Album Review: Lionel Richie – Tuskegee
3 min read
Lionel Richie has paired up with some of the biggest names in music to celebrate his expansive catalogue of hits that have paved his impressive 45 years in music with the release of Tuskegee. 14 tracks are pieced together to create the new collection seeing Richie performing alongside some of the greats in the industry.
The collection sees a series of fantastic collaborations as Richie revisits some of the numbers that have propelled his career over the past few decades both as the front man of The Commordores but also as a highly respected solo artist.
Richie has always wanted to do country and he has offered his pennings to the likes of Alabama and Conway Twitty in years gone by but this collection gives him the personal opportunity to express his music in a whole new light and what better way to do that than to team up with some of the genres top selling artists. The collection boasts a who’s who of the country scene and the great thing about who was chosen to accompany Richie on this project is that the acts handpicked by Richie include artists spanning several decades and not just from the leading man’s peak era.
Standing alongside icons like Kenny Rogers, Shania Twain and Willie Nelson is today’s chart-toppers including Blake Shelton, Rascal Flatts and even the UK’s own pop princess Pixie Lott, who graces the closing Angel with some outstanding results as she trades in her glossy, bubblegum pop for an impressive dabble in country.
Easy sees the musician dueting with a true veteran of country, Willie Nelson, on a track performed not unlike the original version of the 1977 Commodores hit while Kenny Rogers shows up on the classic Lady, one of the highlights nearing the end of the collection and a song penned by Richie for the country legend back in 1980, a song that also made it to the number one spot for Rogers.
Call me bias but as a huge Shania Twain fan the highlight on the record for me is the amazing reinterpretation of the iconic Lionel Richie and Diana Ross duet, Endless Love. The new version heard here on Tuskegee is a stunning revisit to one of the best selling singles of all time. Twain’s vocals resonate boldly and sweetly in place of Ross’ previous performance on the track and the coating of country given to the track provides further versatility to one of Richie’s most symbolic hits.
Other notables to feature on the collection include Richie’s best known dance numbers, All Night Long and Dancing on the Ceiling, both proving effective inclusions, particularly the latter which teams the star up with country heavyweights Rascal Flatts offering an upbeat filing to the centre of the record though not really a track that I would say sounded particularly country even with the addition of a banjo but definitely one of the prominent features to Tuskegee.
Richie has hit the nail right on the head with this latest release and it’s great to hear these songs being performed outside of their pop comfort zones though they sound equally comfortable in their new environment.
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