Evolver (John Legend album)

Evolver
Studio album by John Legend
Released October 28, 2008
Recorded 2008
Genre R&B, Neo Soul
Length 50:42
Label GOOD Music, Columbia
Producer Kanye West, John Legend, Malay, KP, Dave Tozer, Midi Mafia, Dapo Torimiro, will.i.am, Trevor Horn, Devo Springsteen, The Neptunes, Supa Dups, Teddy Riley, Ne-Yo
John Legend chronology
Once Again
(2006)		 Evolver
(2008)		 Wake Up!
(2010)
Singles from Evolver
  1. "Green Light"
    Released: July 29, 2008
  2. "If You're Out There"
    Released: August 24, 2008
  3. "Everybody Knows"
    Released: March 23, 2009
  4. "This Time"
    Released: May 25, 2009
Professional ratings
Review scores
Source Rating
About.com [1]
Allmusic [2]
Entertainment Weekly (B+)[3]
The Independent [4]
Los Angeles Times [5]
New York Times (favorable)[6]
Rolling Stone [7]
The Times [8]
Village Voice (favorable)[9]
USA Today [10]
DJBooth.net [11]

Evolver is the third studio album by R&B/soul singer John Legend, released by GOOD Music and Columbia Records on October 28, 2008 in the United States and on October 20 in the United Kingdom. It features guest appearances by Kanye West, Brandy, Estelle and Andre 3000, among others.

The album debuted at number 4 on the U.S. Billboard 200 to sales of 132,823 copies.[12] It also entered the UK Albums Chart at number 21, and reached number 26 on the national Japanese albums chart, as well as number 5 on the Japanese foreign chart.[13] The album has received positive reviews from music critics. Since the album's release, it has sold 617,528 copies in the U.S. and has been certified Gold by the RIAA.

In May 2009, the song "This Time" was featured prominently in the closing scenes of the third season finale of the CW/BET comedy-drama television series The Game.[14]

Contents

Background

Speaking in July 2008 to noted UK R&B writer Pete Lewis of the award-winning Blues & Soul, Legend explained what he wanted to achieve musically with 'Evolver': "I wanted it to be diverse. So I basically just wanted to make some great records that together covered the whole gamut of the various forms of expression I feel comfortable doing. So we have a couple of club tracks; we have a reggae song; we have a few really strong ballads... and kind of everything in between. Plus we have a political anthem at the end as well. So, while there are some elements that people have heard in previous albums of mine, I also think there are some things people HAVEN'T heard from me before. And I think that's what makes the album interesting. In particular I feel I've made different arrangement and production choices this time. While I don't think my writing style itself has changed significantly, sonically the main difference is that we chose to use more electronic instruments on this record."[15]

Track listing

No. Title Producer(s) Length
1. "Good Morning" (Intro) John Legend 0:46
2. "Green Light" (featuring André 3000) Maylay & KP 4:44
3. "It's Over" (featuring Kanye West) Maylay & KP, The Neptunes,(Co-producer) Kanye West 4:27
4. "Everybody Knows"   Maylay & KP 4:35
5. "Quickly" (featuring Brandy) K. Risto, W. Nugent, Dapo Torimiro, Lonny Breaux, Rich King 3:42
6. "Cross the Line"   William Adams 3:22
7. "No Other Love" (featuring Estelle) Dwayne Chin-Quee, (Co-producer) Mitchum Chin 3:59
8. "This Time"   Dave Tozer & Trevor Horn 4:23
9. "Satisfaction"   will.i.am 4:45
10. "Take Me Away"   Syience, (Co-producer) Ne-Yo 3:03
11. "Good Morning"   Drew & Shannon, John Legend 4:01
12. "I Love, You Love"   will.i.am 4:35
13. "If You're Out There"   Trevor Horn & Devon, (Co-producer) Marcus John Bryant 4:20

Chart positions

Chart (2008) Peak
position
Belgian Albums Chart 37
Canadian Albums Chart 14
Dutch Albums Chart 7
French Albums Chart 72
Irish Albums Chart 52
Italian Albums Chart 19
Swedish Albums Chart 38
Swiss Albums Chart 36
UK Albums Chart 21
U.S. Billboard 200 4
U.S. Billboard Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums 1

Release history

Country Date
United States October 28, 2008
Canada

References

  1. ^ About.com review
  2. ^ Allmusic review
  3. ^ Entertainment Weekly review
  4. ^ The Independent review
  5. ^ Los Angeles Times review
  6. ^ New York Times review
  7. ^ Rolling Stone review
  8. ^ The Times review
  9. ^ Village Voice review
  10. ^ USA Today review
  11. ^ DJBooth.net review
  12. ^ "Hip Hop Album Sales: The Week Ending 11/2/08". http://www.hiphopdx.com/index/news/id.8030/title.hip-hop-album-sales-the-week-ending-11-2-08. 
  13. ^ http://wiki.theppn.org/Oricon_Weekly_for_2008_week_44
  14. ^ "I Want It All and I Want It Now; The Wedding Episode". Mara Brock Akil (writer); Salim Akil (director). The Game (U.S. TV series). The CW. 2009-05-15. No. 21, 22, season 3.
  15. ^ John Legend interview by Pete Lewis, 'Blues & Soul' October 2008
  16. ^ John Legend - Evolver (Brazil first pressing)
  17. ^ John Legend - Evolver (Brazil second pressing)

External links

John Legend
Albums
Get Lifted · Once Again · Evolver · Wake Up! (with The Roots)
Singles
"Used to Love U" · "Ordinary People" · "Number One" · "So High" · "Save Room" · "Heaven" · "P.D.A. (We Just Don't Care)" · "Stereo" · "Another Again" · "Slow Dance" · "Show Me" · "Each Day Gets Better" · "Green Light" · "If You're Out There" · "Everybody Knows" · "Wake Up Everybody"
Featured singles
"Feel This Way" · "Finally" · "Free Mason" · "Magnificent" · "Whatever U Want" · "Entreolhares (The Way You're Looking at Me)"  · "Getting Nowhere" · "All of the Lights"
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