Originally published by L.S. Media. March 12th 2012.

L.S. Media Rating ****

Lionel Richie is one of the very best at what he does, if you want a ballad that moves people to tears then Lionel is your man, if you need a track that will get people up and out of their chairs and dancing, again Lionel is the artist you turn to. Even when he brings out, what is to all reasonable effects a greatest hits package with a twist, he still makes you feel a though as you have put on a warm, comfortable cardigan, the fire in your front room is enticing and homely and the news, for once is nothing but good.

Tuskegee revisits songs from Lionel’s long and incredibly distinguished career and with the added dimension of being…shall we say, re-created! This is not new, in the last year the Kinks’ Ray Davies re-recoded tracks that were much loved and to great effect, especially Paloma Faith’s version of Lola.

The Ex-Commodores front man whose own solo career is just as rich as anything that he created as saxophonist and singer with the highly rated Motown group deserves applause for bringing this album out, especially as there undoubtedly be those who feel that his own stuff, unadulterated and untouched is just perfect the way it is.  However sometimes you have to believe that a song can be changed, to look at a song and keep it in the same format forever is slightly ridiculous; music, like life should be allowed to grow and change.

Lionel Richie ropes in some pretty amazing talent for this album including Kenny Chesney on the track My Love, the great Willie Nelson on the beautiful song Easy and a surprise in Pixie Lott joining the soul star on the song Angel.

This is one of those albums that you can quite easily put on whilst you’re making Sunday dinner and it will make you think of home, as the title of the album Tuskegee is where it all started for Lionel Richie, that’s hardly surprising.

An album of rich beauty and easy to slip into!

Ian D. Hall