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

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

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.

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

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

So. Damn. Fun. Fuck CeeLo though.

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

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?

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

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

meh

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...

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.

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

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.

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

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

"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.

damn this was good asf

Amé

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

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.

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

meh

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.

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.

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

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

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

Amazing Album

Nach holprigen Start unerwartet gut

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

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

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

10/10 el negrito con temazos míticos.

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

Awesome album with lots of fun tracks and featured guests.

9/10

buenisimo, so funky so moving. 9/10

Nice

Great album

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!

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

Very good album, and his voice is incredible.

The soul machine indeed

I can dig this. Has a range of tempos and overall moods.

-1 point cos it wasn’t fuck you album

Cee-lo is so underrated. Wild, creative jamz. An amazing roster of producers. I think I might like his debut better, but this is still great.

I had never heard this one before actually, but I really enjoyed it bc it sounded so much like the rest of the hip hop/r&b that I listened to in high school

really catchy!

I don’t really like his voice, but there’s no denying that the production value is high and the songs are fun to vibe/bounce/verbs to. Stunned I went above two stars for this.

Great beats. Great soulful voice. Smooth

Surprisingly listenable if sweary

Wtf I love it much more than I thought I would. He really do be Cee Lo Green. It's not a 5 but damn it's close. 4.5/5

September 16, 2021 Surprisingly fun! It's longer than I normally like and a different genre, but I danced a little.

There is a perfect, 5-star album within this. One wants to vaunt the ambition, talent and bravery of such a vast work, but it is just too vast. The effect is one of eating a whole box of chocolates: every morsel is delicious, but you are left exhausted and a little nauseated. That criticism feels a little harsh: every song on the album is fine, and taken individually they'd be a treat. However, taken together they clamour for attention, drowning out each other. Prolificacy can be a virtue, but it easily degenrates into self-indulgence, and one should always remember that precision is just as virtuous.

I'm not into this music, but I enjoyed this one

Wasn’t expecting to like it as much as I did, it’s very long but it’s versatility makes it easy to hear. The second half is harder but good nevertheless

Listened as background music but was very unfocused on it. It was fine.

I know what I'm putting on at my next cook out.

Funky, I liked it.

Why does such a bad dude gotta make such good tunes. At least sometimes he sounds like a muppet (a talented muppet, but still).

Not as good as his later stuff, but still vibing

great first track. awesome voice. fun features - luda! southern production style is great and very creative dungeon family flows. easy listen overall, very enjoyable. good vibes, fun background music while cooking. THE NIGHTLIFE, THE DARK SIDE OF MY SOUL "sometimes" is creative af

Pretty great hip hop, good music, good rhymes.

Too bad he’s a rapist

Surprisingly good

Interesting, varied, strong songs. Great lyrics. No songs fully hit me though

This album falls in my TLC rule. They combine soul and hip hop in a way that makes listening to this not being a chore. Hate to phrase a compliment in a negative way but it's late and my vocabulary is sleeping.

This is a weird one.. on one hand the music is pretty great and CeeLo’s lyrics are surprisingly fantastic as well. But on the other it’s always hard to take CeeLo seriously when he’s rapping just cause it’s CeeLo and he looks and sounds so silly. Overall pretty cool record though, definitely reminds me of some other early 2000s southern hip hop. 7/10

Here's another artist that I have to separate my feeling about them personally from my feelings about them as an artist. I really like Cee-Lo as an artist. I've seen him live, and he was really good (in Sioux City, Iowa no less. It's no small feet to get those people dancing). One the other hand, his sexual battery accusation and statements about consent are fucking reprehensible. Setting all of that aside, this album is really cool. It's a lot of fun and featured more of Cee-Lo rapping than I was expecting. The music compliments perfectly. It's hard to call this a hidden gem, since Cee-Lo is so well known, but his work before Gnarls Barkley is well worth exploring 4/5

Rating: 8/10 Best songs: The art of noise, Living again, I’ll be around, The one, My kind of people, All day love affair

[14/09/2022] Noicee : D I guess I’ve become lazy with my reviews or too busy with life. But this was good. An easy 3.5 or 4 stars

I liked this one more than most of hip hip albums I’ve heard. Some really good funk bass and guitar here.

Surprisingly decent album! Cee-Lo with his style resembles a little combination of guys from Outkast - Andre3000 and Big Boi. It's an album combining southern rap, rnb and a specific type of 'soul', many times underlined by Cee Lo in his lyrics. The songs have really nice beat and flow, great use of different types of vocals by Green, nice choruses, in general really entertaining stuff! It's easy to follow through with the song and end up in kind of a trance. I didn't know that Cee Lo is also the singer in Gnarls Barkley project, but after listening to this album, all the points are connected. Very positive record, I will come back to it very soon.

Entertaining album that is high pace and enjoyable throughout. I believe that it is a bit too long and dragged out. I also thought the more rap heavy songs were not as good as the singing ones

Funky, smooth, sweet

I have gained more respect for Cee Lo

This is fun and he has a nice voice.

Soulful and kinda groovy. Surprisingly great. 4.5

There's some goofy nonsense on here, but damn I had a good time with it on the whole

Started off strongly, but fell away towards the end. Still, Cee-Lo got Soul.

So many awesome stand out songs. Enough filth mixed in to dock it a star, but definitely will be listening to All Day Love Affair and Childz Play again

Loved it

Love Cee-Lo, but have to be in a specific mood to listen to him.

This is quite a fun album. The melodys and features are infectious.

Good, but not spectacular. 3.5 stars rounding up to 4.

I expected kooky and eclectic, and I got that. I didn't expect this album to be quite as good as it was. Cee-Lo really shows off his versatility on this album. I'd give it a 4.5 if I could.

A pleasant surprise, this one. Upbeat, funky, soulful, consistently enjoyable.

Not a 5* album (way too long and too inconsistent) but songs like The One (with EW&F sample), I Am Selling Soul, Scrap Metal etc are very good, so definitely a 4* album.

Cee-Lo Green is a hell of an entertainer.

Best Song: The Art of Noise. The way all the layered vocals and instrumentals dance around one another is incredible. Busy and dancey. Worst Song: I'll Be Around. In an album full of honey-dipped, sugary production, Timbaland's brash and staccato production clashes. Plus the chorus tips itself so far into explicit sexuality that it loses its attempt at being sexy. Overall: Damnit, it's fun. I don't know if it's deep, and maybe it's a little bit bubblegum at times, but goddamnit it moves and it makes you want to move with it. Oddly, Cee Lo's vocals end up almost as an afterthought to the craziness of the production.

Overall fun album, although a little on the long side. That said, it's got plenty of fun grooves and his rapping style is pretty awesome (Childz Play stands out for some crazy rapping. Also I Am Selling Soul). Same problem I have with a lot of rap albums - too much n**** this and n**** that and a bit too much cursing - it's not made for me, that's for sure. But I can appreciate and enjoy it. Favorite songs were the first few (Soul Machine, The Art of Noise, and Living Again). Liked the grooves on The One, All Day Love Affair (nice singing), and When We Were Friends.

I love Cee-lo Green's voice, and as a big fan of Gnarls Barkley, I was looking forward to this one. The music is good too, catchy and soulful in parts.