Birdseye | |
Type: | studio |
Artist: | Tony Rich |
Cover: | Birdseye (Tony Rich album).jpg |
Released: | 1998 |
Genre: | R&B |
Label: | LaFace, Arista[1] |
Producer: | Tony Rich |
Prev Title: | Words |
Prev Year: | 1996 |
Next Title: | Resurrected |
Next Year: | 2003 |
Birdseye is the second album by the American musician Tony Rich (credited to the Tony Rich Project), released in 1998.[2] [3] "Silly Man" was the album's first single.
The album's songs were written by Tony Rich. It was produced by Rich, with additional production by Babyface and L.A. Reid.[4] Rich played all of the instruments, aside from some uncredited guitar parts played by Eric Clapton.[5]
The Washington Post noted that "Rich downplays drums and hard beats in favor of insinuating melodies, replaces the contemporary emphasis on lust with old-fashioned romantic notions, and sings softly in a lithe, silky tenor reminiscent of his friend (and co-executive producer) Babyface."[6] The New York Times called the album "a soundtrack for seducers who can't stop thinking about the awkwardness of the morning after."[7]
The Los Angeles Times concluded that "after a while, this procession of soothing, slow-to mid-tempo numbers can seem a bit staid and monotonous." Newsday deemed the album "a short, thin recording that feels like a rush job."[8] The Atlanta Journal-Constitution called it "a beautiful testament to Rich's musical and lyrical growth." The Chicago Tribune opined that "Rich's greatest virtue is his understatedness; he makes mood music that is more spiritual than sexual ... But though his silky melodies are insinuating and his lyrics well-intentioned, Rich is still grasping for identity."[9]
AllMusic wrote that "Birdseye remains a remarkably romantic record, one of the rare albums whose seduction feels genuine, not prepackaged."