Something Else (Robin Thicke album)

Background and Composition

After Robin Thicke finished his tour for The Evolution of Robin Thicke, he immediately went into the studio to start recording his next album. The album features production from Thicke and Pro J. Thicke describing the recording process of the album: The album drew musical comparisons from critics to the sounds of Philly soul, Motown, and disco funk which Thicke attributed to the use of live instruments, including string and horn sections.

The song "Dreamworld" muses about Thicke's ideal world in which there is, among other things, no poverty and racism. The song was partly inspired by his marriage to Paula Patton and observations of her personal and professional experiences as a black woman.

The song "Tie My Hands" was written by Thicke after the events of Hurricane Katrina in 2005. He was motivated to write the song by his own feelings concerning his inability to aid in the midst of the tragedy, saying, "What happened there greatly affected a lot of us Americans. Because, though we felt like these people deserved to be helped immediately, we couldn't help. Instead we were all just watching this debacle happen in front of our eyes."

Thicke wrote the song “Shadow of Doubt” following a 2007 performance on The Oprah Winfrey Show (for which he felt uneasy and unprepared despite it being well-received); he described the song as being “about a nagging feeling of inadequacy, one that ceaselessly stalks, no matter how one ascends.”

Speaking in October 2008 to noted UK R&B writer Pete Lewis of the award-winning Blues & Soul, Thicke explained the lyrical background to 'Something Else': "With me I think there's always been a little bit of self-examination, spirituality and love in the music. But, where the last album was more me sitting around my house with my piano writing all these songs to make MYSELF feel better, this time I've started talking more about OTHER PEOPLE'S experiences, rather than just my own. The feeling I had while writing these songs was that I wanted to embrace people, and that I wanted to BE embraced."

Critical reception

Something Else received generally favorable reviews from critics who compared his voice and style to Marvin Gaye. At Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, the album has an average score of 72 based on ten reviews. AllMusic editor Andy Kellman worte that while "his sources remain numerous, this is [Thicke]'s most focused, least scattered, and least dilettantish set, and it benefits greatly from its brevity relative" to The Evolution of Robin Thicke." In her review for Entertainment Weekly, Leah Greenblatt noted: "There may be very little here that is truly innovative, but Thicke proves that new dogs do old tricks pretty well."

Sarah Rodman from The Boston Globe felt that "amid the attempts at sexual healing and cosmic, eco-soul unity, Thicke crafts some beautiful atmospheres. Lilting Latin-pop grooves punctuated with congas and guiros melt into tremulous pop symphonies that are equally influenced by the marching orders of Sgt. Pepper and the mist of the purple rain." Billboards Mikael Wood remarked that Something Else "picks up right where Thicke left off with the last album's hit single, "Lost Without U." Given his weakness for bongos and syrupy strings, the new set isn't without a whiff of schmaltz; more than once you'll think he's about to cover "Take My Breath Away." Fortunately, Thicke's strong singing—and a few winning uptempo numbers."

Jody Rosen from Rolling Stone Magazine gave a mixed review to the album, giving the album three out of five stars. She found that "as a utilitarian background soundtrack, it'll do nicely [...] but Thicke's songwriting teeters into self-parody, and his mixed metaphors – "We're just spaceships in the night/Ripping the clothes off of the past/Making a new path" — could break the mood of the randiest couples". Vibe editor Sean Fennessey called the album a "strange, refreshing amalgam: Alexander O'Neal-ish openness, Luther Vandross-style swing, Smokey Robinson-esque falsetto, even James Ingram’s hokiness. That [Thicke] is less technically gifted than any of those artists is of concern. His voice is thin, his production a revision of other eras." Blender editor Barry Walters concluded: "Every white soul traditionalist from Hall & Oates to Duffy demands catchy, impactful songs, yet that’s where Thicke is thinnest."

Chart performance

The album debuted at number three on the US Billboard 200, selling 136,944 copies the first week. In its second week, the album fell to number 12, selling 38,577 copies, but rose back up to number 11 the next week. As of April 2009, the album has sold over 435,000 units in the US.

Track listing

Notes

• signifies a remix producer

Personnel

Credits adapted from album's liner notes.

• Joshua Beckman — digital editing (track 12)
• Sharon Bennett — backing vocals (track 10)
• Miguel Bermudez — recording and mixing assistant (track 12)
• Larry Cox II — organ (tracks 1–3, 6–8, 10); Rhodes (tracks 2, 4, 11); Wurlitzer, synth keys, and backing vocals (track 7); horn and string arrangements (track 8)
• Chuck Findley — trumpet (tracks 3, 8–10)
• Brian Gardner — mastering
• Gary Grant — trumpet (tracks 3, 8–10)
• Darius "Deezle" Harrison — engineer (track 12)
• Dan Higgins — saxophone (tracks 3, 8–10)
• Sean Hurley — bass (tracks 3, 4, 6, 10)
• Tavia Ivey — backing vocals (track 10)
• Suzy Katayama — strings conductor (tracks 3, 8, 9)
• Bobby Keyes — guitars (track 2, 4, 7, 9), acoustic guitar (tracks 4, 6), sitar and banjo (track 6)
• Josef Leimberg — trumpet (tracks 2, 3, 7, 8)
• Edward Lido — recording and mixing assistant
• Lil Wayne — rap (track 12)
• Bill Malina — engineer (tracks 1–9, 11, 12), mixing (tracks 2, 7)
• Greg Malone — bass (tracks 1, 2, 7, 9, 11)
• Fabian Marasciullo — mixing (track 12)
• Andrew McKay — guitars (tracks 2–4, 6, 7, 11)
• Dwight Mikkelsen — strings conductor (track 11)
• Charlie Morillas — trombone (tracks 3, 8–10)
• Jerahm Orozco — saxophone (tracks 2, 7, 8)
• Pro J — producer (all tracks), engineer (track 5), drums (tracks 1–4, 7, 9–11), percussion (tracks 1, 2, 6, 10, 11), string arrangements (tracks 3, 8, 11), horn arrangements (tracks 3, 8), guitar (tracks 1, 3, 10), piano (tracks 3, 10), instrumentation (tracks 5–12), congas (tracks 4, 7), bongos (track 3), tambourine (track 7), bass (track 8), keyboards (track 9)
• Alfredo Rivera — flute (tracks 2, 7, 8)
• Nicole Scherzinger — backing vocals (track 9)
• Isaac C. Smith — trombone (tracks 2, 3, 7, 8)
• Sherdale Smith — backing vocals (track 10)
• Robin Thicke — lead vocals (all tracks), producer (all tracks), backing vocals (tracks 1, 3–7, 9, 10), horn arrangements (tracks 2, 3, 7–10), string arrangements (tracks 3, 8, 9, 11), piano (tracks 8, 9), percussion (tracks 8, 11), Rhodes (track 1), shaker and tambourine (track 3), sleigh bells (track 4), guitar and synthesizer (track 11), instrumentation (track 12)
• Rich Travali — mixing (tracks 1, 3, 10, 11)
• Candace Wakefield — backing vocals (track 10)
• Brian Warfield — trumpet (tracks 2, 3, 7, 8)
• Kamasi Washington — saxophone (track 3)
• La-Niece Williams — backing vocals (track 10)

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

References

References

1. "Something Else: Robin Thicke: Music".
2. "Something Else, Robin Thicke: R&B / Soul". Walmart.com.
3. [http://blogs.sohh.com/on-the-scene/2008/04/in_the_studio_with_michelle_wi.html In The Studio With Michelle Williams And Robin Thicke. Sohh On The Scene. Sohh Blog]
4. Thicke, Robin. (13 October 2008). "Something Else with Robin Thicke".
5. (2006). "The Evolution of Robin Thicke". Interscope Records.
6. (October 2008). "The White Boy who Turned You Out (But Robin Thicke Wants More)". VIBE.
7. [http://www.bluesandsoul.com/feature/355/zapp_pow_its_robin/ Robin Thicke interview by Pete Lewis, 'Blues & Soul' November 2008]
8. "''Something Else'' by Robin Thicke". [[CBS Interactive]].
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10. Walters, Barry. "Robin Thicke : Something Else". Alpha Media Group.
11. Christgau, Robert. "Something Else". [[Robert Christgau]].
12. Greenblatt, Leah. (September 24, 2008). "Something Else". [[Time Inc.]].
13. Rosen, Jody. (October 2, 2008). "Something Else : Robin Thicke". [[Jann Wenner.
14. Henderson, Eric. (September 30, 2008). "Robin Thicke Something Else". [[Slant Magazine]].
15. Gardner, Elysa. (September 30, 2008). "Robin Thicke's 'Something Else' lays on the love". [[Gannett Company]].
16. Gennoe, Dan. (October 27, 2008). "Robin Thicke - Something Else". [[Yahoo! Music.
17. Rodman, Sarah. (September 23, 2008). "Another pick-up line you've already heard". [[Boston.com]].
18. Wood, Mikael. (October 4, 2008). "Something Else". [[Prometheus Global Media]].
19. Fennessey, Sean. (October 1, 2008). "Robin Thicke: Something Else". Vibe Media Group, Inc..
20. (2008-10-14). "Robin Thicke - Something Else Album Review". Musicloversgroup.com.
21. (2008). "Something Else". [[Star Trak Entertainment.
22. "Top Billboard 200 Albums – Year-End 2008".
23. "Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums – Year-End 2008".
24. "Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums – Year-End 2009".