Groove On

Groove On Review

Gerald LeVert opens up his sophomore effort with "Groove On." The track sets the album off on the wrong foot unfortunately as it has a boring chorus and weak delivery. It sounds like the track aims for a silky smooth delivery but ends up tripping over itself.

Despite the weak start, Gerald finds his groove quickly with "Rock Me." The song features some of Gerald's crooning as he tells it how it is. He lets his girl know that he's there for her and that she shouldn't listen to her friends. The delivery is much improved and the track's only flaw is that the chorus can feel a little slow.

The third song of the album, "Let The Juices Flow" is a mixed bag. On the plus side, Gerald turns his crooning to the max and tells his girl to leave her worries at the door. The track is sweet and it works wonderfully as background music. On the other hand, it just lacks the punch to make it a winner.

That punch that was lacking resurfaces in "I'd Give Anything," which is an incredible song and probably one of Gerald's best. The final chorus really shines as Gerald belts it out, but the entire song is wonderful. There's not much meat to the track but the chorus is great and the lyrics are wonderfully sweet.

Following the track is the creative "Answering Service." The song is entertaining with Gerald singing into an answering machine about how much he loves a girl and how sorry he is for messing up. The lyrics are sweet and the chorus is really catchy.

Keeping up the strong streak of tracks, "Someone" is starts off great and features more of Gerald LeVert's awesome delivery. I like the way the verses start with "Somebody if anybody" and they flow really nicely.

Reaching another peak, the album's seventh track, "How Many Times" is one of the album's best. The tempo slows a lot but Gerald keeps up his strong vocals. Asking how many times a girl is gonna run back to her man, even though he loves her, the song has sweet lyrics and a solid delivery.

"Can't Help Myself" follows and is about Gerald's feelings that he's found a woman he loves and that he's ready to settle down. There's not too much to say on the track except that it has a nice message and works well.

The album hits a low series of tracks with it's ninth song, "Have Mercy." However, the track is a needed song as it moves away from the crooning ballads that the album shines on and just takes things easy. As such, while it's simply an okay song, it serves as a much needed break.

The same can be said for the next two songs on the album. "Same Place, Same Time" and "Nice & Wet" are both okay songs with decent delivery and respectable writing. The tracks simply don't stand out amongst Gerald's better material but are still very listenable.

While the change of pace was needed for the album as it took a break from crooning, the album returns to it one last time for the outstanding "Love Street." Before the vocals even start, you can tell this is going to be a great song. The instrumental is solid and Gerald shows some great emotion as he says he needs to sing. The song is six minutes long, but it goes by too fast and is a wonderful end to a great album.

tl;dr: Gerald LeVert's at his best when he croons and this album features some great songs. Overall, Groove On is packed with top quality jams and is well worth the purchase.