Wake Up! (John Legend and The Roots album)
Encyclopedia
Wake Up! is a collaborative studio album
by American R&B
recording artist John Legend
and hip hop
band The Roots
, released September 21, 2010, on GOOD Music
via Columbia Records
. It was produced by Legend with band members Ahmir "Questlove" Thompson and James Poyser
, and features guest appearances by CL Smooth
, Malik Yusef, Common, and Melanie Fiona
, among others. Inspired by the 2008 United States presidential election
, Legend and The Roots primarily cover
ed 1960s and 1970s soul music
songs for the album with social themes of awareness, engagement, and consciousness.
The album debuted at number eight on the US Billboard 200
chart, selling 63,000 copies in its first week. Upon its release, Wake Up! received positive reviews from most music critics, who complimented its production and the artists' treatment and performance of the material.
(2008) and The Roots's How I Got Over
(2010). Legend and The Roots were inspired to record a collaborative album by the 2008 United States presidential election
. In an interview for Billboard
, Legend explained the album's conception at the time, stating "I was in the middle of campaigning for Barack Obama
and feeling inspired by the atmosphere in the country at the time, so I wanted to do something musically that reflected that moment. The original idea was to do some sort of covers EP, but the more I got into it with the Roots, it felt like something that should be heard and marketed on its own". The album's title was inspired by Canadian rock band Arcade Fire's song of the same name
.
of the 1960s and 1970s, and incorporates musical elements from gospel
, rock
, reggae
, and hip hop
. Songs covered for the album include "Wholy Holy
" by Marvin Gaye
, "Little Ghetto Boy" by Donny Hathaway
, "Hard Times" by Baby Huey & the Babysitters
and "Hang on in There" by Mike James Kirkland. The lone original song for Wake Up! is the Legend-penned album closer "Shine". A different version of "Shine" was included in the album's deluxe edition and is used during the closing credits of the 2010 film Waiting for "Superman". In an interview for The Guardian
, Ahmir "Questlove" Thompson of The Roots said that they intended to cover lesser-known soul songs, stating "I wanted to choose cover songs that were so under the radar, so uniquely interpreted, that it would take you a second to realise that these are cover songs [at all]". Questlove has said that the band's instrumentation for the album is looser than on previous albums, with a jamming
and "grass-roots feel". Wake Up! contains lyrical themes concerning social awareness, engagement, and consciousness. The Roots's lead MC Black Thought
is featured on few tracks, as the band mostly accompanies Legend's singing with live instrumentation. Other rappers featured on the album include Common, CL Smooth
, and Malik Yusef.
", a cover of Harold Melvin & the Blue Notes
song of the same name, was released on April 29, 2010, and features rapper Common and singer Melanie Fiona
. It reached number 53 and spent 14 weeks on the US Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs
chart. The second single, "Hard Times", was released on September 7, 2010, and has The Roots's lead MC Black Thought as a featured artist.
chart, with first-week sales of 63,000 copies in the United States. It also entered at number three on Billboard
s R&B/Hip-Hop Albums and Digital Albums charts. In its second week, the album dropped to number 12 on the Billboard 200 and sold 31,000 copies. Wake Up! achieved some international charting. In the Netherlands, it entered at number six on the Dutch Album Top 100
, and in Switzerland, the album debuted at number 15 on the Swiss Album Top 100.
, which assigns a normalized
rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, the album received an average
score of 76, based on 21 reviews, which indicates "generally favorable reviews". Sean Fennessey of The Washington Post
called it "a surprisingly rugged enterprise" and complimented The Roots' "brawny arrangements of a cleverly curated batch of songs". About.com
's Mark Edward Nero commended their "outstanding job" as a backing band and called Wake Up! "a very moving, extremely well-performed and well-produced album". Rolling Stone
writer Jody Rosen
called it "a brilliantly conceived and executed album" and stated "Legend and the Roots capture the old feeling of protest and uplift while updating the sound". Jeff Vrabel of Paste
called it "organic and opulent, with a heart of diamonds and a lush sound to match". The Boston Globe
s Julian Benbow noted Legend's range and stated, "The Roots band practically makes sonic photocopies of the originals". Newsday
s Glenn Gamboa stated, "Legend's rich soul vocals and The Roots' equally lush soul arrangements succeed in updating these classics subtly, making them fit admirably both in the past and the present". Steve Jones of USA Today
stated, "The Roots contemporize them with just enough hip-hop flavor, while the soulful Legend injects them with renewed passion".
Chicago Tribune
writer Greg Kot
noted that "Legend sings with more grit than usual, and the Roots crackle with energy", but stated "This well-intentioned collection never surpasses the strong originals from which it draws". Mikael Wood of Spin
viewed that "The results don't always play to [Legend]'s melodic strengths; ?uestlove sounds a bit reined-in, too". Allmusic writer Andy Kellman shared a similar sentiment and commented that "There are several instances when the Roots, who are deeply intimate with grit, outshine Legend, whose polished and pride-rich voice occasionally clashes with the material". Chicago Sun-Times
writer Thomas Conner gave it two out of four stars and stated "Legend might be the weak link; he's not the grittiest singer to be tackling this particular set list – he's often a boy in a man's studio here, especially when he gamely but lamely yeah's through the 12-minute arc of Bill Withers' wartime lament 'I Can't Write Left-Handed' – but his ease mostly makes a dynamic foil for the Roots' muscle and the frequent guest vocals". Zach Cole of URBs criticized Legend's singing as overdone and wrote that the album "run[s] the risk of coming across as entirely cheesy and contrived". Slant Magazine
's Jesse Cataldo found it musically "hollow and brittle" and commented that "many of these treatments are good, but barely justify what amounts to a good-time vanity project for both acts".
Richard Trapunski of NOW
viewed that Legend's "straightforward neo-soul delivery often plays it safe", but concluded "the expertly curated track list and funky arrangements make it more than a tossed-off vanity project". Despite finding its arrangements unadventerous, Los Angeles Times
writer Todd Martens called Wake Up! "a respectable love letter, if not quite an urgent one, to artists who shouldn’t be overlooked" and commended Legend for "stretching out of his [comfort zone]... he packs far more spark here than he did on 2008’s Evolver". David Amidon of PopMatters
viewed that Legend "not only delivers his most focused effort yet, but his most diverse". Rupert Howe of Q
cited Wake Up! as "one of the finest soul albums of recent times" and complimented Legend's vocal "versatility". Dave Simpson of The Guardian
noted Legend's "emotional rawness" and wrote that "many of the tracks have a raw, driving feel along the lines of [Marvin] Gaye's Inner City Blues
". The A.V. Club
s Nathan Rabin
commented that "The Roots’ tight playing serves the songs and their messages rather than the other way around, while Legend has mastered the art of singing expressively without over-emoting". Brad Wheeler of The Globe and Mail
gave the album three out of four stars and commented that they "succeed" in their "attempt to keep these songs 'real' compared to the original versions".
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 R&B
Contemporary R&B
Contemporary R&B is a music genre that combines elements of hip hop, soul, R&B and funk.Although the abbreviation “R&B” originates from traditional rhythm and blues music, today the term R&B is most often used to describe a style of African American music originating after the demise of disco in...
recording artist John Legend
John Legend
John Roger Stephens , better known by his stage name John Legend, is an American singer, musician, and actor. He is the recipient of nine Grammy Awards, and in 2007, he received the special Starlight award from the Songwriters Hall of Fame.Prior to the release of his debut album, Stephens' career...
and hip hop
Hip hop music
Hip hop music, also called hip-hop, rap music or hip-hop music, is a musical genre consisting of a stylized rhythmic music that commonly accompanies rapping, a rhythmic and rhyming speech that is chanted...
band The Roots
The Roots
The Roots is an American hip hop/neo soul band formed in 1987 by Tariq "Black Thought" Trotter and Ahmir "Questlove" Thompson in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. They are famed for beginning with a jazzy, eclectic approach to hip hop which still includes live instrumentals...
, released September 21, 2010, on GOOD Music
GOOD Music
GOOD Music is a record label and management firm founded by music producer and artist Kanye West. "GOOD" is an acronym for "Getting Out Our Dreams".-History:...
via Columbia Records
Columbia Records
Columbia Records is an American record label, owned by Japan's Sony Music Entertainment, operating under the Columbia Music Group with Aware Records. It was founded in 1888, evolving from an earlier enterprise, the American Graphophone Company — successor to the Volta Graphophone Company...
. It was produced by Legend with band members Ahmir "Questlove" Thompson and James Poyser
James Poyser
James Poyser in Sheffield, England is a multi-Grammy winning songwriter, musician and multi-platinum producer.Poyser has written and produced songs for various legendary and award-winning artists including Erykah Badu, Mariah Carey, John Legend, Lauryn Hill, Common, Anthony Hamilton, D'Angelo,...
, and features guest appearances by CL Smooth
CL Smooth
CL Smooth is an American rapper, poet, and is best known as the vocal half of the hip-hop duo Pete Rock & CL Smooth....
, Malik Yusef, Common, and Melanie Fiona
Melanie Fiona
Melanie Fiona Hallim is a Canadian R&B and Grammy-nominated recording artist from Toronto, Ontario. She was born to Guyanese immigrant parents of African, Indian, and Portuguese descent and grew up in the inner city of Toronto. Living in a music filled household, Fiona says she always knew music...
, among others. Inspired by the 2008 United States presidential election
United States presidential election, 2008
The United States presidential election of 2008 was the 56th quadrennial presidential election. It was held on November 4, 2008. Democrat Barack Obama, then the junior United States Senator from Illinois, defeated Republican John McCain, the senior U.S. Senator from Arizona. Obama received 365...
, Legend and The Roots primarily cover
Cover version
In popular music, a cover version or cover song, or simply cover, is a new performance or recording of a contemporary or previously recorded, commercially released song or popular song...
ed 1960s and 1970s 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...
songs for the album with social themes of awareness, engagement, and consciousness.
The album debuted at number eight 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 63,000 copies in its first week. Upon its release, Wake Up! received positive reviews from most music critics, who complimented its production and the artists' treatment and performance of the material.
Background
Wake Up! follows the releases of John Legend's EvolverEvolver (John Legend album)
Evolver is the third studio album by R&B/soul singer John Legend, released by GOOD Music and Columbia Records on October 28, 2008 in the United States and on October 20 in the United Kingdom. It features guest appearances by Kanye West, Brandy, Estelle and Andre 3000, among others.The album debuted...
(2008) and The Roots's How I Got Over
How I Got Over (album)
How I Got Over is the ninth studio album by American hip hop band The Roots, released June 22, 2010 on Def Jam Recordings. Production for the album was primarily handled by band members Black Thought, Questlove, Dice Raw, and Rick Friedrich during 2008 to 2009...
(2010). Legend and The Roots were inspired to record a collaborative album by the 2008 United States presidential election
United States presidential election, 2008
The United States presidential election of 2008 was the 56th quadrennial presidential election. It was held on November 4, 2008. Democrat Barack Obama, then the junior United States Senator from Illinois, defeated Republican John McCain, the senior U.S. Senator from Arizona. Obama received 365...
. In an interview for Billboard
Billboard (magazine)
Billboard is a weekly American magazine devoted to the music industry, and is one of the oldest trade magazines in the world. It maintains several internationally recognized music charts that track the most popular songs and albums in various categories on a weekly basis...
, Legend explained the album's conception at the time, stating "I was in the middle of campaigning for Barack Obama
Barack Obama
Barack Hussein Obama II is the 44th and current President of the United States. He is the first African American to hold the office. Obama previously served as a United States Senator from Illinois, from January 2005 until he resigned following his victory in the 2008 presidential election.Born in...
and feeling inspired by the atmosphere in the country at the time, so I wanted to do something musically that reflected that moment. The original idea was to do some sort of covers EP, but the more I got into it with the Roots, it felt like something that should be heard and marketed on its own". The album's title was inspired by Canadian rock band Arcade Fire's song of the same name
Wake Up (Arcade Fire song)
"Wake Up" is an indie rock song by Canadian rock band Arcade Fire. It was the fifth and final single released from the band's debut album, Funeral. The single was released as a one-sided 7" vinyl record on November 14, 2005.-Reception:...
.
Music
Wake Up! features mostly covers of songs from the soul musicSoul 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...
of the 1960s and 1970s, and incorporates musical elements from gospel
Gospel music
Gospel music is music that is written to express either personal, spiritual or a communal belief regarding Christian life, as well as to give a Christian alternative to mainstream secular music....
, rock
Rock music
Rock music is a genre of popular music that developed during and after the 1960s, particularly in the United Kingdom and the United States. It has its roots in 1940s and 1950s rock and roll, itself heavily influenced by rhythm and blues and country music...
, reggae
Reggae
Reggae is a music genre first developed in Jamaica in the late 1960s. While sometimes used in a broader sense to refer to most types of Jamaican music, the term reggae more properly denotes a particular music style that originated following on the development of ska and rocksteady.Reggae is based...
, and hip hop
Hip hop music
Hip hop music, also called hip-hop, rap music or hip-hop music, is a musical genre consisting of a stylized rhythmic music that commonly accompanies rapping, a rhythmic and rhyming speech that is chanted...
. Songs covered for the album include "Wholy Holy
Wholy Holy
"Wholy Holy" is a 1971 song written by Al Cleveland, Renaldo Benson and Marvin Gaye and issued by Marvin as the eighth track on his landmark album, What's Going On...
" by Marvin Gaye
Marvin Gaye
Marvin Pentz Gay, Jr. , better known by his stage name Marvin Gaye, was an American singer-songwriter and musician with a three-octave vocal range....
, "Little Ghetto Boy" by Donny Hathaway
Donny Hathaway
Donny Edward Hathaway was an American soul singer-songwriter and musician. Hathaway contracted with Atlantic Records in 1969 and with his first single for the Atco label, "The Ghetto, Part I" in early 1970, Rolling Stone magazine "marked him as a major new force in soul music."His collaborations...
, "Hard Times" by Baby Huey & the Babysitters
Baby Huey (singer)
Baby Huey was an American rock and soul singer, born in Richmond, Indiana. He was the frontman for the band Baby Huey & The Babysitters, whose single LP for Curtom Records in 1971 was influential in the development of hip hop music.-Biography:A native of Richmond, Indiana, James Ramey moved to...
and "Hang on in There" by Mike James Kirkland. The lone original song for Wake Up! is the Legend-penned album closer "Shine". A different version of "Shine" was included in the album's deluxe edition and is used during the closing credits of the 2010 film Waiting for "Superman". In an interview for The Guardian
The Guardian
The Guardian, formerly known as The Manchester Guardian , is a British national daily newspaper in the Berliner format...
, Ahmir "Questlove" Thompson of The Roots said that they intended to cover lesser-known soul songs, stating "I wanted to choose cover songs that were so under the radar, so uniquely interpreted, that it would take you a second to realise that these are cover songs [at all]". Questlove has said that the band's instrumentation for the album is looser than on previous albums, with a jamming
Jam session
Jam sessions are often used by musicians to develop new material, find suitable arrangements, or simply as a social gathering and communal practice session. Jam sessions may be based upon existing songs or forms, may be loosely based on an agreed chord progression or chart suggested by one...
and "grass-roots feel". Wake Up! contains lyrical themes concerning social awareness, engagement, and consciousness. The Roots's lead MC Black Thought
Black Thought
Tariq Trotter , better known as Black Thought, is an American hip-hop artist who is the lead MC of the Philadelphia-based hip hop group The Roots and occasional actor...
is featured on few tracks, as the band mostly accompanies Legend's singing with live instrumentation. Other rappers featured on the album include Common, CL Smooth
CL Smooth
CL Smooth is an American rapper, poet, and is best known as the vocal half of the hip-hop duo Pete Rock & CL Smooth....
, and Malik Yusef.
Singles
The album's lead single, "Wake Up EverybodyWake Up Everybody (song)
"Wake Up Everybody" was covered in 1995 by British singer Sonia. It was produced by Steve Levine for fourth studio album Love Train - The Philly Album . The song was released as the album's first and final single. This single has two B-sides - "Show You the Way to Go" and "Nowhere Left to Hide"....
", a cover of Harold Melvin & the Blue Notes
Harold Melvin & the Blue Notes
Harold Melvin & the Blue Notes were an American singing group, one of the most popular Philadelphia soul groups of the 1970s. The group's repertoire included soul, R&B, doo-wop, and disco...
song of the same name, was released on April 29, 2010, and features rapper Common and singer Melanie Fiona
Melanie Fiona
Melanie Fiona Hallim is a Canadian R&B and Grammy-nominated recording artist from Toronto, Ontario. She was born to Guyanese immigrant parents of African, Indian, and Portuguese descent and grew up in the inner city of Toronto. Living in a music filled household, Fiona says she always knew music...
. It reached number 53 and spent 14 weeks on the US Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs
Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs
Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs, is a chart released weekly by Billboard in the United States.The chart, initiated in 1942, is used to track the success of popular music songs in urban, or primarily African American, venues. Dominated over the years at various times by jazz, rhythm and blues, doo-wop, soul,...
chart. The second single, "Hard Times", was released on September 7, 2010, and has The Roots's lead MC Black Thought as a featured artist.
Commercial performance
The album debuted at number eight 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 63,000 copies in the United States. It also entered at number three 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 and Digital Albums charts. In its second week, the album dropped to number 12 on the Billboard 200 and sold 31,000 copies. Wake Up! achieved some international charting. In the Netherlands, it entered at number six on the Dutch Album Top 100
MegaCharts
MegaCharts is responsible for the composition and exploitation of a broad collection of official charts in the Netherlands, of which the Mega Top 50 and the Mega Album Top 100 are the most known ones. Mega Charts also provides information to the Stichting Nederlandse Top 40, of which the Dutch Top...
, and in Switzerland, the album debuted at number 15 on the Swiss Album Top 100.
Critical response
Wake Up! received generally positive reviews from music critics. At MetacriticMetacritic
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 76, based on 21 reviews, which indicates "generally favorable reviews". Sean Fennessey 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...
called it "a surprisingly rugged enterprise" and complimented The Roots' "brawny arrangements of a cleverly curated batch of songs". About.com
About.com
About.com is an online source for original information and advice. It is written in English, and is aimed primarily at North Americans. It is owned by The New York Times Company....
's Mark Edward Nero commended their "outstanding job" as a backing band and called Wake Up! "a very moving, extremely well-performed and well-produced album". 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....
called it "a brilliantly conceived and executed album" and stated "Legend and the Roots capture the old feeling of protest and uplift while updating the sound". Jeff Vrabel of Paste
Paste (magazine)
Paste is a monthly music and entertainment digital magazine published in the United States by Wolfgang's Vault. Its tagline is "Signs of Life in Music, Film and Culture."-History:...
called it "organic and opulent, with a heart of diamonds and a lush sound to match". 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...
s Julian Benbow noted Legend's range and stated, "The Roots band practically makes sonic photocopies of the originals". Newsday
Newsday
Newsday is a daily American newspaper that primarily serves Nassau and Suffolk counties and the New York City borough of Queens on Long Island, although it is sold throughout the New York metropolitan area...
s Glenn Gamboa stated, "Legend's rich soul vocals and The Roots' equally lush soul arrangements succeed in updating these classics subtly, making them fit admirably both in the past and the present". Steve Jones of USA Today
USA Today
USA Today is a national American daily newspaper published by the Gannett Company. It was founded by Al Neuharth. The newspaper vies with The Wall Street Journal for the position of having the widest circulation of any newspaper in the United States, something it previously held since 2003...
stated, "The Roots contemporize them with just enough hip-hop flavor, while the soulful Legend injects them with renewed passion".
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...
noted that "Legend sings with more grit than usual, and the Roots crackle with energy", but stated "This well-intentioned collection never surpasses the strong originals from which it draws". Mikael Wood 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...
viewed that "The results don't always play to [Legend]'s melodic strengths; ?uestlove sounds a bit reined-in, too". Allmusic writer Andy Kellman shared a similar sentiment and commented that "There are several instances when the Roots, who are deeply intimate with grit, outshine Legend, whose polished and pride-rich voice occasionally clashes with the material". 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 it two out of four stars and stated "Legend might be the weak link; he's not the grittiest singer to be tackling this particular set list – he's often a boy in a man's studio here, especially when he gamely but lamely yeah's through the 12-minute arc of Bill Withers' wartime lament 'I Can't Write Left-Handed' – but his ease mostly makes a dynamic foil for the Roots' muscle and the frequent guest vocals". Zach Cole of URBs criticized Legend's singing as overdone and wrote that the album "run[s] the risk of coming across as entirely cheesy and contrived". 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 Jesse Cataldo found it musically "hollow and brittle" and commented that "many of these treatments are good, but barely justify what amounts to a good-time vanity project for both acts".
Richard Trapunski of NOW
NOW (magazine)
Now is a free weekly newspaper in Toronto, Canada. It was first printed on September 10, 1981 by Michael Hollett and Alice Klein. Now is an alternative weekly mixing arts and entertainment news with political coverage....
viewed that Legend's "straightforward neo-soul delivery often plays it safe", but concluded "the expertly curated track list and funky arrangements make it more than a tossed-off vanity project". Despite finding its arrangements unadventerous, 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 Todd Martens called Wake Up! "a respectable love letter, if not quite an urgent one, to artists who shouldn’t be overlooked" and commended Legend for "stretching out of his [comfort zone]... he packs far more spark here than he did on 2008’s Evolver". David Amidon 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,...
viewed that Legend "not only delivers his most focused effort yet, but his most diverse". Rupert Howe of Q
Q (magazine)
Q is a popular music magazine published monthly in the United Kingdom.Founders Mark Ellen and David Hepworth were dismayed by the music press of the time, which they felt was ignoring a generation of older music buyers who were buying CDs — then still a new technology...
cited Wake Up! as "one of the finest soul albums of recent times" and complimented Legend's vocal "versatility". Dave Simpson of The Guardian
The Guardian
The Guardian, formerly known as The Manchester Guardian , is a British national daily newspaper in the Berliner format...
noted Legend's "emotional rawness" and wrote that "many of the tracks have a raw, driving feel along the lines of [Marvin] Gaye's Inner City Blues
Inner City Blues (Make Me Wanna Holler)
"Inner City Blues ", often shortened to "Inner City Blues", is a song by Marvin Gaye, released as the third and final single from and the climactic song of his 1971 landmark album, What's Going On...
". The A.V. Club
The A.V. Club
The A.V. Club is an entertainment newspaper and website published by The Onion. Its features include reviews of new films, music, television, books, games and DVDs, as well as interviews and other regular offerings examining both new and classic media and other elements of pop culture. Unlike its...
s Nathan Rabin
Nathan Rabin
Nathan Rabin is an American film and music critic. A graduate of the University of Wisconsin–Madison, Rabin was the first head writer for The A.V. Club, a position he continues to hold today....
commented that "The Roots’ tight playing serves the songs and their messages rather than the other way around, while Legend has mastered the art of singing expressively without over-emoting". Brad Wheeler 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 out of four stars and commented that they "succeed" in their "attempt to keep these songs 'real' compared to the original versions".
Track listing
All tracks were produced by John Legend and The Roots.Musicians
- Davis Barnett – viola
- Owen Biddle – bass, group member
- Michelle Bishop – violin
- Black Thought – vocals
- Randy Bowland – guitar
- Jeff Bradshaw – trombone
- Matt Cappy – trumpet, flugelhorn
- Common – vocals
- Natalie Curtis – vocals (bckgr)
- Captain Kirk Douglas – electric guitar, guitar, group member
- Chris Farr – flute, saxophone
- Timiney Figueroa – vocals (bckgr)
- Melanie Fiona – vocals
- Ruth Frazier – viola
- Larry Gold – string arrangements, string conductor
- Lacey Jones – vocals (bckgr)
- Olga Konopelsky – violin
- Emma Kummrow – violin
- John Legend – piano, vocals, vocals (bckgr), producer, liner notes
- Jennie Lorenzo – cello
- Charles Parker – violin
- Denise Powell – vocals (bckgr)
- James Poyser – organ, synthesizer, piano, keyboards, xylophone, producer, group member
- Lenesha Randolph – vocals (bckgr)
- Ashley Simpson – vocals (bckgr)
- Linwood Smith Jr. – vocals (bckgr)
- Tamika Smith – vocals (bckgr)
- C.L. Smooth – vocals, lyricist
- Igor Szweck – violin
- Gregory Teperman – violin
- Ahmir "?uestlove" Thompson – drums, percussion, producer
- Matia Washington – vocals (bckgr)
- Jessyca Wilson – vocals, vocals (bckgr)
- Malik Yusef – lyricist
Production
- Damien Alexander – A&R
- Nick Banns – engineer, assistant engineer, vocal recording
- Dave Bett – art direction, design
- Dustin Capulong – assistant engineer
- Jimmy Douglass – mixing
- Bojan Dugic – engineer
- Chris Feldmann – art direction, design
- Michelle Holme – art direction, design
- Michael Ilbert – vocal recording
- Ryan Kelly – assistant engineer
- Dave Kutch – mastering
- Derik Lee – assistant engineer
- Meaghan Lyons – A&R
- Steve Mandel – engineer
- Anthony Mandler – photography
- Darren Moore – mixing assistant
- Joe Peluso – vocal recording
- Jon Smeltz – engineer
- Chris Soper – engineer, vocal recording
- Maki Suzuki – mixing assistant
- Salamishah Tillet – liner notes
- Alex Venguer – engineer, vocal recording
- Ghian Wright – engineer
Charts
| Chart (2010) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| Dutch Albums Chart MegaCharts MegaCharts is responsible for the composition and exploitation of a broad collection of official charts in the Netherlands, of which the Mega Top 50 and the Mega Album Top 100 are the most known ones. Mega Charts also provides information to the Stichting Nederlandse Top 40, of which the Dutch Top... |
6 |
| Italian Albums Chart | 27 |
| 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 .... |
29 |
| Swiss Albums Chart | 15 |
| 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... |
8 |
| US Billboard R&B/Hip-Hop Albums Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums is a chart published by Billboard magazine that ranks R&B and hip hop albums based on sales compiled by Nielsen SoundScan. The name of the chart was changed from Top R&B Albums in 1999... |
3 |
External links
- Official website - John Legend
- Official website - The Roots
- Wake Up! 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...
- Wake Up! at MetacriticMetacriticMetacritic.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,...