Just Go is the ninth studio album by American singer Lionel Richie. It was first released by Island Records on March 10, 2009 in the United Kingdom. Richie worked with Tricky Stewart and Norwegian production duo StarGate on the majority of the album, which features additional production from Akon, David Foster, and John Ewbank as well as writing credits by Ne-Yo, Johntá Austin, The-Dream, and Espen Lind.[2] Although Richie had little writing involvement of the songs for Just Go, he did write "Eternity", which is also included on the tribute album Change Is Now: Renewing America's Promise.[3]
| Just Go | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | ||||
| Studio album by | ||||
| Released | March 10, 2009 | |||
| Genre | R&B[1] | |||
| Length | 59:17 | |||
| Label | Island | |||
| Producer |
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| Lionel Richie chronology | ||||
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| Singles from Just Go | ||||
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The album earned generally positive reviews and debuted at number 24 on the US Billboard 200 and number nine on Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums. Just Go also entered the top ten in Austria, Germany, and the United Kingdom. By May 2012, it had sold 95,000 copies in the US, according to Nielsen SoundScan, and additional 60,000 units in the UK.[4] The album was preceded by lead single "Good Morning" and follow-up "Just Go" as well as "I'm in Love" and the promotional singles "Face in the Crowd", "Forever and Ever" and "I'm Not Okay".
Critical reception
edit| Aggregate scores | |
|---|---|
| Source | Rating |
| Metacritic | (68/100)[5] |
| Review scores | |
| Source | Rating |
| Allmusic |   [1] |
| Billboard | (favorable)[6] |
| Entertainment Weekly | C+[7] |
| The Guardian | [8] |
| New York Times | (favorable)[9] |
| The Observer | (unfavorable)[10] |
| People |  [11] |
| The Times | [12] |
| Vibe | [5] |
Upon release, Just Go received positive reviews from music critics. At Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, the album has an average score of 68 based on 6 reviews, indicating "generally favorable reviews".[5] Allmusic editor Andy Kellman wrote that "introducing a 60-year-old artist to a younger audience with new material is asking for a lot, but Richie's devoted fanbase will find plenty to like. Just Go, slightly more so than [previous album] Coming Home, tends to be a happy (and comforting) medium between Richie's familiar approach and contemporary R&B."[1] Caroline Sullivan, writing for The Guardian, remarked that Just Go "finds Richie in reliably smooth voice, ruminating placidly about love. Fair enough; that's what he's for, and he's game enough to couch it [...] He's rarely sounded so unruffled. What would it be like if he let go a bit?"[8]
New York Times journalist Nate Chinen felt that while Just Go came across like "a textbook adult-contemporary album, it also lends credible emotional footing to the songs. It's one reason that Mr. Richie doesn't sound out of his element singing on tracks provided by contemporary R&B hit makers, complete with up-to-the-minute production."[9] People critics Chuck Arnold and Joey Bartolomeo wrote that Akon, The-Dream and Stargate "put a fresh but familiar spin on Richie's sound. Still, the old guy falls into a bit of a midtempo rut."[11] Similarly, Entertainment Weekly critic Leah Greenblatt found that Richie's collaborators "may be top dogs on their own territory, but they don't have much on the old tricks of the Commodore-turned-1980s solo star. On his ninth studio album, undifferentiated swaths of midtempo digital groove leave one longing for the (relative) analog authenticity of vintage Lionel."[7]
Chart performance
editIn the United States, Just Go debuted at number 24 on the US Billboard 200 and number nine on the Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums.[13] It became Richie's fifth top ten entry on the latter chart and sold 95,000 copies in the US.[13] In the United Kingdom, it peaked at number 10 on the UK Albums Chart and was certified silver by the British Phonographic Industry (BPI), indicating sales in excess of 60,000 copies.[14]
Track listing
edit| No. | Title | Writer(s) | Producer(s) | Length |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Forever" |
| Stargate | 3:19 |
| 2. | "Just Go" (featuring Akon) |
| 4:11 | |
| 3. | "Nothing Left to Give" (featuring Akon) |
|
| 3:32 |
| 4. | "Forever and a Day" | Stewart | 4:04 | |
| 5. | "I'm Not Okay" |
| Stewart | 3:28 |
| 6. | "Good Morning" |
|
| 4:06 |
| 7. | "Through My Eyes" |
| Stargate | 4:06 |
| 8. | "I'm in Love" |
| 4:05 | |
| 9. | "Think of You" |
|
| 4:12 |
| 10. | "Into You Deep" |
|
| 5:19 |
| 11. | "Pastime" |
| Stargate | 3:52 |
| 12. | "Face in the Crowd" (with Trijntje Oosterhuis) | John Ewbank |
| 4:21 |
| 13. | "Somewhere in London" |
| Stewart | 5:05 |
| 14. | "Eternity" | Lionel Richie | David Foster | 4:37 |
Notes
- ^[a] signifies an co-producer
Charts
edit| Chart (2009) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| Austrian Albums (Ö3 Austria)[15] | 9 |
| Belgian Albums (Ultratop Flanders)[16] | 89 |
| Dutch Albums (Album Top 100)[17] | 22 |
| French Albums (SNEP)[18] | 79 |
| German Albums (Offizielle Top 100)[19] | 9 |
| Italian Albums (FIMI)[20] | 74 |
| Swiss Albums (Schweizer Hitparade)[21] | 28 |
| UK Albums (OCC)[22] | 10 |
| US Billboard 200[23] | 24 |
| US Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums (Billboard)[24] | 9 |
Certifications and sales
edit| Region | Certification | Certified units/sales |
|---|---|---|
| United Kingdom (BPI)[14] | Silver | 60,000^ |
|
^ Shipments figures based on certification alone. | ||
References
edit- ^ a b c Allmusic review
- ^ Lewis, Pete (2009-03-13). "Three Times A Superstar - Pete Lewis Interviews Lionel Richie". Blues & Soul. Retrieved 2009-09-18.
- ^ Cohen, Jonathan (2008-11-03). "Akon, Ne-Yo Give Lionel Richie A Lift". Billboard.com. Retrieved 2008-11-03.
- ^ "Lionel Richie's 'Tuskegee' Becomes Year's Second-Biggest Album: Singer's Country Set Has Outsold His Last Three Combined". Billboard. 2012-05-24. Retrieved 2012-06-01.
- ^ a b c Critic reviews at Metacritic
- ^ "Billboard review". Billboard. Archived from the original on June 11, 2009. Retrieved 2013-01-13.
{{cite magazine}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link) - ^ a b Entertainment Weekly review
- ^ a b "Lionel Richie: Just Go". The Guardian. 2007-01-13. Archived from the original on 2022-02-04.
- ^ a b "New CDs (Published 2009)". The New York Times. 17 May 2009. Archived from the original on 2019-03-01.
- ^ "CD Review: Lionel Ritchie, Just Go". The Guardian. 2009-03-15. Archived from the original on 2017-03-28.
- ^ a b People review
- ^ The Times review Archived June 17, 2011, at the Wayback Machine
- ^ a b Caulfield, Keith. "Madonna Debuts at No. 1 on Billboard 200, Lionel Richie at No. 2". Billboard.com. Retrieved November 2, 2020.
- ^ a b "British album certifications – Lionel Richie – Just Go". British Phonographic Industry. Retrieved 2017-06-11.
- ^ "Austriancharts.at – Lionel Richie – Just Go" (in German). Hung Medien. Retrieved 2017-06-11.
- ^ "Ultratop.be – Lionel Richie – Just Go" (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved 2017-06-11.
- ^ "Dutchcharts.nl – Lionel Richie – Just Go" (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved 2017-06-11.
- ^ "Lescharts.com – Lionel Richie – Just Go". Hung Medien. Retrieved 2017-06-11.
- ^ "Offiziellecharts.de – Lionel Richie – Just Go" (in German). GfK Entertainment Charts. Retrieved 2017-06-11.
- ^ "Italiancharts.com – Lionel Richie – Just Go". Hung Medien. Retrieved 2017-06-11.
- ^ "Swisscharts.com – Lionel Richie – Just Go". Hung Medien. Retrieved 2017-06-11.
- ^ "Lionel Richie | Artist | Official Charts". UK Albums Chart. Retrieved 2017-06-11.
- ^ "Lionel Richie Chart History (Billboard 200)". Billboard. Retrieved 2017-06-11.
- ^ "Lionel Richie Chart History (Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums)". Billboard. Retrieved 2017-06-11.