Playlist

Babyface | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (September 18, 2007)
• Original Release Date: 2007
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Mercury
• ASIN: B000TYM0J6
• Also Available in: Audio CD  |  MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (33 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #51,846 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Alana Nash, What's your problem?, February 21, 2008

By 

PressFocus (Wilmington, Delaware USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Playlist (Audio CD)

In the end, it all just comes off, like David Gates's "Diary," as Bread, all of it awfully, awfully, awfully white. --Alanna Nash

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WOW! Amazon reviewer Alanna Nash can't seem to get over the fact that a respected R&B performer like Babyface was influenced by white pop-rock artists. "Awfully white"? Didn't anyone else find this review more than a bit racially biased?

9 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars "Good music will rule again": Kenny Babyface Edmonds, October 3, 2007

By 

Patjam - See all my reviews

This review is from: Playlist (Audio CD)

This is soft pop with some R&B flava, a tribute to great musicians who made history in the 70s and whose work continues to inspire many artists including Babyface. In most cases, remakes of songs like James Taylor's "Fire and Rain," Bob Dylan's "Knockin' on Heaven's Door" or Eric Clapton's "Wonderful Tonight" are condemned as self-indulgent when the performers try hard to make the song their own yet Babyface tastefully does it with class and enough restraint so as not to upstage the originals and also with enough gentle R&B massaging to make them worthwhile.

Playlist Album Résumé

Not Going Nowhere is the best Babyface's song since The Loneliness. The lyrics, his voice combined with the nice arrangements make it one of the best tracks of this album. 5/5

Longer 5/5 (It deserved a Grammy nod...)
Time in a bottle 5/5 (Simply divine)

Diary 4.5/5(it reminds me of "Girl in the life magazine" a song Babyface wrote for Boyz II Men)
Fire And Rain 4/5
Knockin' On Heaven's Door 4/5
Please Come To Boston 4/5 (Brandy's voice is so sweet)

Wonderful Tonight (3/5), I will quote Babyface himself: "I'm excited to say I got an e-mail from Eric Clapton, and he said that it was one of the best versions he's heard yet. And I'm just as excited that I got a letter from James Taylor himself saying that he loved the versions, and so I don't care what anybody else thinks. I'm fine now. That's better than winning a Grammy."

Shower the people (3/5)
The Soldier Song (3/5) it has all the ingredients of a patriotic song with the Nashville touch, the acoustic guitar, the harmonica and its meaningful lyrics.

Playlist is a great and mature album with no commercial intentions. After all, Babyface is already a multi-millionaire with 10 Grammies, multi-platinum albums... the only thing that comes to his mind is doing it for the love of the game and not for money!

Although I'm Face's die hard fan, I must confess the idea of covering such hits was great but the concept was relatively poor because of the following reasons:

1. First I'd like to compare this album with Barry Manilow's greatest songs of the 70s. The concept is similar to Playlist but Barry has put out a Dual Disc with more than 20 tracks while Babyface opted for 10 tracks only. That's my first disappointment coz there was still room for extending this amazing playlist!

2. I heard Face initially did not want to include new material on Playlist and luckily LA Reid (IDJ Boss & former LaFace partner) insisted to include new tracks and they agreed on "A soldier song" and the tearful "Not Going Nowhere". The later was written for his kids and inspired from his amicable divorce, it leaves you wanting more new material from Babyface...

3. Babyface is known to be among a few multi talented artists who can walk in a studio and get out with 100 songs I still don't understand why he always spends 5 years to release an album. He should have released a Double CD (This Playlist and one with new material)!

4. Another problem with Playlist is that he does everything from A to Z except on Please come to Boston where Brandy does some backing vocals (this track is one of my favs). My suggestion is "Invite guests Face!"... Add John Lennon's Imagine on this Playlist and call Michael Jackson or Elton John to lend their voices..., what about Beyoncé on Paul McCartney's Maybe I'm Amazed? Or invite Maxwell or Sting on John Lennon's woman.

5. Last but not least, I think his Playlist is incomplete without homage to R&B artists who also contributed much to the success of 70s' music (Marvin Gaye, Al Green, Stevie Wonder etc.). This is actually what was more predictable from a Soul singer like Babyface. A duet with Corinne Bailey Rae on Temptation's just my imagination, Toni Braxton on Smokey Robinson's cruising, Alicia Keys on Staple Singer's I'll take you there, Robin Thicke on Earth Wind and Fire's Reasons...

Babyface has the right to try doing s.th different especially after dominating R&B charts for a decade... so if you don't want the billboard charts to define what good music is, buy this piece of art!

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars very inspiring, September 18, 2007

By 

Jacqueline Glenn "lady j" (brooklyn, ny) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Playlist (Audio CD)

this album is very touching.for those in our thirties that would have babyface, mary j blige, toni braxton on our playlist, these are people that have influence him that have made him the singer that he is today.the man could sing the alphabets for all i care and it would sound good.lol. people dont sing anymore.he is an artist that like to try different style and you cannot knock him for doing that, it just showed that is flexible and well rounded. he will always be # 1 in my book. for those that dont love this cd - oh well, get over it.my fav. song is not going nowhere- really a touching song about his son.