Lionel Richie - Lionel Richie (1982)

Artist:  Lionel Richie
Title:  Lionel Richie
Release:  1982
Format:  LP
Label:  Motown Records
Catalog#  542029

“Lionel Richie” is the debut solo album by R&B singer Lionel Richie after leaving the Commodores. It was released in 1982 on Motown Records. The first single, “Truly”, topped the Billboard Hot 100. The key to its success and the reason it was scorned by some Commodores fans is that Richie doesn’t even make a pretense of funk here, leaving behind the loose, elastic grooves of his previous bands (a move that makes sense, since his voice never suited that style particularly well), choosing to concentrate on ballads and sparkly mid-tempo pop, peppered with a few stylish dance grooves. The ballads, of course, provided two big hits with “My Love” and “Truly,” two numbers that illustrate that he was moving ever-closer to mainstream pop, since these are unapologetic AOR slow-dance tunes. The other big hit, “You Are,” is an effervescent, wonderful pop tune that showcases Richie at his sunniest; it’s one of his greatest singles. Throughout the first part of the record, the dance numbers are served up and they’re very good “Serves You Right” has a shiny, propulsive groove, while “Tell Me” jams nicely. After “You Are,” the record bogs down with a couple of ballads that are on the wrong side of adult contemporary too formless, too hookless to really catch hold but they don’t hurt the first seven songs, which form a dynamic mainstream pop-soul record, one of the best the early ’80s had to offer.


Side one
1.  Serves You Right  (5:08)
2.  Wandering Stranger  (5:36)
3.  Tell Me  (5:28)
4.  My Love  (4:05)

Side two
1.  Round And Round  (4:48)
2.  Truly  (3:19)
3.  You Are  (4:49)
4.  You Mean More To Me  (3:01)
5.  Just Put Some Love In Your Heart  (1:21)

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