When singer/songwriter/producer Mike Posner released his debut album, the B.A.
in sociology he earned while attending Duke had only been hanging on the wall for a couple weeks, but thanks to the Internet, he was already a star.
Anyone familiar with his genre-blending but mostly pop hit “Cooler Than Me” will find 31 Minutes to Takeoff a nice and comfy follow-up with just two surprises.
First, there’s Posner’s occasional and irresponsible wickedness, best illustrated by the Jason Mraz-meets-Flo Rida number “Cheated,” where he calls out his ex-“whore” by using her full name.
The better surprise is his heavy dose of talent that doesn’t necessarily dazzle but does charm, and is deep enough to keep things interesting for a whole album.
A-list producers like Benny Blanco (the hip-hop-meets-trance “Please Don’t Go”), the Smeezingtons (the swaggering, porn guitar come-on called “Bow Chicka Wow Wow”), and Cisco Adler (the soulful highlight “Do U Wanna?”) bring on the polish, but Posner gets plenty of co-producer credits and the balance is always half dorm room, half major label.
Add Boyz II Men sounding just fine on “Déjà Vu” and a bunch of bedroom room numbers that come off as Robin Thicke for the collegiate set and Posner’s entertaining debut is right in line with his reported Duke grade point average of B+.
| Title/Composers | Performer | Listen | Time | Size | Size | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 31 Minutes to Takeoff | Mike Posner | Play | 00:53 | 2 MB | 4 MB |
| 2 | Please Don't GoBenjamin Levin, Mike Posner | Mike Posner | Play | 03:16 | 7 MB | 22 MB |
| 3 | Bow Chicka Wow WowChristopher Steven Brown, Philip Lawrence, Ari Levine, Bruno Mars, Mike Posner | Mike Posner | Play | 03:16 | 7 MB | 22 MB |
| 4 | Cooler Than MeEric Holljes, Mike Posner | Mike Posner | Play | 03:33 | 8 MB | 26 MB |
| 5 | Déjà VuNathan Morris, Wanya Morris, Mike Posner, Teddy Riley, Shawn Stockman | Mike Posner | Play | 03:04 | 7 MB | 21 MB |
| 6 | Do U Wanna?Cisco Adler, Ray LaMontagne, Mike Posner | Mike Posner | Play | 02:31 | 5 MB | 16 MB |
| 7 | CheatedBenjamin Levin, Mike Posner | Mike Posner | Play | 03:19 | 7 MB | 22 MB |
| 8 | Gone in SeptemberCisco Adler, Travis Barker, Mike Posner | Mike Posner | Play | 03:38 | 8 MB | 25 MB |
| 9 | Save Your GoodbyeGreg Kurstin, Mike Posner | Mike Posner | Play | 03:35 | 8 MB | 23 MB |
| 10 | SynthesizerGreg Kurstin, Mike Posner | Mike Posner | Play | 04:10 | 9 MB | 27 MB |
| 11 | FallingGreg Kurstin, Mike Posner | Mike Posner | Play | 03:38 | 8 MB | 23 MB |
| 12 | Delta 1406 | Mike Posner | Play | 03:04 | 7 MB | 18 MB |
| 38 mins | 87 MB | |||||
| 38 mins | 256 MB | |||||
| Artist | Job | |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Cisco Adler | Composer, Producer, Synthesizer |
| 2 | Stevvi Alexander | Vocals (Background) |
| 3 | Travis Barker | Composer, Drums |
| 4 | Benny Blanco | Drums, Engineer, Keyboards, Producer, Programming, Vocal Editing, Vocals (Background) |
| 5 | Boyz II Men | Vocal Arrangement, Vocal Producer |
| 6 | Brody Brown | Instrumentation |
| 7 | Christopher Steven Brown | Composer |
| 8 | Danny Chaimson | Keyboards, Wurlitzer |
| 9 | Daniel Crawford | Keyboards |
| 10 | Peter Edge | A&R |
| 11 | Chris Feldmann | Art Direction, Design |
| 12 | Fingazz | Talk Box |
| 13 | Serban Ghenea | Mixing |
| 14 | Gigamesh | Producer, Programming |
| 15 | Erwin Gorostiza | Creative Director |
| 16 | Emmanuel Griggs | Composer |
| 17 | Jeramy Gritter | Guitar |
| 18 | John Hanes | Mixing, Mixing Engineer |
| 19 | Eric Holljes | Composer, Vocals |
| 20 | James Ingram | Drum Engineering |
| 21 | Greg Kurstin | Composer, Engineer, Keyboards, Mixing, Piano, Producer, Programming |
| 22 | Dave Kutch | Mastering |
| 23 | Ray LaMontagne | Composer |
| 24 | Philip Lawrence | Composer |
| 25 | Benjamin Levin | Composer |
| 26 | Ari Levine | Composer, Engineer, Instrumentation |
| 27 | Manny Marroquin | Mixing |
| 28 | Bruno Mars | Composer, Instrumentation |
| 29 | Roderick A. Marshall | Composer |
| 30 | Nathan Morris | Composer |
| 31 | Wanya Morris | Composer |
| 32 | Rob Murray | Assistant, Engineer |
| 33 | Christian Plata | Assistant |
| 34 | Mike Posner | Composer, Drums, Engineer, Keyboards, Primary Artist, Producer, Programming, Vocal Arrangement, Vocal Engineer, Vocal Producer |
| 35 | Raw Talent | Drum Programming |
| 36 | Teddy Riley | Composer |
| 37 | Tim Roberts | Mixing Assistant |
| 38 | Timothy Saccenti | Photography |
| 39 | The Smeezingtons | Producer |
| 40 | Mark Smidt | Bass |
| 41 | Shawn Stockman | Composer |
| 42 | Dave Trumfio | Piano Engineer |
| Quality | Format | Encoding | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| Standard | MP3 | 320kps 44.1kHz | MP3 is an audio coding format which uses a form of lossy data compression. The highest bitrate of this format is 320kbps (kbit/s). MP3 Digital audio takes less amount of space (up to 90% reduction in size) and the quality is not as good as the original one. |
| CD Quality | FLAC | 16bit 44.1kHz | FLAC is an audio coding format which uses lossless compression. Digital audio in FLAC format has a smaller size and retains the same quality of the original Compact Disc (CD). |