I Can't Stop (album)

I Can't Stop is the 27th studio album by American soul singer Al Green, released in 2003. It was produced by Willie Mitchell. It was released by Blue Note Records on November 17, 2003, in the United Kingdom and on November 18 in the United States.[1] The album was Green's first since 1995, his first for Blue Note, and his first collaboration with Mitchell since 1985's He Is the Light; it was also Green's first entirely secular recording since the 1970s.

I Can't Stop
Studio album by
Al Green
ReleasedNovember 17, 2003
RecordedMarch - April 2003 at Royal Studios, Memphis, Tennessee
GenreSoul[1]
Length53:11
LabelBlue Note
ProducerWillie Mitchell
Al Green chronology
Your Heart's in Good Hands
(1995)		 I Can't Stop
(2003)		 Everything's OK
(2005)

The reunion between Green and Mitchell was highly anticipated, and I Can't Stop was a commercial success, peaking at number 53 on the Billboard 200 and number 9 on the Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums charts. It was Green's highest placing on both charts since his 1975 album Al Green Is Love.

Critical reception
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
Allmusic [2]
The Austin Chronicle[3]
Blender[4]
Robert ChristgauA–[5]
Entertainment WeeklyA–[6]
The Guardian[7]
Mojo[8]
Q[9]
Rolling Stone[10]
Uncut[11]

I Can't Stop received generally positive reviews from music critics. At Metacritic, it received an average score of 75 out of 100, based on 18 reviews.[12] Mojo opined "(Green) is, if anything, singing better than ever".[8] In The Guardian, Alexis Petridis stated "The songwriting is largely superb, which keeps the album from sounding like a clever pastiche".[7] Robert Christgau, writing in The Village Voice, said that the album is not a sophisticated modernization or comeback to "a form he never lost", but instead shows that Green has "retained plenty of voice and the guile to know what to do with it."[5] In a mixed review, Tom Smucker of The Village Voice felt that Green gets "tied down when production's slathered on a bit too thick".[13] Blender magazine dismissed it as "a weak echo of those gloriously clean and spacious [1970s] LPs".[4]

In a retrospective review for the magazine, Christgau gave the album four stars and called it Green's "finest late pop album". He felt that, although Green "can no longer shade with sprightly delicacy," his singing is louder and strengthened by "two decades in the pulpit at his own Memphis church."[14]

Track listing
  1. "I Can't Stop" - 3:48
  2. "Play to Win" - 4:38
  3. "Rainin' in My Heart" - 4:45*
  4. "I've Been Waitin' on You" (Green) - 3:43
  5. "You" - 4:29
  6. "Not Tonight" - 4:25
  7. "Million to One" - 4:52
  8. "My Problem Is You" - 6:28
  9. "I'd Still Choose You" - 4:05
  10. "I've Been Thinkin' 'Bout You" (Green) - 4:04
  11. "I'd Write a Letter" (Green) - 3:53
  12. "Too Many" (Green) - 4:01
  • "Rainin' in My Heart" is a new song written by Green & Mitchell for this album. Certain song databases have mistakenly classified Green's song as a cover of Slim Harpo's "Rainin' in My Heart", written by James Moore (aka Slim Harpo) and Jerry West (aka J.D. Miller). The lyrics to the two songs are completely unrelated except for the title.[15]

Singles

Personnel

References
  1. Cibula, Matt (December 19, 2003). "Al Green: I Can't Stop". PopMatters. Retrieved July 16, 2013.
  2. Allmusic review
  3. Oko, Dan (January 9, 2004). "Review: Al Green". The Austin Chronicle. Retrieved July 16, 2013.
  4. "Review: I Can't Stop". Blender. New York: 136. December 2003.
  5. Christgau, Robert (November 11, 2003). "Greatest Whatevers". The Village Voice. New York. Retrieved July 16, 2013.
  6. EW review
  7. The Guardian: CD of the week November 14, 2003
  8. "Review: I Can't Stop". Mojo. London: 104. December 2003.
  9. "Review: I Can't Stop". Q. London: 114. January 2004.
  10. Randall, Mac (November 20, 2003). "I Can't Stop". Rolling Stone. New York. Retrieved July 16, 2013.
  11. "Review: I Can't Stop". Uncut. London: 106. January 2004.
  12. Metacritic.com
  13. Village Voice December 16, 2003
  14. Christgau, Robert (May 2007). "Al Green: Back Catalogue". Blender. New York. Retrieved July 16, 2013.
  15. https://www.umusicpub.com/il/Digital-Music-Library/song/195445/willie-nelson-with-al-green-rainin-in-my-heart-
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