My Name Is Joe

Joe is hardly an appropriate name for a lover man -- it seems more like a moniker for a custodian than a Casanova -- but that's exactly what Joe is. He's an old-fashioned romantic soul crooner in the vein of Al Green, Marvin Gaye, D'Angelo, and, well, Gregory Abbott. He's not as ambitious as D'Angelo is, but that doesn't really matter, since he delivers the goods on his third album, My Name Is Joe. Joe never oversings or oversells a song, he just lays back and sweetly sings. There may not be much variety or many remarkable songs on the record -- "Get Crunk Tonight" stands out with its stuttering, fade-in-fade-out intro and its stylishly funky beat -- but that doesn't matter because this is essentially a mood record, and that mood is love. And it's not a bad romantic mood-setter, either, since Joe is an appealing vocalist, the production is lush without being syrupy, and the songs are all fairly strong, even if only a handful are exceptional ("Somebody Gotta Be on Top," "Treat Her Like a Lady," "Get Crunk Tonight," the N'Sync duet "I Believe in You"). And, really, that's enough, since anyone that gets hooked by a single from My Name Is Joe just wants an assurance that the album will deliver more of the same -- and it does. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine