John Legend: Once Again

SOPHOMORE SLUMP? What sophomore slump? On the follow-up to Get Lifted, the Grammy-winning multi-platinum debut from John Legend, the one-time session man chucks the simple old-school nostalgia for a collection of music that's genuinely legendary. He jumps out of Once Again with the breezy, retro-futuristic pop of the album's first single, 'Save Room', a song so silky and seductive that when my dad heard me playing it, he assumed I was listening to some long-lost gem from the Bacharach/David catalog. (It actually does borrow the melody of the 1968 Classics IV single, 'Stormy', introduced to Legend by producer will.i.am.)