I guess some people are just looking for Stranger Part two, but the fact is that was 30 years ago.

Pain sounds great to me. All That Giltters is very commercial sounding, this one will probably be a grower for me...

From what we've heard so far the album sounds very different from the previous solo albums. It will be an interesting record I think. Impossible to fully judge on just the clips, but looking forward to hearing more. I hope it comes out this year at some point!

pain sounds like downside of love

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No. I think people are just looking for good music. Not over the top produced garbage.

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Absolutely. It sounds great.

All That Glitters sounds interesting too.

Totally agree...he tried the pop scene with RSO and it was terrible...except for ‘Pain’, this project sounds very similar 😓.
I mean, if people liked it or he was successful...but he isn’t.

Funnily enough Pain IS an old song. "PAIN WHERE THERE ONCE WAS A HEART" has been registered and copywritten for a looooong time. I feel like I've heard of that title since 2007ish?

I am going to put down a hat I will eat if All that Glitters isn't the single. I think I've enjoyed it the least but Thinny is right, it is VERY modern sounding. A little Dave Grohl-y in the verses (which isn't a bad thing, Nowadays feels like a FF song).

Some people want Richie to produce the type of music they are expecting from him. Hence the comment "I hope he releases something old". Because it doesn't meet the expectations that some people have based on music that was written and recorded 30 years ago does not make it bad music. It just makes people's personal expectations unrealistic. Bon Jovi suffer from exactly the same thing as do any act that has been going for 30 + years. People want them to recreate the music that makes them feel nostagic. Artists generally are not interested in sounding exactly like they did 30 years ago. But a lot of fans want nothing more.
Aftermath didn't sound like Undiscovered Soul didn't sound like Stranger. Why would the new one would like any of those?

I for one have no interest in artists recreating the same albums over and over again. We have Stranger. I don't need Stranger redeux.

I'll judge the album when it's released. Some of what I've heard I really, like some of it I don't yet, but I'm not going to fall in love or crucify anything over a few short samples.

Agreed on this. It has lead single written all over it.

I think a lot of it is, and before anyone come after me this is not a dig, Richie has never been the best lyricist. Song arranging, guitar playing, supporting the singer he has always been aces at. To me he's always had this soulful/bluesy element. Stranger was full of emotion and this....ethereal, otherworld-y production. It's the same problem the band has, when you pair a great voice with emotion, it doesn't matter what they're singing you just believe them, when they give it their all. You take a few of those elements away and you get middle-of-the-road pop/rock which there is a time and a place for. But a lot of what he's done since 1998 has missed that mark.

When it's too commercial it comes across pandering. Thank god I'm hearing elements in these 4 songs he's getting his swagger back. But I can see why this won't be for everyone.

I can too. I get that. But that still doesn't make them "bad songs", just not to certain tastes. As I've said before, Richie isn't writing songs for us anymore, he's doing what he wants to do, making the music he wants, and more power to him for that.

I get what you are saying but I can't agree about Lyrics. The lyrics on Stranger spoke to me like no other album ever has when I was teenager (These Days being a close second). I could relate to so much of it. On every record there has been stuff that has grabbed me lyrically, including RSO.