The name 'John Legend' sounds too good to be true, and of course it is - in fact, this singer and pianist is plain old John Stephens from Philadelphia. Still, it's probably not surprising that he's got such a big head, seeing as his producer, hip-hop guru Kanye West, has described him as simply 'the future'. Actually, it would be much more accurate to say that he does a pretty good job of updating the past. His stately piano ballads could have come straight from the Elton John songbook, but they're rescued from blandness by some prime R'n'B stylings and the man's impressively soulful vocals. Even Snoop Dogg himself turns up at one point, lending the album some street cred that it doesn't really need. A couple more records like this, and that choice of name mightn't sound so presumptuous after all.

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