Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Baby Makin' Music..., July 14, 2009
Baby makin music indeed! Joe is no stranger to serenading his listeners with smooth love, sensual love songs. What makes this album different from his previous works is that he does it pretty much the entire album. One this I notice about this CD is that it is definitely paced slower then his past works, especially Joe Thomas New Man. To be blunt, this is a great album to set the mood (romantically of course), and could see a lot of spins throughout the night. But anyway, enough bedroom suggestions, back to the album!
Overall, this isnt Joe's best, but its still pretty friggin good. Its still the same ol Joe that we know and love to listen to.
Music production: 5/5. Very well done as usual. Joe usually picks his instrumentals well, so no surprise there.
Content: 3/5. Like I said, this is a serenading album. This man his tryin to take somebody to bed with his music! That being said, the subject matter is pretty predictable and monotonous. He's saying the same thing to a different tune I guess. Its still good though.
Lyrics: 4/5. Whether Joe writes his music or not, usually its done pretty well. This album is written pretty well, but it falls short on originality at times. With titles like "Sex Girl" and "I Wanna Be Your Lover" and "Miss My Baby", it suggests that there was a lack of effort in making this a lyrically rich project. But all that means is that you arent likely to be grabbing any quotable lines from good ol Joe this time around. It still sounds great though.
Overall, the album gets a solid 4/5. Worth my [...] bucks, and an great adition for all the romantics out there.
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2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Classic Joe has returned in "Signature", August 8, 2009
It's so great to see the return of the original Joe as we knew him in the days of "All That I Am". The new cd "Signature" is as close to true Joe charm as you can get without being "All That I Am". After the release of "Joe Thomas, New Man", in 2008 which was filled with hurried and incomplete tracks, it's great to see that Joe has completely redeemed himself.
This cd is great from start to finish, which is a rare find in the watered down music market of today. However, it proves itself to be a revitalization of romanticism at it's best. With tracks like "Wanna Be Your Lover", which is classically sang with seamless harmonies and wonderfully placed runs, "Metaphor", which expresses the idea of looking at the actions instead of verbilization when it comes to love, and "Love's Greatest Episode" which translates as a combination of "Love Scene" and "The Life of the Party", it's no wonder that Joe chose to sign off on what I'd consider to be the second greatest Joe cd created.
One of the most noticeable things about this cd is that there are no features of popular rappers/singers unnecessarily added to the songs of this cd. On the mid tempo songs thankfully, there are no bubble gum catch phrases that require you to do some silly dance move to groove with it. It's maturity at it's best. This cd provides that fresh feeling that real love still exists. Packed with sultry and seductive tracks, it's definitely a must have for the passionate. This is due in part to the fact that it's nearly 100% all Joe and that's what makes it so great. One thing is for sure. This cd proves what true Joe fans knew all along: Joe can stand alone. Signature definitely proves that Joe is a definite force to be reckoned with in R&B. Quite arguably, he could very well be the King... Of R&B, of course.
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2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Joe returns to form, July 19, 2009
If you've followed Joes last few albums, you know its been up and down, hit and miss, and the last album was pretty much entirely forgettable(was for me, anyway). If you're like me, you've been waiting for him to repeat the days of the "All that I am" and "My name is Joe" albums. It'd be inaccurate to say that "Signature" is a repeat of those albums, the progression in Joe's style is actually far more interesting on this album.
The retro sound is in these days, and I'd put this album somewhere in between Teddy Pendergrass and George Benson. Acoustically, this album offers a more complex sounds than one is probably used to with Joe- a lot of horns and saxophone, which is kinda cool. Vocally, Joe is probably at his best on this album. His vocal ability as grown over the years, and I've noticed the improvement though his later material hasn't really given him an opportunity to showcase it- this album does.
The song selection is pretty diverse, and thats one thing that makes the album both surprising and satisfying. The first couple tracks are very hip hop influenced, and all about sex- Joe does these pretty well and despite the crude nature they're both pretty good tracks. The album quickly settles down into some ballads, which is probably what a lot of fans are looking for- and they should fit the bill just fine. The album really shines with tracks 7 and 8, "Miss My Baby" and a remake of Marvin Gaye's "Come Get To This." I wouldn't have seen either of these two songs coming from Joe. I mean that in the sense of both being of a different style than we usually see, and these are probably his two finest performances ever as a vocalist. The Marvin Gaye remake is particularly impressive- its always nice to see somebody do a great job on a remake of a classic, and this is one of the best remakes I've heard in a while.
Tracks 10 and 11 also shine pretty brightly. "Love's Greatest Episode" can be thought of as a sequal to several of Joe's biggest love songs over the years- though he refers to it as a sequal to "The Love Scene," from his "All that I am" album. Again, the new style Joe is putting on display really proves to be a great fit change of pace for him on both of these tracks. He actually pulls some stepping music out of his arsenal for "Sensitive Lover," just like you've heard R. Kelly do.
Overall, this is probably one of my favorite albums that Joe has done. The most impressive thing is that this album is all him- written, arranged, produced, and performed. Not a whole lot of guys that can walk into a studio, essentially alone, and put together a solid album. Joe did it with this album, and best of all the material and the sound is all new, fresh, and exciting.
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