Average Rating: 
Rating: - A classic pop album
By 1983, Lionel Richie's solo career was in full swing, and it led to him releasing this masterpiece. All that it produced was five top 10 hits and a combination of beautiful love songs and some catchy uptempo numbers.The leadoff title track shows a small bit of remaining funk in Lionel's music with a catchy little number. Then comes a few big hits in a row, starting with the very fun, uptempo number "All Night Long". Talk about a catchy, partying track, and yet it remains true to being musically legitimate (i.e., not manufactured like today's throw-away pop garbage). Then comes the lovely track "Penny Lover", which is the first of the slower tracks. Further pleasant diversity comes with the next track, the country-ish, fantastic love song "Stuck On You". Next come a couple of rare non-hit tracks. First comes "Love Will Find A Way", with its slow, plesant grove; and it is followed by the straight melodic ballad, "The Only One". These songs could have been hits just as easily as most of the other tracks, as they are both very good. But then comes a great uptempo number, "Running With The Night", which includes an electric guitar solo that reminds me of much of the day's melodic rock. That is definitely a favorite track, and it is followed by a beautiful love ballad that is also a favorite--"Hello". I remember how hearing this song made me feel as a teen, and it still tugs at the heart strings as an adult. A classic track to close out a classic album. It just doesn't get much better than this in the realm of pure pop music. Plenty of music listeners rail against pop music, and I am right there when it comes to talentless, cookie-cutter pop. However, there is plenty of legitimate pop out there, and this is the epitome of it. Lionel Richie is a truly talented musician and singer, and this album is simply him at his solo best. Very recommended.
Rating: - An ironic title for someone whose love ballads were king
By the end of his years with the Commodores, Lionel Richie was really the leader of the band. Occasionally, they gave up some funk, but were better known as a vehicle for Richie's romantic love songs. Only time would tell when he went solo, and that did happen in the early '80s. His self-titled first album was a huge hit, even bigger than his music with the Commodores. But it wasn't until his second CAN'T SLOW DOWN, that Richie was put over the top. Spending more than a year on the charts, and spawning 5 top 10 hits, CAN'T SLOW DOWN was truly one of the biggest albums of the '80s, and interestingly enough, it proved that Lionel can create some great grooves if he chose to. The biggest hit, "All Night Long", topped the charts for 4 weeks, and was even performed by Richie at the Olympics. More calypso than funk, it was still a great tune to move the feet to. The album's other hit dance song was the synthesizer-drenched "Running With The Night", which is better in the shorter, single version. The 6-minute album incarnation runs a little too long. However, the other 3 hits were, you guessed it, romantic ballads, further indicating where Lionel's talent really lay. "Hello" was another #1 hit, thanks to a popular video on MTV, followed by the slight country tinge of "Stuck On You", and the sentimental "Penny Lover". While the critics may have been against Lionel Richie for most of his career, it's easy to find poetry in simplicity, and that is Lionel's legacy: helping to make people say those three little words a little easier to do. With that in mind, CAN'T SLOW DOWN showed that Lionel, love him or leave him, was a force to be reckoned with in the 1980s pop scene. While his old band would certainly slow down with the years, Lionel Richie was just getting warmed up at this point. But he did a damn good job at making himself ready.
Rating: - One of the best, not only Lionel Richie, but in general
This is a wonderful Pop/Rock/Dance album with some soul and soft stuff thrown in. There's a varitey of tempos on here and nearly every song was a hit. The relaxed yet party sound of the tropical "All Night Long", the somewhat rocking "Running With the Night", are bad mood lifting uptempo songs. The ballads were of course good too. The soft yet exciting almost southern "Stuck On You", the beautiful "Hello" where Lionel professes love to a girl he thinks about but hardly knows, and the perfect "Penny Lover" where he recounts meeting the woman he knows very well are touching, yet not at all sappy. They still have a happy feeling. The others are equally good too. The fast paced and explanatory dancable title track, "Love Will Find A Way" is long and drum beat driven, somewhere between a ballad and Pop. "The Only One" is another mid-tempo love song produced by David Foster. He worked with Chicago at the time too, so if you like their '80s albums, you'll like this. I was born in 1981, this came out in '83 so I've heard this millions of times (I still have our old tape bought way back than) and never tire of it. When I'm an old man this is one of the things I'll tell my grandchildren I literally 'grew up' with. Way more varied than typical R&B nowadays.
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