Ne-Yo - Year of the Gentleman
List Price:
Our Price: $4.88
You Save: $9.10 (65%)
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Buy Used: from $2.30 (click here)
Category: Music CD
See more CD details
Buy this Music CD at online store in your country
Canadian Music Store
Canadian Music Store
CD Details
Artist: Ne-YoEdition: Music CD
Audio: English (Unknown); English (Original Language); English (Published)
Published: 2008-09-11
CD Release Date: 2008-09-16
Music Label: Def Jam
Product features:
- NE-YO YEAR OF THE GENTLEMAN
- Closer
- Nobody
- Single
- Mad
- Miss Independent
- Why Does She Stay
- Fade Into The Background
- So You Can Cry
- Part Of The List
- Back To What You Know
- Lie To Me
- Stop This World
Music reviews of Year of the Gentleman
Music Review: Ne-Yo- A Classy Gentleman and a Classy Affair!
Rating: 4 Stars
I wasn't too sure I would pick up this album until the day of release. After hearing Closer all the time which is a cool lead-off single and seeing him in concert opening for Alicia Keys a while back, he grabbed some of my focus back. But all of it was kind of offset by the numerous delays and pushbacks in the CD release dates. And Ne-Yo can get a little too raunchy for my taste at times though he definitely is a heck of a songwriter, talent and musician. I finally went ahead and bought Year of the Gentleman and was pleasantly surprised. The CD did stick to Ne-Yo's claim that he would switch it up with how the urban R&B sound was the same in the overall scheme. And it is definitely nice to see and most certainly hear.
Ne-Yo has to undoubtly be one of the best songwriters in the business. This has been under no question for years as he has wrote songs/hits for numerous stars. He shows that fully in my view on this album as he gets more into what makes a woman sexy other than using her body, what a woman can be feeling at times and tending to that, and issues that may come up in a relationship. You really didn't get the sex, bump-n-grind verses that may have come in Ne-Yo's music in the past and that you really hear a lot of in R&B today. I mean there is nothing wrong with music laced with sex and club-banging music, but it can wear out very easily if done too much. He displays that in several songs on here, if not the entire album. His way of speaking kept it very classy, much as the gentleman he tries to portray. The production and the beats are different as well. There were different instruments and methods used all over the CD to give it a different feel. Some songs used the classical piano while you could hear sort of a Spanish guitar being used in a song like Part of the List. Then you would get an acoustic guitar in Back To What You Know while you would get finger-snapping to help the song in a couple tracks. If you listen closely, you will notice all of this and make you realize that the sound that Ne-Yo utilizes on the CD is not often gone to in the urban area and will make you realize that he did try something out of the ordinary.
Year of the Gentleman has great tracks sprinkled out all over it and while you can listen to the whole product without maybe skipping over a one, I will just give you a few songs to lookout for. Closer is probably the only club track on the album and it starts it off. This one has been heard for months so I really won't get into it. Nobody follows it up with its Michael Jackson-influenced sound matched up with some horns, glass-tapping and upbeat drums streaming out of your speakers nicely as Ne-Yo references a woman who is matched by nobody in confidence and sex appeal. Mad goes into him and his girl being mad at each other for no real reason wasting energy and to make up & get beyond it all as this track gives you a softer sound that is keyed by the piano. I saw a couple of reviews that kind of were disappointed in it, but I really liked it. (Guess I can relate cause I just had a similar situation.) It may not be for everyone, but I think the majority of you will give it a thumbs up. Miss Independent is a tight song as it is elegant in its sound with an off-beat sort of mid-tempo vibe with the piano usage again and soft drum clap pattern which gets into the woman who do for themselves, hold their own & don't need help, and how sexy that is. Why Does She Stay is a ballad of sorts that is written questioning why do our women stay through all of our faults and how they put up with so much when they could go out and have someone that could be better for them. I'm kind of in the midst of this and maybe haven't gotten the full impact of this concept yet, but I do get it. If you have been in a relationship that has lasted for some time and have put in time with someone that is special to you, this song could definitely make you realize how special that person is even more. Fade Into The Background is a good concept/situation and song, but I think it could have been done better or in another way. It speaks on the one/lady that got away and having to face the reality that she has totally moved on with Ne-Yo being at the wedding, as the songs states fading into the background from the one he had. I really love the words, but the song was too laid-back for me and I think he maybe could have went deeper into the emotional bag of tricks for this one cause this should be where your heart cries out if in fact your true love has tied the knot with another man. Just my take, but it is still a good one. So You Can Cry reminds of the 60s with its finger-snapping sort of doo-wap vibe that kind of gets me like a Minnie Riperton song. Back To What You Know seems like a song you see an artist onstage performing with that acoustic guitar that I spoke of earlier in his hands and belting out this tune at the same time. It's about being a gentleman and letting a woman you're involved with go back to her ex because she is truly not over him and you really cannot win because of the memory of the prior guy. Tremendous song in my eyes! The capper of the album is Stop This World, a song dedicated to feeling so high in finding someone that you are so thankful for and at the same time can't believe she came your way and what you did to deserve it. Feeling it so much that it could stop the world from spinning. Whoever said that this would be a great wedding song, they hit it right on the head. Or maybe the song for the married couple's first dance for the reception. Either way, well written song.
I'm starting to see some artists try new things instead of staying with the same old formula that gets radioplay cause they know that fans are wanting something that they aren't hearing these days. Might not be as much as one would like, but you can see it starting into a trend. Ne-Yo with the Year of the Gentleman heads up with those artists who are looking to get back to true music and musicianship. There may have been some flaws that take a little bit away from a couple of the songs which is why I can't give the CD 5 stars. I would say 4.25 but because of going another route and trying something different I give it an extra quarter star. If you had thought of not picking up Ne-Yo's new album for whatever reason, get the thought out of your mind and go scoop it up.
Description of Year of the Gentleman
"Closer," written by Ne-Yo and produced by Stargate, is the first single from Ne-Yo's upcoming third album, YEAR OF THE GENTLEMAN, set to arrive in stores June 24th. It is the follow-up to Because Of You (released May 2007), which received this year's Grammy Award for Best Contemporary R&B Album, and In My Own Words (February 2006) - both of which debuted at #1 on the Billboard 200 and R&B/Hip-Hop Albums charts.In addition to his Contemporary R&B Album award, Ne-Yo earned four other Grammy nominations this year, including two for his collaboration with Rihanna, "Hate That I Love You" (which he co-wrote), namely Best R&B Song and Best R&B Performance Duo/Group; as well as Best Male R&B Vocal Performance for his #2 hit "Because Of You"; and Record of the Year for Beyoncé's "Irreplaceable" (which he co-produced). Ne-Yo's Grammy recognition followed up the UK's 13th annual MOBO (Music Of Black Origin) Awards in September 2007 - the only televised European Awards Show solely dedicated to urban music and culture - at which he won for Best Song ("Because Of You") and Best R&B Act.
Ne-Yo's RIAA platinum debut album In My Own Words was nominated for a Grammy as Best Contemporary R&B Album. It spun off three chart-topping hits, starting late-2005 with his debut Def Jam single, the #1 Grammy-nominated "So Sick," followed by "When You're Mad" and "Sexy Love." Ne-Yo capped 2006 as Male R&B/Hip-Hop Artist of the Year at the Billboard Music Awards. At the The 21st Annual Soul Train Music Awards in February 2007, Ne-Yo won the Coca-Cola Award for Best R&B/Soul or Rap new Artist for "Sexy Love."
If the mark of the skilful Lothario is the one who knows to always tell his lover what she wants to hear, surely Def Jam?s R&B sensation Ne-Yo--aka Los Angeles singer-songwriter Shaffer Chimere Smith--is one of the greatest of them all. On his third album, Year of the Gentleman, Chimere channels his hitmaking talents into a suite of R&B songs that are more respectful than rampant in their approach to the romancing. ?Single" is a song that reaches out to all the lonely girls, Ne-Yo promising, ?I'll be your boyfriend til the song goes off," while the Stargate-produced ?Miss Independent," lit up by neon synthesizers, suggests Smith isn't too concerned with his own machismo to test out flipping the traditional gender roles, serenading a girl who's a player in her own right: ?Everything she got, you bet she bought it." The album is at its best with the central, two-song movement of ?Why Does She Stay" and ?Fade Into the Background"--the former finding Ne-Yo questioning his own neglectful nature over a backdrop of shimmering keys, the latter a sombre piece that finds our narrator accepting the news that his lover has found another with a rare, heart-rending magnanimity. --Louis Pattison
Pop CDs
Music Genres
Bestsellers in Pop CDs
Yvette Freeman - Dinah Was (L.A. Theatre Works Audio Theatre Collection)Release date: 2005-04-12; Music CD
Best price: $20.02
Price in other shops:
Twin Sisters Productions - Building Character Music CDTWIN SISTERS PRODUCTIONS; Release date: 2007-01-01; Music CD
Best price: $9.99
Price in other shops:
Bernadette Peters in ConcertDVD
Best price: $129.99
Everything Must Go/ Two Against Natureby Steely Dan
Published: 2003; Music CD
Scattered Ashes: A Decade Of Emperial WrathRelease date: 2009-07-28; Music CD
Best price: $9.75
Price in other shops:
![Christmas at the Biltmore Estate [VHS] Image](/images/Christmas-at-the-Biltmore-Estate-VHS-076700437X-X.jpg){kind=small}
Christmas at the Biltmore Estate [VHS]A&E Home Video; Release date: 1998-09-04; VHS Tape; VHS Video
Best price: $17.51
Price in other shops:
The Shadow: Rare Radio Gems (Rare Radio Gems)Release date: 2002-09-01; Published: 2002-09-01; Music CD
Best price: $20.00
Price in other shops:
On the Shoulders of Giants, Vol. 1: An Audio & Musical Journey Through the Harlem Renaissanceby Kareem Abdul-Jabbar
Release date: 2011-09-06; Published: 2008; Music CD
Best price: $1.98
Price in other shops:
Francis Durbridge, Paul Temple & The Gilbert Case - Radio ShowRelease date: 2003-05-12; Music CD
Best price: $20.67
Price in other shops:
The Serenaders - My One and Only YouRelease date: 2011-05-28; Music CD
Best price: $8.76
Price in other shops:
Similar CDs
Usher - VersusRelease date: 2010-08-24; Music CD
Best price: $3.00
Price in other shops:
Trey Songz - Passion, Pain & PleasureRelease date: 2010-09-14; Music CD
Best price: $5.05
Price in other shops:
Rihanna - Good Girl Gone Bad: ReloadedRelease date: 2008-06-17; Music CD
Best price: $6.77
Price in other shops:
Usher - ConfessionsRelease date: 2004-10-05; Music CD
Best price: $5.54
Price in other shops:
Usher - Here I StandBaker & Taylor; Release date: 2008-05-13; Music CD
Best price: $2.54
Price in other shops:
Usher - Raymond v. RaymondRelease date: 2010-03-30; Music CD
Best price: $8.10
Price in other shops:
Chris Brown - F.A.M.E. (Deluxe Edition)Release date: 2011-03-22; Music CD
Best price: $10.77
Price in other shops:
Ne-Yo - Because Of YouBaker & Taylor; Release date: 2007-05-01; Published: 2007-05-02; Music CD
Best price: $4.97
Price in other shops:
Ne-Yo - Libra ScaleRelease date: 2010-11-22; Music CD
Best price: $5.45
Price in other shops:
Ne-Yo - In My Own WordsBaker & Taylor; Release date: 2006-02-28; Music CD
Best price: $4.85
Price in other shops: