Stroke of Genius is one of the best arguments yet that Gerald LeVert needs to slow down his release schedule and trust someone else in the producer's chair for once.
After 1998's Love & Consequences, LeVert fell into a rut, releasing one underwhelming album after another.
His voice is fine and he still does the convincing pillow talk, but like his last few releases, the material isn't there.
Too often he turns to R.
Kelly-styled strip-club music way beyond his reach, with the embarrassing "Knock, Knock, Knock" being the worst offender.
At least its silly swagger makes it stand out.
Most of the 20 tracks here are completely formulaic and/or forgettable, and the only thing to separate this album from the previous ones is some half-baked concept about painting your masterpieces with strokes of genius.
But that's LeVert as of late, isn't it? Left to his own devices, he overstuffs albums with slightly clever ideas that by no means should be executed on such a grand scale.
Even a sultry duet with Tamia on the Carpenters' "(They Long to Be) Close to You" gets ruined by silly whispers of sweet nothings that go on way too long.
A keen producer would have hacked that, dropped the silly concept, and shopped around for better material.
| Title/Composers | Performer | Listen | Time | Size | Size | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Knock Knock KnockJasper Cameron | Gerald Levert | Play | 03:08 | 7 MB | 0 MB |
| 2 | Long Hot SummerGerald Levert, Edwin "Tony" Nicholas | Gerald Levert | Play | 03:40 | 8 MB | 0 MB |
| 3 | AwesomeGerald Levert, Edwin "Tony" Nicholas | Gerald Levert | Play | 04:39 | 10 MB | 0 MB |
| 4 | Stroke of GeniusGerald Levert, Edwin "Tony" Nicholas | Gerald Levert | Play | 04:36 | 10 MB | 0 MB |
| 5 | I Got a GirlGerald Levert, Edwin "Tony" Nicholas | Gerald Levert | Play | 04:03 | 9 MB | 0 MB |
| 6 | U Got That Love (Call It a Night)Gerald Levert, Edwin "Tony" Nicholas | Gerald Levert | Play | 04:30 | 10 MB | 0 MB |
| 7 | Wear It OutGerald Levert, Edwin "Tony" Nicholas | Gerald Levert | Play | 04:26 | 10 MB | 0 MB |
| 8 | Good MorningGerald Levert, Edwin "Tony" Nicholas | Gerald Levert | Play | 02:48 | 6 MB | 0 MB |
| 9 | Keep It WarmGeezer Butler, Ian Gillan, Tony Iommi, Gerald Levert, Edwin "Tony" Nicholas | Gerald Levert | Play | 03:44 | 8 MB | 0 MB |
| 10 | Didn't WeGerald Levert, Edwin "Tony" Nicholas | Gerald Levert | Play | 04:35 | 10 MB | 0 MB |
| 11 | To My GraveGerald Levert, Edwin "Tony" Nicholas | Gerald Levert | Play | 03:46 | 8 MB | 0 MB |
| 12 | Let It BeGerald Levert, Edwin "Tony" Nicholas | Gerald Levert | Play | 03:33 | 8 MB | 0 MB |
| 13 | The Visit (Interlude)Gerald Levert | Gerald Levert | Play | 00:21 | 0 MB | 0 MB |
| 14 | Eyes and EarsGerald Levert, Edwin "Tony" Nicholas | Gerald Levert, Eddie Levert | Play | 04:19 | 9 MB | 0 MB |
| 15 | You Got That Love AgainGerald Levert, Edwin "Tony" Nicholas | Gerald Levert | Play | 04:04 | 9 MB | 0 MB |
| 16 | Won't Get UpGerald Levert, Edwin "Tony" Nicholas | Gerald Levert | Play | 04:25 | 10 MB | 0 MB |
| 17 | 1st Stroke | Gerald Levert | Play | 00:28 | 1 MB | 0 MB |
| 18 | (They Long to Be) Close to You [feat. Tamia] | Gerald Levert, Tamia | Play | 05:20 | 12 MB | 0 MB |
| 19 | Rest of My Life | Gerald Levert | Play | 03:53 | 8 MB | 0 MB |
| 20 | Last Stroke | Gerald Levert | Play | 00:49 | 1 MB | 0 MB |
| 71 mins | 163 MB | |||||
| 0 mins | 0 MB | |||||
| Artist | Job | |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Burt Bacharach | Composer |
| 2 | Tim Baker | Violin |
| 3 | Shawn Barber | Paintings |
| 4 | Gene Bianco | Contractor |
| 5 | Jim Burnham | Violin |
| 6 | Geezer Butler | Composer |
| 7 | Jasper Cameron | Composer, Keyboards, Producer, Programming, Vocals (Background) |
| 8 | Holly Carroll | Copyist |
| 9 | Richard Clark | Viola |
| 10 | Hal David | Composer |
| 11 | Eddie | Featured Artist |
| 12 | Alicia Edelberg | Violin |
| 13 | Roberto Fantauzzi | Photo Production |
| 14 | Michael Fossenkemper | Mastering |
| 15 | Crystal Garner | Viola |
| 16 | Ian Gillan | Composer |
| 17 | Tameka Foster Glover | Stylist |
| 18 | Ashley Horne | Violin |
| 19 | Regis Iandiorio | Concert Master, Violin |
| 20 | Tony Iommi | Composer |
| 21 | Butch Jones | Engineer |
| 22 | Karen Karlsrud | Violin |
| 23 | Yong Tae Kim | Violin |
| 24 | Peter Krysa | Violin |
| 25 | Conway Kuo | Violin |
| 26 | Christian Lantry | Photography |
| 27 | Lavontz | Rap |
| 28 | Tristan Leral | Assistant |
| 29 | Eddie Levert | Primary Artist, Vocals |
| 30 | Gerald Levert | Composer, Drum Programming, Executive Producer, Percussion, Primary Artist, Producer, Vocal Arrangement, Vocals, Vocals (Background) |
| 31 | Sean Levert | Featured Artist, Vocals |
| 32 | Carlton Lynn | Mixing |
| 33 | Louis Martin | Viola |
| 34 | Michael McCoy | Engineer |
| 35 | Eugene J. Moye | Cello |
| 36 | Edwin "Tony" Nicholas | Composer, Drum Programming, Engineer, Guitar, Guitar (Bass), Keyboards, Producer, Sequencing |
| 37 | Damon "DJ" Parker | Vocals (Background) |
| 38 | Alvin Patterson | Groomer |
| 39 | Nicole Patterson | Make-Up |
| 40 | Dunn Pearson, Jr. | Arranger, Conductor |
| 41 | Lili Picou | Art Direction, Design |
| 42 | P!nk | Engineer |
| 43 | Sue Pray | Viola |
| 44 | Karen Rostron | Violin |
| 45 | Versai Sain | Guitar |
| 46 | Andy Schaw | Violin |
| 47 | Randy Spotts | Drum Programming |
| 48 | Sandy Strenger | Violin |
| 49 | Gregg Swann | Guitar |
| 50 | Tamia | Featured Artist, Vocals |
| 51 | Pete Tokar | Engineer, Mixing |
| 52 | Luz Vasquez | Assistant |
| 53 | Ivan "St. Ives" Walker | Engineer |
| 54 | Bruce Wang | Cello |
| 55 | Belinda Whitney | Violin |
| 56 | Deborah Wong | Violin |
| 57 | Paul Woodiel | Violin |
| 58 | Joey Woolfalk | Guitar |
| 59 | Sherena Wynn | Vocals (Background) |
| 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. |