Cee-Lo Green... Is The Soul Machine

Nothing really exciting here

Not for me

Just enough of interest to avoid a 1. It's fair to say this project is not turning me into a hip hop fan.

Had my in the first half, ain't gonna lie

Not a genre I enjoy. Not offensively bland, but not something I’d listen to again.

A listenable version of a genre that has never grabbed me, but still not my thing.

# Playlist Track - The Art of Noise # Notes - It's incredible how bad half of Gnarls Barkley is. - Most of the album is uninspired, generic, bland music. - I'm genuinely surprised.

Better than I expected.

Does anyone involved realize the inherent contradiction in the sobriquet "Soul Machine”? That said, not terrible.

No it’s fine, I just didn’t know they only made 1300 albums

a real document of an era but totally inessential other than a couple fun tracks

I feel like I’m starting to repeat myself, but Cee-Lo Green... Is the Soul Machine is another entry on the growing list of albums I definitely didn’t need to hear before I died. Was it enjoyable? Mildly. It has some playful moments, but not enough to make me truly care. Does Cee-Lo bring a unique blend of rap and R&B? Possibly—but his most memorable contributions to music aren’t found here. Those would be Crazy with Gnarls Barkley and Fuck You, both of which left a far stronger impression than anything on this record. If this album is the preface to the novel that is CeeLo Green, it’s one you can safely skip without missing much.

11/1001 Cee-Lo Green... Is The Soul Machine - Cee-Lo Green (2004) What a frustrating listen. I love Southern Hip-Hop, I like Neptunes & Timbaland, and in general I do enjoy R&B/Neo-Soul - so needless to say I was quite optimistic for this album. Instead, I got an album with several good ideas, which then beat those ideas into the ground and milked them so dry that they became annoying and I wanted the next track to come. Repeat this for at least 10 of these tracks, and I was glad when the album was over, despite the fact that some tracks such as "The Art Of Noise" and "I'll Be Around" showed the type of tracks that could've filled this album in a better timeline. Cee Lo was honestly the weakest part of this album, and as someone who tends to like non-conventional vocals and flow, this just did not do it for me. I'd rather be listening to just about any project from anyone else that came out of The Dungeon than this. ★★½

Cee-Lo has a Gene Simmons-like sense of self-importance, which is more than a little tiresome. Even a series of excellent featured guests can't save this album.

Cee-Lo = C minus

His voice is odd, I don't enjoy the rapping, and his singing is just okay. The songs were silly. I did not enjoy this.

Pretty forgettable album, no tracks stood out and it dragged on and on towards the end. Had higher expectations based on his later hit 'Fuck You' but this album was more 'Fucks Sake'.

Very basic rap album, mixes some soul here and there, didn't listen all the songs tho, pharrell collab is good

Meh. Pretty dull fare here.

Nothing here caught my ear. I don’t like his hits either though.

As far as soul goes, it's kinda mediocre. But then there were hip hop bits that were even mediocrer. Having a unique voice means you can usually find a niche and excel in it, but he didn't find it here

This is ... decidely nowhere near as soulful as I was expecting, honestly really quite disappointing. Sort of sounds like OutKast in places, but with none of the charm.

I always liked the song Crazy, which I think was my total exposure to Cee Lo Green. He is definitely a super talented dude, but damn this album sucks.

A LOT of duds on this record. However, Soul Machine into The Art of Noise might be the first track to use a neo-soul breakdown. For sure influenced TPAB. Other than that, terrible record. Would be a 1 withoout that.

first time listening to this one, and it was difficult on a number of levels. first, although it was the only version of the LP that came up on Tidal, it was the edited version of the album? the curse words were straight up edited out of the mix, so some songs were full of vocal gaps (like you'd hear on FM radio). I tried to correct course and find the explicit version, but by the time I realized what was up, the album had already lost me and I just wanted to power through and get it over with. anyone else feel like the first handful of tracks showed some promise (or at least were mediocre enough), and then this LP just got progressively more difficult to listen to? at first I thought I was gonna get some good Atlanta rap/soul, but that just turned into a lot of condescension, bravado, and sermonizing, and not in a convincing or entertaining way. sometimes felt like a public display of failure and I just couldn't look away. I guess I was blissfully unaware of Cee-Lo Green until "Crazy" hit the airwaves. "Fuck You" was also a huge hit. this album did not make me want to continue any exploration of his music. even when there were some cool production choices, they were outnumbered by cringeworthy decisions.

I know Cee Lo Green, but I didn’t know any songs on here. It was fine, but it was a long album. He had a lot of people featured on his songs that I know.

I actually enjoyed listening to a good bit of this album, but also hard pass on Cee-Lo being on a list of artists to hear before I die.

Nice change of pace from the things I know from Cee-Lo Green (Gnarls Barkley's "Crazy", and obviously "Fuck You"). It just didn't really stick for me.

2.5 - decent

Why is this on the list? The Gnarls Barkley album was fine, but this is just nothing special.

Not an unpleasant voice but this one was very ignorable

At times when he “sings” he sounds like a member of the Lollipop Guild. And that’s pretty far away from being soulful.

Good grooves and Cee-Lo can belt it out. But man, that is alot of the soul machine. I could only take this in chunks. Good for a pop hit. Too much for a full album. 2.5

Felt okay about this, nothing really stood out and felt a little goofy (the beats, production, skits, and rapping)

Hmm 2004, sounds like it. Neptunes, Timbaland. Nothing wrong with it, but theres better soul, and better hip hop. 2.5 rounded down Heard before? No Owned: No 59/239 (24%) Will I get: No

Im first like, noup really not my genre... A few songs in and Im still not convinced of even trying... still want to give it chance. Then 4 or 5 songs in, and it sure becomes more interesting, little more deep, little more interesting compositions. At least, avoiding me from giving it a one-star rating. I made it finally to the end, and surely can say I did not loose interest. Enough for a strong two star rating.

too long, with a few bangers

Ok, but not for me

Tough on for me. Cee-Lo's voice works great when he actually sings, but it's straight up IRRITATING when he raps. Despite the name of this album there is very little soul on here, which is too bad because it's some of the few moments where this album almost shines. Typical 2000s R&B/Hip-Hop production here, which always sounds very contrived to me and makes this release blend in with all the other major-label pop from this era. Nothing special here.

I enjoy songs where he isn't rapping. Some good stuff in here that's overshadowed by songs I wasn't particularly fond of.

Throw away pop/soul. Honestly baffled why it is on here but I didn't hate it.

I will say that Cee-Lo makes Jay-Z seem modest. So that’s something.

This was a not very good album. I didn't really like it. It was just a little too weird for me I guess. But like not weird I don't know. It just wasn't good

This was not great, there were a few songs that I was ok with but on the whole this album was a miss!

The next time I play "never have I ever" and someone says "never have I ever listened to a full Cee-Lo Green album" I guess I'll have to drink. This was long. Very long. I did like the sincere romanticism of "let's make it a blockbuster night" and the outro "What Don't You Do?...Fuck around." I'm not sure who Cee-Lo's audience is but I don't think it's me.

Couldn't get through it. Just not my thing. Had it playing whilst on the dog walk and forgot I even had any music playing. Just totally tuned out

Southern hip hop & neo-soul album, most certainly influenced by OutKast, that pulls from funk, pop, dance, rock music to many a fun, crunky hyphy kinda album. Some pretty good beats and Green had a unique voice that can be quite impressive when he chooses. That said, the vocals didn’t catch my interest that much, and with the long run time I was just kind of over this album. It’s fun but I’d seek out other artists if I’m wanting this style of music.

it's meh. not much stands out and it's content to just hum along for a while. Neptunes and Timbaland production are both fairly underwhelming too tbh. deserves to be one of the 1001? no but maybe St. Elsewhere does

I just wanted to be done

Could not get into this ... maybe its his voice!

Ok 2/5

this album is frozen in 2004 and has not aged well. the feeling this album induces is sitting on my floor playing video games at 2 am listening to a radio station with an unhinged talk show that I should not have been listening too at that age. The production value is decent featuring a lot popular artists at the time. Stanf out tracks: The Art of Noise My Kind of People Childz Play I Am Selling Soul - Did we just get some jungle beats/ break core?

Childz Play has to be top 5 worst songs I've heard on this generator period. I hate this dude.

I will always be grateful to Cee-Lo Green for his live cover of “The Reckoner”, which I found on YouTube late one night. This was my introduction to Radiohead and to one of my favourite albums of all time, “In Rainbows”. I mostly know Cee-Lo Green from his hit “Fuck You” and his work with Gnarls Barkley. In those, he doesn’t really rap—which is probably for the best. Cee-Lo’s rapping here is pretty awful, especially on tracks like “I Am Selling Soul” and “Scrap Metal”. His voice just doesn’t suit the lyrics, and the flow isn’t really there. The R&B sections are easily the strongest parts of the album. “My Kind of People” was probably my favourite, although that might be partly due to the hook borrowed from “Pass the Dutchie”. You get all the usual names you’d expect on a 2000s R&B/rap album, including T.I., Ludacris, and, of course, Timbaland. Overall, it’s quite a forgettable album. Strong 2 stars.

Longer than the bible and feels longer than that Ella album. A struggle to get through one listen

Zdecydowanie nie moje klimaty, ale jak na hiphopowy album to nawet dla mnie miał fajne momenty

mehhhhhh

This was fine. I liked All Day Love Affair.

I can’t take a full album of CeeLo.

Few moments pointing back to the Goodie Mob Ceelo and ahead to the mainstream CeeLo drag this up from a 1.

Was not expecting to see this album in here. A couple solid songs but man is his voice grating.

A soul/hip hop album that was kinda forgot by people is an automatic 2.

Not really my thing

3/10

Lame

Ok R&B

Found it pretty boring, struggled to make it to the end. Don’t really love his voice, and it was all just kinda mediocre to me.

My first impressions of "Cee-Lo Green... Is The Soul Machine" were of a varied, interesting, and occasionally funky record. However, that initial intrigue failed to sustain itself, and the album eventually devolved into an inconsistent listening experience. The production is serviceable, yet often marred by harshly programmed beats that sit too forward in the mix. On tracks like "Living Again," the percussion is aggressive to the point of distraction. Even on "All Day Love Affair", arguably one of the album's highlights, the percussion (whether sampled or programmed) feels "off." This lack of cohesion is likely a symptom of having a bloated roster of producers; one wonders how many hands are truly necessary to steer a single project. Vocally, Cee-Lo fluctuates between excellence and the annoyingly comical, particularly on "Childz Play". The hip-hop elements feel largely unsuccessful and clumsy, especially when Cee-Lo handles them himself. A track like "When We Were Friends" is a prime example of a solid song ruined by an unnecessary rap verse that disrupts the flow entirely. Clocking in at over an hour, the album outstays its welcome by a good 15 to 20 minutes. There is charm to be found here, and had the weaker tracks in the second half been trimmed, this could have been a tight three- or even four-star album. While it has its moments, its inconsistent production choices and the lack of focus means it ultimately isn't for me. Two stars. 1 "Intro" (3/5) 2 "Soul Machine" (3/5) 3 "The Art of Noise" (featuring Pharrell) (3/5) 4 "Living Again" (3/5) 5 "I'll Be Around" (featuring Timbaland) (2/5) 6 "The One" (featuring Jazze Pha and T.I.) (3/5) 7 "My Kind of People" (featuring Jazze Pha and Menta Malone) (3/5) 8 "Childz Play" (featuring Ludacris) (2/5) 9 "I Am Selling Soul" (2/5) 10 "All Day Love Affair" (3/5) 11 "Evening News" (featuring Chazzie and Sir Cognac The Conversation) (3/5) 12 "Scrap Metal" (featuring Big Rube and G-Rock) (2/5) 13 "Glockappella" (2/5) 14 "When We Were Friends" (2/5) 15 "Sometimes" (1/5) 16 "Let's Stay Together" (featuring Pharrell) (3/5) 17 "Die Trying" (2/5) 18 "What Don't You Do? (Outro)" (2/5) Total - 44 Average - 2.44 219/1001 123/219 albums reviewed were new to me.

Cee-Lo Green... Is The Wanna Be Machine

The core sound of this album is early aughts southern hip hop, but a lot is done with that sound. There are smooth tracks, and bangers. There are also some adventures, like the techno opening to "I Am Selling Soul" and the late night jazz of "Evening News." Cee Lo's vocals can't quite keep up though. His singing is great, and there are times when it mixes well with the rap verses. But his rapping is a mixed bag. The second half of "I Am Selling Soul" is fiery and creative, but more often his flow is choppy. The lyrics cover standard hip hop tropes without much of a personal touch. This is a fun album, with some surprises, and it doesn't sound dated despite being very influenced by the sounds of its time. But there's not enough substance to sustain it.

Quite boring. I like Gnarls Barkley better. Hell, I even like his other album with Fuck You on it

Jeg tror ik jeg synes det er voldsomt essentielt, men helt fin plade

Not my thing but even so it’s pretty bland.

Not good but not bad some interesting production style and beats here. Just don't really know why it's on this list

Nothing wrong with self confidence, but if you’re going to give yourself big titles, you better bring the heat. And after slogging through 60plus minutes of this, I can say he ain’t.. the soul machine. Generic r&b of it’s time would be a better label. Googled best soul singers and he didn’t feature. To be fair maybe that's just a result of birth, maybe Otis and Marvin if their prime in 2004 would have produced shit like this. Don’t know anything about this, or him - don’t hate on it but never got above background music when listening, which wasn’t a bad thing because when did pick up on him saying how much he appears to love himself it was painful. Again each to their own, like what you like, I just don’t get why this would be someone’s go to album. Heard it. 1.5 Star

So many albums on here that I did not need to hear. This is one of them.

Not for me. I don't like his voice and the featured artists aren't any better.

This is like when that poser came back to school sporting a DC backpack and new Etnies skate shoes, claiming he could shred. After school on Friday, you go to the nearby skate park for a skate, and this guy pulls out a brand new, unscathed deck. He rattles off his favourite moves, which he learned the night before while playing THPS2. You tell him to drop in and show everyone what he’s got. He falls over on his first attempt, and grazes his knee. “Ahh it’s pretty sore, I reckon I should give it a rest for the day” he moans. This guy can’t skate. And you hate him now.

Not for me.

It’s got its moments. But mostly not for me.

He has some good stuff but this isn’t it

Pleasant but unremarkable.

Ehhh

not my thing

I enjoyed some of the music but it just didn’t quite get there. 2

I was like “oh, it must be over soon, it’s been playing forever.” Still 7 songs remaining.

Do not like his voice, enough that I don’t really give his songs a chance.

Best Track - "All Day Love Affair"

Ugh. 2/5

I didn’t really care much for this album. There’s a handful of songs that are solid, like Fuck You and the closer, No One’s Gonna Love You. But even for its genre, it feels middle of the road. This just wasn’t really for me.

Decent, arguably better than expected, but nothing to bring me back

Can't get behind his voice. It's super corny. Some of the music is actually pretty good, but 1 hour and 5 minutes is just too much of Cee-Lo. 2.0/5.0: Disappointing

great beats which isnt suprising given the great producers credited on this album. ceelo has a really unique voice which is hard to put up with for an extended period of time. with a few strategic cuts this couldve been a 3.

A long, meandering, very early 2000s kind of record. What happened to all killer, no filler? Why aren't all rap albums like ¨Illmatic,¨ instead of the sprawling slogs they often are? Why don't I like Cee-Lo's rap voice? Is ¨Crazy¨ his only good song (in my opinion)?

Cee-Lo Green...Is The Shit Machine painful listen

This… isn’t great.

Not as bad as a 2, really, but the aspirations vs reality here is disappointing enough that I gotta knock it down. This album does nothing but be there - it's fine, it's bouncy, it has a few ideas that don't really go anywhere but are still neat to see. The features feel as though someone was like, "yeah I got nothin' going on today why not." Also how is it over an hour. Who agreed to that.

I don't think I needed to hear this one at all, let alone from a before-I-die list. Nothing about it seemed all that good to me. Plus its over an hour long... why? There might be a fun, short album in there somewhere. Dragging it out that long just made it seem even worse. I have to think this might be some kind of satire effort. Just the name is over the top dumb. But also a bit oxymoronic; a machine can't make soul music since it is inherently missing the necessary soulfulness. If parody was the intent, though, it fell flat. Instead, I was getting second-hand embarrassment listening to someone show off mediocre rapper skills for so long. There were a couple bright spots, but I can't say I enjoyed this one. Cutting it by half would've made it much more manageable and maybe even enjoyable. Even so, I don't think a short version would be worth having on this list. I guess one "compliment" I'll give is that there's probably worse out there. Overall: 1.75/5

The Art Of Noise // Childz Play // Sometimes // 2.5/5

Meh. This didn’t make much of an impression. Nothing particularly memorable or interesting here, lacking in personality. And his voice gets kind of grating real quick. 2.5

Þetta fannst mér ekki skemmtilegt.

I only ever knew Fuck You/Forget You from this guy. This had some nice beats but overall felt mediocre and not that interesting. Def not worthy of this list. 2* Vocals in scrap metal really irked me.

Ikkje så glad i soul, egentlig

I thought I really liked Cee-Lo’s singing voice, but I was unfamiliar with any of his solo work (besides Forget You). I was a fan of Gnarls Barkley and Goodie Mob, which are vastly different projects, so I wasn’t sure what to expect from this album. I really liked the beats and production on the album, but I felt that most of Cee-Lo’s raps and vocals took away from the music. The self-aggrandizement is egregious in a lot of his lyrics. I did enjoy the features by G-Rock, Ludacris, and Timbaland though. Overall, I wish he would’ve done things differently lyrically and vocally because there’s some really good stuff to work with sonically. The album was also far too long.

Everything about this album was up my alley except the music ://

Modern soul pop. Well done, and a pleasant enough voice, but not my thing. An hour is quite a lot, too.

Not my usual shit, but so so. It almost has a house feel to it. The album bounces along with positivity. Still bailed halfway through.

It's okay, this isn't my type of music really. It kinda felt like it went on forever.

Too long and too much of it is just plodding, unremarkable R&B that I can do without. The Ludacris feature had me bopping my head so that's a bonus star but I'm not going any higher than that.

Oh fuck me running, I have absolutely zero desire to listen to a CeeLo Green album. I listened to one of his albums several years ago, and I absolutely hated it. It may have even been this one, but I'm not sure, because whatever it was, I deleted it out of my iTunes library. CeeLo is the most disappointing thing to come out of Atlanta since the 2016 Falcons, so I have incredibly low expectations for this album. I guess I'll get this over with... Well, maybe I overreacted to this album just a bit. It was bad, but it wasn’t as bad as I thought it would be. The first couple of tracks after the intro were not my jam at all. “Soul Machine” was incredibly busy in the worst way, and the rapping was indecipherable. I find CeeLo’s voice pretty grating in large doses, and “Soul Machine” was a brutal reminder of why. “The Art of Noise” was pretty bland, which was disappointing since The Neptunes were involved. However, the next couple of songs were really good. The softer vocals on “Living Again” were good, and the beats and instrumentation were excellent. The piano and saxophone were awesome, and this song had an infectious groove that I really loved. “I’ll Be Around” was really good too. Timbaland’s voice balanced out CeeLo’s really well, and the choral vocals were excellent. The beat was excellent, and the horns were really good too. The rest of the album was really bland to me, and the only other song worth mentioning was “Scrap Metal.” I really enjoyed the bass and the horns, and Big Rube and G-Rock provided some good guest rapping to break up the monotony of CeeLo’s voice. I’m mostly grateful that this album is over with, but now I really want to watch that video of Gnarls Barkley performing “Crazy” dressed in Star Wars costumes.

2.3 1x catch up 10/7, not horrible just not interesting

It’s ok. Not a fan of his voice. May have to give another listen, but it was hard to get through this.

Sounds like the same songs over and over. Great vocals but music is bland

The music behind the vocals is pretty decent and well put together, but this guy can't rap and does not have the voice to rap. I mean, every feature was just so much better than CeeLo even if they weren't great themselves, to the point where every time CeeLo came back to rap I winced. Did not have to be over an hour long neither

Mind-numbingly boring.

This album doesn’t feel particularly essential. It isn’t groundbreaking, and it’s not even Cee-Lo’s strongest work. It’s listenable enough, but it breezes by without leaving much of an impression. Nothing here really justifies its place as a “must-hear before you die” record. What makes that even clearer is how much stronger Cee-Lo’s work became afterwards, especially with Gnarls Barkley, where his talent and creativity really took off in ways this album never quite achieves. The Timbaland collaboration is the standout here, easily the best track on the record, but even that isn’t enough to elevate the whole album.

Honestly this is the first album I've laughed at on first sight. What the hell did Cee Lo Green do to get an album on this list, and if there was one, why is it one that's over an HOUR LONG????? That said, music itself wasn’t offensive, but also laughed out loud at Cee Lo rapping. I’d love to speak to whoever decided the man with the golden voice should be a rapper. 2.5 rounded to 2.

Some bangers on here to kick off, just slows down too much for my tastes.

Good hip hop / r&b. Didn’t find anything particularly stand out, but good more or less

I didn't actively hate this, but it wasn't good. I have done farts with more soul than Cee-Lo Green... Is The Soul Machine

mamma mia ragazzi io mi volevo pure sforzare ma non ce la faccio

Non è il mio genere. Non posso dire che è brutto ma un’ora di sta roba non ce la faccio ad ascoltarla e poi lui ha una voce un po’ fastidiosa

Eh didn't like Cee Lo then and I still don’t like him. A couple decent songs but other than that nothing really note worthy. Great beats and production.

This was a tough one. Hip hop album where you hate the sound of the artists voice. I just don't like it. Some of the beats were great, some of the guests were great, (LUDA) but overall I just couldn't get past Cee-Lo's voice. Also he's a terrible person.

Honestly better than expected, still a shitty dude

pretty ordinary neo-soul - nothing remarkable about it, at all

Maso

Respectfully… why is this on here?

Probably don't need to listen to this before you die. There's better hip hop.

Bit boring.

His voice is quite annoying. The production is also pretty bad, with the kick having way too much bass, leaving everything else to sound thin by comparison.

1.94

Respectfully, the beat on Childz Play is garbage. This whole thing is very 2004. There are other better projects from the time period. Ehh. Favorites were The Art Of Noise and I’ll Be Around.

Pish.

dnf, got to track 13 but just really wasn’t my kind of thing

The features are what saves this, for example The Art of Noise. But I can't take this man seriously with that voice, so the songs that are only him are just too painful.

A one hit wonder who's one hit makes me wonder why it's not here. The rest of the album is a generic blending of funk and hip hop. Examples of which are better represented elsewhere than on this album. 2/5

I expected more :(

Hip hop y soul. Empieza bien pero es muy largo y monótono

It's fun and playful but I can't completely get into it. I think I prefer his Gnarls Barkley material. 2⭐️

This is trash

Just doesn't do it for me. 2/5

Doesn’t do much for me

Never before has anyone been so confident in so little.

He just has no business being this cocky

I can’t exactly explain why but this album reminds me of what it feels like to waddle around the house after overeating on thanksgiving

This went on for what felt like forever. Mirroring some of the reviews here, he has a great voice but it’s also so irritating at times. Some fun samples throughout, but I’m not sure I’d want to listen to this again.

For an album called "The Soul Machine" there's very little soul. Cee Lo's voice is also high pitched and that makes the album a difficult listen

This album is way too long. By the halfway point, I was ready to call it quits, but I suffered through to the end.

I wish we could give half stars too. This one is a 2.5/5 for me.

There's no reason this needed to be 18 tracks (or 16, minus the intro & outro). Related: I find CeeLo's voice grating after a while, even with it's enmeshed with well-arranged soul music. I wish there were more of that and less of everything else.

Not my genre.

His voice is a little bit disturbing after a couple of songs. I did not enjoy it.

Didn't get much time to listen to this. I know he has done some food stuff however he is apparently a horrendous person in real life and that had a part to play in not really putting much effort into listening to it 😜

Cee-Lo Green is not the soul machine

Another album with heavy Pharrell (and the Neptunes) and Timbaland production that was made around the same time as that Justin Timberlake album we had. Forgot how prevalent they were in the early 00s pop/hip-hop/R&B scene. There are some songs with sick beats: The Art Of Noise, I'll Be Around, The One. However, early on we're getting way too much of Cee-Lo rapping and it's not landing. Yeah this goes on way too long and doesn't improve much. Sticking this one with a 2. I'm sure if Cee-Lo saw this he would tell me FUCK YOUUUUUU.

I was excited since I expected the dude from Gnarls Barkley showing why he's the "soul machine". What I got was just hip hop and rap. Not that I don't enjoy that, I love both, but it just wasn't what I was expecting. As for the album, when the extended silence after Evening News played, I thought the album was over, and I felt relief....only for Scrap Metal to start. Imma stick with Gnarls Barkley I think. And Cee-Lo should probably stick to Fuck You. That was at least fun. 2/5

When there are more than, say twenty, headlines that include your stage name and the words “rape tweets”, I’m thinking your career has not gone exactly as you envisioned it. I assume that this album made it on an early version of the 1001 albums list and was cut in subsequent editions. There’s not really anything wrong with it. Fairly middle of the road 2000’s hip-pop. It has all the guys that were doing that well at that time on it (Luda!). It hits all the marks. But there is nothing exceptional or special about this album whatsoever.

It didn't seem a like a soul album, and it went on forever... Wasn't a great listen for me

This ain't my jam. I don't enjoy his squeaky voice that's adjacent to Outkast but I find more grating. Music backing was good but didn't grab me. An album to be tolerated in the name of completing the list. Does the woefully empty wiki page hint at the mediocrity of this album?

It's a fairly mediocre 2000s soul/hip hop album. Nothing super appealing about it to me.

2.8

Some good songs and solid production but there is a lot to dislike about this album.

Not really my thing. Did I really need to listen to this before I died?

I want to like it more than I do.

Pretty good and funky

This album was okay, but no standout tracks, went on too long and didn't feel like it was doing anything new or unique. 4/10

#604. I was kinda just waiting for it to be over the whole time. 2/5: less than exceptional

also not my thing

Some parts of this were nice background music. Mainly I was just waiting for it to end. Would have rather listened to Gnarls Barkley over this.

mid

eh... ruim... não foi PÉSSIMO. tem uns beats que passam, mas a voz de kermit desse mano é difícil demais

I didn’t dislike this as much as I thought I would.

I was not in the right mood for an hour of someone claiming to be the king of soul when Al Green is still alive.

His ego clearly exceeds his talent. Mediocre at best. Not sure why it is on this list.

CeeLo is fucking weird but for the most part it works. As usual this hip-hop is too long. I don’t think we need the overly experimental tracks. His straight southern rap is good. It’s also a bit to clubby at times 5.7/10

This dude only has one hit and it's not on this album.

This album only had a couple of excellent R&B songs. It’s just too bad that the rest of the album was him rapping with his friends from The Dirty South.

Is this soul?? Parts are okay or even good, but not enough to make up for the album as a whole.

I like his vocals in Gnarls Barkley, less so on this album. It was okay, but mostly fell into background music.

Mediocre at best hip hop album from a guy that seems to have a very inflated opinion of himself.

It's no Gnarls Barkley...

Long et chiant.

Nothing special here. I think of this dude as a one-hit wonder, and his wonder does not even appear on this album. Pretty irritating voice/style

I'm not sure why this album is on the list. Firstly its not great, is it? and its a bit too long, and a bit boring, and his voice is a bit annoying. Secondly, its not even the album that has his most popular song, he's basically a one-hit-wonder with 'Fuck/Forget you'? At a pinch you could say a two hit wonder as Gnarls Barkley (Crazy is a great song, not featured on this list as far as I can see)

Not a big hip hop fan but the instrumentation was pretty great on a few songs.

Definitely 2000’s rap mixed with some funk/soul. Ok. Saved a couple songs. Just not my vibe.

Som ett konvent för ja-sägare

Very few good parts to this album

Heard Fuck You before and once again I'm not sure what this album is doing here. It's a well produced early 00s music but really subpar overall. Cee Lo sounds kind of annoying on some songs. And the album is way too long 2/5

Very much a drag at the end. Cee Lo's voice can be an acquired taste, and I have never acquired it.

Beaucoup trop long. Hyperactivité qui fini par me taper sur les nerfs. Musique tiède sur prod un peu froide. Y'en a certains que la voix schtroumpf pas mais perso moi je schtroumpf pas.

Not my soul

Boring.

Very uninteresting

Inizio non proprio top, poi le prime canzoni mi hanno preso. Alla fine ho quittato, no no no.

Cee-Lo you stupid motherfucker. This is some of the most vapid shit I have ever heard. Only redeeming track is 'Die Trying' which is almost ruined by the unnecessary outro. Good production though.

Instantly recognizable and iconic voice. Cee-Lo really didn’t become the fun and interesting artistic that I enjoy until he teamed up with Danger Mouse and created Gnarls Barkley - he really needs that creative and playful musical force behind him. This, his hip-hop-persona, doesn’t really speak to me. There’s simply not enough to hold onto along the loooong runtime.

For someone calling themselves "The Soul Machine", the music is definitely lacking a lot of it. How much copy/pasta was done creating this album?

Eh I didn’t need over an hour of CDs lo green

Pretty good but just felt like generic early 2000’s pop.

Nice voice, boring songs.

This was fun and refreshing in that I love this genre, and we don’t get much of it on this list. That said, CeeLo’s rhymes are uninspired, his voice can be grating, and the music is dated as hell.

Hip hop once again. The brevity of the album summary is remarkable. Obviously there really isn't much more to say. For a rap album, the music didn't really get on my nerves. But it didn't interest me either. After 7 tracks I switched off, bored. 2/5

"Cee-Lo Green... Is The Soul Machine" is a mixed bag: bizarre, freaky, fragmented, frenetic, and inconsistent readily come to mind. The album features some noteworthy songs, including "Art of Noise," "I'll Be Around," and "Living Again." However, it is marred by mostly lackluster tracks like "Childz Play," "Scrap Metal," and "Glockapella." What I find particularly puzzling is Green's vocal performance throughout the album, which often comes across as irritating, strained, and off-key, given he has shown he can do better such as on Gnarls Barkley's "St Elsewhere" or even on he own singles like "Fuck You". Additionally, I find it ironic that Green critiques the commercialization of music and the entertainment industry in "I Am Selling Soul," given the trajectory of his own career. TLDR: There are a few decent tracks, but overall, not a great album.

This is a big nothingburger. Lots of aimless 4/4 beat songs with something happening over them.

This is not really my jam, but I can recognize some decent stuff on here. It's a borderline 2/3 for me. 2.4

It is okay.

Laughably bad for the most part, despite the fact he's an objectively good singer. There are a couple of tracks that raise it above the worst of the genre, but by and large, this is just something you want to never have to hear again. Also, it's 73 minutes long. That should be illegal and everyone involved in dragging it out that far should feel very bad indeed.

Hey, I actually liked it in moments. I just think it's far too long. Good chunks of this could have been cut and this project would have been elevated to like, a four. easy

Does it make sense to say this is cloyingly Millennial? It feels like something I SHOULD like. But it’s too cloyingly Millennial.

Fav song: Sometimes Cee Lo Green's voice is super annoying to me when he raps. I like his singing a bit more but I find him quite obnoxious. I liked all the tracks with Pharrell on em tho!

Wasn't worst, wasn't the best. Definitely has his own sound and sticks to it, which I respect. Well produced, but not something I would probably choose to put on. I think there are plenty of fantastic naughties albums that I would choose that are far superior than most of what this list has included in the first decade of the 2000s. This one does not belong on the list.

This isn't even in the top 1001 albums Cee-Lo Green is on! Ok, I'm exaggerating, but this feels like a totally random pick. I would have gone with Gnarls Barkley's St Elsewhere for my Cee-Lo selection.

I tried really hard - but really struggled with this one. Main beef being the whiny pitch of the vocals was really effin irritating not matter how catchy or groovy the songs maybe. A struggle. Low 2.

Cee-Lo Green… Is the Soul Machine Fine, if a bit forgettable and far too long. There’s no need for this to be over an hour, particularly as there’s nothing as good as Fuck You to provide some focus I do like his voice, and the sprawling nature of the album and oddities that pop up, and there are some nice moments across it. The Neptunes produced Art of Noise is cool. All Day Love Affair is also good, the horns are very nice, but it would be even better without the little wah guitar licks. I like the theremin/spooky noises on Scrap Metal’s verses, but the chorus kind of lets it down. Glockapella starts out unpromisingly but turns into a decent track, the slowed down Funkadelic interpolation is good. It’s not unlistenable, it just needs a bit of an edit and a few more good songs to elevate it. I wouldn’t be averse to listening again but I can’t imagine I’d ever come back to it, I’d rather listen to Outkast for this kind of thing as they do it much better. On the cusp of 2 and 3, maybe a bit mean but I’ll stick on a high 2 🟢🟢 Playlist submission: All Day Love Affair

Overall, there is fun to be had, but it all feels a bit lightweight and there's no killer tracks. He flits between styles without really nailing any. It is way too long. But the lad's put in a decent effort, and offered some vague enjoyment. Still - I think a three may be overegging it, seeing as I'm unlikely to listen to any of this again.

Energetic and light hearted r&b soul soaked pop. Its lively and entertaining, but all and all so overtly 2000s cheese that I really cant give this much of a serious listen. Knowing what little of Cee Lo I do, this side of his music would give him to notoriety and success in order to segue his Gnarls Barkley sound. Which I fully appreciate way more than this.

There's some interesting moments in this album, and also some terrible stuff. Overall album is fine. Childz Play is notably awful.

His voice has a whiny, grating quality.

Meh

Nothing against Cee-Lo. I like his songs and his arrangements. But 75 or so years ago, musicians and fans started trading in complexity and technique for passion and emotion. Jump Blues, R&B, and Rock & Roll were first and foremost about communicating raw emotion and energy. Now we're fed bloops and bleeps performed by computers; totally devoid of any hint of humanity. But with Robo-Pop, we haven't gained anything interesting, musically. The computers are programmed to play the same simplistic conventions - straight 4 time, 3 major chords, and "solos" in pentatonic scale. I find it to be among the most unmoving and uninteresting "music" ever recorded.

Some good beats, big sound but for hip hop it’s mediocre. Ludacris helped give one track something worth hearing, but otherwise… no!

Usually I'm all about weird. But something about Cee Lo just lands with a thud for me. Maybe I'm just not the target audience. Fuck You (from his Lady Killer album in 2010) is on my deserted island playlist, but this album honestly just feels okay.

1.5

dragged on for a while and songs didn’t really stand out, had that one song that i knew but that’s about it

It's a lot of hiphop for a soul album. Not great

I expected this to be better :(

Couldn't tell if this was a hip-hop, pop, soul or funk album. Didn't get into it at all

The opening skit with his weird kid didn’t give me high hopes for this album. It actually wasn’t nearly as bad as I thought it would be, there were some decent beats and clever lyrics. This album is another example of less is more, especially when your voice is uh Cee-Lo’s voice. It’s fine for a couple tracks but an hour of it is way too much for me, far too pitchy for the soulful sound he was looking for. I don’t know man, not for me. Also, terrible cover art. Is that supposed to be Biggie in his glasses? 2 stars

Gear: Moondrop Variations Artwork: 😎🪞🌥️ Production: 😐🙂👌 Music: 🎤✨🙄 Rating: 🐼(🐼)/5

Really long and pretty boring. Fun track names though.

Didn't really hold my attention. His voice is great but over the length of the album it gets tiring, and the songs didn't really do anything for me. Some of the production is really nice though, but just as much of it sounds dated. Fave song: The art of noise Least fave song: childz play Would I listen again: doubt it

Ok. Rap heavy for me

Wanted this to be better than it was. The amount of talent associated with this album is crazy, but the album is rather mediocre. No great singles, and nothing really dynamic going on. 2/5 Won’t listen again

I found myself bored and underwhelmed by this album, though I fully admit at some point my attention wandered. I didn't hear much creativity, and the lyrics were lackluster. However, a song at the end of the album gave me pause because it showed CeeLo Green's potential. "Die Trying" had a great groove, amazing lyrics and harmonies--and it wasn't even a single. Really, this was only CeeLo's second album--"Fuck You" is released six years later! Greatness was yet to come. To be fair, his voice is the saving grace here. His vocals contain such a soulful quality. And I noticed some electronic sounds snuck into this album, too.

Cee Lo has such a fascinating voice, and on an album that feels very mid overall, that very voice is the standout. Once again, I feel like the inclusion here is more about music history than music quality. This neo-soul sound was not particularly pervasive during this early 2000s period. Compared to the music of the time, this is a bit of a unique standout. That said, a more developed and "must listen" feature from Cee Lo, in my opinion, would be his follow-up album, "The Lady Killer"; that album was his actual breakthrough and more of a must-listen. I don't think this album is bad, but it wasn't great either; I really started to lose interest as the album went on. I wouldn't consider it a must-listen. 2.5 stars.

Maybe if CeeLo had been able to maintain the reputation he had in the mid-late 00s, this list placement would make sense. But dude’s a rapist and his rep plummeted appropriately. Listening to it now, I don’t know why anyone would choose this over OutKast, Andre 3000, Erykah Badu, Janelle Monae, Big Boi, Killer Mike, you know, the keystones of Southern soulful hip-hop.

In which Cee-Lo tries to make OutKast’s Andre 3000-led project …The Love Below - by which I mean it’s a genre-hopping scattershot pop and soul adjacent album by a musician with his roots in the southern rap game. Where Andre’s effort is experimental, boundary-pushing and full of charm, Cee-Lo’s has moments of greatness peppered with poor pastiches and homages, cringy lyrics, and missed shots that aren’t really bold enough to give credit for. Soul Food by Goodie Mob or St Elsewhere by Gnarls Barkley would be much more fitting Cee-Lo inclusions - though leaving him off the list entirely wouldn’t be a terrible idea either

This provided virtually zero benefit to my life.

Dunno about this, sometimes he has quite good flow, but there's just something missing. Is his claim that he is the soul machine ironic, as don't think there was much soul here. The stuff he did with danger mouse was good, don't think this was anywhere close though 2.5 probably

Never realized how awful and annoying his voice is

CeeLo Green...Is The Soul Machine. Then why no soul CeeLo? There's the occasional soul beat or hint of soul but nothing that could be classed as out and out soul. I think maybe All Day Love Affair comes the closest? It's kinda fun in parts but the only other song I really liked was Childz Play and that's 'cause I like Ludacris. This is like so many R&B rap albums of the time but not one of the better ones. There's no doubt he has a a voice for soul but he just doesn't use it for that genre on this album and he's not really a rapper either. Also, how and why is this album 1hr 5 mins long?!

Yeah, I’m not loving this. He not got a very pleasant tone, has he? Flow’s alright, lyrical content is reasonably positive. I find the production pretty bland, and none of the hooks are hooking me. Feels like a long hour.

meh

I don think Cee Lo had come into his one just yet. Didn’t hate it, but nothing stood out either.

I might appreciate this more in the future, but for the moment I'm likely to forget you

I felt like there was too much going on production wise.

Souled hiphop, føles sgu ret outdated

Honestly I feel like I'm being generous because some of this album was very cringe, did not age well. The stand out track is the timbaland feature.

Cee-Lo Green saying words for 65 minutes. What a professional word sayer. I know he wishes he was Stevie Wonder, but sorry man, you can't be "The Soul Machine" when your voice sounds like A Pimp Named Slickback. Alright, final 10 albums. Time for the most anticlimactic finale of all time.

This album was comically bad haha. From unimpressive lyrics to straight up mumbling. The only thing that redeemed this album was the hilarious beats, so bad it was good. Felt like I was in a circus for a while there lol

Initially thought it was pretty bad, then it kind of got stuck in my head. Still don’t think it’s very good, but it has a few moments. Mostly it’s just a Stevie Wonder/Funkadelic rip off. Not sure anybody going to care about Cee Lo Green 30 years from now.

I'm not sure if it's his voice or someone who was on the album with him but after a while, I couldn't stand it anymore! Overall it was better than I expected, however, it's not something I would listen to again.

The soul machine lacks soul. I'll be around slaps tho

Nah, I wasn't feeling it at all. I love soul but didnt dig this

Ignoring Cee Lo Green's issues and just addressing the music....Every time I listen to his music I get the same reaction "oh yeah......he's really talented......this is dynamic and interesting" and then I immediately forget it all. It's weirdly forgettable. There's a lot of breadth but none of it seems all that unique. It's almost really good and almost interesting. Production is great, but there really isn't much to dig into here. Most of my enjoyment came from realizing how similar he sounds to Colonel Stinkmeaner here. This feels harsh but 2/5.

Feels like a filler album to get to 1001. No place on this list.

this album has many pleasing, soulful, comfy production choices and arrangements, largely thanks to the features - it sometimes feels like the entirety of southern rap is here - and overall the genre-mashing is successful. but lyrically this album is such ego-stroking dumb dogshit. trying to pass off as a good-times hard-guy record, barely disguising a deep insecurity. calling himself the soul machine like a goddamn comic book character. stupid.

It had some songs that stood out, but not enough. I guess his work with Gnarls Barkley is a bit better. This is not bad by any means but it's not that good either

I've heard better soul, rap pop or whatever this is. There are some nice, smooth beats at times but it's just not very interesting or worth the time listening to.

Not my jam

Sustainably made using the offcuts of an Outkast album. The Soul Machine is straightforward Virginia Beach hip hop from its heyday: tight clever pop production, that incorporates some disco & techno elements, lots of samples and allusions to 70s soul and funk, dynamic and upbeat beats, call and response choruses with a choir, quick wordy rap verses and big catchy hooks. Better than I expected from what I thought was the Gnarls Barkley one-hit wonder's side project, but it does just sound like filler from the bigger & better albums these producers made at the same time, so it's familiar and accessible, but not especially compelling on its own terms. 73 minutes? fuck off.

Extremely average. Maybe less so.

This album has one song that was a hit when it came out, and was short lived, much like his career being mainstream. This album has more interesting songs with guest stars, but they have better songs on their own albums.

Hip hop. I didn’t really like this album. The beats were plain, the vocals weren’t great, a lot of the time it was hard to understand. I will give the lyrics some credit, they were pretty clever throughout and flowed well but overall just ok.

This is #day68 of my #1001albumsyoumusthearbeforeyoudie challenge, and... it brings me back to 2004, a particularly golden year in my musical journey. At 14, I was immersed in CDs, tapes, music channels, and radio, discovering new sounds that shaped my tastes. Albums like Encore, Collision Course, Always Outnumbered, Never Outgunned, American Idiot, and others hold a special place in my heart. It was a time of polarizing yet unique music. Now, onto Cee-Lo Green's Is The Soul Machine... I wasn't familiar with him before. Listening to the album, I can hear the Timbaland production style that was popular back then, but unfortunately, it doesn’t stand out to me. This is a 2 out of 5, mostly because of the year it was released and a couple of familiar feature artists. Also, why are those hip-hop records always so obnoxiously long? Looking forward to #day69.

This is pretty standard fin-de-siecle R&B. I wouldn't have picked it out of a lineup, and I don't like it any better than the groups doing the same kind of thing in the late 90s. Cee-Lo has a nice voice, quite distinctive, but he doesn't really open up and let rip like on some of his later hits. I was surprised to see that one of these songs, "I'll Be Around", has been played something like 100x as often as the next-most-played song. To my mind that one kind of sucked. I must be missing something that true Cee-Lo fans are picking up on. The best songs in my opinion are the two with Pharrell, "When We Were Friends" and "All Day Love Affair", which both put the most emphasis on Cee-Lo's singing and give him the most space to work. I didn't like any of the ones with a guest rapper, they're just not what I'm here for, and I don't think they play to his strength. This could've been a decent 25-minute soul EP, instead it's weak a 1+ hour hip-hop CD.

I originally was going to take what was to be a ‘short break’ from this project to just sort out my head etc… but then months and months go by and I end up returning to this project because I desperately don’t want to listen to this album. You kinda just get accustomed to the music by the end of it at the start it sounded like a 1/5 but as it went on I think it’s just climbed up to a 2/5. But seriously I don’t recommend this to anyone.

[record scratch] Narrator: Turns out, he isn’t Okay so it’s not that bad, there’s some good stuff on this but it leaps here and there and in and out of mediocrity. A middling 2.5 stars.

not my kinda music, but the intro into the album is Very Great.

Pretty bad. The whole album is corny, lyrically and musically, but is interspersed with these jarring moments where Cee-Lo seems to be cosplaying as to what he thinks a hard man is. It's hard not to be perplexed when listening to a song which could be from a Lin-Manuel Miranda soundtrack, while Cee-Lo threatens to shoot his enemy's unborn child and it's mother. You can hear his attempts to imitate Andre 3000 all over this record. And, it goes without saying, he's not him. That said, he's a good vocalist, and some of the more experimental tracks are interesting, and even enjoyable. But they're hidden amongst total guff. Highlights: I am Selling Soul Let's Stay Together

It's fine I guess? He's a much better soul singer than he is a rapper, a craft at which he is wholly unconvincing. I just can't see how this is a must listen.

A line from one of the songs: "Sometimes I don't think people know I'm as good as I really am". My response: "Nah. You just think you are better than you really are". The last few tracks are actually pretty good, but the first 12 tracks make me wonder why this album is on this list.

Eh, not that great. Lyrics leave much to be desired.

I rate CeeLo. He’s charismatic, likeable and has a great voice. But I think the music on this album often lacks the personality he himself brings; with a couple of exceptions, it’s pretty generic stuff. Maybe that Gnarls Barkley album would’ve been a more worthy entry?

I have no idea why I was supposed to listen to this before i die. This was extremely bland and mediocre. He made better music before and after this album. Fail.

I wasn’t really looking forward to this album going into it, but it actually surprised me at first. It had some pretty catchy hooks and a smooth, laidback vibe. But as time went on, the charm started to wear off, and the album began to feel a bit repetitive. Then I realized it was over an hour long, which just added to the struggle of getting through it.

You can hear the short man syndrome come right through your speakers. Some good features and alright tracks, but not a great hip hop album.

Overall, this fell flat for me. It’s clear that CeeLo Green is very talented - but it seemed like some of his talent was drowned out by attempts to make club hits pop off in each track. Really enjoyed my kind of people

hm

Great in parts. Felt a bit pushed

Too long, too samey. It just gets a bit boring CeeLo also has a voice like a cartoon character, which is interesting for one song but grating after more than 10 minutes or so

I thought this album was super dated

Not good, not terrible

This album is okay, but not much more than that. Disappointingly, it seems that Cee-Lo Green's best songs are hardly even his, being collaborations and/or written by other artists.

Ehh, a but boring and it’s too long.

Cee-Lo Green... Is The Soul Machine but he's not particularly good. This is a massively over-produced album that seems desperate to hide the main attraction's voice or skill or personalisation, which is an interesting way to go about things (they hide his voice because it's really annoying). All in together it creates something that is at least listenable, but not especially enjoyable, and there's no soul in it. 2.

Underwhelming, doesn't feel like a soul album at all, and is mega self-indulgent to a level that he really doesn't deserve given he hadn't had either of his two hits at the point of making this album. Really struggling to find much more to say about this album. It happened, it's budget hip hop that isn't particularly cutting, has way too much going on, it's just a bit dull. 2/5.

I have stated this before, but it never seems like a good sign when both the description on the 1001 Albums Generator and the album's Wikipedia page have one sentence about that album. It's hard for me to find an album essential if the world as a whole doesn't have much to say about it. I have something to say about this. It does not need to be 65 minutes long. Cee Lo rapping is not something that was aware he did. This isn't a special album and there is no need to hear this.

Some fun ideas, but not great. Feels like he's just trying to be cool. I just don't enjoy his flow.

Imagine if a chipmunk inhaled a whole load of helium and then started to sing/rap about "guns and hoes". That's basically what this album is. If this had been a straight up comedy album, then it might have actually worked. However, I have the horrible suspicion that this was done as a serious piece of work, in which case it's a bad joke.

Meh.

“Forget” this.

it's maybe a 2.5, i don't really like his voice

When Cee-Lo was writing these songs did not have people like me in mind. His formula works but it’s so repetitive that tires me :( it’s like ketchup. Might be nice - but just a little on your fries. If you keep pushing it, it sickens you.

Soul! Ugh! Not sure how it gets labeled such. It's more rap/hip-hop occasionally sampling some soul sounds. And it's all pretty awful.

fun!

I didn't know Cee-Lo Green rapped this much. I was trying not to listen to Hip-Hop right now. Oh well. Some decent songs, but also some terrible ones (Childz Play and Scrap Metal for example), in my opinion.

Gnarls Barkley is some good shit. This is just regular shit.