Lionel Richie, barring his success in the '80s with such hits as "Hello," "Running With the Night," and "All Night Long," has struggled to find his place in music after life with the Commodores.
Renaissance, Richie's 2001 release, is another post-Commodores album that misses the mark.
Most of the songs don't particularly fit any radio format, with the exception of adult contemporary, but that's not the problem.
Lacking a radio home doesn't make for a bad recording.
It's the material on Renaissance, which is uninteresting, and Richie's voice is often out of place with the music, as illustrated on "Angel." This song features a mild dance beat but Richie's voice is sorely incompatible with it.
Elsewhere, there are nice Latin-flavored arrangements, such as on "Cinderella" and "Dance the Night Away." But, again, Richie's vocal delivery doesn't work with such musical styling.
This clash between music and voice is a running theme on Renaissance.
Lyrically, the album fails as well, and is rife with juvenile wordplay: "I held you close to me/Girl, you are my ecstasy/Your lips, and your hair/The way you touch me, girl I swear/Only you could take me there" -- from "Dance the Night Away." There are, however, some redeeming performances on Renaissance.
"It May Be the Water" is the album's first of two winning moments where music, lyrics, and vocal delivery all meet to create successful synergy.
The song is similar to a Boyz II Men track and should work on the radio.
Richie should have applied whatever techniques he used on this track to the rest of this album, because all the pieces fit perfectly here.
"Don't Stop the Music" is the other exception on Renaissance, and recalls the "All Night Long" party vibe.
This song, similar to a Luther Vandross R&B jam, successfully captures a modern R&B/dance groove, unlike other tracks on this album that attempt to do the same.
It really is sad because Lionel Richie has exhibited such talent in the past.
It's painful to hear such floundering work by a performer who listeners know can do better.
| Title/Composers | Performer | Listen | Time | Size | Size | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | CinderellaLionel Richie, Joe Wolfe | Lionel Richie | Play | 03:42 | 8 MB | 27 MB |
| 2 | Tender HeartPaul Barry, Billy Lawrie, Lionel Richie | Lionel Richie | Play | 04:28 | 10 MB | 31 MB |
| 3 | Dance the Night AwayWalter Afanasieff, Lionel Richie | Lionel Richie | Play | 05:08 | 11 MB | 36 MB |
| 4 | TonightLaShawn Daniels, Fred "Uncle Freddie" Jerkins III, Rodney Jerkins, Lionel Richie | Lionel Richie | Play | 04:31 | 10 MB | 33 MB |
| 5 | How LongLionel Richie | Lionel Richie | Play | 03:55 | 8 MB | 27 MB |
| 6 | Don't You Ever Go AwayLionel Richie, Lloyd Tolbert | Lionel Richie | Play | 04:13 | 9 MB | 30 MB |
| 7 | Wasted TimeLaShawn Daniels, Fred "Uncle Freddie" Jerkins III, Harvey Mason, Jr., Lionel Richie | Lionel Richie | Play | 04:08 | 9 MB | 30 MB |
| 8 | Piece of My HeartLionel Richie, Joe Wolfe | Lionel Richie | Play | 04:15 | 9 MB | 29 MB |
| 9 | It May Be the WaterLionel Richie, Daryl Simmons | Lionel Richie | Play | 04:56 | 11 MB | 28 MB |
| 10 | Here Is My HeartPaul Barry, Lionel Richie, Mark Taylor | Lionel Richie | Play | 04:03 | 9 MB | 31 MB |
| 11 | Don't Stop the MusicPaul Barry, Lionel Richie, Mark Taylor | Lionel Richie | Play | 04:27 | 10 MB | 31 MB |
| 12 | Angel (Metro Mix Album Version) | Lionel Richie | Play | 04:15 | 9 MB | 31 MB |
| 13 | Angel (Boogieman Remix Extended) | Lionel Richie | Play | 06:43 | 15 MB | 49 MB |
| 58 mins | 134 MB | |||||
| 58 mins | 418 MB | |||||
| Artist | Job | |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Tracie Ackerman | Vocals (Background) |
| 2 | Walter Afanasieff | Arranger, Composer, Keyboards, Producer, Programming, Synthesizer |
| 3 | Alex Al | Bass |
| 4 | Chris Anderson | Assistant Engineer |
| 5 | David Ashton | Assistant Engineer |
| 6 | Paul Barry | Composer |
| 7 | Greg Bieck | Digital Editing, MIDI Programming, Programming, Vocal Engineer |
| 8 | Andy Blackwood | Vocals (Background) |
| 9 | Winston Blissett | Bass |
| 10 | Michael Boddicker | Synthesizer |
| 11 | Jonathan Clark | Guitar |
| 12 | Luis Conte | Guest Artist, Percussion |
| 13 | Gerald Cox | Vocals (Background) |
| 14 | Paul Cox | Photography |
| 15 | Dorian Daniels | Bass, Keyboards |
| 16 | LaShawn Daniels | Composer |
| 17 | Paul Foley | Engineer |
| 18 | David Frazer | Engineer |
| 19 | Ronnie Garrett | Bass |
| 20 | Steve Genewick | Assistant Engineer |
| 21 | David Gleeson | Engineer |
| 22 | Steve Hall | Mastering |
| 23 | Demetrius Harvey | Vocals (Background) |
| 24 | John Henderickson | Assistant Engineer |
| 25 | Island Brothers | Instrumentation, Programming, Remixing |
| 26 | Paul Jackson, Jr. | Guest Artist, Guitar |
| 27 | Sylvia Mason James | Vocals (Background) |
| 28 | Fred Jenkins III | Producer |
| 29 | Fred "Uncle Freddie" Jerkins III | Composer |
| 30 | Rodney Jerkins | Composer, Mixing, Producer |
| 31 | Skyler Jett | Vocals (Background) |
| 32 | Thom "TK" Kidd | Engineer |
| 33 | Nathaniel Kunkel | Engineer |
| 34 | Michael Landau | Guitar (Electric) |
| 35 | Tim Lauber | Mixing |
| 36 | Billy Lawrie | Composer |
| 37 | Ricky Lawson | Drums |
| 38 | Kevin Lively | Assistant Engineer |
| 39 | Glen Marchese | Mixing |
| 40 | Harvey Mason, Jr. | Composer |
| 41 | Ethan Mates | Engineer |
| 42 | Skip Miller | Executive Producer |
| 43 | Ricky Minor | Bass |
| 44 | Conesha Monet | Vocals (Background) |
| 45 | Dean Parks | Guitar |
| 46 | Barry Paul | Guitar (Acoustic) |
| 47 | Jerry Peters | Piano, String Arrangements |
| 48 | Adam Phillips | Guitar, Guitar (Electric) |
| 49 | Neil Pogue | Mixing |
| 50 | Brian Rawling | Producer |
| 51 | Dave Reitzas | Engineer |
| 52 | Claytoven Richardson | Vocals (Background) |
| 53 | Lionel Richie | Composer, Fender Rhodes, Keyboards, Primary Artist, Producer, Vocals, Vocals (Background) |
| 54 | David Rideau | Mixing |
| 55 | Daryl Simmons | Composer, Keyboards, Producer, Vocals (Background) |
| 56 | Ivy Skoff | Production Coordination |
| 57 | Robyn Smith | Conductor, String Arrangements |
| 58 | Ralph Sutton | Engineer |
| 59 | Mark Taylor | Composer, Engineer, Keyboards, Mixing, Producer, Programming, String Arrangements |
| 60 | Lloyd Tolbert | Composer, Keyboards, Producer, Programming |
| 61 | Dirk Vanoucek | Engineer |
| 62 | Charles Veal | String Conductor |
| 63 | Stephanie Vonarx | Assistant Engineer |
| 64 | Dave Way | Mixing |
| 65 | Tony Williams | Drum Programming |
| 66 | Joe Wolfe | Composer, Drums, Keyboards, Percussion Programming, Producer |
| 67 | Jong Uk Yoon | Assistant Engineer |
| 68 | Wassim Zreik | Assistant Engineer, Mixing |
| 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). |