Cee-Lo Green... Is The Soul Machine

Im glad a man with T-Rex arms can make it in the world these days. He might not be able to do a push up, touch this hands together, put his arms around someone etc. but he can make an absolutely mediocre generic album.

It's like a soulful panda learned to make rap music

Though Cee-Lo might also wish to be a little bit taller and perhaps a baller, it’s important to note that Skee-Lo and Cee-Lo are two different people. I should know that. Their voices are completely different. Cee-Lo’s voice is very unique, though I would not consider it a soulful voice, as the title of this album would suggest. It’s more of a Sarah Silverman, Megan Mullaly cute voice that is best enjoyed in SMALL increments. Unfortunately, "Cee-Lo Green … Is the Soul Machine” has SIXTEEN songs on it and none of them are soul. After listening to this album, it is apparent the only link between Cee-Lo and soul is that he shares a last name with Al. A lot of the arrangements here seem dated and don’t hold up well over time. But it’s his voice that is really difficult to endure, especially on Scrap Metal. In this song, CL takes on a hard persona and sings about being strapped with a MAC-10 and threatening to box cutter your face while telling people he doesn’t give a f**k. Sorry, but that stuff coming out of your mouth in that cute voice is straight comedy, CL. Buuuuuut..., that got me thinking about Sarah Vowell from early episodes of This American Life. If you didn’t know, Sarah Vowell was born to play the voice of Violet Parr, the American teenager forced into a life of secret superpowers in The Incredibles. Vowell, however didn’t just begin here career there. She used her fun, thought-provoking essays and contributions to This American Life as a springboard. Voicing Violet probably wasn’t a career highlight for her personally, but it was appreciated and she was spot-on perfect. I imagine she’d rather be writing for the New Yorker just like CL would rather be singing. And so, I would like to present this album as a launchpad for Mr. Green and address him directly. Mr. Lo: Don’t worry, bud, your voice is fun and you’ve got a talent for singing, but that voice is best used elsewhere. I’m thinking Spongebob Squarepants or similar cartoons, maybe one of those greeting cards that makes funny noises when you open it up or even stand up comedy where it can truly be valued, admired and even imitated. Rest assured there are big things waiting for you. This isn't the end, it's only the beginning. Oh wait, this is the guy that does the 'Fuck You' song?! I Love that song. It's hilarious! _________________________________________________________ *Correction from the Elvis review (https://tinyurl.com/yhbfbm68). The reference to Curb can be found here: https://youtu.be/1-7W1sftcXw

This album is a heaping pile of grits, not offensive, but also not very good without something else added to it. This album is missing cheese, shrimp, or even just some basic butter to keep it interesting. I think the guy who goes “oh oh oh oh oh oh” on The Art Of The Noise might be the best part of the album. His part is a total of about 15 seconds on the album. I’m stretching for compliments here. Childz Play is like a bad circus attraction soundtrack. Cee-lo’s voice is unique and grating some times, but not always. Conclusion: I do not think that Cee-lo is the soul machine.

Don't get why this gets such bad reviews. Beats and grooves are fire, arrangements are dope. Nice gem

It's fun and playful but I can't completely get into it. I think I prefer his Gnarls Barkley material.

Wow, is this man full of himself. The opening & closing tracks tell me pretty much all I needed to know about him and set me up to dislike the album. But first, I was loathe to listen to this at all, given the sexual harassment/rape charges that removed him from the public eye a decade ago. And it was super hard to stomach the misogyny & violence contained in this album while thinking about the woman who brought those charges against him. It's a little bit (but only a little bit) too bad, because a couple of the songs could have been enjoyable. He employs catchy beats and seems to have a real talent with both his voice and his rhymes. But there was just too much other stuff for me to get beyond to be willing to give the rest a chance.

I don’t know how a cee lo green album made this list. He’s not very good. This album felt like it would easily forgotten during the 2000s. There were several better albums then. Only a couple songs on this album were okay. His voice and singing style is a bit weird. The beats and vibe was ok but nothing special. 3.9/10

Pretty good! I kind of don't like CeeLo's singing voice but I liked the big-band style hip hop sound overall

Starting to notice that anything with the Pharrell touch is a good sign. Old school southern styles big Outkast vibes. Can also hear a bit of Anderson Paak as well. The One was my highlight, sick TI verse

So. Damn. Fun. Fuck CeeLo though.

Remember when Gnarls Barkley put out their great debut record, “St. Elsewhere”, and was pretty much the biggest thing on the planet in 2006? But what about George W Bush and the gang fucking everything up? Or when Dick Cheney shot that dude in the face while hunting and then the dude he shot apologized to him for getting shot? I can’t be the only one who remembers Sanjaya and Taylor Hicks belting it out on American Idol? Surely it wasn’t the same year that Twitter launched and Mark Zuckerberg opened Facebook to the public? And how about when those bastards at Fox cancelled Arrested Development and put its final four episodes up against the Opening Ceremony of the Olympics? Or when Pluto was stripped of its planetary dignity and classified as a dwarf planet and Microsoft unleashed a digital reign of terror upon the world with Windows Vista? Look at all the terrible things that happened that year…Isn’t it all quaint compared to this earthly hellscape we inhabit in 2023?

This record is strong evidence for the theory that artists who enjoy their work and have fun while performing often achieve better results. It also supports the adjacent notion that it's easier to like performers who don't take themselves too seriously. The mood is playful, borderline silly at times, but there's ample quality in quite a few tracks (e.g., "My Kind of People," "When We Were Friends"). Plus the dude's got a distinct voice and knows how to push it. On the downside, this sort of high-sheen (and not infrequently heavy-handed) production can date the music (even more than the reference to CDs and "a Blockbuster night" [early aughts version of Netflix and chill]) and he seems a little too taken with the idea of celebrity (points off for his reality talent show judgeships). And it's too long besides, though a mostly fun ride throughout, so rounding up.

haha YES!! not only do I love the dirty south and particularly an Atlanta artist who put southern rap on the map—but this is *also* the album that my father-in-law bought when CeeLo’s “fuck you“ song was really big. Father-in-law liked CeeLo‘s pop sound, and decided to research him, discovering that he had some earlier solo records (not Goode mob). This was the album that he bought—imagine his surprise to hear what CeeLo really sounds like. It is so NOT like his pop stuff that he hated it and gave me the album after one listen. It still cracks me up to this day. Props for wanting to explore music he doesn’t know about tho! (…he also did this with Aphex Twin so i have 2 copies of the Richard James album)

I mean, it was ok until I got to "Glockappella" what a stupid piece of music

Don't like his voice and found the songs consistently boring. Only managed the first half of the album before I switched off.

Good not great. Love I’ll be around and the one. Low 3

Difficult one to rate for me. I really like and dislike his voice at the same time. It works great for singing and almost sounds like a modern day Otis Redding, but his rapping only works in some songs for me. I do like the samples here that occasionally turn up. Production is solid as well as I'm a sucker for 2000's rap and R&B and there are a few tracks I really enjoyed. But there's a few duds to so it ends up somewhere halfway.

-well I quite enjoy Fuck You… and CeeLo’s cover of Radiohead’s Reckoner… but tbh I was very not excited to listen to this! especially considering that god awful cover -but I ended up…. Kind of fucking with it? substantially? it’s like, guilty pleasure music. corny but his flow was genuinely so fun on a few of these tracks. thank you for the hour of entertainment Ceelo Green, and fuck your creepy rape tweets -Favorites are Living Again and Scrap Metal

meh

I don’t rate his rapping, and his singing can be borderline harsh.

Wasn't my vibe

Overall: 4/10 This isn't bad, but no matter how hard I try to give it a fair chance, it just ends up being background noise for the most part. I don't really like Cee-Lo's voice that much and I don't think he's a great rapper. There were definitely moments that caught my attention but they were few and far between. Fav Song: My Kind of People Least Fav Song: Scrap Metal

I'm just not personally a fan of Cee-Lo Green. I don't like his voice at all. That being said, there were a few songs I did like. Favorite Tracks: -Scrap Metal -Childz Play

Meh album from the early 2000s.

It was ok. Not really my vibe. Had it on more as background music, but don't feel the desire to give it closer listen.

That guy at the party who repeatedly tries to get everyone to refer to him as the soul machine, and you can't help but think it's just reflecting a terrible insecurity on the inside. Also made me think about how an album like The Source by Jimmy Scott is not on the 1001 list (I think), while this is. Crazy.

I was surprised that Cee all Green made this list. Listening to the album has not changed that.

I like simple pleasures, like butter in my ass, lollipops in my mouth. That's just me. That's just something that I enjoy. And I like my CeeLo Green with Gnarls Barkley. Here, he sounds like he wants to be the late Biz Markie, Morris Day of The Time, or a poor man's Al Green. Props for realizing his voice gets annoying pretty fast, I guess? Not even Pharrell Williams helping out on a few tracks is enough to disguise this album's flaws.

For an album declaring in the title that Cee-Lo Green is a soul machine, I wanted more soul! Sometimes Cee Lo's voice works for me, and sometimes it doesn't. He can sing, and he can rap, but sometimes the nasally high pitch isn't used well. Or its growly and yappy (I'm looking at you, "Scrap Metal"). But there were definitely some fun tracks on here. "I'll Be Around" was the first one that jumped out at me - it definitely had that Timbaland sound. What Timbaland sound, you ask!? Why don't you know Timbaland? More like, why do I know Timbaland? Its weird, Timbaland & Magoo's "Welcome to Our World" album has apparently stuck in my mind as a standout late 90's hip-hop album, though I hadn't thought about it in years. As soon as I heard "I'll Be Around" though, I immediately recalled "Clock Strikes," with its sample of the Knight Rider theme song. Seriously. It's amazing. And also "Up Jumps da Boogie" with Missy Elliot! But sorry, back to Cee Lo. "Childz Play" with Ludacris is fun, and the soul finally appears on "All Day Love Affair." Those, along with "Die Trying," are the best tracks, but overall this anointing of the soul machine would have benefitted from more soul. Also, I find it troubling that his name is hyphenated in the album title, but not anywhere else...

Cee-Lo can do better than this, I've heard it. There's a couple of decent tracks on here, but it mostly feels self-indulgent and repetitive. I'm rather disappointed, I expected more.

Well that was abysmal. I was hoping a ceelo green album called the soul machine would have been more to my tastes. This was just some bloke having an ego trip and inviting all his new famous friends over to pretend they're edgy. What a load of toss

The ability of cd's to store more music made albums longer and longer. Why did no one stop this man from putting an hour of his brain farts on this album. Maybe I would have liked it better if it was shorter, but after the stupid song with his "deep lyrics" and going "woah" after them, the album started to really get on my nerves. Two stars for the music, -1 for the length.

This is the ultimate "fake it 'til you make it" album. He's constantly talking about how great his music/rapping/lyrics/singing/everything is, but damn there is absolutely nothing to back it up with. Just bland neo-soul that felt like it went on for years.

It's a dumb album.

Sometimes you wonder why an album even exists. This is one of those. I find this utterly boring hip-hop and fail to understand why anyone would ever play this. I'm a positive guy though and I always look for a saving grace so did a bit of reading about Cee-Lo and this album. Maybe the lyrics are really good? Nope, they then to be quite banal and mostly about himself ("We gon' start this shit off tonight", "I am the living proof of a God somewhere" etc). Maybe this album created new trends? In 1978 possibly, not in 2004. Maybe Cee-lo is a really nice guy? Ahem, let's say he won't get an extra point from me for that. So I really can't see any reason to bump this to a 2. This was a hard listen.

Peak mid 2000s dross. The exact sort of thing I couldn't be arsed with even when I was 6. I'll give it that there's a couple decent beats here and there, but they're mostly lost in a needlessly 65 minute album that feels like it's never going to end. CeeLo Green's voice is grating right from the start let alone having to listen to it for over an hour A 1 is probably a bit harsh but I've not given one yet and I need to signify somehow that this is the worst thing I've heard to this point. I did not need to listen to this before I die Highlight: All Day Love Affair

We tell our children, if at first you don’t succeed, try, try again. By track 9 or 10 of mediocre, fake tough guy nonsense, someone should’ve stopped this man. Someone put his recording equipment more than six inches away from him, so he can ever reach them again.

"Fuck You", indeed, Mr Green. Let's get this flaccid bag of homophobic misogyny out of the 1001 please. He sucked 20 years ago and he sucks now.

ok, I can die now

Isn't he a rapist?

I was introduced to CeeLo Green with the hit "Fuck You," when we were all subjected to that repeatedly for an entire summer. That was about a decade after this album came out. All told, I don't feel like there's much that CeeLo has contributed to music that hasn't already been done. There's so much going on here that he comes across here as trying too hard. It's all over the place with genres that I can't get a sense of his style, but the soul isn't strong enough to name the entire album after. He has some big name contributing artists, but they honestly overshadow him. Quite forgettable. I guess we can all have the last "fuck you."

This is a shit album. Not even disrespecting Cee Lo, but this album’s almost disrespectful towards hip-hop. Cee Lo doesn’t have the voice, stature or the stripes to talk about whatever he is talking about on this album. Its cringe, its annoying and frankly, it should not have existed. As a hardcore hiphop fan, just skip this album, you’ll save your ears and your temper.

Really? THIS is something I NEED TO LISTEN TO BEFORE I DIE??? MAAAAAANNN, FIGURE YOUR SHIT OUT.

"Is the Soul Machine" I'm a fat bald middle aged computer scientist and I have more soul than this fool.

Felt dated and generic, but Ludacris showed up for a song. So there's that.

As far as I’m concerned Cee-Lo Grren has one listenable song. And it’s not on this album. So in the words of Mr Green himself “Fuck You”

Since the Wikipedia article contains 2 lines of text, one being "included in the 1001 albums book", I don't have any background on this album. It's a weird 00's rap album. Why was it included? Was it influential? Did it offer anything new apart from just blending random old-fashioned musical styles with temporary rap of the time? I don't know much about rap - but I do know that this just sounds really bad to me. His singing isn't half bad when he goes for a more soul-influenced approach. But most of the time CeeLo just sounds like a cartoon character. Do people actually enjoy this?

1.5 Struggling to see why this album made the cut at all. I guess he’s a good singer but awfully big ego from a guy who has one good song that isn’t even on this album. I guess we aren’t halfway thru the list yet so we will see what comes but I can name like 50 albums off the top of my head that should be on instead of this one. Plus it was long. Sucked

Why on earth would Cee Lo deserve a spot on a list like this? Is this an attempt to make progrock look acceptable? This is shit. There’s no hook on any of these tracks, no soul, no innovation, nothing unique or special in any way. The lyrics sound like voicemails. This album sounds like a delusional YouTuber’s vanity project, that was recorded in his basement. Not worth finishing.

Sorry I can't take this I'm switching to Gojira.

I can't believe that this is amongst the albums you found to give the 2000s a little representation in this book. This is seriously becoming a joke.

You really don't need to listen to this before you die. Why is this on the list? It's over an hour of either irritating or just bland music. Vocals get annoying very quickly. Cee Lo does not suit hip hop, so why not include his next album, the shorter, better one, the poppier one, the one with the big hits? Now I'm embarrassed of showing my Cee Lo Green discography knowledge. 26/10/22

Pretty telling that the Wikipedia ‘legacy’ is one item: this list

Pretty boring and think calling himself a soul machine is a bit of false advertising.

Phenomenal

cee-lo green is coming at you with this genre-hopping hip hop collection. this album came out just before he was a household name, and even before he had the talent and creativity that would shake up the rap game. cee-lo green fuses hip hop with gospel, soul, and slam poetry. he has a very infectious way of rapping, sometimes nice and slow, sometimes rapidfire. when he talks about himself and his life, he's just so EXPRESSIVE with it. it blows my mind, and with top producers on a lot of these tracks, it makes for a worthy listen in my opinion.

Maybe not a perfect album, but I'd give it at least a 4.5. A brilliant hip-hop/rap album, better than anything by Kanye, JayZ, or Lamar, in my book.

It's great being introduced to a new-to-me album that totally slaps. This hit the mark for me.

Was in a good slump there until The Soul Machine came into station. What a fantastic album. Was really surprised on this one.

Ceelo Green may be a divisive artist these days, but in his heyday he released some amazing albums. "The Soul Machine" mixes R&B, Soul, and Hip Hop and takes it all to the next level. It's fun, laid-back, and has that sense of humor that only Ceelo could deliver.

What lead paint does to an mf

The album starts with a hilarious intro, and then goes into a song that's rather....blegh. I was thinking this was going to be a long hour. Then I was continually proven wrong with each passing song, very strong delivery, production, lyrics, arrangement, etc. Just an absolute masterclass

I thought this was total rubbish, but then in the track 'Sometimes' he says 'Sometimes a rich man won't have a dollar/And all a poor man has is greed' and then pauses, and then says 'woah' at his own mind-blowing thought

Did not think I would like this as much as I did. Every song is a banger and the album flows exceptionally well. It may be slightly long, but I absolutely loved this album

Hot damn this was a fun ride. Cee Lo has such a unique and captivating style, and, man, the beats. Pharrell Williams and Timbaland involved? Lights out. Add Ludacris into the mix and you get a 5 from me.

Love this album. Fight me.

Ooh, ya des belles affaires qui ce passe quand le Soul rencontre le rap EDIT DU TURFU: C'EST PLUS QUE BEAU, C'EST MAGNIFIQUE, L'ÉTRANGE FRANÇAIS AVAIT RAISON

I like it! Hip Hop and funk. 5/5

I like Cee-Lo Green, pretty much any member of the Dungeon Family is pre-approved in my book. Something is telling me 4/5 instead of 5/5, but I am feeling positive I'll give it the 5!

Great album

Nice

buenisimo, so funky so moving. 9/10

9/10

Awesome album with lots of fun tracks and featured guests.

This is an amazing album that does so much awesome stuff. My favourite new album so far on this journey!

10/10 el negrito con temazos míticos.

Wow CeeLo is a crazy good lyricist. Enjoyed this one a lot

Excellent album, listened to it many times when it came out. He is an excellent singer.

Holy crap! “Soul Machine” just grabs you from the start. This album is just groove start to finish. I love the relaxed party vibe.

Nach holprigen Start unerwartet gut

Amazing Album

phenomenal... been liberally using my 5 star rating but i think this one truly deserves it

Excelent album, nothing bored, cee-lo its a great artist, this album inspired me to listen more rap/hip-hop

always knew ceelo was talented, but never listened to a lot of his albums. this album was surprisingly good. respect++;

I throughly enjoyed this project. It had a nice blend of rap, R&B, soul, and funk. I’m used to hearing cee lo sing but not rap as much and he’s pretty good at it. The features were also very nice. I downloaded and would listen again.

Excellent. This is the first album we heard since Thriller (and one of the only in this whole process) that was pure fun to listen to. While I have respect for lots of grandiose music, there is also a time and a place for music that is just a lot of fun. There are several bangers on here (the songs with Timbaland, Ludacris, and T.I. in particular) and the fusion of upbeat R&B with hip-hop was really great. Cee-Lo was singing and rapping a decade before Drake made it mainstream and is a legitimately good singer (Sorry Aubrey). I never heard this before but will be listening again.

meh

Ce gars-là m'a éclaté la gueule, désolé pour le langage.

This album is just wonderful. One of my favorite hip-hop records. 14 of the 16 music tracks are top-shelf, with a brief lull in tracks 15 and 16. That's mighty impressive. Lo is a true artist, and when he's not leading a banger about getting high, he's reciting raw and introspective poetry over an easy beat. If you're too invested in either mode, the other may put you off, especially since the album sets an upbeat expectation by being so front-loaded with party music. Still, Cee-Lo Green can do it all and this is his best record among an impressive catalog.

Nothing special, but good hip-hop album, there are some references to funckadelic and others, that's nice. Really easy to listen, I have liked several songs, so I guess it deserves 5 start by me

Amé

damn this was good asf

I enjoyed the cooperation of other artist on the album.

Not bad! Recognised the feat with Timbaland which I love. I can imagine Eminem rapping instead on that music lol

Was surprised how much I liked this. It stayed pretty engaging. I do think it's a bit overlong, but I still had a good time with it. 3.75/5

He is... the music. Honestly, really cool album both musically and lyrically. I love how the glasses look like they have diamond lenses from a distance.

This was surprisingly good. A very moody hip-hop and soul album. Totally different from what I expected. It was only after listening to the album that I discovered that this guy sang Kung Fu Fighting for the Panda movie. I listened to that version my entire childhood. I thought I had heard that voice somewhere before. Anyway, 4 stars.

I had a good time - a few really good winners.

Cee Lo Green is a good artist. I knew a few of the songs off this one, and as a whole this was catchy and fun to listen to. I'd listen through this again.