The Life

• Artist: Ginuwine
• Rating:
• Release Date: April 03, 2001
• Type: Lyrics are included with the album
• Genre: Rhythm & Blues

Review

On his third album, Ginuwine is even more of a practiced R&B loverman than he was on his first two releases. Big Dog Productions, Inc. and the team of Troy Oliver and Cory Rooney produce the bulk of the beats here, which, as usual, mostly range from slow to very slow tempos with such trendy touches as acoustic guitar passages. But all that just serves as a bed for Ginuwine's elastic tenor and his message to the women in his audience. The singer sounds like he's been reading women's magazines and tried to construct a persona that's as appealing as possible. "Baby," he croons in "Why Did You Go," "I'm sorry for whatever I've done and I want you to be my wife." In "Differences," he talks about how much he has improved since meeting the woman he's addressing, concluding, "I'm so responsible." Even when he's criticizing a woman, as he does in the album's first single, "There It Is," it's because she's not contributing to the relationship, while he's holding down a steady job and paying the bills. It's only in the album's eighth cut, "How Deep Is Your Love" (an original, not the Bee Gees song), that he begins to apply pressure for sex, ungallantly suggesting that if the woman doesn't come across he'll start cheating on her. "Show After the Show" is a come-on to a post-concert groupie, which seems to negate what's gone before, and "Role Play" moves on to kinky sex, but in the album-closing "Just Because," Ginuwine acknowledges the temptations of his occupation and pleads, "I'm trying to learn to be committed." It's hard to believe that anyone who's swallowed his line before is going to become skeptical now, so The Life looks like another winner for him. ~ William Ruhlmann, All Music Guide

Tracks

Track Title	Composers	Performers	Time
Why Not Me (Lyrics)	Troy Oliver, Elgin Lumpkin	Ginuwine	(4:26)
There It Is (Interlude)	C. Williams, C. Jones, Elgin Lumpkin	Ginuwine	(5:00)
2 Way (Lyrics)	Raphael Saadiq, Elgin Lumpkin	Ginuwine	(4:09)
Differences (Lyrics)	Troy Oliver, Elgin Lumpkin	Ginuwine	(4:25)
So Fine (Lyrics)	Elgin Lumpkin, C. Williams	Ginuwine	(3:14)
Tribute to a Woman (Lyrics)	Elgin Lumpkin, Troy Oliver	Ginuwine	(4:59)
Why Did You Go (Interlude)	Elgin Lumpkin, C. Williams	Ginuwine	(6:05)
How Deep Is Your Love (Lyrics)	Loren Dawson, Elgin Lumpkin	Ginuwine	(4:21)
That's How I Get Down (Lyrics)	Tim Mosley, Elgin Lumpkin	Ginuwine, Ludacris	(4:13)
Show After the Show (Lyrics)	Elgin Lumpkin, C. Williams	Ginuwine	(4:21)
Role Play (Lyrics)	Elgin Lumpkin, C. Williams	Ginuwine	(3:52)
Open Arms (Lyrics)	Loren Dawson, Troy Oliver, Elgin Lumpkin	Ginuwine	(4:45)
Superhuman (Lyrics)	Diane Warren	Ginuwine	(4:10)
Two Reasons I Cry	Loren Dawson, Elgin Lumpkin	Ginuwine	(5:15)
Just Because (Lyrics)	Greg Lawson, Elgin Lumpkin, D. Sharpe	Ginuwine	(3:42)

Credits

Jake & the Phatman (Producer), Ginuwine (Vocals), Richie Jones (Mixing), Troy Oliver (Producer), John Carr (Art Direction), Loren Dawson (Producer), Julian Alexander (Art Direction), Jim Annunziato (Assistant Engineer), Mario Lucy (Mixing), Jonathan Mannion (Photography), Dan Hetzel (Mixing), Rick Wake (Arranger), Diane Warren (Executive Producer), Big Dog (Producer), Khris Kellow (Producer), Timbaland (Producer), Jim Annunziato (Mixing), Richie Jones (Arranger), Michael Caplan (A&R), Ginuwine (Executive Producer), Troy Hightower (Mixing), Rick Wake (Producer), Richie Jones (Producer), Vladimir Meller (Mastering), Mario Lucy (Engineer), Dan Hetzel (Engineer), Dan Shea (Producer), Ginuwine (Producer), Jimmy Douglass (Mixing), Vlad (Mastering), Keith Major (Photography), Greg Lawson (Producer), Raphael Saadiq (Producer), Ludacris (Performer), Greg Lawson (Arranger), Corey Rooney (Producer)

• Active: '80s
• Genres: Rock
• Instrument: Vocals
• Representative Albums: "Under the Sound Umbrella", "Crimes of the Mind

Biography

The Dude of Life was the alias of Steve Pollak, a New York-based singer/songwriter best known for his longstanding affiliation with jam-band icons Phish. He earned his stage moniker during the early 1980s while attending high school alongside future Phish guitarist Trey Anastasio, occasionally appearing in full Dude regalia -- tapestry, goggles, and hat -- with Anastasio's teenage band Space Antelope; together, they later collaborated on Phish favorites including "Run Like an Antelope" and "Suzie Greenberg, " with Pollak sometimes joining the band on tour. The Dude also continued writing his own solo material, and in 1991 he and Phish went into the studio for a session issued three years later as Crimes of the Mind. With new backing band the Great Red Shark -- guitarist Cliff Mays, keyboardist Mark Thors, bassist Paul Gassman and drummer Jim Weingast -- he returned in mid-1999 with Under the Sound Umbrella. ~ Jason Ankeny, All Music Guide

Crimes of the Mind Buy this CD

Under the Sound Umbrella Buy this CD

This entry is from Wikipedia, the leading user-contributed encyclopedia. It may not have been reviewed by professional editors (see full disclaimer)

life	Herbal Life
Life Jacket	Body For Life