Ne-Yo's "Beautiful Monster"

*Second single-only review

Ne-Yo's last album "Year of the Gentleman", which gathered six Grammy nominations, was released nearly two years ago. In 2010 he is preparing for the release of his new album, "Libra Scale", with the dark, first single "Beautiful Monster".The song is a depature for Ne-Yo in terms of theme and concept, but his vocals prove why he is coming back.
"Beautiful Monster" quickly comes off as a mixture of Michael Jackson and Lady Gaga. The song talks about a girl who Ne-Yo describes as a "monster" while dark and gothic inspired background beats and production, which resemble Gaga's "The Fame Monster" album, support his vocals that can be compared as those coming from the late King of Pop. It is a great choice as a first single because it introduces the audience to the direction that Ne-Yo is taking his music career.
The song is classified as electropop, but is somewhat unique and a type of song that is not heard playing on the radio that much. The song is slow-paced in the way that Ne-Yo delivers the lyrics, but the beats pick up the pace enough so that the listener can get hooked and find it enjoyable. The lyrics themselves are nothing special compared to his past work, but the way Ne-Yo sings the "I don't mind"'s throughout the song scream Michael Jackson.
Ne-Yo has the talent, the vocals and the ability to write amazing songs. Both of those talents come together perfectly and show that his career is no where near a halt. His last hit single "Mad" was also released in 2008, but there is no doubt that he has another hit on his hands with "Beautiful Monster". Ne-Yo decided to be creative and try something new with his new single and it pays off and gets an 88% rating from me.