Robin Thicke 'Blurred Lines' Review: Thicke Proves He Is More Than Just A R&B Singer

Robin Thicke, son of Growing Pains star Alan Thicke and husband to flawless actress Paula Patton, steers away from his smooth R&B, slow jam, Marvin Gaye-inspired roots in his sixth studio album Blurred Lines. Thicke's new, funkier sound makes Blurred Lines a perfect summer album.

Before the release of Blurred Lines, Thicke was incredibly underrated as an artist, often times referred to as a wannabe Justin Timberlake. Though he’s been in the industry for years, he began his career as a songwriter, writing for the likes of Christina Aguilera, Usher and Mary J. Blige. When he started releasing records—his first, "When I Get You Alone," in 2000 – he became well known in the R&B world, but the same couldn’t be said for the pop world. Regardless of the fact that Thicke has had four songs from five albums that reached the top 100 on the Billboard Charts, Thicke remained mostly an R&B artist and was not considered to have reached great popular success.

With Blurred Lines, Thicke has assured that he will never again be described as a wannabe or solely an R&B singer. The title track off his new album "Blurred Lines" has maintained the desired No. 1 spot on the Hot 100 list since early June and is still the most requested dance hit of the summer.

In addition to releasing the smash hit "Blurred Lines"—whose music video has drawn a lot of attention, with some criticizing it for being demeaning towards women with its racy images – Thicke has released two singles off his newest album. "Give It 2 U," featuring Kendrick Lamar, is a heavy Dupstep track that goes far beyond Thicke’s signature sound, and "For The Rest Of My Life," an R&B semi-ballad about the teenage relationship between Patton and himself.

With these two contrasting songs, one might think that Blurred Lines is an eclectic, scatterbrained confusing album, but what Thicke is demonstrating is that he can do it all and be it all. Thirteen years after his debut track, Thicke is finally going after the title of “World Wide Sensation.”

Thicke has pulled out all the stops lining up several-featured artist on his 11 track album including Pharrell and T.I. on "Blurred Lines," Will.i.am, Timbaland, Dr. Luke and Lamar.

By far my favorite song on the album is "Got Stupid 4 U", produced by Will.i.am, because it takes a slightly different direction that the other songs. "Got Stupid 4 U" features an acoustic guitar and is a chill song that manages to make every female listener feel like Thicke is singing directly to her.

"Take It Easy On Me" sounds insanely like Timberlake’s "SexyBack," which makes the Thicke – Timberlake comparison hard to get away from, probably due to the fact that hit-maker Timbaland produced both songs. An innovative club track, "Take It Easy On Me" delivers a catchy hook and quickly becomes a likeable song. "Ooo La La" is another must-hear track as its very sexy and reminiscent of Thicke’s signature Casanova sound.

"Ain’t No Hat 4 That" is one funky, soulful, good time that Thicke produced himself along with his father, but in my opinion it isn’t a standout track. "Get In My Way" keeps with the 70’s sounding, rollerblading style Thicke went with on this album. Thicke calls out his haters on the track, singing, “Ain’t nobody gonna get in my way, I’m gonna make it no matter what you say,” accompanied by horns all through the song.

"Give It 2 U" is another club track, but this time with more of a trance, strobe-light feel to it. Thanks to producer Will.i.am, "Give It 2 U" is one of the better club songs because of its chilled out vibes.

"Top Of The World" shows Thicke changing his style up once more with a talking style track that tells the story of a girl who rose to power and riches following her community college days.

I found myself scratching my head listening to "The Good Life" because, although the lyrics are pleasant enough, the vibe itself makes me think that it could’ve been the opening song to the 80’s hit The Facts of Life – it's the wild card on the album.

The deluxe album features three additional songs—"Pressure," which, not surprisingly, will soon be playing in clubs all over the world with its electric touches, "Put Your Lovin On Me," which starts out deep and sexy and suddenly takes off with heavy beats and Thicke’s haunting voice, and lastly the "Give It 2 U-Remix" featuring 2-Chainz.

Blurred Lines marks ambitious risk for Thicke because it strays away from the sound he’s most known for and strives to take it somewhere brand new. With "Blurred Lines" headlining the album, Thicke earns a big payoff for his daring.

Get Uinterview's FREE iPhone App For Daily News Updates here.

Get the FREE Uinterview iPad app here and watch our videos anywhere.