Get Lifted

Get Lifted
Studio album by John Legend
Released December 28, 2004
Recorded
Genre
Length 52:28
Label
Producer
John Legend chronology
Get Lifted
(2004)		 Once Again
(2006)
Singles from Get Lifted
  1. "Used to Love U"
    Released: August 31, 2004
  2. "Ordinary People"
    Released: April 7, 2005
  3. "Number One"
    Released: August 23, 2005
  4. "So High"
    Released: December 8, 2005

Get Lifted is the debut studio album by American singer John Legend, released by GOOD Music, Sony Urban Music, and Columbia Records on December 28, 2004 in the United States. Featuring production by Legends then-manager, Kanye West, as well as Dave Tozer, will.i.am, and Devo Springsteen. The album sold over three million units worldwide, with a total of 2.1 million copies in the U.S., where it was certified double platinum. The album won the 2006 Grammy Award for Best R&B Album, and earned Legend another two awards, for Best New Artist and Best Male R&B Vocal Performance for his single "Ordinary People".

Reception

Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[1]
Blender[2]
Entertainment WeeklyA−[3]
The Guardian[4]
The Irish Times[5]
NME8/10[6]
Rolling Stone[7]
SpinA−[8]
USA Today[9]
Vibe5/5[10]

Reviews became generally positive. BBC Music gave the album a favorable review and called it "an album that not only lived up to the hype, but rose squarely above it. Yes, at times it is a patchwork of the past filtered through Legend’s ever-present influences, but the quality of his writing and performance, and his collaborators’ contributions, make it worthy of the awards and plaudits it rightly received."[11] Spin gave it an A− and said that Legend's voice "leans on subtlety more than melisma, and his sound has a crisp live-band jump, rather than canned neo-soul static."[12] Uncut gave it three stars out of five and stated that Legend "introduces some intriguing new variations on the retro R&B template....Jeff Buckley is surprisingly brought to mind in Legend's passionately fragile delivery."[12] IGN gave it a score of 9.3 out of ten and called it "a refreshing record that fans of music will adore."[13] The Guardian gave it four stars out of five and called it "a real gem."[14] Entertainment.ie also gave it four stars and said of Legend, "it's probably not surprising that he's got such a big head, seeing as his producer, hip-hop guru Kanye West, has described him as simply 'the future'. Actually, it would be much more accurate to say that he does a pretty good job of updating the past."[15] In his Consumer Guide, Robert Christgau gave it a three-star honorable mention (); he picked out two of the songs from the album ("I Can Change" and "Live It Up") and said of Legend, "For an ordinary soul man, he has excellent tunes."[16]

musicOMH gave it an average review and stated that "Certain albums have the power to open the mind into different forms of music, and certainly those who pick up the Get Lifted with the pretence of it being a hip-hop album will have a rude awakening. I approached with trepidation after the opening Prelude but with an open mind or just an appreciation for the finer things in life Get Lifted could find itself being an essential album in anyone’s collection."[17] Paste gave it a positive review and stated that it "has as much in common with the classic funk and soul of Isaac Hayes, Stevie Wonder and The Delfonics as it does with today’s best R&B, hip-hop and neo-soul."[18] The A.V. Club gave it an average review and stated that the album "suffers from a surplus of slickness, but it's also seductive, and at just over 52 minutes, mercifully free from the excess and filler that characterize many rap and R&B albums."[19] Exclaim!, however, gave it an unfavorable review and said, "The early line on Legend is that the heat this album will undoubtedly generate guarantees that Legend’s apparent fidelity issues will get worse before they get better. Get Lifted indeed."[20] Plugged In gave it a mixed review and stated that "Legend is a talented singer and piano player but fails to maintain his moral focus. It doesn't take much profanity, infidelity and sexual inappropriateness to sink an otherwise decent effort."[21]

Rhapsody ranked the album #10 on its "Best R&B Albums of the Decade" list,[22] declaring, "John Legend was all over the Top 40 the entire decade—even before he released one of the decade’s biggest R&B debuts—having worked with Lauryn Hill, Alicia Keys, Kanye West and Jay-Z, to name a few. Get Lifted, his first proper release, is an infectious cross between old-school soul and neo-soul."

Track listing

No.TitleWriter(s)Producer(s)Length
1."Prelude"John StephensJohn Legend[a]0:44
2."Let's Get Lifted"
  • Stephens
  • West
  • Rick Shobin
3:37
3."Used to Love U"
  • Stephens
  • West
3:30
4."Alright"
  • Stephens
  • West
3:20
5."She Don't Have to Know"
will.i.am4:52
6."Number One" (featuring Kanye West)
3:18
7."I Can Change" (featuring Snoop Dogg)
5:01
8."Ordinary People"
  • Stephens
  • Adams
Legend4:41
9."Stay with You"
  • Stephens
  • Tozer
Tozer3:49
10."Let's Get Lifted Again"
  • Stephens
  • Tozer
Tozer2:18
11."So High"
Harris5:07
12."Refuge (When It's Cold Outside)"
  • Stephens
  • Harris
  • Cho
4:13
13."It Don't Have to Change" (featuring the Stephens Family)
  • Stephens
  • Tozer
Legend3:23
14."Live It Up" (featuring Miri Ben-Ari)
  • Stephens
  • Harris
  • Tarrey Torae
  • A. Hester
4:35
Notes
Samples
  • "She Don't Have to Know" replayed elements from "Just Like a Baby", written by Sylvester Stewart.
  • "Number One" contains samples from "Let's Do It Again", written by Curtis Mayfield.
  • "So High" contains samples from "I Don't Need No Reason", written by Leon Ware and Pamela Sawyer.
  • "Live It Up" contains interpolations from "Love Is Missing From Our Lives", written by Anthony Hester.

Charts

Certifications

Region CertificationCertified units/Sales
Australia (ARIA)[41] Gold 35,000^
Canada (Music Canada)[42] Gold 50,000^
Italy (FIMI)[43] Gold 50,000*
Ireland (IRMA)[44] Gold 7,500^
United Kingdom (BPI)[45] Platinum 490,199[46]
United States (RIAA)[47] 2× Platinum 2,100,000^
Summaries
Worldwide[48] N/A 4,000,000

*sales figures based on certification alone
^shipments figures based on certification alone

References

  1. ↑ Kellman, Andy. "Get Lifted – John Legend". AllMusic. Retrieved April 14, 2018.
  2. ↑ Weiner, Jonah. "John Legend: Get Lifted". Blender. Archived from the original on April 3, 2005. Retrieved April 14, 2018.
  3. ↑ Sinclair, Tom (January 10, 2005). "Get Lifted". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved April 14, 2018.
  4. ↑ Sullivan, Caroline (December 10, 2004). "John Legend, Get Lifted". The Guardian. Retrieved April 14, 2018.
  5. ↑ Carroll, Jim (November 12, 2004). "John Legend: Get Lifted (Columbia)". The Irish Times. Retrieved April 14, 2018.
  6. ↑ Fadele, Dele (December 22, 2004). "John Legend : Get Lifted". NME. Archived from the original on July 12, 2008. Retrieved April 14, 2018.
  7. ↑ Caramanica, Jon (November 11, 2004). "John Legend: Get Lifted". Rolling Stone. Archived from the original on October 16, 2007. Retrieved November 13, 2013.
  8. ↑ Ryan, Chris (February 2005). "John Legend: Get Lifted". Spin. 21 (2): 88. Retrieved April 14, 2018.
  9. ↑ Jones, Steve (January 10, 2005). "'Get Lifted' reaches for the stars". USA Today. Retrieved April 14, 2018.
  10. ↑ Lima, Orlando (February 2005). "John Legend: Get Lifted". Vibe. 13 (2): 144. Retrieved April 14, 2018.
  11. ↑ "BBC - Music - Review of John Legend - Get Lifted". bbc.co.uk.
  12. 1 2 "John Legend - Get Lifted CD". cduniverse.com.
  13. ↑ "John Legend - Get Lifted". IGN.
  14. ↑ Caroline Sullivan. "CD: John Legend, Get Lifted". The Guardian.
  15. ↑ "Music Review - John Legend: Get Lifted". entertainment.ie.
  16. ↑ "Robert Christgau: CG: john legend". robertchristgau.com.
  17. ↑ "John Legend – Get Lifted". musicOMH.
  18. ↑ "John Legend - Get Lifted". pastemagazine.com.
  19. ↑ "Get Lifted: John Legend - Music Review". The A.V. Club.
  20. ↑ "John Legend". exclaim.ca.
  21. ↑ "Plugged In review". pluggedin.com.
  22. ↑ "Best R&B Albums of the Decade" Archived December 17, 2009, at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved 12 January 2010.
  23. ↑ "Australiancharts.com – John Legend – Get Lifted". Hung Medien. Retrieved October 7, 2018.
  24. ↑ "Ultratop.be – John Legend – Get Lifted" (in French). Hung Medien. Retrieved October 7, 2018.
  25. ↑ "Danishcharts.com – John Legend – Get Lifted". Hung Medien. Retrieved October 7, 2018.
  26. ↑ "Dutchcharts.nl – John Legend – Get Lifted" (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved October 7, 2018.
  27. ↑ "Lescharts.com – John Legend – Get Lifted". Hung Medien. Retrieved October 7, 2018.
  28. ↑ "GFK Chart-Track Albums: Week {{{week}}}, {{{year}}}". Chart-Track. IRMA. Retrieved October 7, 2018.
  29. ↑ "Italiancharts.com – John Legend – Get Lifted". Hung Medien. Retrieved October 7, 2018.
  30. ↑ "Charts.org.nz – John Legend – Get Lifted". Hung Medien. Retrieved October 7, 2018.
  31. ↑ "Norwegiancharts.com – John Legend – Get Lifted". Hung Medien. Retrieved October 7, 2018.
  32. ↑ "Swedishcharts.com – John Legend – Get Lifted". Hung Medien. Retrieved October 7, 2018.
  33. ↑ "Swisscharts.com – John Legend – Get Lifted". Hung Medien. Retrieved October 7, 2018.
  34. ↑ "Official Albums Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved October 7, 2018.
  35. ↑ "Official R&B Albums Chart Top 40". Official Charts Company. Retrieved October 7, 2018.
  36. ↑ "John Legend Chart History (Billboard 200)". Billboard. Retrieved October 7, 2018.
  37. ↑ "John Legend Chart History (Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums)". Billboard. Retrieved October 7, 2018.
  38. ↑ "2005 UK Singles Chart" (PDF). UKChartsPlus. Retrieved December 9, 2015.
  39. ↑ "Billboard 200: Year End 2005". Billboard. Retrieved October 7, 2018.
  40. ↑ "R&B/Hip-Hop Albums: Year End 2005". Billboard. Retrieved October 7, 2018.
  41. ↑ "ARIA Charts – Accreditations – 2004 Albums". Australian Recording Industry Association.
  42. ↑ "Canadian album certifications – John Legend – Get Lifted". Music Canada.
  43. ↑ "Italian album certifications – John Legend – Get Lifted" (in Italian). Federazione Industria Musicale Italiana.
  44. ↑ "Irish album certifications – John Legend – Get Lifted". Irish Recorded Music Association.
  45. ↑ "British album certifications – John Legend – Get Lifted". British Phonographic Industry. Retrieved October 7, 2015. Select albums in the Format field. Select Platinum in the Certification field. Type Get Lifted in the "Search BPI Awards" field and then press Enter.
  46. ↑ Jones, Alan (July 31, 2015). "Official Charts Analysis: Chemical Brothers claim sixth No.1 album with Born in the Echoes". Music Week. Intent Media. Retrieved October 19, 2015. (Subscription required (help)).
  47. ↑ "American album certifications – John Legend – Get Lifted". Recording Industry Association of America. If necessary, click Advanced, then click Format, then select Album, then click SEARCH. 
  48. ↑ UNSUPPORTED OR EMPTY REGION: Worldwide.
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