Travie McCoy "Lazarus"

I listened to this record  over a year ago,  and still think Travie McCoy as Lazarus, so I’m not really bringing this review back from the dead, but bringing it to life.  The first Song features “Dr. Feelgood,” or Cee-lo Green, who was also featured on another high-profile artist’s opening track as well. Cee-lo perfectly accentuates both artists’ strengths without overshadowing their rapping styles; McCoy’s flow is a little more boisterous, working well with the modern-disco party jam vibe.  The next song is “Superbad,” as in autotuned awesome! I tend to think of a more mid-tempo linkin park esque tune, but I’m secretly thinking of finding somewhere I belong. One of the catchiest singles released off of his solo debut was “Billionaire” with Bruno Mars. I can easily see why, with the sound, and the lyrics, but it wasn’t the best single; it was the most popular single. My favorite single had to be the second single, which was unfortunately over looked by its predecessor and follower. I  don’t “Need You” to understand why I like it so much, but it is just the pop-punk energy caught on the hook and a chorus that just takes it further; the emotions in the instrumental aspects are contradictive to how you would feel if you just heard the lyrics. It’s not really “Critical” to understand as to why this song works, but it does. It feels like one genre, but it has this shimmery hook, and the vocals from Tim William that rock this boat a little. Yet how many predominant R&B songs have yelling in them? How some of us wish to go back in time to be “akidagain,” and Travie McCoy is no exception.  He reminisces about life Back in the Day using a sample from Ahmad and a children’s choir for good measure aligned with verses featuring memories from his childhood. The final single from this album, not only used to promote Yogi Bear, but featured a Supergrass sample to make the ultimate chill jam for Generation Y (and no, not because of the movie); maybe because YOLO? T-Pain joins in the fun, or lesson, given by reading “The Manual” which is supposed to help you determine who is a star and who is cool? Does T-Pain feel like he is surprised that he is classified as cool? I like the third single, but I liked “After Midnight (It’ll Burn)” more; it should have been a single, but I feel it would not have been as successful, and why not? “Don’t Pretend” you cannot feel anything when listening to this song, and its ok if you think Travie McCoy sounded like he was hamming it up when he came close to tears; I do like the auto-tuned jazz vibe this song exuberates. There really isn’t much to dislike here, I just felt that while the most popular of the singles were good, they also were a little overrated to me.