Brown Sugar

Cool but not grabby? Except for a few tracks. Makes me wanna listen to his other stuff tho.

I can't really encapsulate it but the way this man manages to make such smooth and soft music so engaging is genuinely something that is very interesting like, I don't usually expect it out of super smooth music like this so it's a pleasant surprise

Was vaguely aware of D'Angelo in the 90's. Never really listened to his albums so didn't know what to expect. this was fine background music while working. but nothing really caught my attention.

Enjoyable. Mellow and low-key.

Great album.

Great for making sweet sweet love. Not very interesting when you’re just driving for work.

Brown sugar and soul. This album is perfect.

84/100.

Das Debütalbum Brown Sugar wurde in mehreren Studios in den USA aufgenommen, darunter die Battery Studios in New York City und die DaMic Studios in Virginia Beach. D'Angelo ist ein US-amerikanischer Musiker, der sich vor allem als Sänger, Songwriter und Multiinstrumentalist einen Namen gemacht hat. Das Album ist dem Neo-Soul zuzuordnen, wobei es auch klare Einflüsse aus R&B, Jazz und Funk enthält. Zu den bekanntesten Titeln zählen der gleichnamige Opener „Brown Sugar“, das gefühlvolle „Lady“ sowie „Cruisin’“, eine Neuinterpretation des gleichnamigen Songs von Smokey Robinson. Diese Stücke spiegeln die stilistische Bandbreite und das musikalische Selbstverständnis des Künstlers wider. Insgesamt ist Brown Sugar ein stilprägendes Werk, das einen persönlichen Zugang zu Soul und R&B der 1990er Jahre bietet und gleichzeitig D'Angelos Handschrift als Musiker verdeutlicht.

1 Star (2/15)

Good, but very samey.

A couple of decent grooves at the start, but the falsetto vocals and aimless jams bored and irritated me by the end.

Bättre än vad jag först räknade med men ingen låt som gjorde något för mig

RnB, 1995 -> 2

I wanted to like this more but I just didn’t.

Well this was tedious, yes it’s good at what it is but I just don’t enjoy that 90s RnB smooth sound with the on the nose lyrics. Don’t deny that he is multi talented but it’s just not my thing it's not just D'Angelo everythingin RnB at this time went down the same groove and i just find it so boring, 1 track on it's own is ok but whole albums just become as said tedious 2 Star.

I’m really not a fan of this genre but this was some of the best R&B I’ve heard

It was just ok for me. 2.5

Found some of this pretty groovy, especially the final track. With that said served more as background music for my drive. 6/10

No thanks

Featuring nonstop vocalizing over repetitive jams, this album wore out its welcome *fast*. There's so much going on in the vocals that there's no real focus to the songs. On top of that, the verses and choruses (within the same song) often share the same chord progressions, which robs these songs of any sense of forward motion and causes these already-long songs to drag on even longer. D'Angelo pulls off the one-man band stunt well, and the production and execution are well done, but ultimately this album seems like a stylistic exercise, an attempt to make something that *sounds* great. Too bad the same amount of effort wasn't put into fleshing out the songs.

Beautiful singing, but it could have used a little more pep in the production aspect. Favorite Track: "Brown Sugar".

A good voice but the music is nothing special. 3 stars or C-.

Three and a half

Nicht ganz so fickrig wie das letzte "Usher" Album was wir vor wenigen Tagen hatten, daher ein Stern mehr, aber immer noch kein Weltklasse Album 4 Sterne

Weiß nicht. Nicht so wirklich meins.

excellent

Die einen sagen chillig, die anderen sagen langweilig. Irgendwie stimmt beides.

When I saw “brown sugar” I was expecting brown sugar bubble milk tea with cinnamon sea salt pumpkin spiced cream on top. But I was given a cube of brown sugar in tap water. Still good tho. I like the vibes and his vocal performance.

Bit repetitive but I suppose I’m overthinking it. This album hits all of its goals. 1. Get D’Angelo laid. 2. Get you laid. 3. Get D’Angelo paid by getting you laid. 4. Profit.

silky fucking smooth. I love me a good R&B record, and this just hit the spot this week. it was so fun to listen to and it was super good. not much else to say. add this to your sexy time playlist.

All groovy songs - a good vibe throughout and D’Angelo definitely has a lot of talent. “Cruisin’” is such a good song - I didn’t even realize until after it was more than 6 minutes long. Overall I wasn’t blown away by the album, but it’s still good.

This is some smooth baby making music. I always want to like 90s r&b but then I get so bored with it so easily. This fell into that same trap that by after the third or fourth song, I really couldn’t understand why this was on this list. It didn’t seem to revolutionary or advancing the genre forward. Definitely groovy though.

Good for the slayin sloots playlist. Not good for a lot else.

Another album on the list that would benefit from most of the songs laying off the repetitive verses to close out each song. It’s mostly an enjoyable listen and D’Angelo’s vocal talent is incredible, I just don’t need to hear the same line 15 times in a row. Shit, Damn, Motherfucker had to be written by Nick Cave and is also the exact sequence of words I grumble under my breath when I hit my toe on something. Cruisn’ could be the best cover of Smokey Robinson’s song but the length takes it out of the running. Ultimately it’s a middle of the road album that has potential. I can see its appeal as background music and I wouldn’t mind a couple songs coming up on shuffle, but I wouldn’t seek out the entire album again.

It's smooth baby! Nothing I would personally listen to, but I'm not going to fault it for that. I can definitely groove to it if it's on. I'm sure D'Angelo is on a bunch of sexy time playlists.

Very nice but it sounds like a single neverending song so it gets a little tedious

You definitely gotta be in to R&B to like it, but this albums is dope. Lady, higher, shit damn mf all classics with some underrated gems sprinkled in.

Some good songs. Enjoyed it mostly Standout songs: Alright Shit, damn, motherfucker When we get by

hei olen kuullut tämän artistin myöhempää musiikkia koska red dead redemption videjopeli.. heh noh tämä aikaisempi tuotanto on geneeristä r ja b kusemista.. pissataan vaan menemään vähän nyt harmittaa tämä jos totta jos totuuksia puhutaan. dangelo.. jonnssit ponssissa Helvetti, tylsä, seksikäs, sanoitukset, tausta, tuotanto, paska, siisti, basso, viileä, prinssi, sielullinen, jazz, tunnelma, RNb, mielenkiintoinen, hieno, tyyppi, funky, laulu, seksi, voodoo, kaveri, versio, lyöntiä alright

Putting this on with some whiskey = killer night

RnB mit Fusion-Elementen zu HipHop und Funk. Interessent zu hören, auch wenn es nicht meine Musikrichtung ist. 3/5

I've never liked R&B or this type of singing. My mind has not been changed. All the songs sounded the same, no dynamism.

Not terrible but dull.

There are a lot of R&B records that I enjoy. This isn’t really one of them.

D'Angelo's first album, "Brown Sugar", is a precursor what would become known as neo-soul. The album showcases high production quality, with exceptional vocals and harmonies, featuring a collection of songs that seamlessly flow well together. The cover of Smokey Robinson's "Cruisin'" was my first introduction to D'Angelo in 1995; it remains true to the original while offering a richer and more expansive sound. Additionally, I enjoyed “When We Get By,” which honors the strength of love, as well as “Shit, Damn, Motherfucker,” which delves into themes of violence and infidelity. The album's strength is rooted in its ability to blend the essence of classic R&B from the 60s and 70s with modern instrumentation and production techniques, while also drawing inspiration from hip hop. Overall, it is an enjoyable record, especially if you are into neo-soul.

La définition de "smooth". La définition aussi de "un peu chiant et répétitif au bout d'un moment".

Voodoo and Black Messiah are far more realized and inventive than Brown Sugar, but this is classic neo-soul grooviness and sex-positive spunkiness. Raw is the word, but so are honed and rounded b/c D'Angelo not only sings his heart out - he cruises, covering the Smokey classic for track seven, and gets his magic from empowering the beat to go on just a little longer. That is also the foremost scarcity of the record - it has a one-note strike against it, not enuf variety or new positioning. But that's a small price to pay when it's largely a joy to bliss out to. Running imaginations, i.e., Temptations: 'Is it just that you're the finest little thing / That I ever saw, or is my imagination running too far?'

You know it’s a one star when you’re checking how many tracks are left from song 3 onwards.

I just don't like R&B

surprisingly enjoyable listen considering I was on a train

It’s no voodoo or black messiah but it’s still pretty damn good. Tbh gets a little boring but there r some bangers

Good stuff but not as good as voodoo

Whoa, whoa, so woefully soulful. It's just sex dude, nothing to moan about.

RIP

Ok but def not need to listen

Eh, smooth and groovy, I'd make dinner to this. And fuck, probably. Yeah, that, too.

I don't get it. Every song is 2-3 minutes too long. His voice is fine, but most of the songs are just him doing his best Michael Jackson impersonation. I hate giving 1 stars, but this is about as bad as it gets. Would be a 2 if the songs weren't 5-6 minutes each.

We hebben het vaak over de invloed van een album, maar dat blijft altijd maar een beetje gissen. We horen vaak van artiesten dat ze na het horen van een bepaald album het licht zagen, of dat ze hem vaak op hadden in de studio tijdens de productie van hun eigen stukje geschiedenis. Maar het blijft vaak anekdotisch, en de werkelijke invloed is zelden fysiek. Dat is in het geval van 'Brown Sugar' van D'Angelo wel zo. Iets met een cassettetape, een heet avondje bij de Source Magazine Hip Hop Awards in 1995, en Questlove, de drummer van The Roots. De rest was historie, en het zou voor eeuwig zijn sporen achterlaten in Soul, R&B en zelfs Hip Hop. Want alhoewel dit album an sich niet de body, de hits, en de muzikale finesse heeft als we later zouden horen op 'Voodoo' en 'Black Messiah', hoor je wel echt de 'prehistorische' sound wat het fundament zou gaan vormen voor zoveel (alternative) R&B acts van vandaag de dag. Of het nou Thundercat is, Hiatus Kaiyote of Anderson .Paak, de template geschreven door D'Angelo lijkt zoveel belangrijker dan al die andere R&B acts uit de jaren 90. En naast zijn geweldige stemgeluid is het dan vooral de instrumentatie waar ik het over heb. Dat je classic soul, R&B, jazz en Hip Hop op zo'n organische manier om weet te zetten in een compleet nieuw doch retro sound is uniek, en geen wonder dat muziekgoeroe Questlove hier een volledige revolutie van een genre in zag. Je merkt wel dat D'Angelo ook dat duwtje in de goede richting nodig had, en de assistentie van meer gelijkgestemden die dat rijke pallet aan aroma's alleen maar nog lekkerder zouden laten smaken. Dat hoor je op de volgende plaat. Deze staat nog met één been in de traditionele R&B wereld van de mid-90s, waardoor het soms iets té smooth en glad is, waardoor het bijna futloos aanvoelt. Maar als je je volledig focust op wat er op de achtergrond gebeurt, met allerlei micro-ritmes (geen wonder dat J Dilla uiteindelijk ook zijn weg vond naar D'Angelo), dan hoor je wel dat er met deze plaat een hele generatie muzikanten werd geboren (los van dat het waarschijnlijk ook een plaat was die het goed deed in menig slaapkamer). En god, wat is de titelsong een belachelijke jam. 7,5/10 Highlights: Brown Sugar Me And Those Dreamin' Eyes Of Mine Cruisin' Lady

D'Angelo balanceert voor mij op een heel dun lijntje. RnB waar de liefde en romantiek heel smooth wordt bezongen is niet mijn favoriete genre en schiet dan ook nogal snel in mijn irritatie. Tuurlijk zijn er wat artiesten die af en toe wel een sweetspot weten te vinden die bij mij aanslaat (zoals Malibu van Anderson.Paak). Brown Sugar vind ik nog wel een erg lekkere neo-soulplaat, maar verderop op dit album zitten er nummers waar ik wat slechter op ga. Het nummer Cruisin' heb ik niet afgeluisterd. Ergens voel ik op Browns Sugar hetzelfde als bij Stevie Wonder een paar dagen geleden. Ik weet ergens wel hoe erg dit wordt gewaardeerd, maar de zoetheid van zo'n RnB plaat gaat soms boven m'n pet. Het is niet voor mij weggelegd. 6/10 Highlight Brown Sugar

A Marvin album for the mid-90's.

Some serious bass on some of the songs, and is really good R'n'B

kynferðislegt nýsálargaul. frekar einhæft en ágætur söngur og það allt. ekki meir.

I don't think I really care for R+B

Hmm… talented guy, but this genre ain’t for me at all. I knew the Cruisin’ song but I didn’t like it. Gwyneth Paltrow did it better.

Listening to Brown Sugar by D’Angelo for the first time felt like stepping into a warm, soulful haze. The album oozes smooth, effortless groove, blending R&B, jazz, and hip-hop in a way that feels both nostalgic and timeless. It’s the kind of album that slows time down, making every moment feel a little more soulful.

Loved the drum and bass grooves, simply but effective... oh wait, there are vocals? Nothing exciting, quite boring overall... But 1 extra star for the bass.

There's a good voice there, and good instrumentation, but nothing in the lovey lyrics stand out to me.

I think it’s been a long time coming for me to become a D’Angelo fan but particularly recently he has kept popping up, like even at the Jordan Rakei concert last week Jordan talked about how much D’Angelo has shaped his music and I was like ‘I really have to get on that’ and then today it was delivered right into my hands and yep, I’m in love! So smooth, soulful, sweet, sexy. Like drifting through a sunset sky on a really nicely scented cloud. Favourite tracks were Alright, Me and Those Dreamin Eyes, and When We Get By, but I think that would change each listen.

I'm sure this is great but unfortunately this genre of music sends me to sleep.

Solid

Excellent. 3.5. I love 90s era neo-soul. I don’t listen a lot anymore, but it was my jam back in the day, and this was amongst the best.

Smooth, funky and sexy. It's like a more pastel version of Prince. That's not a bad thing as it's the most palatable modern RnB on this list, but I won't be coming back to it as it suffers from what all RnB does - a lack of any strong melody or hook (to my ears anyway). Why would I when Prince is around? Best Tracks: Brown Sugar; Shit, Damn, Motherfucker; Cruisin'

Neo soul? Neo thanks.

I have no doubt that D'Angelo was a huge R&B star in the 90's I have no doubt that this album is a great example of that genre in that decade. I also have no doubt this simply isn't for me. So much about this genre is foreign to me. It's music that is simply made in a different way from what I know better, from the ground up. Different ideals, different priorities, different focuses, different attitudes. It's really hard to relate to. I can find the grooves to be nice and danceable, but the constant vocal runs, falsetto, the backing vocals, and some of the production choices just aren't for me. That said, the production is exceptional. Nothing about this was bad. Not even close. It just isn't for me. That's ok. I still respect the hell out of it, but I can't get there. Three stars. Standout Tracks: Brown Sugar, When We Get By

This album sounds precisely like I thought it would by looking at the cover. Not my go to, but still enjoyed it a lot!

All these songs have the same energy, same emotion and little variation. I'm not a big fan of heavy falsettos either. There's no crescendo.

Big 5 stars for me. One of my all time favorites, and his follow up album “Voodoo” is even better. Glad this one made it on the list.

I want to go 4, but it is just shy of that. I bet Mikey is going to rate this well.

Not my style

Kantensa kuuloista: ruskeaa, kultaista ja pehmeää. Tää ei ehkä sais olla arvostelukriteeri, mutta häiritsi, kun kadulla kävellessä musiikki häipyi meluun, liian pehmeää siis siihen. Lady-biisin tiesin, ja se on aika hyvä. Mutta nukuttaa kuunnella samaa 50 min.

Artistin universumissa kova avausbiisi toimii perusteluna levyn yleiselle biisittömyydelle. Väitän: on olemassa "mahdollinen maailma", jossa hyväksyn tämän. 2+

Not my style

drei minus

Wasn't a fan when this was the style, not a fan now.

Smooth R&B 3.5/5

D'Angelo was obviously a key player in the neo-soul movement, but I'd really like to think that this is not his best album. Based on what's here, he's clearly a very talented vocalist with a great soul voice, but the music isn't very exciting. It's a debut album, so fair enough. But to read the Wikipedia page, you'd expect a lot more, as it cites influence from the likes of Miles Davis, Stevie Wonder, Sly and Family Stone, Isaac Hayes, and Prince. Honestly, I really don't hear much of that in the album. D'Angelo could afford to take some risks and diversify the sound, and hopefully he manages to do so in some later works. But this is the one the generator gave us. It's good for what it is, and clearly had an audience. It's an ok listen, but not too exciting.

I am excited for this one! I liked listening to D'Angelo back in the day but I haven't listened to this album straight through before. His voice is otherworldly...if I could sing like this you could never shut me up. There's something about this album that the mixing or the singing or something reminds me of older r&b, at least r&b older than this album.

Smooth 80’s / 90’s R & B

R&B vibe

Dull, uninteresting sort of soft rap, with smooth type backing music.

Couldn't get into it. I like soul and R&B, but this is that 90's R&B and I just can't do it. He's a talented singer, but the songwriting is as deep as a puddle and the the cool bass groove in most of the songs is the only redeeming quality to the music.

maybe if I was a horny 40 year old woman i'd understand

Correcto

There was nothing about this that I enjoyed.

Slick bedroom music. But I'm not really a slick bedroom kinda guy, with my Lidl PJ's.

Started off really digging this album, then got slowly annoyed at the length and repetitiveness of some of the songs as the album progressed. It's a really good album to just chill to while doing something, but I think if I was just sitting down and listening to it, I couldn't get through it. Tough rate for me, because I did really enjoy it at times, but slowly started feeling distain. Guess that makes it average.

I'm really not a fan of R&B, but these really did get my foot tapping. Made for good background music while working. Would not be as good on a roadtrip. Sort of repetitive from track to track. Altogether though I was vibing.

Some cool sounds. The term in the Wikipedia entry of “producer-driven R&B” describes both the sound and why it doesn’t appeal to me very well. I don’t know the history of the song Cruisin’, but I do know I dislike it in every iteration I’ve ever heard it. The songs with a walking bass and piano are kinda decent.

Absolutely phenomenal voice and amazing jazz/rnb music to complement the vocals. This is like 90s Daniel Caesar

Böse Entspannt

Soulful,Princelike ballads without the guitar solos and lyrics. Still very good music

warm and inviting r&b. need to dive into dangelo’s catalog more

Occational nice rythms and beats. But not entierly my thing all the way through.

Better than expected

It's ok but to be honest it's pretty bland. Sorry.......(not sorry)

Good but not great I'd say... Very listenable over all and just by the nature of the genre I think it's tough for the songs to be perfectly gripping or catchy, just because of how lowkey it all is. Still a really nice album! 7/10

Not sure why Missy got left unposted. I love her. This is just too easy for me.

Almost unbearable. So cloying it made my teeth hurt!

Apathy is the only word that comes to mind. I don’t exactly hate it, but I definitely don’t need it in my life.

I remember D'Angelo from the mid-90s, but I can't say I had ever invested time listening to his music. This is great. Loved when it slipped into jazz, liked how each tune seemed to purposely follow the one before it, and "Shit, Damn Motherfucker" threw me for a loop. As a Prince fan, I certainly heard that influence in D'Angelo's falsetto, and even his willingness to step into the wild territory of the aforementioned tune, but clearly this guy's taken everyone from Luther Vandross to Marvin Gaye to every other slick R&B cat and balled 'em up into this silky sexy album. Not sure why I'm not at a 5 — maybe just the preponderance of down-tempo tunes — but there's not a lot to criticize. Deep harmonies, meticulous production, great vocal performances, hell yeah.

Yeah this was pretty dope. Gave me serious Marvin Gaye vibes but still had its own thing going on. I dug it, though it was a bit long.

smooth

This was unbelievably boring to me. Couldn't wait for it to be over.

9/10 Favorite Songs: All Least Favorite: None

Not my thing

Nice

Ну скажем так, я прекрасно вижу треки из этого альбома в плейлисте типа "music for study/work/chill/brain rot" и они туда отлично впишутся. Но слушать это альбомом мне было откровенно скучно, хотя прекрасно вижу за что можно любить.

So smooth that it's bland.

It's an R&B album. It's smooth, it's sultry, but it's boring.

If we’re constructing a Mt. Rushmore of R&B vocalists of the last 50 years, D’Angelo has to be in the discussion. Brown Sugar is one of the great albums of the 1990s. If you want to read my full article, copy/paste this: https://tinyurl.com/dvj5h7kr

This seems like it was probably a great R&B record when it came out. Tough to say, this is not my wheelhouse. But I hear a lot on it, I hear some Prince, I hear Sly and the Family Stone, I hear jazz. Great sound in general.

Not my cup of tea

Ouvi o disco bem por cima. O estilo R&B não combina muito comigo, mas certamente deve ter seu merecimento dentro do gênero. Achei as linhas de baixo bem consistentes e a voz do D'Angelo muito boa. Do pouco que percebi das letras, majoritariamente falavam sobre uma atmosfera voluptuosa e erótica. Esse tipo de tema, ainda mais se bem insistente, não me agrada.

It's business time! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AqZcYPEszN8

I think Frank Ocean’s “Channel Orange” might be the only other male R&B album from the last 35 years on the list. Is D’Angelo so transcendent in the genre that he makes it while no one else rates? Not judging by “Brown Sugar.”

"Who's the black private dick that's a sex machine to all the chicks?" You might say Shaft but you would be wrong. It's D'Angelo. This is music to put on so you can get it on.

Sheeeeeeeiiiiiiiiiit damn, Motherfucker. This album is booooorrrrrrrrriiiiiiinnnnnnnng.

Sorry, Dunkey, this one’s not for me.

Every generation gets the Barry White they deserve.

Very sloooowly... and boring

It was alright

Hugely influential as one of the main albums that brought neo-soul into the limelight, and it's just catchy and well-written throughout. I do prefer his newer stuff a bit but this album is amazing too.

Overall, I didn't really care for this. However, track 5 - Shit, Damn, M**********r was wildly unexpected.

Smooth R&B, hints of jazz, warm apple cider by the fireplace - Nice vocals and complementary instrumentals - Can see it as inspiration for some modern R&B artists - Nothing outstanding, easy to listen to but a little dull

Very nice

Kinda sleepy and not up to D'Angelo's usual standard.

Buuffff

Sure he’s talented, sure the music is well written and composed. However, it can’t save the utter lack of passion on this album. I listened to Marvin Gaye just before this and the contrast of the two is abysmally enormous, considering the music feels charted for the same course, this one takes you there in a governed golf cart.

I like the other D'Angelo albums on here, but this one is boring

Rating: 9/10 Silky smooth with absolutely incredible production. Sounds a bit same-y after a while but it's still amazing.

This made my morning blueprint review and cup of tea extremely sexy, recommended!

I really like it but I honestly think I would like it better as a list of back tracks for a rap album rather than a soul album. He's got a really nice voice but the meandering wailing just doesn't do it for me. It gets pretty repetitive but it's still an enjoyable listen.

I must admit to buying this album on release and have probably listened to it upwards of 100 times. I absolutely love it. When it came out there were a lot of R&B artists that, although not exactly copy\paste of each other, had a lot of very strong similarities in their sound (and I think a lot of that was die to the same small pool of producers etc). D'Angelo's album was so far removed from those sounds that it stood out like a beacon. I could easily put this album on loop and not get bored for hours, or even days.

Incredibly boring album with a guy that sings real sexy.

I'm always on the lookout for new music, but this is where I feel at home.

Just did not care for this

Not my favorite; feels like a classic but I don't love RnB

Caught in the middle between original R&B and all of its titans and future trap and HipHop/rap, to me DAngelo is neither and the worse for it. Pretty bland stuff here.

I love d’angelo and this album is so good- hard to believe that it came out in 95. He’s almost a style all of his own- and amalgam of so many that came before him but still very much his own

Everyone say thank you to D’angelo for inventing sex

5/5. This feels like a monumental album that stands the test of time. It's jazz but the vocal layering is the best you'll find in any black gospel church. The jams and extended choruses are smooth and hypnotizing, just impressed with every part of the song. You can feel the influences yet they are mixed so well, it feels so original. Excited to throw this on repeat, no notes. Best Song: Brown Sugar, Me And Those Dreamin' Eyes Of Mine, Lady

Recht abwechslungsreich und interessant.

I like this album, although not as much as his later release “Voodoo”. It’s the same fusion of jazzy vibes with R&B grooves but “Voodoo” just takes it to another level. That being said, this is a very good effort. Typical D’Angelo… very sensual, and explores the gamut of lover’s emotions from shock and betrayal, to one night stands, to being deeply in love.

Some very fine baby making music

Very smooth

Smooth

D'Angelo has a good voice but this just isn't a genre for me. 4.5/10 (2.25/5)

Guns are bad mmmkay Fave: Cruisin'

Errr, yeah, this was fine - smooth enough that it disappeared into the background on both listens. On the one hand, that's kinda what you want from an R&B album, for gettin' it on purposes, but it would still be nice to have some stand out moments, or, I dunno, for the vibe to be a touch more lively? Fave tracks - "Brown Sugar" is a good opener. And, I dunno, "Cruisin'" maybe?

Awful, generic mush. There was literally no reason to listen beyond the first few minutes, as there was no variety whatsoever. Every song involves lots of "wooing" and "oohing", with some bland instruments playing in the background. The singer sounds like someone has a tight hold of his testicles and is squeezing hard on them. I was expecting (and I quote) "earnest lyrics about love and romance", but what I got was "oohh, wahh, oohh, wahh, baby, oooh, yeaah, oohh, whoooo, waah, oohh, fly away, oooh, baby, ohh, oooh, oww!". It's drivel so bad that it goes through the stage of being so bad it's good, then back to being just bad again. It's so extremely bad, at times I thought this was some sort of parody, but sadly it's just fifty minutes of utter shite. One star.

Really like Sexual Chocolate (Coming to America)

Smooth, soulful and sexy

What can I say. I just don't like this type of music. It got an extra star because I know they can sing.

In a nutshell: fuckboy music D'Angelo tries to vocally flutter like Mariah and croon like Prince. With minimal success. It sounds bland and try hard rather than sexy. If I was of dating age in the mid 90s and the gentleman taking me back to his place drops the needle on D'Angel's Brown Sugar, I'd make an excuse to leave. Call me shallow and judgemental - I don't sleep with people who listen to boring music. Overall: 2/10 *Music is a topic I love to talk about. You have my attention if our tastes align, you stoke a passionate debate or you pique my curiosity about your playlists/collection. Never underestimate the power of melolagnia. If you're in luck, you might pick me up ;)

Awful. That’s all I have to say about that.

Heard before. My man.

I like the gospel more than the soul.

An education.

This isnt a great album. Its not terrible, either, but its all kind of same-y and never goes anywhere. I can see celebrating the success of a young artist who is mostly self-made, but it doesnt make for a lasting album. 3/5

Quite mediocre, innit? I don't see why this deserves to be on the list. I could've died and not cared if I'd never heard this.

Not the sort of thing that I will ever go back to, but I sure wish there was a 0 star option, because this is certainly more than twice as good as the timberlake a couple days ago

D'Angelo is a good singer and this is a nice R&B album. A nice change from some of the poppier hip hop I've had from this era. It's a little oversexualized for large stretches, but I suppose that's the genre. The beats are smooth, though safe. My favorite one by far is When We Get By. The songs are all maybe 90 seconds too long with the last minute constantly repeating the chorus for that duration. Overall, fine album, something I wouldn't have listened to before and probably won't return soon. But I enjoyed it enough.

ngl, really good. dunno about the history stuff but this feels like the progenitor of black music's shift from being primarily blues to soul. you can feel the blend as the album progresses. 9/10

Brown Sugar 3 Alright 2.8 Jonz in My Bonz 2.5 Me and Those Dreamin' Eyes of Mine 2.9 Shit, Damn, Motherfucker 3.2 Smooth 3 Cruisin' 2.8 When We Get By 2.7 Lady 2.4 Higher 2.8 Score: 2.81

The best thing about this album was that it reminded me of the old Smoove B columns in the Onion. The worst thing was that I went to use Apple Pay in the Amtrak cafe car with the album visible on my Home Screen and the attendant looked judgey.

love the vibe

Does music come any more beige than this? So bland.

Pretty generic stuff

My word this guy thinks he's smooth. Baby making music but weird Christian references too... Very niche audience.

would i have liked it better if that Smooth was the Santana Smooth. Maybe. maybe.

I liked this quite a bit. It had some nice variation between tunes, and he's got a great voice.

Not my cup of tea. Didn't like it much

Dull smooth songs about sex.

Didn’t really vibe with it sorry

Wow I usually don't care for R&B from this era but liked this one a lot, especially compared to Maxwells album but it’s been a couple years since hearing that one. Definitely gonna have to listen to more of his stuff. It’s not excessively long like other R&B either. Rating: 4.8

🌽

I'm not much of an r&b fan to begin with.This album didn't do much to persuade me to change my stance on that unfortunately. It was chill yet boring. I couldn't see any qualities to set it apart from other generic r&b I've heard before.

I normally don't listen to R&B, but this is a nice change. Great as background music when you're working 👩‍💻

Every song is 4-6 minutes of the same two lyrics until you jam a screwdriver in your ear and scream about how you’ve done nothing to deserve this torture.

Common from a day before wishes he was D'Angelo. Really good and pleasant. YYN

I like! 4/5

I enjoyed this a lot. Smooth, sexy, and something I would check out again! Shit, Damn, Motherfucker is the sexiest sounding song about being cuckolded I've ever heard, haha.

Un album en douceur, qui me file presque entre les doigts tant il se diffuse. Je lis sur l'habileté de D'Angelo de fusionner l'ambiance soul des années 1970 à un hip-hop qui lui est contemporain et ça m'aide à circonscrire la force de l'album.

Smooth as hell

Brown Sugar by D’Angelo has a smooth, soulful vibe that’s unmistakably ’90s, with rich, laid-back grooves throughout. The album leans heavy into its slow, jazz-influenced R&B sound, which gives it a mellow feel, though at times it feels like it’s sticking too close to that same groove without much variety. It’s cool for what it is, but it doesn’t hit as hard as it could.

# Album Name: Brown Sugar # Artist: D'angilo # Rating: 2/5 # Comments: Meh. Nice voice. below average album for me. # Top Tunes: None # Would I listen to it again? No

Not my thing

This was really good and I didn't expect to enjoy it as much as I did, really smooth R&B and he has an amazing voice! I think it's a solid 4 star for me.

This is top-tier panty-dropper R&B/Soul. The vocals are amazing, the grooves are filthy and the bass playing elicited a number of stank-face reactions throughout the album. 5 stars.

great sound engineering and production, boring songis

1. zugar - 0 2. alright - 1 3. jonz - 1 4. eyez - 1 5. zhit - 1 6. zmooth - 1 7. cruizing - 1 8. uuhen - 0 9. lady - 0 10. higher - 0

#391. I think this album is decent. If you want to pop on some 90s R&B, then this is a solid choice. But is it a great album? Something thar one needs to listen to? Not really. It's just one of the choices to pick from that isn't terrible, but that's about it. 3/5: alright. Song added to playlist: Lady I've created a playlist on Spotify that consists of the best and/or my favorite song from each of the albums in this book. This list can be found here if you are interested: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/7MAXDGLWlwLkFLb8veGfkA?si=FqkQQPgZTFWG0jAUJXLFZA&utm_source=copy-link

Not my thing, though I recognize D’Angelo’s game.

Very good. This goes so hard but so smooth. Here and there this album sounds dated in a meh ‘90s way, but most of this album sounds fresh. I love this version of Cruisin’ and it sounds like it could be released today. Jonz In My Bonz is also great, but, for reasons I can’t say in this forum, it reminded me of skeleton John Ratzenberger.

More like C minus Angelo. Fine enough R&B, but nothing that really grabbed me. Guy can really sing but there’s not much else, no quirky Prince embellishments.

This might have just caught me in the right mood, but this was great.

Indeed a great R&B album that I did not know as I‘m not deep into the genre besides some exceptions.

fy fan vilken dålig skit

D'Angelo renovó el R&B tradicional con éste, su álbum de debut en el que introduce la actitud propia del hip-hop pero mantiene las líneas fundamentales del soul y el estilo tradicional. Destacan la canción que da título al disco, "Brown Sugar" y, sobre todo, "Lady". Pero contienes otras buenas canciones, como la versión de la canción de Smokey Robinson, "Cruisin'" y la mezcla con sonidos procedentes del blues contendia en "Shit, Damn, Motherfucker".

No thanks. Kinda boring .

I've never been drawn to R&B, but I can't deny this album is very jammable. D'Angelo's instrumentation and vocals are showcased well here, it's a very fun album.

Oh, what is this? Someone is pouring chocolate chocolate milk in my ear! Oh no, that's too much!! Now it's running down my neck, getting all over my shirt! Oh man, it's getting warm. You just know that's gonna smell in a little while. Wtf did you do that for? This is not good. I usually like chocolate milk, but not like this. It's too much. PS this version of Cruisin' is making my ears vomit up all the curdled milk I'm sure someone likes this. Two stars.

Smooth as all hell. Some truly insane performances and production here.

Not bad...not great.

Never heard of this before. There were a few small surprises musically amongst a pretty pedestrian Soul/R&B album. There are clearly influences from Prince and Smokey Robinson on this album. And although there is some talent on display, the overall result isn't that special and pales in comparison to the music it's influenced by.

I am sure this is a good record for the genre. But I just can’t get on board. Sure, it's peak 90's R'n'B but is that really saying much? For what it is, it's good. It's just that what it is isn't my thing. This is a genre I just don’t like. There are many genres where I can find something that's interesting. But unfortunately 90's R'n'B/soul I just find so dull. D'Angelo may be a very good singer, but he is also a boring one. No excitement, the same energy the whole way through. The songs are okay but they’re all of very similar tone and they also go on for a minute or two longer than necessary. This album could have been cut in half easily.

This album blows. 2 stars.

Nah... just too bland for me. And too long. 2.5/5

You could reshuffle the tracklist on this album in any way and it would make no difference to the listening quality. The songs are okay but they’re all of very similar tone, by the end I just got bored. 2/5

very smooth, but very forgettable.

the heavy jazz influences from the chords to the melodies are in perfect harmony with the drums (both live and sampled) and the R&B crooning that just is so tasteful and glorious. Incredible album.

It was fine. I am very picky about the neo-soul genre and it is not enough to be sexy - you genuinely have to bring something new to the table.

Really great R/B and soul from the nineties, funky smooth and clean, nice

Really liked this, funky, jazzy, sexy.

Cool album to test the capabilities of your Home - AV equipment. You can take any track - and this is the turn down for this album: cool singer, cool instrumental arrangements, but 10 tracks?? for me the album is 9 tracks too long --- sorry guys!

This is the style I just don’t like. There are many styles I can identify something that I find interesting or exciting even if it’s just one part of it. This neo soul / 90s 00s r&b just actively makes me not like it. I am sure this is a good record for the genre. But I just can’t get on board.

This one was a slog. I get why some folks love it, but that smooth, laid-back R&B just isn’t my thing. It all kind of blurred together after a while. D’Angelo’s clearly talented, and I respect the vibe he’s going for, but it just didn’t grab me. Maybe if I were sipping wine in a dimly lit lounge, I’d feel differently. But sitting on my couch? I was just waiting for it to end.

Shagging music that now feels old dated

baby makin music, okay but not great

All the smooth, sexy bits of Prince without any of the fun, exciting stuff that balances him out.

Ojala fuese negro de los 90 y escuchar esto por primera vez

Smooth jams, all kind of sound the same so that's a little boring, but they got my head slow bopping.

This is a full album of strip club lap dance amd should only be listened to for that purpose

Really interesting, almost "progressive R&B" album. I really enjoyed parts of it but it might have been a little long for me.

Good!

Some nice sexy neo-soul, smooth and sweet like chocolate. Yes

Brown Sugar is one of those songs that sticks with you for a few days, it is just so good. I wished the rest of the album hit that high but that sadly wasnt the case.

Just not my style. Cool instrumentals and beats, but his singing turns me off.

After listening to this album, i've been recommending this. Especially when you are trying to plane a date with your girl/guy/it. Had a few drinks listening to this, maybe some food, and you are ready to make some sweet sweet love. This is the album that should be playing as a soundtrack. D'Angelo.... BRAVO

Biggest downside is how all the songs sound pretty similar. Not a huge fan of his highest pitch vocals. Instrument work is pretty good though. Don't think I'd actively listen to this much but it's nice low background.

Soulful, but too samey for a 2nd listen

Too samey

Brown Sugar is D'Angelo's debut album, and may be the album that started the neo-soul wave of the late 90's and the aughts. D'Angelo makes soulful R&B, that has incorporated the timing of hip-hop of the 90s. The songs are centered around D'Angelo's incredible voice, at time utilizing falsetto in his expressive vocals. The bass-heavy orchestrations sound like traditional R&B; D'Angelo adds break-beats and the lyrical timing of hip-hop in his rendition of R&B.

It's more vibes than songwriting.

This guy should be so much bigger than he was/is. Great record

oh god, no

Prime example of the insipid R'n'B that was abundant at the time. Not my thang...

Another performer and album where I get why they’re adored, and seen as influential, I just don’t enjoy the experience. Far too slow a groove for me. 2.5/5

Silly little fella.

More panty dropping music

Nu-soul dreck

Every D'Angelo album should be on here. Superb 5/5

I see a lot of reviews saying this album suffers from being downtempo and repetitive. While both of those things are true, I don’t think they make the album boring. This shit is some groovy-ass fucking music. That said, I do think this album would benefit from being ~2 songs shorter. I’d personally shed When We Get By.

What an awful album.

It’s fine!

Not my thing really, but the music is interesting at least

Not my thing but it's not unlistenable so that's good.

90s chill r&b Favorite track: brown sugar other picks: lady, jonz in my bonz, shit, when we get by

Yawneroo. Nice voice. But ... zzzzzzzzzz

The laid back jazzy hip hop feel is quite cool but the vocals and lyrics are all quite cringy. Baby, baby, lady, lady, feels likes heaven when I think about you, we'll ride our looooove and walk on street of gold, touch me with your soul. Yes, yes, yawn 🥱

This was a vibe. I actually didn’t expect to enjoy it as much as I did. It’s a dreary, miserable day in Howdon but this made me feel like I was doing my work from the back of a dimly lit jazz hop bar in the 90s. Weirdly enough, I found this pretty similar to the Air album at times. Cool stuff, D’Angelo!

I liked this. Had a classic RNB feel and good vocals. Not the deepest music in the world but nice relaxing background music. Reminded me a bit of Craig David.

I bought this album way back when it first came out. It's one of the best R&B albums of the 90s. I highly recommend anyone who loves R&B or is curious about the genre to listen to this album.

This is quintessential 90s R&B, sure to delight fans of the genre. The smooth vocals and soulful melodies are undeniably skillful. That being said, it's not something you’d usually find in my playlist.

Not as bad as I expected

One of my favorite albums of the mid to late 90's

I've heard of D'Angelo as a singer, songwriter, and multi-instrumentalist who helped pioneer the subgenre of neo-soul. This album as his debut will be my first listen to his work. What I will say is that most of this album is filled to the brim with smooth-sounding sex jams and ballads, with a dash of religious imagery from his Pentecostal background. The one exception is the opening title track which is a pretty clever metaphor for smoking marijuana. All these songs are well-delivered from D'Angelo's buttery vocals and paired with his excellent production chops alongside a few co-producers. He can sell the vibes akin to Prince and Smokey Robinson, even going as far as bending the latter's song "Cruisin'" in his favor. While there isn't a bad song on here, Brown Sugar can get a bit repetitive with its themes, lyrical content, and slow-tempo song structures, save for again the opening title track. Though I'm sure this album will grow on me in due time, as it's genuinely impressive for a then young and hungry D'Angelo. Give it a taste. Update 2/10/2025: I came back to Brown Sugar after listening to over 200 albums on this journey, and can confirm this debut grew on me. Even if a lot of these are love songs, I've noticed more variance in the angles of a relationship that D'Angelo approaches. At the very least, I'm surprised I didn't originally mention "Shit, Damn, Motherfucker", which is a tale of finding his girl in bed with another guy, and straight-up murdering the two. That one's become a favorite of mine. Also, even if there's a generally slower pace with the notion of these being "slow-jams", I'm finding more details in the instrumentation that I hadn't noticed before such as the drum loop of "Smooth" or the horn motif on "When We Get By". After hearing both Sign O' the Times and 1999 in Prince, I've come to appreciate the sound and production quality D'Angelo cultivated from what was popular with 90s hip-hop at the time and bringing those vibes into soul music, thus the birth of neo-soul here alongside other emerging acts like Erykah Badu. It was a smart move on his part to bring in personnel from A Tribe Called Quest on this album. D'Angelo proved to be a player from day one here, and yeah I'm glad to have dipped into that Brown Sugar again.

Fuck yeah

Sexy background music. That’s it. Not impressed.

This is like the background music album of all time.

Listened Before? N Pretty good for 90s stuff. I like that it's not all electronic. Added to Library? N Songs added to playlist: Brown Sugar

It's the most bland R&B ever.

Not my cup of tea but not bad. Extra point awarded for bass lines being on fire.

Good album

Get fucked. Tedious, at best

A bit funny. Sounds like the Italien funky Beatles

STANDOUTS: There's not a specific song, just very relaxing R&B OVERALL: 3/5

I can appreciate the influence this had on 90’s r&b but it’s just not for me. Not my type of music.

Great r&b album with a great vibe!

My god, this is so shit. An album of music to have disappointing sex to. I ended up listening to this on YouTube because I didn't want to fuck up my Spotify algorithm. Perhaps the worst album ever thought of, recorded, and produced (very badly).

There are probably some very good 90’s R&B albums. This is not one of them.

Chill, falsetto

I understand that at the root of R&B, this album is the epitome of what sets apart the boys from the men. The silly little attempts at sounding sexy versus those who FUCK. This album is 90s soul above all other albums. D'Angelo is smooth, rich, and probably what your mom and dad put on to conceive you. But, frankly, I think it sucks. Now, is this just a situation where I think 90s R&B production is second worst only to late 80s pop rock? Maybe, but save for some jazzy (yet simple) bass lines this album offers nothing to me but sleep inducing ballads where D'Angelo spends a quarter of each song MAX coming up with lyrics that attempt to say something, anything, before devolving into repeating the same five to ten words for the last three to four minutes, which feels more realistically like an eternity. The instrumentation doesn't bother notably changing between any of the ten songs over the course of an hour, and whenever I wasn't groaning for the song to end, I'd instead tune into to find lyrics about sex, sex, I'm sexy, I stabbed my significant other to death, and sex, and I just had enough by the end. I completely and utterly believe D'Angelo is a sex machine who knows his way around a smooth track or two, but I just personally can't be bothered to care. If this is something you adore, whether it be for its hints of funk or for the sheer energy (or lack thereof) more power to you, but this is not for me.

"Brown Sugar" was a good song. Then it was followed by eight more "Brown Sugar"s with different names, and a mediocre cover of a good song.

This sucks right? Am I missing something? What am I meant to do with this?

His ability to sing makes this not nothing but not by much. I don't get it. The arrangements seem kind of weak.

This album and style of music just isn't for me. There are some R&B songs and albums I can get into a bit, but this album is not one of them. I have nothing against it, as a whole, and there is some great playing, and I could see how this would be important to a lot of people.

Silky smooth to the point of being cheesy. It felt fairly one dimensional. So kind of a shrug, although I didn't dislike it.

Mid, not great not terrible. Impressed that he played all the instruments and I do like his voice.

Beige flour.

drowning in molten treacle

Interesting album musically. Vocals wear a little over time. 3.5 stars.

Not sure, but I don't think so... 2.5

Going into this album, I thought I was stepping into a hip-hop album, but instead I got something way cooler and more chill. This is really enjoyable—Neo Soul, I guess they call it. It brings back memories of the late ’90s, listening to underground DJ mixes, especially those chill acid jazz mixes. It’s something you’d expect to hear on Mark Farina’s Mushroom Jazz series. This is definitely an album I’ll save to my list of future listens.

some 2000s baby fucking music

The sound of being slowly caressed under silk bedsheets; crafted with the intricacy of a Swiss watch, where you find a new detail every time you look at it; and a voice that could impregnate me, despite the fact that I don’t have a uterus. This is one of my favorite albums of all time. I love Neo-soul in general, but D’Angelo is on a whole other level. And even though I subjectively love this record, objectively speaking, Brown Sugar is probably the least essential album in his discography. All three of his albums should be on this list, and that is not up for debate.

So smooth

3.5 stars. Solid if unspectacular neo-soul R&B album. Standouts are "Higher", "Lady", and the title track.

‘Brown Sugar’ is not even my favourite D’Angelo album (that would be ‘Voodoo’), but this one is still fire. It’s low key and languid, jazzy, and funky, and D’Angelo’s vocals are just pure honey. The O.G neo-soul album and still an excellent listen. No doubt the soundtrack to many a successful baby-making session.