the the pianio tinkling 'Lie to Me', the Polow Da Don produced 'Single', and the album's vocal high 'Stop This World'.
With Ne-Yo, bad is never as bad as it gets with other artists, its just boring or so repeative that you can't stand to listen to it, and often it takes hearing the song over to fully grasp it because a lot of the cuts tend to lose your attention by the time they hit the one minute mark. 'Why Does She Stay', 'Fade into the Background', 'Part of the List', and 'Back to What You Know' are all underwhelming, but none are just plain out horrible.
While Ne-yo may talk the talk, the album more than proves he's just a kitten, who in time may grow to be great, but is currently just in a costume pretending to be a tiger that he isn't and may not ever be.
3 out of 5
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