Brown Sugar

Not my cup of tea

Day631 - a little bit on the nose with the lyrics

I listened to this on iPhone 16 speakers while walking home from dinner with my wife. I was surprised how good the speakers sounded. As for the album, we talked over most of it. Sorry, D'Angelo. But... great background music for a neighborhood walk! 😃

Oh, yeah, a-ha, repeat 567x times and voila. Soul wibes and influences are good thing This is hard to rate, somewhat boring lyrics and vocals but ok beats and istruments. Didnt like that much

Another day, another hip-hop album for me to review--oh wait, it's soul. That's a bit of a surprise. I didn't know soul was still kicking it in the 90s, though I guess that makes sense. I'm curious to hear what a more contemporary take on this genre will sound like. Yeah. I mean, it's soul. One of the many genres that I find difficult to feel one way or another about. As a modern take on the genre, this is definitely competent. The production is decent, the vocals are solid and the variety is commendable, though there isn't much in here which appeals to me. The album also has a real length problem as it piles on 5+ minute song after 5+ minute song, most of which don't really go anywhere. "Alright" is a good time. I appreciate the muffled, lo-fi instrumental and funky bassline. The vocals are standard fare for soul, though they succeed at being competent. "Cruisin'" has a good chorus, and some nice strings later in the track. Book time. "...pioneer of the neo-soul movement". D'Angelo was 21 when this released. Very successful. Wikipedia reveals that this album was a critical slam dunk and won a few awards. I've said this before with resurgence of 80s synth music in contemporary pop, but I don't think revivalist movements have much merit on a "must-hear" list. I'm no soul aficianado by any means, though this also doesn't strike me as anything particularly exceptional within it's genre. It's been a while, but I think I'm gonna snub this one. In place of this album, I humbly submit Gorillaz's Plastic Beach for inclusion on the list.

Listened to it some days ago and can't really remember anything...wasn't as bad as I thought it would be...

He had a lovely voice but wow I did not enjoy this at all. Very dated, but I can't imagine this being much good at the time either? 2 ⭐️

Forgettable

Listened to the first song, and didn’t want to waste any more time on it…I knew it wasn’t for me.

W teorii mogłabym dać 3/5 bo nic mi ta płyta nie zrobiła. Ale gdy myślę o innych, które dostały te ocenę to nie mogę tego zrobić. Paskudne pościelówy, soul bez duszy. Utwory jak na przesłuchaniach do talent show. Nie przemawiało to do mnie wcale. 4.5/10 równane w dół.

No.

The title of track 5 is definitely what I'd say if I discovered my best friend and my wife.

There's great soul and then there's offensive schmaltz like this.

4/10 Crikey, I dislike this kind of music. The widdly, jazzy electric piano (setting 03 on my old Casio) plinking incessantly. Backing vocals meandering like a slow moving brook of milky tea, trying to give the impression they know where they're going. Strings and synth that layer everything to ensure there are no edges that might pique interest. I try to concentrate on the bass, which is the one thing I can at least get something from. But then Mr D'Angelo drifts into my attention with his inanities about what he wants to do to his long suffering girlfriends. Sounds like Flight of the Concords parody. Give em a break and take a shower. It gained a mark (but not a star) cos it kind of got a bit of rhythm and funk going on in the second half.

Ok

Sounded very smooth and lovely but just couldn’t get into it. Ended up relistening to the Archandroid instead. Sorry D’Angelo!

Good singer, inoffensive but quite samey and a bit dull.

Uma mistura de rap, hip hop, soul, funk, e black pop music....é ate legal mas depois parece que fica tudo igual e enjoativo...entre 2 e 3 no máximo...daria 2,5 então vou arredondar para baixo.

Leichter R&B ohne nachhaltige Titel.

Not my kind of music, never really listened to anything like this before. It's interesting. I can see the appeal, but I personally didn't really enjoy it.

What an absolutely nothing album. I’m really trying to hone in on the actual content and discern the differences between the tracks but it’s so difficult. It’s all one long, indistinct, gentle waft of an album.

I think some D’Angelo songs are great (how does it feel? + I’ll stay) but this wasn’t amazing to me. This album didn’t really show off the vocal range enough and didn’t have stand out music

I thought this was pretty boring.

Ja dit is R&B. Dit is soul. En vooral: Dit is pure sex. Maar toch, het pakt me niet helemaal? Het glijdt heerlijk, het album is een soort boter voor de oortjes en D'Angelo klinkt gewoon lekker funky met ook de instrumentals, maar er ontbreekt voor mij echt een stuk afwisseling. Het is vrij veel van hetzelfde, met de kopstem van D'Angelo en een hele dikke baslijn. Nou is dat meestal genoeg om mij te pakken, maar nu mis ik gewoon net dat beetje extra. Ik snap het niet helemaal, hij is denk ik precies wat ik vet vind, ik hou namelijk echt van neo soul en van classic soul. Ook R&B kan ik best waarderen, maar ik mis iets? Misschien is het omdat het toch vrij veel van hetzelfde is? Ja D'Angelo, we weten het, je hebt sex. Niet nodig om dat bijna 55 minute in te wrijven. Hij zingt fantastisch, geweldige stem, maar het is gewoon allemaal een beetje saaiïg. Had dit eerlijk waar niet echt verwacht, dit was een album dat al heel lang op mijn 'to listen' lijst stond, maar ik verveel me echt en ben blij dat het album voorbij is. Het begint geweldig met het titelnummer, maar daarna is het een soort brij van middelmatige, gezapige nummers die allemaal een beetje hetzelfde klinken. Ik ga toch hard zijn en geef dit 2 sterren, als het country was had ik namelijk hetzelfde gedaan. FAVO: Brown Sugar, Me and those dreamin eyes of mine,

Generic blah blah blah

Earwax, lovely singer but terrible spunds soz D'Angelo.

I'm sure that this is a fine album if this is your thing, but it's very much not my thing so I'll pass thanks

30 years ago I would probably would have rated it a bit better but still eh

There were occasional aspects I enjoyed (mainly in the bass), but overall this was not for me.

Not as good as voodoo

I like the idea here more than the execution. Long, mostly slow, sex jams. While this must have been pretty novel in Soul at the time, I don't think it holds up too well. There just isn't enough happening in these songs, they mostly just plod along for 4-6 minutes. Key tracks: Brown Sugar

2,5

Respect the hustle but not for me

Gear: HEDD Audio HEDDphone Two Artwork: 🌽🧥🔥 Production: 🎧😘🤌 Music: 🧈🍆🔁 Rating: 🍬🍬(🍬)/5

I think this is just not a genre that I love. I thought that this album was fine

Prime example of 90s R&B, which i think i find very boring. This dollar store prince genre almost comes off as a joke nowadays, like corny "mood-making music"

Not something I enjoyed. Was mostly waiting for it to be over and dreading I might miss when it repeated and have to listen to it again.

A strong second half let down by a frist half with very little substance. Very cool and lovely sounds throughout.

Pretty enjoyable r&b album, some of the vocals weren't great and it was a bit repetitive but overall not bad

Not for me. I’m not into “oh baby” music

This album is fine, I guess. Not my cup of tea

Repetitive, but peak 90s. In one ear and out the other, I will be forgetting about this album quickly not purposefully but because this was so insignificant and not noteworthy.

It's nice... not my thing, but it's nice.

Now I know why 90’s R&B is not my thing. There were some potentially cool grooves on here, but they were wasted by boring, repetitive, largely incomprehensible lyrics. Does he have a good voice? Yeah, I suppose. Can he sing? Nope. Nothing of any interest. And to make matters worse, he ruined a good song (Cruisin’). I still don’t understand how he messed that up. I think I actually hate this more because of the decent rhythms that came to nothing than if there wasn’t anything good about it at all. But I’ll give it an extra star just because there wasn’t anything once promise there.

2.4 2x almost a year i let this one linger, but caught up 5/14/2026

Boring!! Not bad tho

Was initially quite bored by this album. Just felt like standard R&B, set structure and backing track ion loop with soft, whiny, annoying, high vocals. However, came to appreciate the jazz and musical arrangements featured throughout. Tired of the voice, feel and subject, but some good use of instruments in places and more techy than usual modern R&B backing. Neo-soul? Just 2/5 for overall quality experience, but easy 3/5 for arrangement/jazz features so probably scrapes 2.5

I cannot but feel bored. It's all so slick and perfect. All is shiny and soulless. That may be the typical 90ies production, but O never bothered to try anything else from the artist after listening to this one. Good quality material behind, though, as well as capable musicians...

Despite his undeniable smooth and sexiness , I was bored. Idk man. He was cool but all the songs had a boom boom and then nothing.

Man - this guy is a talented musician. But the smooth mid 90s R&B (which he might be / is partially responsible for?) is just so....boring? It's a lazy adjective to use, I own it, but sometimes boring is boring. I don't remember any songs here other than "Shit, Damn, Motherfucker" which was pretty good. TL;DR: Funky and soulful and sounds .... too good? It's just too chill for my liking - not tons of dynamics or tempo and mood changes, just kinda waited it out until it was over... 4/10 2 stars

Featuring songs such as Jonz in my Bonz, Brown Sugar is a nasally mess. Proof that popularity doesn’t equal quality.

smooth jams. the lyrics don't do much for me, but toss this on and invite her over for dinner.

Volgens mij beste relaxte RnB, zover ik kan bepalen. Niet per see mijn genre, maar op zich goed te luisteren. **

i NEED to get Greg pregnant

Not my cuppa tea.

2.5 decent jazzy soul

I wasn’t familiar with today’s album by D’Angelo. I can’t wait until I finish this in three years so I can read the book this challenge is based on to see what the criteria for inclusion is. Anyway, I thought he had a decent enough voice for R&B / Soul and it’s not an unpleasant album, but honestly I found it only slightly more engaging or interesting than complete silence. If you want to listen to some music but don’t want the raucousness of smooth jazz, this album is for you. I figure if a song called “Shit, Damn, Motherfucker” is a snoozer, what chance does the rest of the album have.

I really couldn’t get into this one.

This was like the male equivalent of the Mariah Carey album I just had.

I believe this album has fulfilled my falsetto quota for quite a while.

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.

It was just ok for me. 2.5

No thanks

Weiß nicht. Nicht so wirklich meins.

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.

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

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.

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

Ok but def not need to listen

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

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.

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'

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

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

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

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

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.

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

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

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.

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.”

Sheeeeeeeiiiiiiiiiit damn, Motherfucker. This album is booooorrrrrrrrriiiiiiinnnnnnnng.

Sorry, Dunkey, this one’s not for me.

Very sloooowly... and boring

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

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

Incredibly boring album with a guy that sings real sexy.

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.

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'

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

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

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.

Pretty generic stuff

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

Dull smooth songs about sex.

Didn’t really vibe with it sorry

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.

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

No thanks. Kinda boring .

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.

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.

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

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

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

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.

Nu-soul dreck

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 🥱

Not as bad as I expected

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.

Good album

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

Chill, falsetto

"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.

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

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

some 2000s baby fucking music

This may be the best neo-soul record of the last 50 years, but it's not my style. The 90's smooth and chill mix of soul and hip-hop is too close to the R&B of that era for me. "Cruisin'" is a standout track.

Funky but not for me

Favorite Track: Brown Sugar

He’s clearly a talented guy but it’s just not my kinda music. Still, some of the more modern sounding beats were nice and When We Get By is a Stevie Wonder-esque banger, so I’ll bump it up to a 2.5.

RnB.

Looking forward to Voodoo and have REALLY enjoyed Black Messiah before - but having never heard this, it sounded less revolutionary to me than just super locked-in. Basically, a collection of old-school extended R&B jams to my ears ("I said I got a jones / in my bones"...ad infinitum), which didn't light my fire in any special way.

Well it was smooth, and not too bad to listen to. The falsetto gets old though, and Shit, Damn, Motherfucker? Really?

Found this quite generic..

Forgot it for the most part now, got through the album, nothing strong for me. Will I listen to again: 0%

Better than expected but still not great

It's smooth, ain't no denying that. Not my thing.

Kinda meh

Odotukset oli ehkä turhan korkealla, mutta tämä osoittautui pettymykseksi.

I really don't get how good this is supposed to be. Anyway, here's another wasted hour.

Very well crafted neo-soul that is so easy-listening that it becomes almost annoying or useless. I can't explain why this is so much praised or influencial. But, that's well made for sure.

Much too erotic and R&B for me. It definitely wasn't terrible music, just not my taste at all.

This just isn't for me but I could see people getting it on to it in the 90's. The best part was Cruisin' which was a cover. Not terrible and had some fun background sounds but overall meh.

I liked his voice and the sound. Could definitely hear the Prince influence. Smooth and soulful but truthfully not my kind of thing.

It was mellow. Is all the positive I have about it. I didn’t get to the end as I was very very bored a couple of tracks in.

Smooth like velvet, and it sounds great in headphones, but it is so extremely boring. There is literally now dynamics in his vocals, it just flows along like tap water. Give me some waves and rougher waters!

Sounds like an album a teenager boy might put on when he thinks there is a chance he might get some.

Not my bag.

It’s alright - mid 90’s R&B but ultimately forgettable background music.

Smooth, sexy, but I can't remember any of the songs. I find R&B nice but a bit samey.

Smooth, yet somehow a little hollow. Nice to have in the background but I couldn't really engage with it very deeply.

Maybe I just don’t click with what D’Angelo has to offer here, but with all-over-the-place song structures, meandering run times, and song topics I don’t care all that much about, “Brown Sugar” becomes a daunting listen, as much as I enjoy what it’s trying to go for, particularly on songs like the opener and closer (which are both fantastic).

I guess if the critics say it's very good, I'll have to believe it... 🤔

Good background grooves

Soulful R&B recording, it's not bad but doesn't leave any type of lasting impact. The most memorable song on the album is a cover of "Cruisin'", the rest is mostly forgettable.

Not really my cup of tea but definitely smooth (ha) and well produced. I can see why D'Angelo is popular, just doesn't do much for me. I liked the instrumentals in "Me And Those Dreamin' Eyes Of Mine" a lot.

Cool album, but I don't feel as it is anything too crazy special.

I would never choose R&B but I can enjoy the musicianship and there’s some particular nice bass playing here. The main problem with this record is it’s just a bit boring. Also ‘Shit, Damn, Motherfucker’ sounds exactly like an R&B song this kid I used to sit next to in year 9 would make up as a joke! Best of luck, D’Angelo.

Ahh. Not really my thing

90s fuckboy music. I tried many times to get into that genre but alas, it is irredeemable.

Do you want to listen to an album that sounds exactly like Prince, but with none of the bite?

A bit too much of the crying-singing. I did actually like the song about the Mother Fucker, though.

I don’t think I’ve heard of D’Angelo before. I know this has already been said many times, but R&B in a big blind spot in my musical knowledge. For the most part, I’ve not tended to click with a lot but there are definitely occasional albums I’ve lived. Let’s see where this lies. Songs I already knew: none Favourites: Brown Sugar This wasn’t my cup of tea. To my ears, I can’t see what separates this from other R&B albums to make it an essential listen. The one thing I did really appreciate was the smooth bass lines which felt very inspired by jazz, but the rest of the music and lyrics just fell flat for me. If you love this, that’s great for you, but it just didn’t do much for me.

Not a big R&B guy yet.

Pretty good sound but some lyrics are horrible

Best song - Higher

It's not bad, as in impossible to listen to, but I didn't understand it either.

not my kinda music

Brown Sugar by D'Angelo. Smooth as butter, creepy as Serge. Okay its not that creepy but its very thirsty and gets a bit grating after a while. Extra star for the song title Shit Damn Motherfucker, loses that star for chorus only being the lyrics, Shit , Damn, Muthafuckaah on repeat...although not sure what I expected

4 / 10 Buen sonido y buena voz, pero muuyy aburrido.

Feels earnest and organic. I can see why people credit it with being one of the roots of Neo Soul in the 1990s. Very chill vibe. Personally, a bit too chill for me. I would have loved the inclusion of a couple of upbeat tracks just to change the pace up occasionally, keep the listener sharp, and to keep the album from becoming tranquilizing. It became, after awhile, dare I say, boring? While I respect that he brought Smokey Robinson's "Cruisin'" to a new audience, it just reminded me that I should go add the original to my collection. Ultimately not really my bag. There was a reason that I was listening to very different music from this in 1995.

Dude's trying really hard to be Prince but he lacks the master's touch. He's a good singer and a talented musician but the songs are kind of drab and dull. Also, if you have a song called Shit, Damn, Motherfucker, make it a hardcore rap song with some venom. Don't make it a smooth R&B ditty.

A lot of hat and falsetto singing. Sounds very dated.

Not really my thing, but not bad.

just didn't like it

What a sexy second gear he’s stuck in

Only one hit.

wow, that’s a lot of slow jams

nije bas moj đir, malo dosadnjikavo i repetitivno

Dobar glas, al nisu mi riči. Može to puno bolje

It’s quite good for its genre, and I appreciate the jazz influence But man this type of music is just hard to listen to for more than a song or two. The vocal style just is a huge turn—off, the weird sensual falsetto

Boring.

This has its moments but I'm not a big fan of the genre and it feels like it should be shorter

Smooth, but ultimately so boring. This stinks of too much axe body spray and pre-pubescent pheromones.

soft and smooth but basically the same song

Kinda boring

Whiney, crap, hated it

Neo soul, funk. Rollo.

Was okay, nothing too flashy. I did enjoy the look of confusion that briefly flashed across my supervisor's face when I paused my music and she saw the song title 'Jonz in my Bonz'. I have been trying to figure out what this phrase means ever since.

Not that impressive, the covers of Cruisn' are better than this

Though his singing is fine and the songs were chill, it was too chill, boring and not very interesting. I hadn't heard this before and I'm sure I wouldn't have listened long if I stumbled across this album. I'm perhaps not the target audience for this music, I like some R & B, but not his, which is fine...let's move on...

Funky, although background for me

Neo-soul from 1995. Never listened to this before. . . Will probably never listen to it again.

I went into this listen with low expectations, knowing I’m not a D’Angelo fan but hoping I’d get something more out of a critical listening experience. But alas, I still find D’Angelo to be the blandest R&B artist ever. It’s like the stock music of R&B, it just feels like it has absolutely no edge. Tracks like “Shit, Damn, Motherfucker” are just lame instead of cool. And when your best track is a cover of “Crusin’” you know you’ve got a problem. Stick to the sandwiches D’Angelo!

I like R&B but this album was just ok.

Not my thing, most stracks ounded a bit samey

It was fine. Not for me, as I'm not an ovulating woman.

I'm not a neo-soul person at all but I do like Brown Sugar. I enjoy the instrumentals but I don't like the singing that much tbh.

Not a huge fan of R&B but found this pretty nice. Good voice and rhythms. Started to drag toward the end. Solid album but not my cup of tea.

Music is close to a 4, vocals a 2 and a lyrics a 0. While he tries he's no Marvin Gaye or Prince. I did make it though but kinda became a slog at the end.

Middling R&B. At best.

This is 100% not for me. I never got to the I want to turn it off stage but pretty close.

снова соул и рнб которые ну совсем мимо меня

The progenitor to modern mumble rap, which is not a title worth holding in my book. There are several tracks where D’Angelo can’t be bothered to do more than say the title and add a few “mhms” and “yeahs” on top, leaving mostly instrumental to listen to. The production is at least decent and the backing tracks even a bit soulful and rich, but the mediocre performance by the star of the show means this one is destined for mediocrity.

90s ridin music

Neo Soul ain't my thing...I honestly wish I liked it more. 2/5

It was ok. Not my favourite genre but I managed to listen with very little flinching.

EHHHHHHHHH it wasn't horrible but was repetitive and didn't really have any memorable songs besides track 5 which was amazing.

Quite dull and boring. Very samey. Would be much better as just an instrumental

Soul met een mannenstem en af en toe een Prince-achtige hoge uithaal. Ik had gelet op de titel een bittere smaak verwacht. Maar dit is letterlijk suikerzoet. Bah.

R&B isn't my thing generally so I wasn't expecting to enjoy this record too much. What surprised me was how flat the record actually is, the songs meander. The production is murky and after four songs the whole thing become much of the same, background music.

No diggity! No really. No diggity! What a bunch of RnB.

Tried; couldn't get into it.

Dull

Smooth ass voice, it’s sometimes tolerable for 90s R&B.

I don't like it

2.5/5

Prima soepele RnB en Soul maar niet heel bijzonder.

Tsja sorry de Angelo

It's groovy and bassy, but D'Angelo doesn't have the staying power to keep the album interesting through its runtime. The beats are cool, but the record loses its novelty about halfway through.

Oooph, this is way too jiggy for me. Even with the “jazzy” instruments and the “smooth” vocals it somehow still ends up soulless.

I don't know why but I don't like 90s RnB. Or i don't like this at least. I like funk and soul and most things related but this was just boring. Lyrics was meh, singing was mostly the same. The funky instrumentals were a plus though.

Not for me

Generic bedroom music with a falsetto on top. Best track: Cruisin'

Totalmente olvidable. Se deja escuchar pero no hay nada interesante para mí en 2023.

Seemed pretty generic

not as bad as expected

Great Value Prince with none of the soul.

There's nothing "bad" about this album but this kind of music always gives me the ick - especially when the lyrics lacks subtly/nuance. I'm just not a fan of croon-y falsetto R&B

Falsetto R&B gets really old after a few songs in a row. There wasn't enough variation in this album to keep my interest.

I’m sure for people who enjoy this sound and genre, this album is great. It’s not a genre I generally steer towards, and while I appreciate the soul/funk vibes of a mid-90s R&B record, I was glad it was over. I could handle one or two songs at a time of this.

truly amazing how one-note, bland, uninspired, and almost comedic 90s R&B can be. the vocals, backing track, and overall vibe are fine by themselves but get so boring when combined. laughed out loud at the moans in Jonz In My Bonz. The sound of lounging in your living room on a sweltering summer day

Not bad but feels like parody being it so exaggerated and theatrical at times

decent sound but annoying lyrics

Meh.

The only thing that I actually liked was the contrast of music and lyrics in 'Shit, Damn, Motherfucker'. Everything else was undisturbing at best.

Neo soul, funk. Rollo.

Not my type of jam, but wow, started listening with suit and tie on, ended shirtless. I was alone and couldn’t handle all the sexiness in this thing.

Totaal mijn ding niet

C’est bon dans le style, je pense.j’ai tellementjmais ecoute ce style. La production est intense car il n’y a pas beaucoup de contenu tant quamoi. 2.75

Based on the Wikipedia blurb, I expected to enjoy this album a lot more than I actually did. This shit was a slog and completely unmemorable. Maybe it was super influential in the mix of electronica, R&B, and hip-hop but it definitely hasn't aged well because it just sounds totally dated and lame.

this didnt age well

This album wasn't made for me. I did my best though. I liked the jazzy songs better than the straight R&B ones. Favorite song: Shit, Damn, Motherfucker.

I mentioned on yesterday's LP that R&B/neo-soul isn't my cup of tea, but Amy managed to break through it for me with good song-writing and some jazzy solos. There are no such breakthroughs on this album.

A spooked moose in the shower shaving its back. The prickly centre of the perfect stroke gives the moose the horn. He goes out a rapes a young tiger dressed as Dracula. He's the number one candidate to win Big Brother this year.

HL: "Lady", "Me and Those Dreamin' Eyes of Mine", the title track I was a bit disappointed- & after reading about D'Angelo, and how he performed almost every instrument on this album I was disappointed that I was disappointed. Or maybe the multi-instrumentalist production is why I couldn't connect, since I'm sure I'd enjoy much of the album's content live and in the right setting. Perhaps Voodoo or Black Messiah would deliver for me what this album doesn't. January 15, 2023

d'angelo's brown sugar is incredibly smooth. all songs were of the same build: some funk, some soul, lots of romance. it ended up sounding rather one note. this sometimes happens to an album that spurred a large music trend. without a doubt, d'angelo influenced r&b for the late nineties. i was heavily reminded of prince during some of this whole album. even moreso when i discovered d'angelo created these songs in their entirety almost completely by himself! i admire the creation decision and dedication. outside of that, the musical similarities to prince were too much. the album came across was unoriginal as a result. not terrible sounding, but there was only ever one prince.

I found this to be an odd inclusion. It wasn't bad at all, but as far as 90s R&B goes, there were probably soooo many better options that could have been included in place of this album. Ultimately, this was very smooth, but also very boring. It just faded into the background for me.

booooorrrrrriiiiinnnnnggggggggggg

2.5. It seems nice. Not really my thing though. The remake of Cruisin is nice

I was interested in this but no song stood out just an hour of really light, fluttery male vocals 2.5

I can see how if I liked this kind of music it's probably very good, but for me it just sounds bland and every track the same. Ok for background music but not much else.

When it is jazz it is good, however at times it drifts into obscenity laden hip hop and that is annoying and irritating.

Meh. Found this quite boring, not my usual cuppa tea. Had some nice little interesting parts to this, particularly the bass in Alright. Can see how it’s gone on to influence others, especially the likes of Blood Orange. Could not be bothered with this one but enjoyed it slightly more than I expected, although I can’t see me listening again.

Some of it was fine, but again not really my kind of thing. Guy has a good voice.

Not usually that into R&B and thought this was okay. I think the songs just go on longer than they need to. "Shit, Damn, Motherfucker" could have been easily cut in half to make the same point. Highlight was "Brown Sugar".

The instrumental part as was quite good in some tracks, I just don't stand the genre I'm afraid

The instrumentals are very nice, but the singing and lyrics kill it for me. It's 53 minutes of D'Angelo waving his boner in your face. I would love an instrumental version.

This is totally not my thing. My knowledge of this genre is admittedly nil. But even as R&B goes, I do not find anything especially good or different about this album. On the contrary I can think of a lot of R&B I like a lot better than this. I don't hate it, but it's big MEH for me. 2.5/5, rounded down bc it's just so unremarkable.

Il y a du bon, du moins bon, du bien produit et du cheap. En temps que vocaliste, il est excellent

It went in one ear and out the other without troubling my brain

I have a hard time dealing with R&B. I can obviously hear that there are a lot of redeeming qualities - the smooth-as-silk vocals, the great beats and the stellar production. But I'm just. So. Damn. Bored. And then all the repetition. ALL the repetitions. Nothing about this grabs my attention, and it seems to work the best when playing in the background while doing household chores (or other, more interesting activities...). I'm probably just not sexy enough to get it.

First of all. Shout out to D’Angelo for playing essentially all instruments himself and naming a sexy R&B song “Shit, Damn, Motherfucker”. Apart from that this record really bored me. D’Angelo is obviously extremely talented but the songs are way to long and tends to just be mere repetitions after 2 minutes. I enjoyed “When We Get By” and I didn’t hate the other songs. This just isn’t for me.

Quite boring in all honesty. Says “sugar” a lot. No ‘Unshaken’

Meh

Pretty boring mid 90's R&B. Nothing that speaks to me at all. 1.5/5

The production is high end. The bass lines through many of these tracks are buttery smooth. The echoey reverb that is used on the organ and guitar provide a wall of shimmer and glow. But most of the songs themselves have little life in them. The lyrics are often repetitive and pointless. I really couldn’t wait for the album to end.

wasn’t a fan

It was okay

Meh

En voyant apparaître cet album R'n'B dans le générateur, je me voyais déjà lui accorder au minimum une note de quatre étoiles. Ce style de musique fait en effet partie de ceux étant de bon goût, par opposition à ceux de mauvais goût comme le punk ou encore le métal. Malheureusement, et contrairement à ce que pense eltrapeze, cet album m'a insupporté du début à la fin, ne proposant que des boucles interminables sur lesquelles le chanteur prendra tout juste la peine de poser sa voix. Une belle escroquerie, en somme.

Kinda groovy i guess but if felt wrong towards women

Mm seemed plain

Very smooth. Too smooth. The aural equivalent of drowning in a compote of syrup, treacle and molasses. Cannot fault musicianship and D'angelo's voice, but it is all just a bit dull