Album Review: Ne-Yo, Libra Scale

Libra Scale (released Nov. 22, 2010)

Who was the marketing genius that decided to release Ne-Yo’s new album the same day as Kanye West and Nicki Minaj? No wonder Libra Scale flew under the radar.

Since then, I’ve had a love-hate relationship with the guy – I love his creativity and solid songwriting but I hate his constant pining after Michael Jackson. It’s one thing to be influenced by the guy, it’s another to totally rip off his style.

Libra Scale is yet another MJ-influenced project. Sort of like Moonwalker, Michael’s sci-fi video collection from the late 80s, Ne-Yo’s new album is the story of a superhero battling for love. Most listeners will only pick up that concept via the album’s linear notes and Ne-Yo’s latest music videos – the five of you who still watch videos, that is. The actual songs mostly sound like typical smoothed-out Ne-Yo fare, for better or for worse.

The album starts really strong with the upbeat “Champagne Life,” which manages to get the party started without the usual radio-friendly cliches (like substituting actual singing for psuedo-rapping – see Songz, Trey). The remainder of the album is pretty low-key. “Know Your Name” breezes by gently while “Telekinesis” creatively uses the superhero theme to set the mood. Things pick up a bit with the feel-good “One In A Million” (no, not THAT one…) but Ne-Yo again stays in his comfort zone.


And that’s the problem. The album is a bit too safe. With just 10 songs in the set, the album’s brisk running time doesn’t allow much room for mistakes. Inoffensive but ho-hum, generic tracks like “Genuine Only” and “Crazy Love” really hurt the album in the long run. “Beautiful Monster” employs those annoying Euro-techo synths that have corrupted most of today’s R&B songs. It’s like the new auto-tune – everyone uses it and it still sucks. And “Cause I Said So” is the requisite MJ copycat track – Ne-Yo imitates Michael so much that you wind up thinking to yourself “man, I wish this was a real MJ song.” I’m pretty sure that’s not what Ne-Yo was going for.

Libra Scale winds up being a solid release, but it’ll definitely get lost in the shuffle of high-profile releases this quarter. It’s not quite the big-budget film it aims to be. If Kanye West’s album is Batman Begins, Libra Scale is Batman Forever – good, but it could have been much more.


At least it’s not Batman and Robin – that honor goes to Nicki.

3.5 stars out of 5