Gerald Levert - Gerald's World (2001)

LeVert has the smooth, sweet-talkin' loverman thing down so well by now that he can practically sing an entire album without breaking a sweat or even thinking twice about what he's saying. And, on Gerald's World, he's as smooth and as sweet-talkin' as ever. But there's something automatic about it all, a sense of security with the persona and legend he's built over the years. LeVert still may have a bedroom voice, but more often than not here, he seems about ready to call it a night. Which doesn't make Gerald's World an awful album, just an uninspired one. There are moments where his sweet tenor overrides the lackluster sentiment and sound, just as there are times where he plays straight into the arms of lovers everywhere. There's no doubt that this was conceived as a bedroom album -- not one track breaks from the measured bump 'n' grind (he even gets all sentimentally squishy on "Made to Love Ya"). In other words, another Gerald LeVert album -- nothing less, nothing more.