Final Grade B/B-

This was a pretty decent album from José James, the fourth from the soul singer, but I was expecting a little something more from him.  I've seen him live, and I thought he was really good, but I don't think his performance translated as well as I would have liked it to.  The album started out strong for me, "It's All Over Your Body" is a great tune, as is "Trouble," and I wish that feel would have stayed throughout.  Especially with such great collaborators as Pino Palladino, Robert Glasper, and Chris Dave, the album had more potential than I think it achieved.  Not to say that I didn't like this album, because I definitely did, I just had high expectations for it and was slightly disappointed by the outcome.  James' voice is so soft and sultry, and I think he got lost in the instrumentation on a lot of the tracks, and I wish they had accompanied him a little better.  I thought that the album could have ended stronger as well - I wouldn't have ended it so slowly, I felt like it needed a little pick me up at the end.  I was also surprised that there weren't any crazy bass parts coming from Pino -  would have liked to hear a little more from him.  James has definitely got a good style both vocally and lyrically, but I think I like him better live than on record.  So, everyone should go see him live.