Lionel Richie Albums Ranked

Lionel Brockman Richie Jr. (born June 20, 1949) is an American singer, songwriter, composer, multi-instrumentalist, record producer, and actor. His recordings with the Commodores and in his solo career made him one of the most successful balladeers of the 1980s.
Beginning in 1968, Richie was a member of the funk and soul band the Commodores. The Commodores became established as a popular soul group; their first several albums had a danceable, funky sound, as in such tracks as “Machine Gun” and “Brick House”. Over time, Richie wrote and sang more romantic, easy-listening ballads such as “Easy”, “Three Times a Lady”, “Still”, and the breakup ballad “Sail On”. Richie launched a solo career in 1982 and his 1982 debut solo album, Lionel Richie, contained three hit singles: the U.S. number-one song “Truly”, and the top five hits “You Are” and “My Love”. The album hit No. 3 on the music charts and sold over four million copies. His 1983 follow-up album, Can’t Slow Down, sold over twice as many copies, propelling him into the first rank of international superstars. He also co-wrote the 1985 charity single “We Are the World” with Michael Jackson, which sold over 20 million copies.
Over the course of his career, Richie has sold over 100 million records worldwide, making him one of the world’s best-selling artists of all time. He won the Grammy Award for Album of the Year for Can’t Slow Down, and his other Grammy Awards include Producer of the Year (Non-Classical) in 1985 and Best Male Pop Vocal Performance for “Truly” in 1983. Richie has also been nominated for two Golden Globe awards and won one. In 1982 he was nominated for Best Original Song for the film Endless Love. In 1986 he won the Golden Globe award for Best Original Song for “Say You, Say Me”, featured in the film White Nights. The song also won the Academy Award for Best Original Song. In 2016, Richie received the Songwriters Hall of Fame’s highest honor, the Johnny Mercer Award. He has served with Luke Bryan and Katy Perry as a judge for the singing competition American Idol since its move to ABC from the Fox network. Here are all of Lionel Richie’s albums ranked.

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10. Just For You (2004)

“This is my favorite Lionel Richie album. I had heard some of his classic songs before Just For You but this is the album that really got me into his music. I just loved hearing his voice on modern, back in 2004, songs but without him losing who he is. A lot of artists get to a point where they just sound like they are trying too hard to stay relevant and in my opinion Lionel has never fallen into that group. He just knows how to make good music decade after decade.”

9. Tuskegee (2012)

“OK, so overall I really like this concept and this album. Lionel Richie’s voice has aged much better than many of his generation and his original music is so good that the concept of recreating his hits with other artists who clearly appreciate him is a fantastic idea. Most of these duets are quite good, while the Darius Rucker and Tim McGraw duets are simply exceptional. There are two collaborations, however, that are beyond dismal and just embarassing. First one: Jennifer Nettles on “Hello”. This is a subtle love song and her voice on his song sounds downright creepy. Her opening note (wail?) is hair-raising, and not in a good way. “

8. Renaissance (2000)

“Lionel has built his recent career on being a comeback kid,first with the excellent Louder Than Words and after another album there was a gap.Then this.I remember for sure how hyped it was.The concept was this was one of Lionel’s few solo recordings since the 80’s to have a lot of uptempo tunes. That isn’t quite what happens here. Lionel gives you a grab bag of tunes that are from many sources and made up the world of contemporary music at the time. There are techno songs like “Angel” and “Here Is My Heart”-well they CALL it dance music but what that really means today is poppified 90’s techno-disco.”

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7. Louder Than Words (1996)

“In a world of disposable music and other musical atrocities it is comforting to have music of this caliber.In this great homeland of America we produce some of the best music in the world yet sadly not appreciated.Cds of this nature are bought and later sold for pennies on the dollar like a cheap used car.Music is food for the soul,it should be eaten and digested slowly and savor like fine wine.LOUDER THAN WORDS is a masterpiece and will be historically, one of Lionel Richie best written, best produced album period.”

6. Coming Home (2006)

“Lionel Richie’s eighth studio album as a solo artist is led by “I Call It Love,” a lightly buoyant and bittersweet single produced by Swedish hitmakers Stargate, the same team that helped boost Ne-Yo’s In My Own Words. It’s an ideal match, one that should’ve been made more than once. Too much of Coming Home is merely pleasant — particularly the adult contemporary fare, with the exception of “I Love You” — or too conscious of remaining with the times. While the likes of “Why” and “Up All Night” involved Richie’s songwriting in some capacity, just about any twentysomething vocalist could be fronting them; the same goes for the Jermaine Dupri-produced “What You Are.” The stab at emotionally cleansing reggae of the Bob Marley variety, “Stand Down,” comes up short as well. That said, at least half the album should satisfy Richie’s longtime followers.”

5. Hello From Las Vegas (2019)

“Was hoping this was going to great, it’s really not. Lionel Richie has a lot of slow or mid tempo piano based songs. These are the songs that put him on the map. For some reason though when he does these love he speeds them up a bit. It almost sounds like he is so tired of singing these that he’s just trying to get them over with. His voice has changed over the years and doesn’t have the same timbre it once had, but these are great songs just not performed especially well.”

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4. Back To Front (1992)

“Well, to be honest I have a serious problem with Lionel Richie. While I think he’s got nice voice most of his songs are barely listenable for me, especially his epic ballads. There are only few times, when Lionel steps out of his comfort zone and takes risk. “Back To Front” is a compilation that for the most part shows just one part of his artistic vision, while ignoring some of the more interesting and less commerical experiences. But that’s what this compilation was made for in the first place. The intention was to put all of his #1 singles, not his more daring and less dated R&B numbers. So, what we have here is just a nice trip down the memory lane. His songs with The Commodores are still better than most of his solo output. “Easy” and “Still” are among finer R&B ballads of the late 70’s and early 80’s.”

3. Lionel Richie (1982)

“Lionel’s debut album in 1982 has that Commodores feel but without the Commodores. Lionel left the group and took James Anthony Carmichael who was the Commodores producer and arranger with him. From start to finish, the album is perfect for Lionel. “Truly” the biggest single on the album boosted this album high. “You Are”, “My Love” and “You Mean More To Me” are great classic songs and this album is the start of Lionel’s successful 80’s career.  A fantastic album for a casual Lionel Richie listener. I recommend this album to everyone. Put it with your collection.”

1. Can’t Slow Down (1983)

“Can’t Slow Down is Lionel’s second album and it seems this album was the biggest selling album in Motown history! This 1983 album sold more copies than any Commodores album he participated on. Practically the entire album was played heavily on the radio. Only one thing that stands out about this album, the sappiest song made this album what it is ,the track “Hello” closed out the album on a chart topping sappy note. I think alot of the R&B Commodores fans in the late 70’s was getting mad at them for making so much sappy material and crossing over because of Lionel. It meant less party music for them. Well this album proved it with songs like “Hello”. The remainder of the album “Stuck On You”, “All Night Long (All Night)”, “Penny Lover” and “Running With The Night” were played heavily on radio stations and MTV network. My favorite is “Love Will Find Away”. “