best ne-yo album opener

i like all of these a lot but "closer" is all time level shit

"closer" is best. "because of you" is the weak one out.

rev making me question my faith ;_;

"closer": 10/10
"stay" and "champagne life": 9/10
"because of you": 7/10

yeah closer was def his game changing record. can't stand any of the others, except maybe "because of you" as a tolerable "let me love you" rehash

i absolutely adore "because of you" and don't love "closer" half as much as my favourite songs on YOTG, so, that

"Because of You" without question.

liking "because of you" more than the others just seems like liking the idea of ne-yo more than his actual work

like...it's kind of the platonic ne-yo song and not actually very interesting bc of that

the platonic ideal of a ne-yo song seems a pretty good reason to vote for it! i think its melody is totally unstoppable, absolutely love the way all the hooks flow into each other

yeah, if "mad" or "miss independent" were on the poll it would be harder to decide a winner. but i really don't think any of the openers really hold a candle to "closer," taken at face value or within the context of when they were released

i dunno lex, i don't think "most represented" by any means naturally equals "best"

most represtative*

geez representative

i'm sleepy

"because of you" & "closer" tower over the other two, and i could really go either way, but i vote the former

"Because of You" without question.

right

liking "because of you" more than the others just seems like liking the idea of ne-yo more than his actual work

rong

think I'm gonna go for 'stay, despite/because of peedi crakk

weird poll idea imo

"Closer" is by far my favorite but "Stay" is really fun and joyous too. could give a damn about the other 2.

liking "because of you" more than the others just seems like liking the idea of ne-yo more than his actual work

idgi

isn't Ne-Yo essentially a platonic songwriter? I don't see how "Because of You" could be considered to stand out in this regard. But i'm curious as to your reasoning Rev.

I don't know about Rev's use of "platonic" in this context.

i interpreted it as "songs that stand in for the notion of songs"

Who needs notions though when you've got songs as good as "Because of You"?

I thought it means as in it's so perfect that it would be boring to vote for it

weird poll idea imo

was just ~thinking about things~ and realizing that ne-yo tends to start out his albums with absolute monsters

i interpreted it as "songs that stand in for the notion of songs"

― Tim F, Wednesday, December 15, 2010 3:49 PM Bookmark

well more "ne-yo song that stands in for the notion of ne-yo songs". i just feel like "because of you" takes all his usual stylistic tics and distills anything that would otherwise individualize one of his songs out of them. every element of that song is something he has done more interestingly elsewhere.

"Closer" in a walk. "Stay" is the only one I don't bump tho.

champagne life is going to get crushed (deservedly)

:(

listened to closer again last night and felt like it was too one-note (literally, too)

i just really don't get how "because of you" has become the go-to ne-yo hit for a lot of people here. it's always been the hit single of his with the least to offer to me.

'champagne life' just kind of feels like a ne-yo mid-album deep cut

well, unless "beautiful monster" counts xp

beautiful monster can gtfo

Yeah, if anything "Beautiful Monster" made me appreciate how great "Closer" really is.

i stand by what i wrote about "champagne life" here

It may not be the culmination of all things Ne-Yo, but he sounds absolutely giddy here, against a background as dizzy and fizzy as the title would imply. The only thing tethering the constant ascent of the strings is that cracking snare. There’s a palpable sense of opportunity about the whole thing that is contagious, as if this is barely the start, a remarkable outlook for an artist on his fourth album who may have already peaked. Screw Ke$ha, this is what makes me feel like P. Diddy.

hmm, I dunno if I hear opportunity so much as melancholy in champagne life - there's that repeated three note melody that sounds like...woodwind synth patch? that sounds so sad and confused

it sounds totally elated to me

fucking hate that song

idgi

I wish I was a musicologist cause it sounds like it's in a minor key? maybe that's why it feels sad.

I dunno, it conjures up this sort of 3 AM languor, it's very dark and slinky and I get the feeling of riding around in somebody else's limousine at night

i agree but to me he sounds happy to be riding in the limousine

afaict the tune (at least in the chorus) does lots of weird shit with accidentals, which makes it hard for me to figure out the key just from the little snippet of melody i figured out but is probably what gives it the feel you are talking about.

C#-D#-F-C-D
C#-D#-F-F-F
C#-D#-F-C-D
C#-D#-F-F-F
D#-C#-D#-F

Yeah, if anything "Beautiful Monster" made me appreciate how great "Closer" really is.

^^^^

Yeah, people rip on "Champagne Life," but imagine if "Beautiful Monster" had opened that record....

... then it'd have been SO much better!

gross

maybe i need to listen again? i thought "beautiful monster" was great but the rest of the album was ~shrug~

it's the only song i don't like on the album

it's the only song i don't like on the album

:'(

heh, if you only like ne-yo when he is sounding like 4th-rate dr. luke, that's your thing *shrug*

it doesn't really sound like Dr. Luke, it sounds like what it is: 4th-rate Stargate

i think i meant 4th-rate max martin tbh

*narc of sd*

it does feed into some dude's narcissism to let him flex his intimate knowledge of the dr. luke sound, yes.

i was directing that mostly at myself.

Because of You is still his worst album, but Libra Scale is distinctly second-rate too.

agreed. it doesn't really hit the peaks of IMOW or YOTG

even tho the ciara album is also short as hell, i think since it had three amazing singles, it feels less slight to me, whereas, even tho it's still a pretty decent album, i feel like 'libra scale' doesn't even exist

YOTG was an album of the decade contendah.

yeah i don't buy that, altho i think it had one of the best run of singles in recent memory

no way is because of you a worse album than libra scale! i agree w/j0rdan, it's so unmemorable that it may as well not exist

All BOY had going for it was the title track. LS at least has "Cause I Said So," "One in a Million," and "What Have I Done."

"addicted"!!!

^^^

I'll dig through my CD's. I have no memory of it.

no / i / am / not / i'm not / addicted to sex! / but girl i guarantee / that if you lay with me / you just might be / ayyy

'libra scale' is pretty great because you can put it on and forget about it, until you hit beautiful monster at least

doesn't have any highs but doesn't have any lows either except for beautiful monster

yeah Libra Scale has a surprisingly nice groove to settle into. imo IMOW is easily his best album though.

imo IMOW too

Wrote a few weeks ago that Libra Scale has the most ambitious titles in the Ne-Yo catalog but no memorable tunes accompanying them.

yeah Libra Scale has a surprisingly nice groove to settle into.

OTM. I like Libra Scale precisely because it is so slight. I'd prefer a GREAT Ne-Yo album, but I'll happily take an understated one that bumps along so pleasantly and inoffensively. And I like that it's a grower. The songs don't really hit you over the head, they just sort of comfortably sink in. And "One in a Million" isn't flashy like the YOTGM singles, but I think I like it just as much.

If you guys mean he's almost mastered the craft of making and sequencing a modern R&B record, I agree.

The songs don't really hit you over the head, they just sort of comfortably sink in.

i agree they don't hit me over the head. still hoping they'll sink in b/c right now, i dont really care for this album much :/

might argue rev's own wanly platonic ideal of a champagne life (cheap hokey glitz and none of glamour's essential cordoned-off vip cruelty) clouds his judgement of that tune the same way he oddly accuses people of wrt 'because of you'

... feel me?

anyway, would once have lobbied for 'stay' but happy with 'because' now. seems i will never not find 'closer' a bit gross. agree this is a random-ass poll.

i feel the same way about Rev about "Because Of You," it's like half his first album summarized with a slightly thumpier beat and some iffy unconvincing lyrics about how excited he is about "the next time i'm gon' get me some." but i don't hate it as much as i did at the time, partly because the other singles from that album were even worse.

Automatic thread bump. This poll is closing tomorrow.

Automatic thread bump. This poll's results are now in.

I'll take it.

and it's all because of you

I've never felt closer.

lol @ champagne life 0

well that song sux