Leon Bridges – Good Thing

Beautiful pressing. One of the best sounding records in my collection

Bridges goes big-time, losing all credibility ...

What I loved about Leon Bridges was that he maintained a soulful R&B attitude on his first album, allowing him to have seemingly stepped out of the 60’s, yet developing that same style with fifty years of hindsight, where he was able to smooth out all of the flaws from those years, as if repainting a masterpiece and allowing it to shine with more resonance, purpose and casual cool.

On Good Thing, Bridges is more content, or perhaps strives to reflect the voices he grew up with, contemporary artists such as Usher and Ginuwine, attempting to find the future of R&B, along with some Afro beats, where to my ears he doesn’t come up a winner, but rather one of so many others lacing and infusing their music with electronics and vocal enhancements that are disingenuous, hollow and tinny, where he brings nothing new to the table. If anything, Bridges takes a step back, allowing himself to be swallowed up by production teams and A&R people who’ve molded him into the shape of so many other artists, allowing his music to come off as disposable instead of timelessly essential. To prove that true simply consider that the entire project was overseen by the hand of Ricky Reed, producer of Maroon 5, Meghan Trainor, Twenty One Pilots and so many more, fashioning them like images of each other, to the point where it’s impossible to tell one from the other.

Of course I understand the concept, I’ve been in and around recording studios forever, listening to artists being asked if they want to play small clubs for the rest of their lives, or if they want to step onto the stage of stadium stardom. During the most relevant parts of most artist’s careers, playing the small clubs and venues have been where they’ve shone most brightly, been most satisfying to hear, developed a following of devoted and loving loyal fans, where the fans feel connected to the man and his music … no one feels connected to anything but mass consumption in a stadium. And the sad thing is, Bridges listened to those folks, where in the end, he made a rather run of the mill album that will not be ed, while never managing to step onto that big stage with throngs of adoring fans.

This is not to say that Bridges doesn’t have moments on this record, he does, yet even those are overshadowed by the tragedy of the recording studio. Simply consider the video for the song “If It Feels Good (Then It Must Be)”, a bit of goofiness with the opening shot being of Bridges standing on a bridge (get it, Bridge on a bridge?), which instantly turns into a choreographed syncopated dance number that offers up absolutely nothing for serious music lovers or those who were anxious and excited to be holding Good Thing in their hands, people like me who ended up feeling disappointed, let down and tossed aside for no good reason at all, other than the fact that Leon Bridges decided that Ricky Reed knew best. Perhaps for mass consumption Reed did know best, yet it’s been over two years now and we’ve heard nothing from Leon Bridges, while Ricky Reed is busy fashioning others in like manner, disposable elevator music, that like a sweet sugary candy bar, gives one a momentary rush, though the end result is without satisfaction.

*** The Fun Facts: In 2020, Leon did team up with the band Khruangbin on the four song EP Texas Sun, another play on words as Bridges is a Texas ‘son’ (born in Fort Worth), though the song “Texas Sun” is the only track from that collection that rang true to my ears.

Review by Jenell Kesler

The best album of 2018. Lyrics are great and Leon's voice is smooth but emotional. Definitely worth a listen if you're on the fence because of all the hype he gets.

Leon & Co. knock the ball out of the park on this album. Phenomenal batch of soul, funk, r&b and disco tunes. Pressing is also top-notch, as is the sound. A remarkable sophomore effort...

My copy arrived incredibly bowed - as if it the sleeve was overstuffed. Even with the shrinkwrap it's strangely bowing open.