The Lady Killer (album)
Encyclopedia
The Lady Killer is the third studio album
by American recording artist Cee Lo Green, released November 5, 2010, on Elektra Records
. Production for the album was handled by Salaam Remi
, Element
, The Smeezingtons
, Fraser T. Smith
, Paul Epworth
, and Jack Splash during 2009 to 2010.
The album debuted at number nine on the US Billboard 200
chart, selling 41,000 copies in its first week. It achieved respectable chart success elsewhere and produced three singles, including the international hit "Fuck You". The album has sold 337,700 copies in the United States, and it has been certified
2x platinum in the United Kingdom. Upon its release, The Lady Killer received generally positive reviews from music critics, who commended its production, classicist soul music
approach, and Green's singing.
and Roadrunner Records
. It was made available for streaming
at NPR
through to November 9, 2010.
Hot 100. It also became an international hit and peaked within the top-ten of charts in several countries, including number one in the Netherlands and the United Kingdom. The radio edit
of the song was entitled "Forget You", while another edit is simply entitled "FU". A music video
for the song was released on YouTube
on August 19, 2010, featuring the lyrics of the song appearing on different colored backgrounds with film grain
overlayed on the video. The video went viral
, receiving over two million views within a week of its release. The official music video was released on September 1, 2010.
The album's second single, "It's OK", was released on December 13, 2010. It charted on the UK Singles Chart
, so far peaking at 20. The album's third single, "Bright Lights Bigger City" was released on March 27, 2011. The album's fourth single, "I Want You" was released on June 5, 2011. "Cry Baby
" was released as the album's fifth single on September 12. The sixth single and the the first from The Platinum Edition of the album, "Anyway" is due for release on December 11.
, performing for
Taratata
,
Reeperbahn
Festival,
the BBC
,
Late Show with David Letterman
,
W's Symmetry Live Concert Series,
Saturday Night Live
,
the Jimmy Kimmel Live! special show following the Academy Awards
,
and many other venues.
Core band members include Sharon Aguilar
(lead guitar, violin), Brittany Brooks (drums), Theresa Flaminio
(keyboards, background vocals), and Regina Zernay Roberts (bass guitar, Moog synthesizer
).
chart, with first-week sales of 41,000 copies in the United States. It also entered at number two on Billboard
s R&B/Hip-Hop Albums chart. As of May 4, 2011, the album has sold 337,700 copies in the United States.
The Lady Killer attained moderate international charting. In the United Kingdom, the album debuted at number 10 on the Top 40 Albums
, and it reached number one on the Top 40 RnB Albums
chart. In Canada, it debuted at number 29 on the Top 100 Albums
chart. It also entered at number 91 in Belgium, at number 18 in Ireland, at number 43 in the Netherlands, at number 24 in Australia, at number 90 in France, at number 53 in Sweden, and at number 16 in Scotland. On November 4, 2011, The Lady Killer was certified 2x platinum by the British Phonographic Industry
, for shipments of 600,000 copies in the United Kingdom.
s. At Metacritic
, which assigns a normalized
rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, the album received an average
score of 80, based on 33 reviews, which indicates "generally favorable reviews". Allmusic writer Andy Kellman gave it four out of five stars and called it "a thoroughly engrossing album". Entertainment Weekly
s Leah Greenblatt commented that the album "both honors and tweaks the tropes of vintage songcraft with hefty doses of sweet Motown/Stax
boogie, a smattering of Curtis Mayfield
superfly, and imaginary theme songs for James Bond
". Bill Friskics-Warren of The Washington Post
wrote that it "offers some of the most ebullient pop this side of old-school hit-machines ranging from Holland-Dozier-Holland to Gamble and Huff
". BBC Online's Mike Diver stated "With material of a standard to match his fantastic pipes, here [Green] has crafted his finest Cee Lo long-player yet". Chicago Tribune
writer Greg Kot
gave the album three-and-a-half out of four stars and lauded Green's "retro-soul classicism and dark-tinged eccentricity". Slant Magazine
's Huw Jones praised the album's accessibility and "buoyant nü-Motown and progressive soul", while noting Green's singing as "absolutely flawless. Pitch-perfect from tip to toe". Rolling Stone
writer Jody Rosen
dubbed The Lady Killer "one of the most engrossing records of 2010".
However, Jon Caramanica of The New York Times
perceived Green as "reduced to an accent piece [...] purposefully restrained", stating "Green’s vocals are buried low in the mix, mere decoration for the arrangements and textures [...] crisp, lovely and certainly well rehearsed". Will Salmon of Clash
expressed a mixed response towards its high-spirited style and stated "musically it feels like a lesser take on Outkast
’s The Love Below". Jer Fairall of PopMatters
found the album's premise inconsistent, writing that it "feels relatively safe [...] a thoroughly likeable little trifle of a record", but added that "As a throwback, it is indeed impeccable". Despite viewing it as less "gleefully unhinged" than his previous work, NME
s Jason Draper cited it as Green's "most focused solo album". The Observer
s Killian Fox wrote that "his idiosyncrasies have proven too potent to repress". Nitsuh Abebe of New York
called it "suitably theatrical—a lavishly orchestrated thing", and lauded Green's dramatist "lady-killer persona" and "artifice". Ken Capobianco of The Boston Globe
commended "how he negotiates moods here and turns phrases with subtlety, wit, and style". Los Angeles Times
writer Margaret Wappler noted "a glassy modernity that makes the album a sexy sonic adventure of loving and leaving" and commented that "it’s not Green’s caddish ways that charm. Rather [...] it’s his big heart underneath".
Despite writing that "he's not always lethal", Pitchfork Media
's Joshua Klein commented that Green "manages to avoid being both too rough or too smooth", complimenting his "contemporary, confident conception of soul music" and the album's "de rigueur synthetic frills". Barry Walters of Spin
noted its "detailed encapsulations of Saturday-night transcendence and Sunday-morning love pains" and its music "beautifully busy 21st-century Motown as greasy as it is vibrant". Amy Linden of The Village Voice
called the album "romantic—chaste, even", writing that "[Green]'s written a manual on how to both break and mend someone's heart". The Independent
s Andy Gill commented that "he manages to avoid all the bubblebath boudoir-soul cliches that litter most R&B albums". Glenn Gamboa of Newday
gave it an A rating and stated "Green has secured his place among R&B's greatest singers - in part by taking their strengths and twisting them into his broader plan". Robert Everett-Green of The Globe and Mail
gave the album three-and-a-half out of four stars and commended Green for his "allegiance to classic R&B song forms and arrangements", while noting its "compulsive grooves and dance-ready choruses". Chicago Sun-Times
writer Thomas Conner gave the album four out of four stars and called it "an utter delight" and stated "every song rings fresh, modern, anthemic, packed with earth, wind and fire".
for Best Pop Vocal Album
, set to be presented at the 54th Grammy Awards
in 2012. The song "Fool for You" was nominated for Grammy Awards for Best Traditional R&B Performance and Best R&B Song
.
(co) Co-producer
Studio album
A studio album is an album made up of tracks recorded in the controlled environment of a recording studio. A studio album contains newly written and recorded or previously unreleased or remixed material, distinguishing itself from a compilation or reissue album of previously recorded material, or...
by American recording artist Cee Lo Green, released November 5, 2010, on Elektra Records
Elektra Records
Elektra Records is an American record label owned by Warner Music Group. In 2004, it was consolidated into WMG's Atlantic Records Group. After five years of dormancy, the label was revived by Atlantic in 2009....
. Production for the album was handled by Salaam Remi
Salaam Remi
Salaam Remi Gibbs, better known as Salaam Remi, is a hip hop producer and keyboard player, known for his association with Nas, Amy Winehouse, and his reggae-tinged approach to production...
, Element
ELEMENT (production team)
Element is a Norwegian record production and songwriting team, consisting of Hitesh Ceon and Kim Ofstad. Some of the latest productions of the team include two songs for U.K...
, The Smeezingtons
The Smeezingtons
The Smeezingtons is the name of a songwriting and production team consisting of Bruno Mars, Philip Lawrence and Ari Levine.They have produced and written songs for artists and groups such as the Sugababes, Travie McCoy, B.o.B, Brandy Norwood, K'naan, Lil Wayne, Flo Rida, Chad Hugo, Lil Eddie, Bad...
, Fraser T. Smith
Fraser T. Smith
Fraser T. Smith is an English record producer, songwriter, mix engineer and guitarist....
, Paul Epworth
Paul Epworth
Paul Epworth is an award-winning British music producer, musician, and songwriter. His production credits include Adele, Cee Lo Green, Florence and the Machine, Plan B, Friendly Fires, Bloc Party, Primal Scream, The Rapture, Jack Peñate, Kate Nash and Maxïmo Park.-Lomax:From 2002-2004 Paul provided...
, and Jack Splash during 2009 to 2010.
The album debuted at number nine on the US Billboard 200
Billboard 200
The Billboard 200 is a ranking of the 200 highest-selling music albums and EPs in the United States, published weekly by Billboard magazine. It is frequently used to convey the popularity of an artist or groups of artists...
chart, selling 41,000 copies in its first week. It achieved respectable chart success elsewhere and produced three singles, including the international hit "Fuck You". The album has sold 337,700 copies in the United States, and it has been certified
Music recording sales certification
Music recording sales certification is a system of certifying that a music recording has shipped or sold a certain number of copies, where the threshold quantity varies by type and by nation or territory .Almost all countries follow variations of the RIAA certification categories,...
2x platinum in the United Kingdom. Upon its release, The Lady Killer received generally positive reviews from music critics, who commended its production, classicist soul music
Soul music
Soul music is a music genre originating in the United States combining elements of gospel music and rhythm and blues. According to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, soul is "music that arose out of the black experience in America through the transmutation of gospel and rhythm & blues into a form of...
approach, and Green's singing.
Release and promotion
The album was released on November 9, 2010, by Elektra RecordsElektra Records
Elektra Records is an American record label owned by Warner Music Group. In 2004, it was consolidated into WMG's Atlantic Records Group. After five years of dormancy, the label was revived by Atlantic in 2009....
and Roadrunner Records
Roadrunner Records
Roadrunner Records is an American record label that concentrates primarily on heavy metal bands. It is currently a subsidiary of Warner Music Group.-History:...
. It was made available for streaming
Streaming media
Streaming media is multimedia that is constantly received by and presented to an end-user while being delivered by a streaming provider.The term "presented" is used in this article in a general sense that includes audio or video playback. The name refers to the delivery method of the medium rather...
at NPR
NPR
NPR, formerly National Public Radio, is a privately and publicly funded non-profit membership media organization that serves as a national syndicator to a network of 900 public radio stations in the United States. NPR was created in 1970, following congressional passage of the Public Broadcasting...
through to November 9, 2010.
Singles
The lead single "Fuck You" was released on August 19, 2010, and charted at number two on the BillboardBillboard charts
The Billboard charts tabulate the relative weekly popularity of songs or albums in the United States. The results are published in Billboard magazine...
Hot 100. It also became an international hit and peaked within the top-ten of charts in several countries, including number one in the Netherlands and the United Kingdom. The radio edit
Radio edit
In music, a radio edit is a modification to make a song more suitable for airplay, whether it be adjusted for length, profanity, subject matter, instrumentation, or form...
of the song was entitled "Forget You", while another edit is simply entitled "FU". A music video
Music video
A music video or song video is a short film integrating a song and imagery, produced for promotional or artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a marketing device intended to promote the sale of music recordings...
for the song was released on YouTube
YouTube
YouTube is a video-sharing website, created by three former PayPal employees in February 2005, on which users can upload, view and share videos....
on August 19, 2010, featuring the lyrics of the song appearing on different colored backgrounds with film grain
Film grain
Film grain or granularity is the random optical texture of processed photographic film due to the presence of small particles of a metallic silver, or dye clouds, developed from silver halide that have received enough photons. While film grain is a function of such particles it is not the same...
overlayed on the video. The video went viral
Viral video
A viral video is one that becomes popular through the process of Internet sharing, typically through video sharing websites, social media and email...
, receiving over two million views within a week of its release. The official music video was released on September 1, 2010.
The album's second single, "It's OK", was released on December 13, 2010. It charted on the UK Singles Chart
UK Singles Chart
The UK Singles Chart is compiled by The Official Charts Company on behalf of the British record-industry. The full chart contains the top selling 200 singles in the United Kingdom based upon combined record sales and download numbers, though some media outlets only list the Top 40 or the Top 75 ...
, so far peaking at 20. The album's third single, "Bright Lights Bigger City" was released on March 27, 2011. The album's fourth single, "I Want You" was released on June 5, 2011. "Cry Baby
Cry Baby (Cee Lo Green song)
"Cry Baby" is the fifth official single from American soul singer Cee Lo Green's third studio album, The Lady Killer. The single was released via digital download and promotional CD single on October 10, 2011. The single version of the track is a slightly different remix of the track, featuring a...
" was released as the album's fifth single on September 12. The sixth single and the the first from The Platinum Edition of the album, "Anyway" is due for release on December 11.
Live performances
Green is touring with an all-female backing band named Scarlet FeverScarlet Fever (band)
Scarlet Fever is an all-female backing band touring with Cee Lo Green. Originally formed for promotional tour events, popularity of the "Fuck You" single and The Lady Killer album led to multiple television appearances reaching an audience of millions in Europe and North America...
, performing for
Taratata
Taratata
Taratata is a French TV show showcasing live and pre-recorded footage of current rock acts. Presented by Nagui since its début in 1993, the show was initially shown on France 2. This show often involves surprise and unlikely duets, as well as brief interviews with the artists...
,
Reeperbahn
Reeperbahn
The Reeperbahn is a street in Hamburg's St. Pauli district, one of the two centres of Hamburg's nightlife and also the city's red-light district...
Festival,
the BBC
BBC
The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...
,
Late Show with David Letterman
Late Show with David Letterman
Late Show with David Letterman is a U.S. late-night talk show hosted by David Letterman on CBS. The show debuted on August 30, 1993, and is produced by Letterman's production company, Worldwide Pants Incorporated. The show's music director and band-leader of the house band, the CBS Orchestra, is...
,
W's Symmetry Live Concert Series,
Saturday Night Live
Saturday Night Live
Saturday Night Live is a live American late-night television sketch comedy and variety show developed by Lorne Michaels and Dick Ebersol. The show premiered on NBC on October 11, 1975, under the original title of NBC's Saturday Night.The show's sketches often parody contemporary American culture...
,
the Jimmy Kimmel Live! special show following the Academy Awards
Academy Awards
An Academy Award, also known as an Oscar, is an accolade bestowed by the American Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to recognize excellence of professionals in the film industry, including directors, actors, and writers...
,
and many other venues.
Core band members include Sharon Aguilar
Sharon Aguilar
Sharon Aguilar is an American instrumentalist, singer, and songwriter. She plays lead guitar and violin with Scarlet Fever, the all-female backing band touring with Cee Lo Green.- Biography :Sharon Aguilar was born in Panama,...
(lead guitar, violin), Brittany Brooks (drums), Theresa Flaminio
Theresa Flaminio
Theresa Flaminio is an American instrumentalist, singer, and songwriter. Best known for performing with Scarlet Fever, the all-female backing band for Cee Lo Green. She also tours with Imagine Dragons, and performs with her own group, Khronic....
(keyboards, background vocals), and Regina Zernay Roberts (bass guitar, Moog synthesizer
Moog synthesizer
Moog synthesizer may refer to any number of analog synthesizers designed by Dr. Robert Moog or manufactured by Moog Music, and is commonly used as a generic term for older-generation analog music synthesizers. The Moog company pioneered the commercial manufacture of modular voltage-controlled...
).
Commercial performance
The album debuted at number nine on the US Billboard 200Billboard 200
The Billboard 200 is a ranking of the 200 highest-selling music albums and EPs in the United States, published weekly by Billboard magazine. It is frequently used to convey the popularity of an artist or groups of artists...
chart, with first-week sales of 41,000 copies in the United States. It also entered at number two on Billboard
Billboard charts
The Billboard charts tabulate the relative weekly popularity of songs or albums in the United States. The results are published in Billboard magazine...
s R&B/Hip-Hop Albums chart. As of May 4, 2011, the album has sold 337,700 copies in the United States.
The Lady Killer attained moderate international charting. In the United Kingdom, the album debuted at number 10 on the Top 40 Albums
UK Albums Chart
The UK Albums Chart is a list of albums ranked by physical and digital sales in the United Kingdom. It is compiled every week by The Official Charts Company and broadcast on a Sunday on BBC Radio 1 , and published in Music Week magazine and on the OCC website .To qualify for the UK albums chart...
, and it reached number one on the Top 40 RnB Albums
UK R&B Chart
The Official UK R&B Chart is a forty-position R&B/Hip-Hop chart compiled by The Official UK Charts Company. Although the chart does not receive any airplay, its compilation is viewed on BBC Radio 1's website and publications such as ChartsPlus and Music Week...
chart. In Canada, it debuted at number 29 on the Top 100 Albums
Canadian Albums Chart
The Canadian Albums Chart is the official album sales chart in Canada. It is compiled every Wednesday by U.S.-based music sales tracking company Nielsen Soundscan, and published every Thursday by Jam! Canoe and Billboard, along with its sister charts the Canadian Singles Chart and the Canadian BDS...
chart. It also entered at number 91 in Belgium, at number 18 in Ireland, at number 43 in the Netherlands, at number 24 in Australia, at number 90 in France, at number 53 in Sweden, and at number 16 in Scotland. On November 4, 2011, The Lady Killer was certified 2x platinum by the British Phonographic Industry
British Phonographic Industry
The British Phonographic Industry is the British record industry's trade association.-Structure:Its membership comprises hundreds of music companies including all four "major" record companies , associate members such as manufacturers and distributors, and hundreds of independent music companies...
, for shipments of 600,000 copies in the United Kingdom.
Critical reception
The Lady Killer received generally positive reviews from music criticMusic criticism
See also Music journalism for reporting on classical and popular music in the media.The Oxford Companion to Music defines music criticism as 'the intellectual activity of formulating judgments on the value and degree of excellence of individual works of music, or whole groups or genres'. In this...
s. At Metacritic
Metacritic
Metacritic.com is a website that collates reviews of music albums, games, movies, TV shows and DVDs. For each product, a numerical score from each review is obtained and the total is averaged. An excerpt of each review is provided along with a hyperlink to the source. Three colour codes of Green,...
, which assigns a normalized
Standard score
In statistics, a standard score indicates how many standard deviations an observation or datum is above or below the mean. It is a dimensionless quantity derived by subtracting the population mean from an individual raw score and then dividing the difference by the population standard deviation...
rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, the album received an average
Weighted mean
The weighted mean is similar to an arithmetic mean , where instead of each of the data points contributing equally to the final average, some data points contribute more than others...
score of 80, based on 33 reviews, which indicates "generally favorable reviews". Allmusic writer Andy Kellman gave it four out of five stars and called it "a thoroughly engrossing album". Entertainment Weekly
Entertainment Weekly
Entertainment Weekly is an American magazine, published by the Time division of Time Warner, that covers film, television, music, broadway theatre, books and popular culture...
s Leah Greenblatt commented that the album "both honors and tweaks the tropes of vintage songcraft with hefty doses of sweet Motown/Stax
Stax Records
Stax Records is an American record label, originally based in Memphis, Tennessee.Founded in 1957 as Satellite Records, the name Stax Records was adopted in 1961. The label was a major factor in the creation of the Southern soul and Memphis soul music styles, also releasing gospel, funk, jazz, and...
boogie, a smattering of Curtis Mayfield
Curtis Mayfield
Curtis Lee Mayfield was an American soul, R&B, and funk singer, songwriter, and record producer.He is best known for his anthemic music with The Impressions during the Civil Rights Movement of the 1960's and for composing the soundtrack to the blaxploitation film Super Fly, Mayfield is highly...
superfly, and imaginary theme songs for James Bond
James Bond (film series)
The James Bond film series is a British series of motion pictures based on the fictional character of MI6 agent James Bond , who originally appeared in a series of books by Ian Fleming. Earlier films were based on Fleming's novels and short stories, followed later by films with original storylines...
". Bill Friskics-Warren of The Washington Post
The Washington Post
The Washington Post is Washington, D.C.'s largest newspaper and its oldest still-existing paper, founded in 1877. Located in the capital of the United States, The Post has a particular emphasis on national politics. D.C., Maryland, and Virginia editions are printed for daily circulation...
wrote that it "offers some of the most ebullient pop this side of old-school hit-machines ranging from Holland-Dozier-Holland to Gamble and Huff
Gamble and Huff
Kenneth Gamble and Leon A. Huff are an American songwriting and record production team who have written and produced over 170 gold and platinum records. They were pioneers of Philadelphia soul and the in-house creative team for the Philadelphia International record label...
". BBC Online's Mike Diver stated "With material of a standard to match his fantastic pipes, here [Green] has crafted his finest Cee Lo long-player yet". Chicago Tribune
Chicago Tribune
The Chicago Tribune is a major daily newspaper based in Chicago, Illinois, and the flagship publication of the Tribune Company. Formerly self-styled as the "World's Greatest Newspaper" , it remains the most read daily newspaper of the Chicago metropolitan area and the Great Lakes region and is...
writer Greg Kot
Greg Kot
Greg Kot is an American writer and journalist. Since 1990, Kot has been the music critic at the Chicago Tribune, where he has covered popular music and reported on music-related social, political and business issues...
gave the album three-and-a-half out of four stars and lauded Green's "retro-soul classicism and dark-tinged eccentricity". Slant Magazine
Slant Magazine
Slant Magazine is an online publication that features reviews of movies, music, TV, DVDs, theater, and video games, as well as interviews with actors, directors, and musicians. The site covers various film festivals like the New York Film Festival.- History :...
's Huw Jones praised the album's accessibility and "buoyant nü-Motown and progressive soul", while noting Green's singing as "absolutely flawless. Pitch-perfect from tip to toe". Rolling Stone
Rolling Stone
Rolling Stone is a US-based magazine devoted to music, liberal politics, and popular culture that is published every two weeks. Rolling Stone was founded in San Francisco in 1967 by Jann Wenner and music critic Ralph J...
writer Jody Rosen
Jody Rosen
Jody Rosen is an American journalist and author. He is the music critic for the online magazine Slate, and the author of White Christmas: The Story of an American Song....
dubbed The Lady Killer "one of the most engrossing records of 2010".
However, Jon Caramanica of The New York Times
The New York Times
The New York Times is an American daily newspaper founded and continuously published in New York City since 1851. The New York Times has won 106 Pulitzer Prizes, the most of any news organization...
perceived Green as "reduced to an accent piece [...] purposefully restrained", stating "Green’s vocals are buried low in the mix, mere decoration for the arrangements and textures [...] crisp, lovely and certainly well rehearsed". Will Salmon of Clash
Clash (magazine)
Clash is a popular music and fashion magazine based in the United Kingdom. Its magazine title is published 12 times a year. It has a circulation of around 40,000....
expressed a mixed response towards its high-spirited style and stated "musically it feels like a lesser take on Outkast
OutKast
Outkast is an American hip hop duo based in East Point, Georgia, consisting of Atlanta native André "André 3000" Benjamin and Savannah, Georgia-born Antwan "Big Boi" Patton. They were originally known as Two Shades Deep but later changed the group's name to OutKast...
’s The Love Below". Jer Fairall of PopMatters
PopMatters
PopMatters is an international webzine of cultural criticism that covers many aspects of popular culture. PopMatters publishes reviews, interviews, and detailed essays on most cultural products and expressions in areas such as music, television, films, books, video games, comics, sports, theater,...
found the album's premise inconsistent, writing that it "feels relatively safe [...] a thoroughly likeable little trifle of a record", but added that "As a throwback, it is indeed impeccable". Despite viewing it as less "gleefully unhinged" than his previous work, NME
NME
The New Musical Express is a popular music publication in the United Kingdom, published weekly since March 1952. It started as a music newspaper, and gradually moved toward a magazine format during the 1980s, changing from newsprint in 1998. It was the first British paper to include a singles...
s Jason Draper cited it as Green's "most focused solo album". The Observer
The Observer
The Observer is a British newspaper, published on Sundays. In the same place on the political spectrum as its daily sister paper The Guardian, which acquired it in 1993, it takes a liberal or social democratic line on most issues. It is the world's oldest Sunday newspaper.-Origins:The first issue,...
s Killian Fox wrote that "his idiosyncrasies have proven too potent to repress". Nitsuh Abebe of New York
New York (magazine)
New York is a weekly magazine principally concerned with the life, culture, politics, and style of New York City. Founded by Milton Glaser and Clay Felker in 1968 as a competitor to The New Yorker, it was brasher and less polite than that magazine, and established itself as a cradle of New...
called it "suitably theatrical—a lavishly orchestrated thing", and lauded Green's dramatist "lady-killer persona" and "artifice". Ken Capobianco of The Boston Globe
The Boston Globe
The Boston Globe is an American daily newspaper based in Boston, Massachusetts. The Boston Globe has been owned by The New York Times Company since 1993...
commended "how he negotiates moods here and turns phrases with subtlety, wit, and style". Los Angeles Times
Los Angeles Times
The Los Angeles Times is a daily newspaper published in Los Angeles, California, since 1881. It was the second-largest metropolitan newspaper in circulation in the United States in 2008 and the fourth most widely distributed newspaper in the country....
writer Margaret Wappler noted "a glassy modernity that makes the album a sexy sonic adventure of loving and leaving" and commented that "it’s not Green’s caddish ways that charm. Rather [...] it’s his big heart underneath".
Despite writing that "he's not always lethal", Pitchfork Media
Pitchfork Media
Pitchfork Media, usually known simply as Pitchfork or P4k, is a Chicago-based daily Internet publication established in 1995 that is devoted to music criticism and commentary, music news, and artist interviews. Its focus is on underground and independent music, especially indie rock...
's Joshua Klein commented that Green "manages to avoid being both too rough or too smooth", complimenting his "contemporary, confident conception of soul music" and the album's "de rigueur synthetic frills". Barry Walters of Spin
Spin (magazine)
Spin is a music magazine founded in 1985 by publisher Bob Guccione Jr.-History:In its early years, the magazine was noted for its broad music coverage with an emphasis on college-oriented rock music and on the ongoing emergence of hip-hop. The magazine was eclectic and bold, if sometimes haphazard...
noted its "detailed encapsulations of Saturday-night transcendence and Sunday-morning love pains" and its music "beautifully busy 21st-century Motown as greasy as it is vibrant". Amy Linden of The Village Voice
The Village Voice
The Village Voice is a free weekly newspaper and news and features website in New York City that features investigative articles, analysis of current affairs and culture, arts and music coverage, and events listings for New York City...
called the album "romantic—chaste, even", writing that "[Green]'s written a manual on how to both break and mend someone's heart". The Independent
The Independent
The Independent is a British national morning newspaper published in London by Independent Print Limited, owned by Alexander Lebedev since 2010. It is nicknamed the Indy, while the Sunday edition, The Independent on Sunday, is the Sindy. Launched in 1986, it is one of the youngest UK national daily...
s Andy Gill commented that "he manages to avoid all the bubblebath boudoir-soul cliches that litter most R&B albums". Glenn Gamboa of Newday
Newday
Newday, established since August 2004, is an annual Christian youth festival organized by the Newfrontiers family of churches. The event is aimed at young people between the ages of 12 to 19, either Christian or non-Christian....
gave it an A rating and stated "Green has secured his place among R&B's greatest singers - in part by taking their strengths and twisting them into his broader plan". Robert Everett-Green of The Globe and Mail
The Globe and Mail
The Globe and Mail is a nationally distributed Canadian newspaper, based in Toronto and printed in six cities across the country. With a weekly readership of approximately 1 million, it is Canada's largest-circulation national newspaper and second-largest daily newspaper after the Toronto Star...
gave the album three-and-a-half out of four stars and commended Green for his "allegiance to classic R&B song forms and arrangements", while noting its "compulsive grooves and dance-ready choruses". Chicago Sun-Times
Chicago Sun-Times
The Chicago Sun-Times is an American daily newspaper published in Chicago, Illinois. It is the flagship paper of the Sun-Times Media Group.-History:The Chicago Sun-Times is the oldest continuously published daily newspaper in the city...
writer Thomas Conner gave the album four out of four stars and called it "an utter delight" and stated "every song rings fresh, modern, anthemic, packed with earth, wind and fire".
Accolades
The Lady Killer was nominated for a Grammy AwardGrammy Award
A Grammy Award — or Grammy — is an accolade by the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences of the United States to recognize outstanding achievement in the music industry...
for Best Pop Vocal Album
Grammy Award for Best Pop Vocal Album
The Grammy Award for Best Pop Vocal Album is an honor presented at the Grammy Awards, a ceremony that was established in 1958 and originally called the Gramophone Awards, to recording artists for quality pop music albums...
, set to be presented at the 54th Grammy Awards
54th Grammy Awards
The 54th Annual Grammy Awards will be held on February 12, 2012, at the Staples Center in Los Angeles. It will be broadcasted on CBS. Nominations were announced on November 30, 2011 on prime-time television as part of "The GRAMMY Nominations Concert Live! – Countdown to Music's Biggest Night", a...
in 2012. The song "Fool for You" was nominated for Grammy Awards for Best Traditional R&B Performance and Best R&B Song
Grammy Award for Best R&B Song
The Grammy Award for Best R&B Song has been awarded since 1959. From 1969 to 2000 it was known as the Grammy Award for Best Rhythm & Blues Song, from 1962 to 1968 it was known as Best Rhythm & Blues Recording, and from 1959-1961 as Best Rhythm & Blues Performance...
.
Track listing
The Platinum Edition
Green released The Platinum Edition of The Lady Killer on November 28, 2011. The repackaged album contains the single "Anyway", released on December 11, 2011, which will serve as the album's sixth overall single and first platinum edition single. Other new tracks include "Scarlet Fever" and the single version of "I Want You (Hold on to Love)". "Love Gun" and "No One's Gonna Love You" are also new for international markets. "Please" (featuring Selah Sue) was removed.(co) Co-producer
Musicians
- Jo Allen – violin
- Max Baillie – viola
- Brody Brown – composer, musician
- Thomas Callaway – composer, executive producer, producer, vocals
- Mike Caren – A&R, musician
- Natalie Cavey – viola
- Stephanie Cavey – violin
- Dena Chutuk – background vocals
- Cathy Collwell – double bass
- Rosie Danvers – brass arrangement, cello, leader, string arrangements, string engineer
- Robin FinckRobin FinckRobin Finck is an American guitarist of Nine Inch Nails and former lead guitarist of Guns N' Roses. He is one of only a few artists who has played in two different bands listed on VH1's "100 Greatest Artists of Hard Rock"; Nine Inch Nails and Guns N' Roses .-Career:Finck grew up in Marietta,...
– guitar - Fraser T. Smith – bass, composer, guitar, keyboards, producer
- Bradley Hagen – drums
- Vincent Henry – horn
- Sally Herbert – string arrangements
- Sally Jackson – violin
- Bryony James – cello
- Sato Kotono – violin
- Philip Lawrence – composer, background vocals
- Tommy LeeTommy LeeThomas Lee Bass , best known as Tommy Lee, is an American musician and founding member of glam metal band Mötley Crüe. As well as being the band's long-term drummer, Lee founded rap-metal band Methods of Mayhem, and has pursued solo musical projects...
– drums - Ari Levine – composer, musician
- Mason Levy – musician
- Mike Lovatt – trumpet
- Jacob Lutrell – musician
- Bruno Mars – composer, musician
- Danny Marsden – trumpet
- Eleanor Mathieson – violin
- Howard McGill – baritone saxophone
- Jeremy Morris – violin
- Emma Owens – viola
- Pino PalladinoPino PalladinoPino Palladino is a Welsh bass guitarist who gained fame playing primarily rock and roll, blues rock, and rhythm and blues music, although he has been lauded for his ability to play most genres of popular music, including jazz, neo soul, and funk...
– bass - Kerenza Peacock – violin
- Ruston Pomeroy – violin
- Hayley Pomfrett – violin
- Tony Reyes – composer, bass
- Jenny Sacha – violin
- Kotono Smith – violin
- Ash Soan – drums
- Ayak ThiikTakeover EntertainmentTakeover Entertainment is an independent record label, talent agency, musician management company, producer, and publisher of music, currently based in the United Kingdom. The company was founded in 2006 and is run by Kwasi Danquah III , Archie Lamb IV and Jack Foster...
– background vocals - Peter Tomasso – brass arrangement
- Nikolaj Torplarsen – musician
- Bruce White – viola
- Martin Williams – tenor saxophone
- Jerry Wonder – musician
Production
- Niall Acott – engineer
- Ben H. Allen – composer, engineer, mixing, producer
- Beatriz Artola – engineer
- Steven Barlow – engineer
- Creighton Barrett – composer
- Chris Baseford – engineer
- Benjamin Birdwell – composer
- Julian Broad – photography
- Paul Brown – A&R
- Hitesh Ceon – producer, composer, engineer, musician
- Mack David – composer
- Tom Elmhirst – mixing
- Paul Epworth – musician, producer
- noel fisher – composer
- Robert Gardner – assistant
- Chris Gehringer – mastering
- The Grey Area – producer
- James Hampton – composer
- Mike Jackson – A&R
- Craig Kallman – executive producer
- Alan Kasirye – composer
- Jerry Livingston – composer
- Erik Madrid – assistant
- Manny Marroquin – mixing
- Graham Marsh – engineer, mixing, percussion, producer, programming, vocal producer
- K.C. "Cognac" Morton – executive producer
- Alan Nglish – producer
- Rick Nowels – composer, vocal producer
- Kim Ofstad – producer, composer, engineer, musician
- Dan Parry – engineer
- Christian Plata – assistant
- Steve Price – engineer
- Mark Rankin – engineer
- Salaam Remi – bass, composer, guitar, horn arrangements, producer, string arrangements
- Anthony Ronfle – assistant engineer
- Isabel Seeliger-Morley – assistant, engineer
- Terrence Simpkins – additional production, composer
- The Smeezingtons – producer
- Fraser T. Smith – composer, producer, musician
- Jack Splash – composer, producer
Chart positions
| Chart (2010) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| Australian Albums Chart ARIA Charts The ARIA charts are the main Australian music sales charts, issued weekly by the Australian Recording Industry Association. The charts are a record of the highest selling singles and albums in various genres in Australia. ARIA commenced compiling its own charts in-house from the week ending 26 June... |
24 |
| Belgian Albums Chart | 91 |
| Canadian Albums Chart Canadian Albums Chart The Canadian Albums Chart is the official album sales chart in Canada. It is compiled every Wednesday by U.S.-based music sales tracking company Nielsen Soundscan, and published every Thursday by Jam! Canoe and Billboard, along with its sister charts the Canadian Singles Chart and the Canadian BDS... |
29 |
| Dutch Albums Chart | 43 |
| European Top 100 Albums European Top 100 Albums The European Top 100 Albums chart is the European adaptation of the Billboard 200 albums chart. It was created in March 1984.The European Top 100 Albums, commonly referred to as Eurochart Top 100 Albums shows the sales of an act in 19 European countries based on IFPI data.The European Top 100... |
27 |
| French Albums Chart Syndicat National de l'Edition Phonographique The Syndicat national de l'édition phonographique is the inter-professional organization which protects the interests of the French record industry... |
90 |
| German Albums Chart | 77 |
| Irish Albums Chart Irish Albums Chart The Irish Albums Chart is the Irish music industry standard albums popularity chart issued weekly by the Irish Recorded Music Association and compiled on its behalf by Chart-Track. Chart rankings are based on sales, which are compiled through over-the-counter retail data captured electronically... |
18 |
| Scottish Albums Chart Scottish Singles and Albums Chart The Scottish Singles Chart and Scottish Albums Chart are charts compiled by The Official Charts Company, based on physical and digital sales in the STV North, STV Central and ITV Border regions.... |
16 |
| Swedish Albums Chart Sverigetopplistan Sverigetopplistan, earlier known as Topplistan and Hitlistan and other names, is since October 2007 the Swedish national record chart, based on sales data from Swedish Recording Industry Association .... |
53 |
| UK Albums Chart UK Albums Chart The UK Albums Chart is a list of albums ranked by physical and digital sales in the United Kingdom. It is compiled every week by The Official Charts Company and broadcast on a Sunday on BBC Radio 1 , and published in Music Week magazine and on the OCC website .To qualify for the UK albums chart... |
3 |
| UK R&B Chart UK R&B Chart The Official UK R&B Chart is a forty-position R&B/Hip-Hop chart compiled by The Official UK Charts Company. Although the chart does not receive any airplay, its compilation is viewed on BBC Radio 1's website and publications such as ChartsPlus and Music Week... |
1 |
| US Billboard 200 Billboard 200 The Billboard 200 is a ranking of the 200 highest-selling music albums and EPs in the United States, published weekly by Billboard magazine. It is frequently used to convey the popularity of an artist or groups of artists... |
9 |
| US Billboard R&B/Hip-Hop Albums | 2 |
Year-end charts
| Chart (2010) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| UK Albums Chart | 102 |
Certifications
}}Release history
| Region | Date | Label |
|---|---|---|
| Netherlands | November 5, 2010 | Elektra Elektra Records Elektra Records is an American record label owned by Warner Music Group. In 2004, it was consolidated into WMG's Atlantic Records Group. After five years of dormancy, the label was revived by Atlantic in 2009.... |
| France | ||
| Ireland | ||
| Australia | ||
| Belgium | ||
| United Kingdom | November 8, 2010 | |
| Denmark | ||
| Greece | ||
| Finland | ||
| New Zealand | ||
| Sweden | ||
| Spain | ||
| Norway | November 9, 2010 | |
| Italy | ||
| United States | ||
| Israel | November 18, 2010 | |
| Germany | November 19, 2010 | |
| Brazil | November 30, 2010 | |
| Japan | December 1, 2010 |
External links
- The Lady Killer at DiscogsDiscogsDiscogs, short for discographies, is a website and database of information about audio recordings, including commercial releases, promotional releases, and bootleg or off-label releases. The Discogs servers, currently hosted under the domain name discogs.com, are owned by Zink Media, Inc., and are...