Get Lifted

Get Lifted
Studio album by John Legend
Released December 28, 2004
Recorded
Genre
Length 52:28
Label
Producer
John Legend chronology
Get Lifted
(2004)		 Once Again
(2006)
Singles from Get Lifted
  1. "Used to Love U"
    Released: August 31, 2004
  2. "Ordinary People"
    Released: April 7, 2005
  3. "Number One"
    Released: August 23, 2005
  4. "So High"
    Released: December 8, 2005

Get Lifted is the debut studio album of American singer John Legend, released via Kanye West's GOOD Music label on December 28, 2004 in the United States. Featuring production by West, John Legend, Dave Tozer and will.i.am, the album sold over three million units worldwide, with a total of 2.1 million copies in the U.S., where it was certified platinum. The album won the 2006 Grammy Award for Best R&B Album, and earned Legend another two awards, for Best New Artist and Best Male R&B Vocal Performance for his single "Ordinary People".

Background

John Legend’s has the first album released on Kanye West’s Label. Kanye West met John Legend in 2001 in New York City while Mr. Legend was attending the University of Pennsylvania. John Legend couldn’t have met Mr. West at a better time. Kanye just got in the production business with Jay-z. John Legend was in turn able to work with Jay-z and benefeited from Kanye’s first album “The College Dropout” being a major success. After John Legend’s “Get Lifted CD was initially rejected by major Label companies, Kanye West signed him and has been signed with G.O.O.D Music since 2004. 

Reception

Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[1]
Entertainment WeeklyA−[2]
NME(8/10)[3]
PopMatters[4]
Rolling Stone[5]
Slant Magazine[6]
Stylus MagazineA−[7]
Tiny Mix Tapes[8]
USA Today[9]
Vibe[10]

Reviews became generally positive. BBC Music gave the album a favorable review and called it "an album that not only lived up to the hype, but rose squarely above it. Yes, at times it is a patchwork of the past filtered through Legend’s ever-present influences, but the quality of his writing and performance, and his collaborators’ contributions, make it worthy of the awards and plaudits it rightly received."[11] Spin gave it an A− and said that Legend's voice "leans on subtlety more than melisma, and his sound has a crisp live-band jump, rather than canned neo-soul static."[10] Uncut gave it three stars out of five and stated that Legend "introduces some intriguing new variations on the retro R&B template....Jeff Buckely is surprisingly brought to mind in Legend's passionately fragile delivery."[10] IGN gave it a score of 9.3 out of ten and called it "a refreshing record that fans of music will adore."[12] The Guardian gave it four stars out of five and called it "a real gem."[13] Entertainment.ie also gave it four stars and said of Legend, "it's probably not surprising that he's got such a big head, seeing as his producer, hip-hop guru Kanye West, has described him as simply 'the future'. Actually, it would be much more accurate to say that he does a pretty good job of updating the past."[14] In his Consumer Guide, Robert Christgau gave it a three-star honorable mention (); he picked out two of the songs from the album ("I Can Change" and "Live It Up") and said of Legend, "For an ordinary soul man, he has excellent tunes."[15]

musicOMH gave it an average review and stated that "Certain albums have the power to open the mind into different forms of music, and certainly those who pick up the Get Lifted with the pretence of it being a hip-hop album will have a rude awakening. I approached with trepidation after the opening Prelude but with an open mind or just an appreciation for the finer things in life Get Lifted could find itself being an essential album in anyone’s collection."[16] Paste gave it a positive review and stated that it "has as much in common with the classic funk and soul of Isaac Hayes, Stevie Wonder and The Delfonics as it does with today’s best R&B, hip-hop and neo-soul."[17] The A.V. Club gave it an average review and stated that the album "suffers from a surplus of slickness, but it's also seductive, and at just over 52 minutes, mercifully free from the excess and filler that characterize many rap and R&B albums."[18] Exclaim!, however, gave it an unfavorable review and said, "The early line on Legend is that the heat this album will undoubtedly generate guarantees that Legend’s apparent fidelity issues will get worse before they get better. Get Lifted indeed."[19] Plugged In gave it a mixed review and stated that "Legend is a talented singer and piano player but fails to maintain his moral focus. It doesn't take much profanity, infidelity and sexual inappropriateness to sink an otherwise decent effort."[20]

Rhapsody ranked the album #10 on its "Best R&B Albums of the Decade" list,[21] declaring, "John Legend was all over the Top 40 the entire decade—even before he released one of the decade’s biggest R&B debuts—having worked with Lauryn Hill, Alicia Keys, Kanye West and Jay-Z, to name a few. Get Lifted, his first proper release, is an infectious cross between old-school soul and neo-soul."

Track listing

No. Title Length
1. "Prelude (John Stephens)"   0:44
2. "Let's Get Lifted (J. Stephens, Kanye West, R. Shobin)"   3:37
3. "Used to Love U (J. Stephens, K. West)"   3:30
4. "Alright (J. Stephens, K. West)"   3:20
5. "She Don't Have to Know (J. Stephens, William Adams, S. Stewart)"   4:52
6. "Number One (J. Stephens, K. West, C. Mayfield)" (featuring Kanye West) 3:18
7. "I Can Change (J. Stephens, Dave Tozer)" (featuring Snoop Dogg) 5:01
8. "Ordinary People (J. Stephens, W. Adams)"   4:41
9. "Stay with You (J. Stephens, D. Tozer)"   3:49
10. "Let's Get Lifted Again (J. Stephens, D. Tozer)"   2:18
11. "So High (J. Stephens, D. Harris, P. Cho, L. Ware, Pam Sawyer)"   5:07
12. "Refuge (When It's Cold Outside) (J. Stephens, D. Harris, P. Cho)"   4:13
13. "It Don't Have to Change (J. Stephens, D. Tozer)" (featuring the Stephens Family) 3:23
14. "Live It Up (J. Stephens, D. Harris, Tarrey Torae, A. Hester)" (featuring Miri Ben-Ari) 4:35

Charts and certifications

Charts

Charts (2004) Peak
position
Australian Albums (ARIA)[22] 36
Belgian Albums (Ultratop Wallonia)[23] 43
Danish Albums (Hitlisten)[24] 33
Dutch Albums (MegaCharts)[25] 5
French Albums (SNEP)[26] 53
Irish Albums (IRMA)[27] 42
Italian Albums (FIMI)[28] 17
New Zealand Albums (RMNZ)[29] 35
Norwegian Albums (VG-lista)[30] 1
Swedish Albums (Sverigetopplistan)[31] 2
Swiss Albums (Schweizer Hitparade)[32] 65
UK Albums (OCC)[33] 12
UK R&B Albums (OCC)[34] 2
US Billboard 200[35] 36

Year-end charts

Chart (2005) Position
UK Albums (OCC)[36] 61

Certifications

Region Certification Sales/shipments
United Kingdom (BPI)[37] Platinum 490,199[38]

*sales figures based on certification alone
^shipments figures based on certification alone
xunspecified figures based on certification alone

References

  1. ↑ Andy Kellman. "Get Lifted - John Legend - Songs, Reviews, Credits, Awards - AllMusic". AllMusic.
  2. ↑ "Get Lifted - EW.com". Entertainment Weekly's EW.com.
  3. ↑ "NME Reviews - John Legend : Get Lifted - NME.COM". NME.COM. 12 September 2005.
  4. ↑ "John Legend". PopMatters.
  5. ↑ Rolling Stone review at the Wayback Machine (archived October 16, 2007)
  6. ↑ Eric Henderson (24 January 2005). "John Legend: Get Lifted - Album Review - Slant Magazine". Slant Magazine.
  7. ↑ "John Legend - Get Lifted - Review - Stylus Magazine". stylusmagazine.com.
  8. ↑ Guest Writer. "John Legend - Get Lifted - Music Review - Tiny Mix Tapes". Tiny Mix Tapes.
  9. ↑ "USATODAY.com - 'Get Lifted' reaches for the stars". usatoday.com.
  10. 1 2 3 "John Legend - Get Lifted CD". cduniverse.com.
  11. ↑ "BBC - Music - Review of John Legend - Get Lifted". bbc.co.uk.
  12. ↑ "John Legend - Get Lifted". IGN.
  13. ↑ Caroline Sullivan. "CD: John Legend, Get Lifted". The Guardian.
  14. ↑ "Music Review - John Legend: Get Lifted". entertainment.ie.
  15. ↑ "Robert Christgau: CG: john legend". robertchristgau.com.
  16. ↑ "John Legend – Get Lifted". musicOMH.
  17. ↑ "John Legend - Get Lifted". pastemagazine.com.
  18. ↑ "Get Lifted: John Legend - Music Review". The A.V. Club.
  19. ↑ "John Legend". exclaim.ca.
  20. ↑ "Plugged In review". pluggedin.com.
  21. ↑ "Best R&B Albums of the Decade" Retrieved 12 January 2010.
  22. ↑ "Australiancharts.com – John Legend – Get Lifted". Hung Medien.
  23. ↑ "Ultratop.be – John Legend – Get Lifted" (in French). Hung Medien.
  24. ↑ "Danishcharts.com – John Legend – Get Lifted". Hung Medien.
  25. ↑ "Dutchcharts.nl – John Legend – Get Lifted" (in Dutch). Hung Medien.
  26. ↑ "Lescharts.com – John Legend – Get Lifted". Hung Medien.
  27. ↑ "GFK Chart-Track Albums: Week {{{week}}}, {{{year}}}". Chart-Track. IRMA.
  28. ↑ "Italiancharts.com – John Legend – Get Lifted". Hung Medien.
  29. ↑ "Charts.org.nz – John Legend – Get Lifted". Hung Medien.
  30. ↑ "Norwegiancharts.com – John Legend – Get Lifted". Hung Medien.
  31. ↑ "Swedishcharts.com – John Legend – Get Lifted". Hung Medien.
  32. ↑ "Swisscharts.com – John Legend – Get Lifted". Hung Medien.
  33. ↑ "2005-06-12 Top 40 UK Albums Archive". Official Charts Company.
  34. ↑ "2005-06-12 Top 40 R&B Albums Archive . Official Charts Company.
  35. ↑ "John Legend – Chart history" Billboard 200 for John Legend.
  36. ↑ "2005 UK Singles Chart" (PDF). UKChartsPlus. Retrieved December 9, 2015.
  37. ↑ "British album certifications – John Legend – Get Lifted". British Phonographic Industry. Retrieved October 7, 2015. Enter Get Lifted in the field Keywords. Select Title in the field Search by. Select album in the field By Format. Select Platinum in the field By Award. Click Search
  38. ↑ Jones, Alan (July 31, 2015). "Official Charts Analysis: Chemical Brothers claim sixth No.1 album with Born in the Echoes". Music Week (Intent Media). Retrieved October 19, 2015. (subscription required (help)).

External links

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