wayne brady

Trust me, I was as skeptical as you are right now. Sure, Wayne Brady was entertaining on "Whose Line is it Anyway?," but now he wants to be an R&B artist? I couldn't wait to rip this apart.

So you can imagine my embarrassment when, coming out of a lapse in attention, I found my foot tapping to a song about the mythical condition of "friends with benefits."

Wayne Brady is a decent singer with a versatile voice. There. I said it. What's really surprising are the classy, albeit safely unoriginal, musical choices Brady makes as executive producer. I expected a lot more cheesiness. "I Ain't Movin'" is an adequate take on the Motown formula, complete with a drum-roll intro, call-and-response vocals and a playful organ riff. However, adaptation later turns into mere copying. In an attempt to honor Sam Cooke's "A Change Is Gonna Come," Brady simply replicates the vintage vocal stylings of his idol. With such little departure from Cooke, why not just listen to the original?

Unfortunately, the second half of the album sees Brady's '60s soul vibe wither into a Norah Jones-esque adult contemporary feel. A slowed and semisoulful cover of the Beatles' "Can't Buy Me Love" drags at times. The passion Brady exhibits at first fades into boredom, as he resorts to moaning and crooning to his middle-aged housewife audience.

What gives this away as a Wayne Brady album are the lyrics. Ever wonder how many I Love The 80s cultural references could be made over one Motown block party groove? "Back in the Day" might shed some light, especially when you consider the priceless chorus: "I loved you since Thundercats."

Although the lyrics are amusing at best, I agree with Wayne when he claims in his blog, "Not only can Wayne Brady choke a bitch, but he can sing."