Cee Lo Green - The Lady Killer (2010)

[Cosmic Harmony]

"Well hello there. My name is... not important, and I'm often asked, what do I do for a living? And I answer, "I do what I want".
Spontaneity is, the spice of life and I've indulged quite a bit. But, I'm not above the law, and I'm certainly not lawless. But when it comes to ladies, I have a license...

To kill!"​

1. The Lady Killer Theme (Intro)
2. Bright Lights Bigger City
3. **** You
4. Wildflower
5. Bodies
6. Love Gun
7. Satisfied
8. I Want You
9. Cry Baby
10. Fool for You
11. It's OK
12. Old Fashioned
13. No One's Gonna Love You
14. The Lady Killer Theme (Outro)



Cee Lo Green's "The Lady Killer" is my pick for album of the year from 2010. Even though it came out last year though it's had a much bigger impact this year both because of the great, continued success of it's lead single (which I will get to momentarily) and because it's proving to be an album with growing longevity.

Don't let the opening monolog or it's recent release date fool you, this album is as fun loving and soulful as you can get. Cee Lo Green modernizes the heart and soul (no pun intended) of Motown and vintage 60's soul and funk music with this album. With the aid of lush string and horn sections Green takes us on a journey with this loose concept album about love, sex, and heartbreak. There are different uplifting tones to nearly every track on the album both musically and lyrically. This makes sure that even the songs about heartbreak have an optimistic "the sun will come out tomorrow" sort of way about them. Which brings up the album's smash hit "**** You".

"**** You", or "Forget You" for the radio edit, was released back in November and charted in the top 10 in several country including #2 in the US and #1 in the UK. Even six months later this very profane, single is still on the charts and is the highest selling single of the year so far. The song tells the story of a girl breaking Cee Lo's heart because he wasn't rich so when he sees her on the arm or another man he offers them both a simple "**** you" and even pities the man because "being in love with [her] ass ain't cheap".

With the fun nature of the album, the clever lyrics, and it's rich modernizing of the classic soul style I would have to say that my favorite part of this album is Cee Lo's vocals. A few years back when he broke onto the scene with "Crazy" as a part of Gnarles Barkley I remember thinking about how distinctive his voice was and how much I enjoyed he uniqueness of his tone and sincere singing style. This all has been carried onto "The Lady Killer" with tremendous force and I greatly applaud him for it.

Now I have mentioned several times at this point that this is a very classic sounding album but that is not to say that there are not songs on the more modern side of the spectrum (which does not mean that they are bad songs). "Bright Lights Bigger City", "Bodies", and "Love Gun" are what I feel are the most modern sounding songs on the album, though they still have old school flare to them. "Bodies" in particular stands out on the album to me on the album though for it's very witty use of double entendre. Just because it stands out that does not mean it's my favorite at all though. Those distinctions go to (in no order)...

"**** You"
(I don't feel I need to warn you that this song uses a lot of naughty words)


"Satisfied"


"It's OK"


"I Want You"




In conclusion, because of it's new new adaptations of old methods, creative lyrics, terrific vocals, all around fun nature, easily identifiable themes, strong production values, and overall presentation and delivery I give Cee Lo Green's "The Lady Killer" a 9.5 out of 10 and fully recommend it as an album that should be picked up by any music fan. ​

 

[Rockperson]

Re: The Lady Killer ~~~ Cee Lo Green

Nice review, I like what I`ve heard so far, saw him perform Bright Lights on the Jools Holland later show a few months back with an all female band, excellent stuff

 

[Gabble Ratchet]

Re: The Lady Killer ~~~ Cee Lo Green

When I first heard F*** You on triple J, I found myself bopping along to it in my car. And usually I never "bop" to anything! Even though I've only listened to the album once, it's a great soulful piece of art. You have given a great review and I look forward to listening to The Lady killer many more times!

 

[Cosmic Harmony]

Re: The Lady Killer ~~~ Cee Lo Green

Nice review, I like what I`ve heard so far, saw him perform Bright Lights on the Jools Holland later show a few months back with an all female band, excellent stuff

Thanks. I found that performance and I think it's really good too.

When I first heard F*** You on triple J, I found myself bopping along to it in my car. And usually I never "bop" to anything! Even though I've only listened to the album once, it's a great soulful piece of art. You have given a great review and I look forward to listening to The Lady killer many more times!

well it's a very bop worthy song. I'm glad to hear that you liked it so much, Sal. I can't help but think that this would be a bit of an oddball addition to your CD collection.

Also Triple J definitely knows a thing or two about good music.

 

[JuddBonus]

Re: The Lady Killer ~~~ Cee Lo Green

Just like Eminem, when something catches my hear, I guess not wjhere it comes from, to me.. its worthly. And in this thread its Cee Lo Green... And this was posted somewhere and its a mashtune.. crossing one song with another that fits perfectly, we, thisd one certainly does... Its Cee Lo Green's "F*uck You" crossed with Van Halens "Jump".. my what what do you get, its by The Kleptones and its called "Jump You F*uckers"

WARNING...WARNING.... offended by "certain" words, need not apply here...



Enjoy.. I did

 

[Cosmic Harmony]

Re: The Lady Killer ~~~ Cee Lo Green

^^^There are fair number of mashups that I enjoy and that really wasn't one of them. There is a magical sense of enjoyment that I get out of both "**** You" and "Jump" that wasn't present in that mashup. I thought it was cold and thumpy.

 

[Soot and Stars]

Re: The Lady Killer ~~~ Cee Lo Green

I'll admit that even though I'm a big fan of Gnarls Barkley, especially the first album, that I wrote off the Cee-lo song. It sounded so much like something Gnarls Barkley could of released so I wondered "Why bother even going solo?" Plus, Gnarls was a little stranger and had some light AND dark tones which made the albums more interesting IMO. Gnarls already did retro so it just seemed Cee-lo was just watering down and streamlining the sound for a larger audience which is smart. With the single **** You it seemed like it only caught on because it used a naughty word. Listening to these songs with the review, I listened to the music openly and with a fresher perspective. I do enjoy it! The music is infectious as good pop should be. Cee-lo's voice as always is interesting and has a great range you need in that realm of soulful pop. Of the songs listed Cosmic, "It's OK" is my favorite. How can that not make someone smile?

As for the darker tones, which I loved about Gnarls, my favorite song by them is this one:

Gnarls Barkley-Just a Thought


What an amazing song so I was wondering if their was anything on the Cee-lo album even close to represent that vibe. I got it from the track Bodies Cosmic mentioned! This song just became my favorite. It's like the R&B/Soul version of the Lost Highway Soundtrack! Call it Soul Noirre!

Bodies

 

[Lynch]

Re: The Lady Killer ~~~ Cee Lo Green

I've heard a few of his tunes before. F**k you is the one I remember the most.