Cee-Lo Green... Is The Soul Machine

Tasty!

It was honestly pretty fire, I only got through half of it though. It just feels kind of embarrassing, no offense CeeLo 3.5

Awesome album with lots of fun tracks and featured guests.

There are parts of this album that I might give 3+ stars but the rest lowers it to 2 stars or D+ for me.

CeeLo Green Is the Soul Machine is a pleasantly surprising blend of hip-hop, soul, and funk. CeeLo’s powerful vocals shine throughout the album, showcasing his impressive range and emotive delivery. The production is rich and varied, offering a contemporary twist on classic sounds. One of the standout aspects is the clever nods to other artists, including tributes to Steely Dan, Musical Youth, and Oasis. These references add a layer of nostalgia and depth, enriching the listening experience. Tracks like I'll Be Around and Closet Freak demonstrate CeeLo's ability to blend modern beats with vintage soul influences. The album flows seamlessly from one track to the next, maintaining a cohesive yet diverse sound. Each song brings its own unique flavour while contributing to the overall vibe of the record. CeeLo’s lyrical prowess is evident, with witty wordplay and insightful commentary woven throughout. CeeLo Green Is the Soul Machine stands out as a creative and engaging project that successfully bridges the gap between old-school soul and modern hip-hop. The album's infectious energy and memorable hooks make it a standout in CeeLo’s discography. Overall, it’s a thoroughly enjoyable listen that honours musical heritage while forging its own path. NUMBER OF BANGERS - 6 STAND OUT TRACK - All Day Love Affair

Must... Seperate the art from the artist...

Au croisement du hip hop, du R&B et du souk, un artiste polyvalent qui se fait plaisir en naviguant entre les étiquettes

ok, I can die now

Solid mids.

This was so hit and miss. Lots of bad songs, but then some pretty decent ones I much prefer his other work. Used to listen to Gnarls Barkley as a kid, and I had The Lady Killer album as a teen. But this wasn't as good 3 ⭐️

not usually a hip hop person but I liked this one.

I didn't know just how much I loved Cee Lo's voice. Singing. Rapping. Just speaking. I seemed to sing along with half the songs and I had never heard any of 'em. The guy makes great sounding music.

Mediocre.

As someone who has enjoyed my fair share of Gnarls Barkley since they debuted (but hasn't had a lot of exposure to Goodie Mob), I was looking forward to listening to this album - the first full LP of Cee Lo's work I have digested. "The Art of Noise" and "I'll Be Around" are absolute bops - with the former enhanced by Neptunes production, which Cee Lo provides some fantastic vocal melodies across. Cee Lo brings the absolute rap GOODS on tracks like "Childz Play" featuring one of my favorite rappers and lyricists, Ludacris. As a complete body of work, "Soul Machine" feels overly long at more than an hour--and has a couple of moments where the experimental aspect distracts from the gems scattered throughout. Ultimately, though, this is a strong album that I really enjoyed. And it definitely shows the full range of how talented Cee Lo is. 4/5 stars: I am struck by this album. Interesting Factoids from Wikipedia: *N/A (no deets other than the track listing here and the fact the album was included on the 1001 Albums list) Standout Tracks: The Art of Noise (feat. Pharrell), Living Again, I'll Be Around (feat. Timbaland) - Club Mix, My Kind of People (feat. Jazze Pha & Menta Malone), Childz Play (feat. Ludacris), All Day Love Affair, Sometimes

Isn't he a rapist?

Started off strong but really was over it by the latter half of the album. Doesn’t help I can’t understand a word of Cee Lo Green’s lyrics, so I was mostly enjoying the samples/beats which seemed to get less innovative as the album went on. Started as a 3 but devolved into a 2.

didnt care about this at all

I briefly considered giving this four stars. It's quite enjoyable. But I was dreading listening to it -- I thought it was going to be some overhyped neo-soul / rap, but it easily exceed my expectations. But it faded a little towards the end, and on a re-listen, with adjusted expectations, while this is good, I just can't see putting it in the same company as the typical 4 star album. Still, it's a fun listen.

Nice, just not my type of music

Neo soul, me gusta. Dura una hora, la mayoría de pistas son buenas, tiene coros, percusiones, toques de hip hop, vientos, buena producción en general.

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."

A forgettable album by a bad person. 2/5

Some good things going on musically and good production too, but most importantly good thing it's over because even those qualities couldn't redeem an irritating experience for my ears.

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

Mid

Early 2000s hip-hop album with some good tunes, but it couldn't really grab my attention. I'm not really into hip-hop so I don't know how important this album is from that period, I mostly liked classic/old hip-hop from what I've listened so far.

Hmm… props to his voice, the produktion and all the collaborations. But it’s not at all my favourite style of music.

2.5 - I just struggle with hip hop, I just don't click with it honestly. Maybe I'll find the album that does

Cee-Lo's voice is so annoying at times, like on Childz Play. His persona just irks me a lot on this album - starting with having his son speaking on the intro, such a weird brag. Why are Hip Hop artists always so bad at curating their albums, this is way too long. Fave Tracks: Living Again, All Day Love Affair 2.7/5

I'm definitely going back to this one in the future 4/5

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.

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

Reading some of the reviews I thought this was going to be unlistenable; it's fine! Doesn't have many stand-out/wow moments maybe, but The One and Scrap Metal were highlights.

I am so mad that I'm getting dealt this annoying little's turd's album for my 1000th. Honestly, fuck this guy!! Homophobic, rapist piece of shit. Not giving him a dime of royalty today nor a minute of my time. I believe my 1-star rating is substantiated by the fact the Cee Lo has absolutely no talent whatsoever.

This is offensively shit and should not be included on this is. The best tracks are where cee lo takes a back seat and the guest does the heavy lifting

This album is damn near a perfect blend. The mix of hip hop, soul, rhythm, and beats is perfect. Everything in this record is working together in perfect harmony. Each track flows together effortlessly. Nor does the use of modern technology overshadow any of the grooves. Sounds both old and new.

OK

It's a bit of a happy mess.

It's alright, a bit long and songs blend into each other. Pleasant but I didn't love it. 3.

Nice performance

pretty good no cap, strong start at least prob a 4 tbh pleasant surprise

Potrebbe fare il doppiatore dei puffi..

meh. perchè non mettere il suo album con i Gnarls Barkley che è nettamente più interessante? e in ogni caso, è stato accusato di aver drogato e stuprato diverse donne, quindi vaffanculo. eccoti due stelle al posto di tre per punizione.

Meh

Oh jeez. I'm 3 songs into this am I'm really hating it. I just do not like CeeLo Green's voice, tone, or style. I don't like how full of himself he is. The production is pretty boring. I really can't believe this record made the list.

This record is kind of all over the place. Its like skiing variable snow after a wind event. You have like 2 really good turns of wind buff pow and then like 3 turns of dial up internet. Speaking of dial up internet, my biggest qualm with this record and all r&b records from the late 90s / early 2000s are the freaking drum machines. WHAT WERE WE DOING BACK THEN!??! It seriously takes down a really full / holistic sounding song with cool bass lines and brass instruments and then adds shitty beats that sound like a CD skipping. What's fun to me with this record is the diversity in genre / sounds. Part of it is really good soul and r&B. But then he really leans into jazz as well, and then layers in rap where it makes sense. The rap track are kind of hit or miss, I'm not a huge fan of southern rap from the 2000s but that might be taste thing. I do like how flamboyant he is with his voice when he raps and sings. Its pretty unique. He even gets pretty weird near the end of the record with Scrap Metal and Sometimes. A lot of interesting mixes. There's no doubt that CeeLo is super talented and innovative. He's made some really awesome records, songs and collaborations. I love the soul sound mixed r&b. Those songs slap. I don't love his club songs, those ones kind of aren't great. Honestly, not my favorite r&b album. But I'm happy it exists and that I listened to it!

I liked it quite a lot

Cee-Lo Green...Is the Soul Machine by Cee-Lo Green. More like NO Machine! Is Cee-Lo a soul machine? NO Is this even Soul music? NO Is this worth listening to? NO Is this "The One"? NO Is this a "must hear album before you die? Definitely NO NO ...But, you can "Die Trying"

what is this?

Some good tracks with impressive singing and production, but the sound is all over the place and too many misses on this.

Soul Ma-sheen

Estranhamente a melhor parte do álbum é quando o Cee-lo não canta. Meu Deus como a voz do senhor é insuportável. Por não ser um álbum de Rap puro e ser mais melódico é muito mais fácil de ouvir, por vezes até agradável. A instrumentação do álbum esta muito acima do que contava e os convidados do senhor por vezes ofuscam o Cee-lo. No geral não é desagradável, mas é interminável, toda a emoção inicial perde-se neste álbum que parece infindável e todas as músicas que até são catchy perdem-se no meio de tanta coisa. A melhor música a meu ver foi o Sound of Noise com o Pharel Williams. Nota: 5/10 23/05/2024

Liked it a lot

A decent rapper, a decent singer and so Cee Lo skates between the two on this, his second album. So, decent, then, but no more than that and, if I put my mind to it, I suspect I could think of 100 hip hop albums worthier of a place on this list than this. Never the main act but a great support - think Cee Lo's stand out verse on Outkast's Git Up, Git Out (every one of Outkast's albums - better than this) or his soul singing on the superb Held Down by De La Soul (every one of De La Soul's albums - better than this) or his guest appearances on Common's Electric Circus (every one of Common's albums - better than this). So, what, that's gotta be about 20 albums covered, less the ones already chosen for the list. 80 more to go? Easy.

To be completely 100% honest, I don't like Cee-Lo's voice. His lyrics and flow are amazing, but his physical voice lowkey gets annoying. This album is an elementary hip-hop album, I'm not saying it's that awful though. "Childz Play" is probably my favorite, with its super swingy triplet feel, IDK it's just groovy. However, with the nature of the genre, the songs get pretty repetitive.

þetta er reyndar mjög skemmtilegt. kom á óvart. suðurríkja sálarskotið rapp.

Not for me - a bit uninspiring

The production here is really good. A lot of sounds, a lot of layers and parts and stuff. This sounds like pandering. I don't know what year this came out, 2004? It sounds like a mish mash of popular things thrown together. There's a lot of voices on here. The one I hear once in a while that I assume is Cee-Low Green, I don't really care for the sound of his voice. There's some Soul singing and rapping. It's all over the place but cohesive. This album feels really long and the more it goes on the less I like it.

Rollazo soberano. Hip-hop.

Quite a fun record overall. Production is very of its era. Favourite tracks: The Art Of Noise, Livin' Again, Childz Play.

Kind of blown away by some of the stuff on here. Very of its time, in a fresh way.

This album doesn’t matter at all. His weird helium voice gets super annoying.

funky as hell. Definitely a super unique artist. After a full album, I'm ready to be done with Cee-Lo for a bit but I do love his style.

My favorite part was the "Give Up the Funk" reference. Looks like this album was removed in the 2021 edition of the book.

3.2 - Though I’m impressed by Cee-Lo's singing and rap skills, I didn't enjoy much about this record. For one, even for R&B/rap there's too much self-promotion. To me he sounds like Daffy Duck in a tacky suit trying to sell used cars. "Scrap Metal" is particularly rancid.

It's possible to enjoy it for 20 minutes, but then it becomes a very annoying cover of itself, for I don't know how many more hours. "Scrap Metal" is the only highlight I can think of without too many complaints.

Bog standard

I enjoyed Gnarls Barkley era Cee-Lo so went into this with an open mind. After about 30 minutes I found myself wanting to turn it off. The voice is undoubtedly a strong soul voice but it grates after a while, the rapping is terrible and there ar no memorable songs and nothing that marks it out as an album worthy of this list. On completion I was left with a sense of anger that this had made the list as it was below mediocre on every level.

meh

I would give it 0 stars if that was an option.

it was fine, a little rough around the edges. prefer the newer stuff.

No thanks.

Hip-hop (?) unito al soul. Molto piacevole, timbro ben riconoscibile, il godimento con i pezzi di Pharell è sempre lì. Avrei dato 4 stelle per l'orecchiabilità, ma non essendo forse propriamente mio do 3, anche se è stato un close 4.

Cee-Lo hasn't exactly um maintained the best legacy in recent years, so I've been putting off listening to this hour plus album from him for awhile. It's...fine. There are a couple pretty fire tracks in there, but for the most part it's pretty run of the mill mid-2000s contemporary R&B and not very exciting.

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

Not as bad as feared, but still mystifying why it's on this list. It doesn't even have "Fuck You"!

Several listens, there’s a a lot to hear in this.

Started so cheesy I couldn't handle it. Eventually started to go pretty hard. Gets 3 stars for a half good album.

A bit long, his voice starts to grate a little, a 2.5

The music's pretty cool. Fave track: I'll Be Around

I don't think anyone with a voice like an Aqua Teen Hunger Force character deserves a title like "Soul Machine". 😆 I dunno, maybe I'd warm to it with more exposure, but I found this album a bit of a slog because of his voice, and expectation this would be in any way soulful. Fave tracks - "Childz Play" and "Scrap Metal" - ie, the ones where he brings other people in to sing for big chunks of em...

First half of the album straight five stars, then it drops

Seriously soulful and heavy. 8.5/10

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. 1/5

I prefer his debut album. Lot's of guests.

On dirait c'est le genre d'album qui aurait tellement pu aller chercher plus. Les instrumentations et les compositions sont vraiment intéressantes, Cee Lo chante vraiment bien, mais le résultat est un peu décevant, on en veut plus. 6/10

Rollazo soberano. Hip-hop.

Not for me

Full of creativity and passion, untamed and vicious

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

I wasn’t annoyed for the entire record.

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”

9, 10, 14 Great songs 16 as well. A good album. Nothing to special. But good.

Thoughts before listening: Is "F You" on this? That's a great song. I don't know anything else by Cee-Lo Green (besides his Gnarls Barkley stuff) but he's southern hip hop soul music. I'm sure this will be fun to listen to. Review: It's always interesting the albums on this list that came out in the early 2000s around the release of the book. The editors were having to make a lot of guesses on modern releases that would go on to be classics. There are a lot of 00s era albums on this list that have been completely forgotten in the 20 years since. This is one of them. This doesn't have "F You" which is far and away Cee-Lo's biggest solo hit. What is on here is fun and I'm enjoying listening to it, but I hardly feel that this rises to the status this list should demand. It certainly hasn't proven to have the timeless staying power of the 70s Stevie Wonder albums it's paying homage to. This is a 2-star album.

yeah i won't be listening to this

It's pretty darn groovy Ceelo is not the rapper he claims to be but the soul machine does not stop regardless

Again, yet another album that is nowhere near as bad as the ratings on this site suggest. ‘…Soul Machine’ is solid mid noughts hip hop/rnb. While it’s nothing earth shattering, it’s still generally good while it’s on, even if doesn’t really linger in the memory once its finished. Cover of ‘Let’s Get Together’ is decent too.

This album is hilarious with the number of times Cee-Lo calls himself God. Its pretty pretentious throughout and doesn't feel very generous, contrary to the Lupe Fiasco album this list gave me. That said, there are some songs here I liked despite his constant self-glorification. Namely, Childz Play (thanks Luda), I Am Selling Soul, and Let's Stay Together.

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?

How generic hip hop should be. Boring. 1 stars

fun (heavy on the fun) sounds. that’s it

Nope

man is a creepy weirdo no thank you

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

I was a bit surprised to see Cee-Lo on here at all, and was especially surprised when this wasn't his one-hit wonder album (two if you count his Gnarls Barkley days). "Crazy" and "Fuck You" were inescapable in my childhood, but I hadn't heard anything on here before. This thing was a rollercoaster. First, I do not think I like Cee-Lo Green's voice. It has moments where it kind of works, but it's pretty grating on the whole. On the plus side, there are actually a handful of songs on here that are really good. His annoying voice aside, this has some really smooth R&B sounds, it's a bit funky at times, some of the rap verses are pretty solid (especially when it's not him, it was nice to remember that TI existed). I loved the saxophone or whatever it was on "All Day Love Affair". On the negative side, this thing was a bit all over the place. It would go from a song that had great vibes to like some awful nonsense. This didn't feel particularly cohesive to me, it's long, and the back half is really weak compared to the front half. I don't really know what to make of this. I think I had a negative bias toward Cee-Lo coming in and I didn't really like this all that much on the whole, but there was enough good to keep me interested. Cee-Lo seems like a bit of a piece of work but whatever, closer to a 2 than a 4, but it was fine enough I guess. Favorite song: All Day Love Affair Other: The Art of Noise, I'll Be Around, The One, My Kind Of People, Let's Stay Together 3/19/24

Dude has an EGO! That being said alot of the music on this album slaps. I had fun listening to much of it, but at over an hour long, and with a couple of clunkers (Sometimes… you need to take a song out. Like Sometimes), this album could have used some editing for sure. Cee-Lo seems to think fitting in as many words as possible into a breath is a skill to be proud of. Again, editing would have helped. But there is enough funk on this album for me to enjoy it more than not. I know how to hit the skip button on the two-three tracks that drag it down.

Great voice good beats

Its fine. Didn't know any of the songs

Whoa. I felt like I should have liked this more than I did.

It’s fine. Not great. I enjoyed it. 3/5

10/10 el negrito con temazos míticos.

Didn't listen to the full album. It was good. Not for me though.

This is just bad (not 1 star bad, but pretty bad), probably why I hadn't heard of Cee Lo before Gnarls Barkley.

not for me

It just sort of reminds me of someone singing in the bathroom, but a nice background track. I'm just not not that into it.

Actually not that bad

Cee-Lo Green… Is Not As Good As He Would Have You Believe

Niet een vibe, maar sommigen waren oke

Not bad!

Yeh okay

This is pretty good but CeeLo Green is a terrible person.

ok

OK - I don't know why this in particular made the list, it just seems like low effort hip hop. Some hip hop drives me mad with the lyrical delivery. At least on this one he was was trying to sing and I couldn't happily ignore it.

I liked this album. I’ll listen to it again. Starred 1 song. The whole album was really a vibe. Upbeat and bouncy. I’m a fan now.

Ok, niet een album dat ik had verwacht! Ik ken Cee Lo natuurlijk van Fuck You en als onderdeel van de Goodie Mob. Daartussen zit dit album en dat hoor je. Waar Goodie Mob echt hiphop is en hij later meer naar soul/pop is gegaan heeft dit echt nog heel veel hiphop invloeden en rapt Cee Lo hier ook nog. Features van Luda, T.I. en Timbaland maken het echt een beetje een product van zn tijd(early 2000s). Fuck, wat is Ludacris eigenlijk underrated als rapper, zn gastverse is echt geweldig. Moet zeggen dat Cee-Lo als hoofdartiest me zeker niet altijd pakt. Zn verses zijn niet geweldig en zn zang is zich hier naar mijn mening nog echt aan het ontwikkelen. Toch vind ik door de sterke productie dit album niet een onvoldoende, het is gewoon prima. FAVO:The One, My kind of People, Childz Play, All day love affair, Die trying

I’ll Be Around is a great track, but I don’t think the rest of the album is that strong.

Not a fan.

not the most mind blowing album i've ever heard, but at least it's fun. i like cee-lo's voice and the vibe he gives off on this one is definitely one of a partier. it's a fun enough romp, but it does not verge into the territory of an all-timer for me

First of all, y’all’s reviews are that of a bunch of whiney bitches, this is one of the best rap album I’ve ever heard and I’m inclined to give it 5 stars just as a big fuck you (see what I did there) to everyone giving it a 1 or a 2 Im too lazy to do that though it’s prolly a 3.6/5

Ok

let's stay together

OK - I'll be around was my favourite track

Meh.

Nothing great here except Pharrell appearances.

Surprisingly solid rnb album

Soulful Rap

Album 326 of 1001 Cee Lo Green - Cee-Lo Green... Is The Soul Machine Rating : 2.5 / 5 Just not my thing but enjoy it as much or more than some others of the same genre.

Standouts: I'll Be Around, Scrap Metal

Bots gor pipes

Clever lyrics, crisply and quickly delivered, great singing voice and melodies.

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

Cee-lo is a creep so I wanted to rate this lower but it is a funky, fun album. Do you need to hear it before you die? Absolutely not.

Not his best but enjoyable soul-pop.

This is dross

His voice is the worst part but the music itself is pretty good.

His voice is the least soulful thing I can imagine. Like a Muppet

HipHop is not my genre

Not quite for me - find his voice a bit whiny after a while.

This felt like 80% noise, 20% music. Not sure how this could possibly qualify as top anything tbh.

Surprisingly good. Only experience of Cee-Lo was his pop song “fuck you” but he’s got a lot of variation in the album, good beats

This album occupies the space between Stevie Wonder and The Roots. Kind of like the Jay Z unplugged album when he was backed by the Roots, but a lot more soul/funk infused. This is good backyard party/BBQ music. Also love to see some N.E.R.D./Neptunes-era Pharrell on there. In the end, a good blend of styles but not exactly groundbreaking.

I could quite happily never listen to this album again. Cee-all if you’re reading this it’s nothing personal bro. Just prefer your up tempo tunes

Made for some nice background music. Kinda a weird pick tho but not bad 4.2/10

I knew one song on here. Was quite surprised to see cee-lo as I’m sure we all were. Didn’t absolutely hate it but definitely did not love it.

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

Interesting production and a nice variety of styles make this more entertaining than I thought it would be. Some of the more gangster material is a huge bringdown for after what seemed like it would be an entertaining and generally thoughtful album by an interesting vocal presence.

Another average hip hop album. Too many big blokes around a mic.

Dreadful

Not for me

That's gonna be a no from me.

This sucked just like when I tried it when it came out. He's not singing, and he's not rapping.

It’s no Gnarls Barkley, but it’s still more interesting than most anything Cee-Lo had made since. Still a bit too long though.

2/5. He really do be the Soul Machine, as in he is very soulful, a unique voice that causes relaxation. He is also a machine in that these songs are so formulaic and repetitive that they just pass one another until the album is finished. There are some good songs that have great flow like Childz Play and I'll Be Around but I kind of lost interest about halfway through, Glockappella took me back for a second but that was it.

Mag ich nicht.

If you've always been quick to dismiss Green as the guy who did "Crazy" (a solid track for sure) and just moved on, this album will force you to pay more attention. I don't really pay attention to Twitter controversies, so all the early 2010's stuff Cee-Lo got involved in never really crossed my radar, and to be honest I don't really care. I won't let that affect how I feel about this record. This album on its own is pretty astonishing. You've got incredibly well produced beats with bars upon bars that blend so well with Cee-Lo's unique vocals. The features here are great, especially Ludacris on Childz Play. If anything, I'd say the runtime can be a detriment. Some tracks don't quite feel like they belong. Also that album cover. Big oof.

The Soul Machine showcases his vocal versatility and flow flexibility in this stellar sonic snapshot of early 00s hip hop.

I was surprised at how much I enjoyed this

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

Did I really need to listen to over an hour of Cee-lo Green before I died instead of Fuck You repeated a couple times? Probably not but it wasn't totally without positive aspects. Those aspects were somewhat scattered around each track except for Die Trying and the more negative aspects tended to be pretty glaring dated lyrics and production but it wasn't unlistenable; I just didn't want to have to listen to it for a full hour.

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

Surprisingly good.

Cee Lo has a voice that you love if hate, kinda like Dave Matthew’s. I enjoy it. However the album has a few songs that I rated above average but most of them were ok. Nothing that really blows my hair back.

Sé quien es por ser la mitad de Gnarl Barkleys, pero nunca me preocupé de su carrera en solitario aunque en gran parte me ha parecido más de lo mismo. También se que es un personaje mediático en USA pero sinceramente de ahí a que el disco sea imprescindible va un trecho. Hay muchas colaboraciones de pesos pesados de ese momento: Pharrell Williams, Timbaland, Ludacris, ... Me gustó Childz play y I'm selling soul. Parece que tiene otro disco mejor, este no es nada del otro mundo.

For what it's worth, this definitely isn't a soul album. It's closer to soft hip-hop. A couple of the tracks stand out with their warmth and uplifting feel - Livin' Again and All Day Love Affair - but most of the other tracks are not notable, covering hardly any new ground and presenting cliched, overused hip-hop ideas. The beats are reasonably catchy but difficult to get into, partly because of the percussion (which is very simplistic), generally weak vocals throughout, and lyrics that are hard to relate to (and at times hard to hear!). The textures are generally thick and unvaried, again making the music harder to consistently engage with. All Day Love Affair is concrete proof that this artist is much more skilled as a singer than as a rapper. Why he didn't lean into that more is beyond me.

great

This is good music.

Not a fan of hip hop at all. I liked some of the Gnarls Barkley stuff that Cee-Lo did but I just can't get on board with hip hop. 2 stars because he has an interesting voice but I hate this kind of music.

Good while it’s on, but I won’t be back

Not my thing.

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.

Not my kind of style

Meh

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.

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)

This man’s voice is my personal hell. I do not want to hear him. Why would he choose a career in making sounds with his mouth??

Varies between entertainingly bad and boringly bad. Sounds like it was made by amateurs despite the involvement of big names like Pharrell, Timbaland, and Ludacris.

It's a soul album where the weakest part is Cee-Lo Green's stature. While it doesn't have a bad performance, Cee Lo has some Westside Gunn stuff. The problem with the album ends up being how AGGRESSIVE Cee Lo is. Intro: 5.7 Soul Machine: 7.4 The Art Of Noise: 9.4 Living Again: 8.7 I’ll Be Around: 8.4 The One: 7.5 My Kind Of People: 6.6 Childz Play: 7.7 I Am Selling Soul: 6.3 All Day Love Affair: 9.5 Evenings News: 6.2 Scrap Metal: 6.9 Glockapella: 8.1 When We Were Friends: 8.2 Sometimes: 5.3 Let’s Stay Together: 7.9 Die Trying: 6.4 What Don’t You Do?(Outro): 5.6

I did not enjoy this album. Cee-Lo Green's vocals and most of the tracks could not grab my attention. For a soul album, there was barely any soul music. Even his rendition of "Let's Stay Together" with Pharell Williams was lacking. Overall this was pretty forgettable and I would not place it on my list of 1001 albums. Favorite Song(s): N/A

It was okay but nothing really felt special about it either

I really just wanted to get this over with. Most redeeming quality is some interesting production. Wish it was someone else singing/rapping.

Waarom staat dit in de lijst

For a guy that talks about soul music so much, he doesn't seem to 100% understand what it is. This is a pretty mediocre hip-hop album. Cee-Lo has a distinct voice, but the topics are dull, the beats are same-y, and the album runs way too long.

magnifica la seleccion de beats un poco largo para mi gusto

This was a good album. Fun, and unique. It’s way, way different than his work in Gnarls Barkley. It was initially an easy 4 stars, but it’s LOOOONG, clocking in at over an hour, and the last third of the album wasn’t as compelling. I wish I could officially give it a 3.5.

Love Cee-Lo. Great voice and tunes.

Fun

Meh

Listened Before? N Semi-modern soul. It was good, just not really my style. Great musicianship and songwriting here. Added to Library? N Songs added to playlist: The One

I only really know Cee Lo from his hit single “fuck you”. This record came out about 5 years before that single. It’s way more rap focused. Honestly, Cee Lo can’t really rap. The features and production are excellent. I suppose if I heard some of these tracks in a club setting I would appreciate them more.

Классный соул-рэп-альбом... Звучит современнее R'n'B, который был популярен в год выпуска альбома. Классная ритмика, вокал. Не весь альбом цепляет, но он добротный.

Nach holprigen Start unerwartet gut

Yeah this guy is good, but his voice is hit or miss for me. The album is pretty great though. It’s got a great vibe to it, cool features, good instrumentation! Will check out more. 8 out of 10

This album was full of surprises. Going into this, I only recognized Cee Lo Green from Forget You. To be truthful, I thought he was a one-hit wonder. However, after listening to this album, I learned he wasn't. There were a surprising number of rap songs and a diss track? 3.4/5

A decent project with some cool, bouncy production and fun songs here and there. But as talented as he is, I feel Cee-Lo is at his best as a featured artist or a hook guy. His voice just gets a bit grating after over a full hour

Largely forgettable

Bara skit. Hört bättre musik komma ut från min frus stjärt.

Good

Started off thinking this was a 4 for me, I can excuse having a big ego in hip hop music but if you take it seriously enough to put out 16 tracks that all cover the same ground and lack the quality control to size it down then it's clearly got out of hand.

I adored F*** You when that song was released (I believe that was the album that followed today’s). It frustrated me that the radio version, and therefore the one people seemed to know most, was Forget You. It doesn’t make sense! Anyway, let’s listen to today. Songs I already knew: none Favourites: I’ll Be Around, Scrap Metal For some reason, I completely forgot that Cee Lo rapped. I thought he was primarily a soul singer. Both his singing and rapping are so pleasant on this album, but I think the best for me is the instrumentation itself. It’s such a nice soulful sound, which goes so very well with the blend into hip hop. I will say that I preferred The Lady Killer (the one with F*** You), but this was still good fun.

Straight up bad in some places

Pretty nice, better than I expected

Terrible hated it

Solid neosoul album. Very much sounds like the times that it was released

It’s not offensive, but I’m not a big fan of this. It’s very much a product of it’s time and the instrumentals are super up and down. The Pharrell tracks are probably the highlight of this thing.

Aight. Pretty decent. Although it's 20 years old at this point, I'm pretty sure I've never heard it before.

Polished, funky and soulful. There are lots of tracks that are high energy, fun and enjoyable. Though there's just a few too many that are a bit experimental or too much rapping/talking that pulls it back as the vibe is going (I Am Selling Soul, Evening News, Glockapella, Sometimes). Definitely pieces to really like, but uneven for me.

his voice sounds like a childs, which is probably on purpose because he gives off huge nonce vibes.

Shit

The songs were fun, but I think Cee-Lo’s voice is best at soul/funk songs and not so much during rapping. Nothing really stood out to me during this album and it’s not one I feel the need to revisit.

Would have been a star higher if Cee Lo wasn’t Cee Lo…

👎🏿

This album has been very underwhelming and while there were some decent parts, overall it was mediocre.

I'm sure this is fine, and it had some moments, but it really wasn't for me at all.

Приятный соул альбом, пару треков отправились в мой плейлист с классными битками, пару треков - в favorites Коллабы с хип хоп ребятами, приятный качающий вайб. Единственно странное - пространные мелодекламации в паре треков. Ну, это противоречиво.

I am somewhat familiar with Ceelo Green although I do not think I was familiar with any of these songs. It was a pretty decent album but the issue is that it was way too long. I don't see myself revisiting the album.

Half of these beats sound like something you could make on a free iPad app. The fast raps are pretty whack, like he's dead set on cramming too many words in every line, but it doesn't connect, like the flow is just bad. And dude sounds like a muppet.

Decent! Wasn't expecting that.

Was never a fan of cee-lo tbh, I can't tell you why exactly, but if I had to guess it is probably a mix of his voice and lyrical content. Also, I have a bad track record of enjoying albums that open with a skit..... so we'll have to see. Already starting very heavy handed with those 2000's beats where there is always one VERY standout instrument like a whistle or something similar. The album cover too tho lol This type of music always felt like something you put on in the background at a party instead of actually sitting down and listening to it, which obviously has it's place, but man, it just doesn't feel deserving to be on an all time list.

Pretty solid, the features had better bars than cee lo but some decent production

Average

Proper relic of the early 2000s. Remember liking it at the time (I'll Be Around still goes) but it falls off a cliff towards the end and CeeLo is a massive piece of shit so nah.

BIen aimé, connais de nom et aussi Gnarls Barkley, mais cet album est très soulfull avec de bon passage rap. J'ai très apprécié l'écoute même si le gars semble être un peu désilussioné c'Est dernière année 4

Enjoyed this more than i thought i would

It was pretty good but so of its time—and that's a time I don't listen to much of! It does feel like it encapsulates the era in some ways—adjacent vibes with Nelly, Saul Williams, Eminem. I enjoyed it but no songs that I'm screaming out for.

Well this one was quite the journey. It was definitely my ignorance but having never willingly chosen to listen to him, I really didn't expect Cee-Lo Green to be on this list. But after removing him from just the one hit wonder of Fuck You, I started to notice that this album featured Pharrell (twice!), Timbaland, Ludacris, TI, and is a hip hop album from 2004, which should be my dream find And in many respects, it was! I can't help but think that if I knew of it at the time, I would have loved it. Definitely not the strongest ever but enough to go toe to toe on some songs with the best. Also genuinely had range (although I'd be lying if I said I didn't lean towards preferring the songs where he let the phenomenal beats take the stage) His lyrics are very of their time (all front and self professed goat brags) but he definitely had some great wordplay at times. Flow was pretty good! Features I genuinely cannot believe the calibre of - phenomenal. Beats are up there with some of the best. However you just can't not compare this to dropping the same year as the college dropout, can you? Obviously most of my life I've been a Kanye stan but I think it's pretty fair to say that the bar was well and truly raised before Cee-Lo could go for the Grammy. Highlights - I ended up (begrudgingly at times) liking 15 out of the 18 songs, but some standouts were Soul Machine, I'll Be Around, Sometimes, and Die Trying Honestly I'd recommend checking this out!

Fun album but a voice like Cee Lo’s can only be handled in small doses, not over an hour.

Not soul, just bad hiphop with a whiny voice. Terrible. Couldn't finish.

How could I possibly, be inconspicuous When my flow is fuckin ridiculous? "That's quite an accent"—See, I'm from the South But some of the most beautiful things come out my mouth And I'm on stage just as soon as I come out the house So I might as well give them something to talk about I bust a rap to make a blind man believe in the boogie And if you came here to move with Cee, then boogie on 4/5

3.5

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

No

Joo no muutamia hyviä viisuja mutta vähän väsähtää kyllä kuunnellessa. Ei tää nyt pahimmasta päästä ollut! 3/5

Monta siistiä biisiä ja sit taas monta aika turhaa. Ehkä riittää juuri ja juuri kolmoseen. On kyllä taas aika outo valinta 00-luvulta.

Taitava räppäri ja alkupään biiseissä siistejä nopeita versejä. Sit kyl vähän lopahtaa kiinnostus loppua kohti. 3/5

helt ait

Amazing Album

some of the songs eerily sound like Let it Grow from the Lorax

the ai this thing runs on must be smoking crack dropping that 2004 see low on us.

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

Not particularly amazing to my ears, but if you like early 00's rap bangers there's actually a couple gems on here (The One, Childz Play, Evening News)

4 or so if the worst songs I’ve heard in a long time. Cee Lo’s voice is terrible. Not even timberland can give this a boost. Cee lo green is the Wilco of… something idgaf this stinks. It’s for idiots.

The beats are cool but CeeLo Green is a creep

It was better than I thought it would be. But it didn't blow me away.

Hmm ik wilde Cee een verbale draai om de oren geven met 1 ster voor zijn karige plaatje, maar gaandeweg begon het toch diverser en interessanter te worden.

Blegh...

Wat aardige dingetjes hier en daar maar niet leuk genoeg om echt te blijven boeien.

Hier zat nog best iets aardigs tussen. En hij kan ook best een mopje zingen, die Cee-lo.

I didn't know anything about Cee-Lo-Green going in except I heard he has a popular song called F*** You, so going in I was expecting to hate this. I didn't. It was too fun and catchy to hate, at least the first half. He has a weird voice that I was tired of hearing by the end. Some of the guest vocals I didn't like. Album was too long. Didn't like hearing the N-word over and over in some songs.

4/10. Oh wow its morbius from the matrix hes my favorite character!

I thought this was extremely dated BEFORE I heard the Blockbuster reference. 4/10

Hate his voice

That didn't age well.

Decent. Some good moments. Some meh moments.

Ça m'a presque coupé l'appétit de la remontada

il veut nous rendre fous

Soul? No, this is over-produced R&B dance pop. It's loud and fast with a dominating yet generic and dull electronic backing. He calls this soul because his voice is almost trying to imitate Al Green if he was on a lot of speed. His cover on here is a disaster. The songs sound ok, at least at the start, but there aren't any standouts, no ear worms like "Fuck You." Dude stopped putting in as much effort after the first quarter, and pretty much gave up by the half way point, with the second half being entirely filler of missed first-thought ideas. It's a huge insult with the hour-long runtime. If it were cut dramatically, and the songs were fleshed out as much as the first few, I'd respect it more. "I'll Be Around" sounds fulfilled and engaging soul-ly due to Timbaland's innovation, who actually knows what he's doing, unlike the half-ass effort of the majority of the million producers he threw on here. You know there's a problem when the other single "The One" is the epitome of 2004 trashy pop music. Favorites: The Art of Noise, I'll be Around, Evening News, When We Were Friends

Average. Couldn't seem to decide on which style he wanted for the album. Not one I'd listen to again.

noteables Glockapella, ill be around, the one

Legal, som envolvente

Hmmmm

This album does nothing to push southern hip hop forward in any way. Cee-Lo Green does incorporate a wide variety of influences and genres, but it comes off as mimicry rather than inspiration. For example, he obviously nods to Marvin Gaye’s ‘What’s Going On’ several times, but never in a way that attempts to incorporate it into something new and interesting. It is always derivative. Furthermore, he seems to believe he is the new herald of soul music which is not true, and was certainly not true when this album was released.

Based on the description, I guess any album can make it on this list. While I'll take Cee-Lo over every single UK artist we recently have had on here for no reason, but I can't do the double standard. I'm not sure why this one is on here either. No indication that this album pushed the needle in any direction, especially during a time where there were many more popular hip hop albums out. Again, no huge complaints on this album. I had not heard it before, not a huge Cee-Lo guy, but it's one less day we have to listen to the same ol same.

It's alright. I know Cee Lo, we all know Cee Lo, he's an important figure in the sphere of R&B/hip hop crossover. Definitely a good, unique voice. This album didn't offer much that I would consider to be gamechanging, let alone "must hear before I die." But it's fine. A couple songs to keep and I'll move on. That's how a lot of this goes. I wonder if we'll get that infamous Gnarls Barkley album at some point. Favorite tracks: The Art of Noise, Childz Play, Glockapella. Album art: Honestly pretty bad, and very emblematic of early 2000's. It's Cee Lo in the clouds, or so it seems, and if you look closer, he's reflected in his own sunglasses. How does that even work? 3/5

It's added an extra album to my early 00s list. All that Pharell and Timbaland production marks it out as a good album. The features outweigh the artist a bit though. Cee Lo has a great voice, but you aren't getting great melodies here. He brings those an album later as Gnarls Barkley

Why?

Funky, surprising, refreshing. Track 2 and 3 are my favorite

Funky, pimpy, but not entirely my thing

Can exclusively reveal who ran off with all the talent from Gnarls Barkley...............its.....................Danger Mouse. This is a pretty mediocre album only livened up by the two Pharell tracks, and its sixteen tracks -plus intro and outro long. Why it's on here I am really not sure.

Man this is goofy af. This guy isn't hard at all. Pretty bland stuff. Also too long. And no soul.

Quality truly is subjective huh

Altijd irritant als artiesten ineens hun koters voor de microfoons gaan zetten, vooral als het is om zichzelf belangrijk te maken ('I am the son of the soul machine'). Maar verder is dit best leuke relaxte muziek.

Serieus? Een rappende muppet? In de 1001?

Waar sommigen zich storen aan de stem van Axl Rose of Britse zangers uit de 80s, heb ik dat met Joni Mitchell en Caro Emerald. En ook Cee-Lo Green zit in mijn irritatiezone, hij doet een soort van trucje met zijn zang, waardoor ik hem niet geloof. Het zit ietsje muzikaler in elkaar dan de meeste hiphop, maar uiteindelijk is ook hij alleen maar aan het showen met dure auto's, geld en goedkope wijven. Ik vind het fake overkomen. Bovendien is 75 minuten gewoon echt veel te lang.

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?

Не ожидал, что скажу это, но это неплохой альбом на четверочку. Фоном послушать было самое то, хотя сначала я хотел поставить 1 балл (когда я прослушал единственную песню с альбома, у которой есть видео на ютубе). Но это слабая четверочка, почти три. Все же переслушать это не сильно хочется.

Never knew the Gnarls Barkley singer had a solo career on the side. Wish I never knew, though. His high-pitched voice is grating, at least in this particular LP, his flow is annoying as hell, and the music is lackluster and devoid of anything remotely endearing (Timbaland and Neptunes/Pharell Williams contributions notwithsatnding). It's MOR neo-soul, which aged pretty horribly, to boot. Plus, the man himself seems to be kind of an ass. See the "controversies" part of his wikipedia page. Next please Number of albums left to review: 467 Number of albums from the list I find relevant enough to be mandatory listens: 252. Albums from the list I *might* include in mine later on: 124 Albums from the list I will certainly *not* include in mine (many others are more essential to me): 158 (including this one)

My feelings about this album were all over the place listening to this today. "Oh yeah! I like this!" to "What the hell is this and how long is it going to last?" After what I thought was a strong beginning, the middle seemed to drag, and then it got better towards the end. I like this best when it's drawing on its soul roots, notably the collaborations with Pharrell Williams.

I have never had enough interest in Cee-Lo Green to have checked out any of his albums. He has some style and the music was fun for me today, but I didn't find it amazing. Maybe I am just not that into Cee-Lo.

This was fine. Just … fine.

I was a fan of CeeLo’s third album, The Ladykiller. Turns out that album is a bit different than his first two. This one wasn’t nearly as interesting to me. I didn’t hate it but I can’t say it engaged me for 65 minutes. It was ok….

Cee-Lo Green is a modern day hip hop/R&B artist, which is fine, but Cee-Lo sounds like an Oompa Loompa with his high ass voice. His only song I'm familiar with isn't on this record, but is called "Fuck You". That song is an earworm, and I spent the whole day today humming the tune to it, and wishing it was on this album. It's kinda funny to listen to someone who sounds like they huffed helium sing about being strapped with Glocks and doing drive by's. I feel like Cee-Lo is trying to be gangsta rap, but he is just too soft. There shouldn't be a connection between self acclaimed soul singers and gangsta rap. Those are two very different spectrums. To be honest, I enjoyed the songs that featured other artists more than any of Cee-Lo's solo stuff on this album. Overall, not bad, but not great. It felt like it was missing something, but I can't put my finger on what that is. This album also overstayed its welcome, coming in at over an hour in length and consisting of 16 songs (plus an intro and an outro). I wouldn't race out to listen to this album again any time soon. I had a hard time getting through it once today. Favourite songs: Scrap Metal, Childz Play, The One, I'll Be Around Least favourite songs: Sometimes, I Am Selling Soul, Let's Stay Together 2/5

It definitely varies in quality on here. Nothing was amazing or anything, moreso the songs ranged from kinda annoying to listenable. There was nothing that I would seek out again. Not the worst two in the world, but a two nonetheless. The length, man... My favourite song was Childz Play.

7/10 pretty tight great production and the songs were generally neat, but nothing crazy good

Dated digital soul. Although it has some fairly bopping beats now and then I don’t think this will have much lasting power. As a rap fan I enjoy clever bragging, but this is just boring braggadocio all the way through.

4++++++

Какое-то удивительное и свежее смешение рнб которое ебало всю индустрию вокруг в сочетании с прекрасной читкой и не забываемым гнусавым голосом заставляют тебя вслушиваться в альбом очень внимательно. Справедливости ради, отмечу что альбом длится слишком долго и из-за этого под конец слегка подустаешь

Я начал признаваться в любви к хип-хопу ещё на Jurassic 5 - моя любовь продолжает расти. Я не могу как-то по-особенному описать свои впечатления от альбома, но он просто банально мне нравится. Возможно, слегка не мой стиль музыкального оформления, потому субъективная 4. Но в целом - очень крепкий представитель

A little too smooth.

It was pretty good!