Lionel Richie - Can't Slow Down (2013) Blu-ray Audio

Tracklist:
1. Can't Slow Down
2. All Night Long
3. Penny Lover
4. Stuck on You
5. Love Will Find A Way
6. The Only One
7. Running with the Night
8. Hello

On Can't Slow Down, his second solo album, Lionel Richie ran with the sound and success of his eponymous debut, creating an album that was designed to be bigger and better. It's entirely possible that he took a cue from Michael Jackson's Thriller, which set out to win over listeners of every corner of the mainstream pop audience, because Richie does a similar thing with Can't Slow Down -- he plays to the MOR adult contemporary audience, to be sure, but he ups the ante on his dance numbers, creating grooves that are funkier, and he even adds a bit of rock with the sleek nocturnal menace of "Running With the Night," one of the best songs here. He doesn't swing for the fences like Michael did in 1982; he makes safe bets, which is more in his character. But safe bets do pay off, and with Can't Slow Down Richie reaped enormous dividends, earning not just his biggest hit, but his best album. He has less compunction about appearing as a pop singer this time around, which gives the preponderance of smooth ballads -- particularly "Penny Lover," "Hello," and the country-ish "Stuck on You" -- conviction, and the dance songs roll smooth and easy, never pushing the beats too hard and relying more on Richie's melodic hooks than the grooves, which is what helped make "All Night Long (All Night)" a massive hit. Indeed, five of these songs (all the aforementioned tunes) were huge hits, and since the record ran only eight songs, that's an astonishing ration. The short running time does suggest the record's main weakness, one that it shares with many early-'80s LPs -- the songs themselves run on a bit too long, padding out the running length of the entire album. This is only a problem on album tracks like "Love Will Find a Way," which are pleasant but a little tedious at their length, but since there are only three songs that aren't hits, it's a minor problem. All the hits showcase Lionel Richie at his best, as does Can't Slow Down as a whole.

Lionel Richie - Composer, Drums, Keyboards, Vocals, Vocals (Background)
Israel Baker - Concert Master
Brian Banks - Synthesizer Programming
Thomas Dolby - Synthesizers and CMI Programming
Harry Bluestone - Concert Master
Michael Boddicker - Synthesizer, Vocoder
Sonny Burke - Keyboards, Fender Rhodes
Diane Burt - Vocals, Chant
James Anthony Carmichael - Arranger, Vocals, Background Vocals, Producer, Chant
Melinda Chatman - Sound Effects, Vocals
Joe Chemay - Bass
David Cochrane - Synthesizer, Guitar, Arranger, Background Vocals, Chant, Vocoder, Synthesizer Bass, Synthesizer Programming
Paulinho Da Costa - Percussion
Nathan East - Bass
David Egerton - Engineer
David Foster - Bass, Keyboards, Producer
Dr. Lloyd Byro Greig - Vocals, Chant
Calvin Harris - Background Vocals, Engineer, Chant, Mixing
Brenda Harvey Richie - Vocals, Chant, Production Assistant
Jeanette Hawes - Vocals, Background Vocals, Chant
John Hobbs - Piano, Fender Rhodes
Mitch Holder - Guitar
Janice Marie Johnson - Vocals, Chant
Darryl Jones - Guitar
Abraham Laboriel - Bass
Paul Leim - Drums
Steve Lukather - Guitar
Richard Marx - Vocals, Background Vocals, Chant
Tim May - Acoustic Guitar
Greg Phillinganes - Synthesizer, Vocals
Jeff Porcaro - Drums
Deborah Joyce Richie - Vocals, Chant
Carlos Rios - Guitar
John "J.R." Robinson - Drums
Louie Shelton - Guitar
Suzanne Stanford - Vocals, Chant
Fred Tackett - Acoustic Guitar
Deborah Thomas - Vocals, Background Vocals, Chant
Kin Vassy - Vocals
Jerry Hey - Trumpet, Horn Arrangement
Chuck Findley - Trumpet
Gary Grant - Trumpet
Bill Reichenbach - Trombone
Charlie Loper - Trombone