Something Else (Robin Thicke album)
| Something Else | ||||
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| Studio album by Robin Thicke | ||||
| Released | September 30, 2008 | |||
| Recorded | 2007—2008 | |||
| Genre | R&B, soul, alternative hip hop | |||
| Length | 50:21 | |||
| Label | Star Trak, Interscope | |||
| Producer | Pharrell (exec.), Robin Thicke, Pro J, Best Kept Secret, Mark Ronson | |||
| Robin Thicke chronology | ||||
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| Singles from Something Else | ||||
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Something Else is the third studio album by R&B singer Robin Thicke, released on September 30, 2008.[1] It is a follow up to Thicke's highly successful second album The Evolution of Robin Thicke and features a guest appearance by Lil Wayne.[2]
Background
After Robin Thicke finished up and his tour for The Evolution of Robin Thicke album ended, he immediately got into the studio to start recording the album.[3] The album features production from Thicke and Pro J. Thicke conducted a listening party in Los Angeles on April 14, 2008, where he described the album as "wine and bubbly" type music.
"Tie My Hands" was also on Lil Wayne's multi-platinum Tha Carter III.
Speaking in October 2008 to noted UK R&B writer Pete Lewis of the award-winning Blues & Soul, Thicke explained the lyrical background to 'Something Else': "With me I think there's always been a little bit of self-examination, spirituality and love in the music. But, where the last album was more me sitting around my house with my piano writing all these songs to make MYSELF feel better, this time I've started talking more about OTHER PEOPLE'S experiences, rather than just my own. The feeling I had while writing these songs was that I wanted to embrace people, and that I wanted to BE embraced."[4]
Critical reception
| Professional ratings | |
|---|---|
| Review scores | |
| Source | Rating |
| Allmusic |   2008 |
| Billboard | (favorable) 2008 |
| Blender |  2008 |
| The Boston Globe | (favorable) 2008 |
| Robert Christgau |  [5] |
| Entertainment Weekly | (B+) 2008 |
| Rolling Stone | 2008 |
| Slant Magazine | 2008 |
| USA Today | 2008 |
| Vibe | (favorable) 2008 |
| Yahoo! Music UK | 2008 |
The album received positive reviews from the critics and compare his voice and style to Marvin Gaye.[6]
- Rolling Stone Magazine gave a mixed review to the album, giving 3 out of 5 stars saying:
"Robin Thicke offers a vanilla alternative. (No pun intended.) His largely self-produced third album picks up where his big 2007 hit "Lost Without U" left off, with Thicke cooing in an airy falsetto that holds promises of honesty, fidelity and long nights in the boudoir focused solely on Her Pleasure. The music is a lush, louche swirl of strings, congas and Fender Rhodes that flaunts its debts to Marvin Gaye ("You're My Baby"), classic disco ("Something Else") and Philly soul ("Magic"). As a utilitarian background soundtrack, it'll do nicely — lots of babies will be made to ballads like "Cry No More." But Thicke's songwriting teeters into self-parody, and his mixed metaphors — "We're just spaceships in the night/Ripping the clothes off of the past/Making a new path" — could break the mood of the randiest couples".[7]
Chart performance and sales
The album debuted at number three on the US Billboard 200 selling 136,944 copies the first week.[8] In its second week, the album fell to number 12, selling 38,577 copies, but rose back up to number 11 the next week. As of April 2009, the album has shifted over 435,000 units in the US.
Charts
| Chart (2008) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| Canada (Billboard) | 26 |
| France (SNEP) | 92 |
| Netherlands (MegaCharts) | 25 |
| Switzerland (Schweizer Hitparade) | 65 |
| UK Albums (The Official Charts Company) | 83 |
| US Billboard 200 | 3 |
| US R&B/Hip-Hop Albums (Billboard) | 3 |
Track listing
| No. | Title | Length | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | "You're My Baby" (Robin Thicke, James Gass, Max) | 4:16 | |
| 2. | "Sidestep" (Robin Thicke, Larry Cox II, Greg Malone, L.B. Breaux) | 4:11 | |
| 3. | "Magic" (Robin Thicke, James Gass, Max) | 3:53 | |
| 4. | "Ms. Harmony" (Robin Thicke, Bobby B. Keyes, Max, Robert Daniels) | 4:47 | |
| 5. | "Dreamworld" (Robin Thicke, James Gass, Max) | 4:39 | |
| 6. | "Loverman" (Robin Thicke, Bobby B. Keyes, Max) | 4:42 | |
| 7. | "Hard on My Love" (Robin Thicke, Andrew McKay, Andre Harrell) | 3:36 | |
| 8. | "The Sweetest Love" (Robin Thicke) | 3:55 | |
| 9. | "Something Else" (Robin Thicke, Bobby B. Keyes) | 3:16 | |
| 10. | "Shadow of Doubt" (Robin Thicke, James Gass) | 3:27 | |
| 11. | "Cry No More" (Robin Thicke) | 4:18 | |
| 12. | "Tie My Hands" (featuring Lil Wayne) (Robin Thicke, Dwayne Carter, Jr., James Gass) | 5:21 |
| iTunes deluxe edition bonus tracks | ||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| No. | Title | Length | ||||||||
| 13. | "Everybody's a Star" | 2:55 | ||||||||
| 14. | "Ebb and Flow" | 4:20 | ||||||||
| 15. | "I'm Coming Home" | 2:55 | ||||||||
| 16. | "Magic (Moto Blanco Remix)" (featuring Mary J. Blige) | 7:32 | ||||||||
Singles
- "Magic"
- "The Sweetest Love"
- "Dreamworld"
References
- ↑ "Something Else: Robin Thicke: Music". Amazon.com. Retrieved 2012-03-10.
- ↑ "Something Else, Robin Thicke: R&B / Soul". Walmart.com. Retrieved 2012-03-10.
- ↑ In The Studio With Michelle Williams And Robin Thicke | Sohh On The Scene | Sohh Blog
- ↑ Robin Thicke interview by Pete Lewis, 'Blues & Soul' November 2008
- ↑ Christgau, Robert. "Something Else". Robert Christgau.
- ↑ Gardner, Elysa (2008-09-30). "Robin Thicke's 'Something Else' lays on the love". Usatoday.Com. Retrieved 2012-03-10.
- ↑ "Rolling Stone Music | Album Reviews". Rollingstone.com. Retrieved 2012-03-10.
- ↑ "Robin Thicke - Something Else Album Review". Musicloversgroup.com. 2008-10-14. Retrieved 2012-03-10.
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