Once Again (John Legend album)

Once Again
Studio album by John Legend
Released October 24, 2006
Recorded 2005–2006
Genre
Length 59:13
Label GOOD
Producer
John Legend chronology
Get Lifted
(2004)		 Once Again
(2006)		 Evolver
(2008)
Singles from Once Again
  1. "Save Room"
    Released: September 2006
  2. "Heaven"
    Released: December 2006
  3. "P.D.A. (We Just Don't Care)"
    Released: February 27, 2007
  4. "Stereo"
    Released: April 27, 2007
  5. "Show Me"
    Released: December 2007

Once Again is the second studio album by American singer John Legend, issued by GOOD Music and Sony Music Entertainment on October 24, 2006. Legend co-wrote and co-produced the bulk of the album, working with collaborators such as Kanye West, will.i.am, Raphael Saadiq, Craig Street, Sa-Ra, Eric Hudson, Devo Springsteen, Dave Tozer and Avenue.

Singles from the album include "Save Room", "Heaven", "P.D.A. (We Just Don't Care)", "Stereo", "Another Again", "Slow Dance", "Show Me" and "Each Day Gets Better". Once Again has been certified platinum by the RIAA, after shipping over one million copies. The song "Heaven" won the Grammy Award for Best Male R&B Vocal Performance. Also, "Save Room" was nominated for Best Male Pop Vocal Performance.

Reception

Professional ratings
Aggregate scores
SourceRating
Metacritic77/100[1]
Review scores
SourceRating
About.com[2]
AllMusic[3]
Entertainment WeeklyB[4]
The Guardian[5]
Los Angeles Times[6]
Robert Christgau[7]
Rolling Stone[8]
Spin8/10[9]
The Times[10]
USA Today[11]

The album so far has a score of 77 out of 100 from Metacritic based on "generally favorable reviews".[1] Yahoo! Music UK gave it a score of nine stars out of ten and called it "frequently staggering".[12] Paste gave it four-and-a-half stars out of five and said, "Legend has grown by leaps on this disc, delivering a richer sound and more adventurous experimentation."[13] The A.V. Club gave it a B+ and said that "While [the album] occasionally slips from understated to sleepy, there isn't a bum track on the album."[14] Mojo also gave the album four stars out of five and said of Legend, "His most impressive skill is echoing the laid-back charm of Bill Withers and the melodic instincts of Stevie Wonder."[1] Blender likewise gave it four stars out of five and said it "sets out to rebuild the dramatic storytelling and redemptive power of soul music on a hip-hop foundation."[1] Q likewise gave it four stars, calling it "soulful" and "not funky".[1] Billboard gave it a positive review and called it "A timeless, feel-good album that could easily slide into your papa's Sam Cooke and Percy Sledge collections, yet still sounds contemporary."[1] The Village Voice also gave it a positive review and stated, "There are a number of words to describe contemporary mainstream r&b, but "elegant," "mature," "breezy," and "sophisticated" aren't usually among them. Luckily, they apply to John Legend's subtle follow-up to 2005's Grammy-winning, multiplatinum Get Lifted."[15] Hartford Courant likewise gave it a positive review and called its songs "Soul music impeccably poised between past and future, anchored by a warm voice comfortingly similar to Bill Withers'."[16]

Other reviews are average or mixed: The Observer gave it three stars out of five and said that Legend "has stepped up into territory that references his background in gospel and soul but avoids the more obvious nods to the past."[17] Slant Magazine also gave it three stars and said that the album's midsection "bulges with excess MOR fat, but unlike Legend's debut, the album doesn't resurrect itself by the end."[18] Now likewise gave it three stars and said, "Legend's lounge-track sentimentality often spills into schmaltzed-out Streisand-on-Broadway territory."[1] Prefix Magazine gave it a score of five out of ten and stated that "The album's second half is still woefully lacking, one big mess of boredom and monotony."[19] Vibe gave it two-and-a-half stars out of five and called it "frustratingly uneven".[1] The Independent gave it two stars out of five and stated, "It's hard not to feel underwhelmed by this follow-up to Legend's major-label debut Get Lifted, which secured three million sales through a judicious blend of his gospel roots and hip-hop ties. The lunge for the mainstream is too pronounced, and probably ill-advised, inasmuch as it places him in direct comparison with more expressive, adept singers."[20]

Track listing

No. TitleWriter(s) Length
1. "Save Room"  
 3:55
2. "Heaven"  
  • J. Stephens
  • Alexandra Brown
  • J. Wilson
  • Kanye West
  • Milton Bland
 3:34
3. "Stereo"  
  • J. Stephens
  • D. Harris
  • Tom Craskey
 4:09
4. "Show Me"  
 4:58
5. "Each Day Gets Better"  
 3:47
6. "P.D.A. (We Just Don't Care)"  
 4:38
7. "Slow Dance"  
  • J. Stephens
  • Swaray
  • Ray Lewis
  • Poindexter
  • Adams
 4:43
8. "Again"  J. Stephens 5:01
9. "Maxine"  
 4:27
10. "Where Did My Baby Go"  J. Stephens 5:03
11. "Maxine's Interlude"  
 1:50
12. "Another Again"  
  • J. Stephens
  • George Patterson
  • E. Wilson
  • J. Wilson
  • West
 4:01
13. "Coming Home"  
  • J. Stephens
  • Adams
 5:05
International bonus tracks
No. TitleWriter(s) Length
13. "King & Queen" (featuring Mary J. Blige)  3:47
14. "Out of Sight"  
  • J. Stephens
  • Crasky
  • V. Stephens
  • J. Wilson
 4:13
15. "Don't Let Me Be Misunderstood"  
  • Bennie Benjamin
  • Gloria Caldwell
  • Sol Marcus
 5:13

Samples

Charts

Chart (2006)[21] Provider(s) Peak
position		 Certifications Sales
Austrian Albums Chart Media Control 74
Belgian Albums Chart Ultratop 38
Danish Albums Chart GLF 21
Dutch Albums Chart Megacharts BV 2 Gold 35,000
Finnish Albums Chart GLF 28
French Albums Chart IFPI 58
German Albums Chart Media Control 33
Irish Albums Chart IRMA 19 7,500
Italian Albums Chart FIMI 5 Gold 40,000
New Zealand Albums Chart IFPI 36
Norwegian Albums Chart GLF 12
Swedish Albums Chart GLF 8
Swiss Albums Chart Media Control 12
UK Albums Chart BPI and the Official Charts Company 10 Gold 106,045[22]
U.S. Billboard 200 Billboard 3 Platinum 1,166,334
U.S. Billboard Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums 1

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 "Critic Reviews for Once Again - Metacritic". Metacritic.
  2. ↑ Mark Edward Nero. "Review: John Legend's "Once Again"". About.com Entertainment.
  3. ↑ AllMusic review
  4. ↑ Bernstein, John (2006-10-27). "Once Again Review". Entertainment Weekly (904): 71.
  5. ↑ Caroline Sullivan. "CD: John Legend, Once Again". the Guardian.
  6. ↑ "Real soul rooted in suburbia". latimes.
  7. ↑ "Robert Christgau: CG: john legend". robertchristgau.com.
  8. ↑ "Once Again". rollingstone.com. Archived from the original on 15 November 2007.
  9. ↑ "John Legend, 'Once Again' (G.O.O.D. Music/Sony Urban/Columbia)". Spin.
  10. ↑ The Times review
  11. ↑ "Legend moves 'to the next level' to build his legacy - USATODAY.com". usatoday.com.
  12. ↑ "LAUNCH, Music on Yahoo! - John Legend - Once Again". yahoo.com. Archived from the original on 10 November 2006. line feed character in |title= at position 9 (help)
  13. ↑ Kemp, Mark (2006-12-12). "John Legend - Once Again :: Music :: Reviews". Paste. Archived from the original on 2007-07-14. Retrieved 2013-11-14.
  14. ↑ "Once Again - John Legend - Review". avclub.com.
  15. ↑ Amy Linden. "Polite But Firm Loverman Flaunts the Soft Triumph of Subtle Soul". Village Voice.
  16. ↑ "A Legend Still In The Making". tribunedigital-thecourant.
  17. ↑ Emma Warren. "CD: John Legend, Once Again". the Guardian.
  18. ↑ Sal Cinquemani (22 October 2006). "John Legend Once Again - Album Review - Slant Magazine". Slant Magazine.
  19. ↑ "Album Review: John Legend - Once Again". Prefixmag.
  20. ↑ "Independent Online Edition > Reviews". independent.co.uk. Archived from the original on 24 February 2007.
  21. ↑ "Once Again Performance". A-Charts.us. Retrieved 2008-10-11.
  22. ↑ Jones, Alan (April 14, 2014). "Official Charts Analysis: Kaisers enjoy 2nd week at No.1". Music Week. Retrieved October 7, 2015. (subscription required (help)).
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