1977 (also known as Terius Nash: 1977)[2] is the fourth album by American singer-songwriter The-Dream. It was originally released as a free download on August 31, 2011, through the singer's Radio Killa website. Recorded over the course of two weeks, the album was issued in response to contractual issues with The-Dream's label, Def Jam Recordings, delaying the production of his planned IV Play album. 1977 was later released for commercial sale by Def Jam on December 18, 2012,[3] and IV Play followed in 2013.
Recording
Following issues with his contract with Def Jam Recordings, production on The-Dream's purported fourth studio album Love IV MMXII halted, having originally been due for release of September 20, 2011.[2] As a result, The-Dream recorded additional material for a new album titled 1977 – named after the year of his birth – which he intended as a stopgap release following the delays to Love IV MMXII;[2] the recording was done over the course of two weeks.[4]
Music and lyrics
According to Interview magazine, 1977 still features the "catastrophically lush productions" of The-Dream's previous three albums but departs from their "epic love-gushing Prince suite or sparse snap-and-bop". Instead, "accounts of love lost" are conceived as more of a "somber shrink visit", while the singer's "wiggling tenor sounds more liquored-up and angry than ever", with the magazine citing the song "Used to Be" as an account of "how his life's changed – at one point, he even jokes about ending it."[5]
Release
1977 was released as a free download through The-Dream's Radio Killa website[6] on August 31, 2011,[5] despite Def Jam's objections to the decision.[2] The release was credited under the singer's legal name, Terius Nash.[5] After Love IV MMXII failed to see a release during 2012, it was announced on November 14, 2012, that 1977 would be released for commercial sale by Def Jam on December 18, 2012.[3] Unlike the free version of the album, where he was credited under his birth name Terius Nash, the commercial release will see The-Dream returning to being credited under his stage name.[3] The new version of the album features the additional tracks "AK47" and "Tender Tendencies".[3]Love IV MMXII would later be released as IV Play in 2013.[7]
1977 was met with generally positive reviews. At Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from professional critics, the album received an average score of 66, based on 10 reviews.[4]
Reviewing in September 2011, Pitchfork critic Jordan Sargent found 1977's music "engrossing" and "vivid" as a one-sided depiction of a failing relationship.[11] Glenn Gamboa from Newsday felt the record "doesn't quite stack up against The-Dream's more polished work, lacking his usual lyrical wordplay and musical sophistication, but the intensity of the emotion keeps it interesting."[1] Ken Capobianco of The Boston Globe felt that The-Dream shares "too much" with the more "confessional" album and said that "his usual sensual production and delicious hooks are missing, but the rawer musical approach serves the lyrics' edges."[16]The New York Times critic Jon Caramanica wrote, "These songs aren't much more than melodic rants, but that's enough for Mr. Nash, who's never been a forceful singer, but whose talent for cramming oddball twists into R&B remains unparalleled."[17]Robert Christgau gave 1977 a three-star honorable mention in his consumer guide for MSN Music,[6] indicating "an enjoyable effort consumers attuned to its overriding aesthetic or individual vision may well treasure."[18] He cited "Wedding Crasher" and "Used to Be" as highlights, although he also summed the album up with the judgement that "living for sex gets less dreamy all the time".[6]
Other reviewers were more critical. AllMusic's Andy Kellman accused The-Dream of "tedious wallowing" and alternately "licking his wounds and puffing his chest",[8] while Rolling Stone critic Matthew Trammell dismissed his lyrics as "poorly articulated male scorn rooted in juvenile, you-made-me-cheat reasoning".[14] Tom Ewing from The Guardian regarded 1977 as "the worst thing" the singer had recorded, finding it marred by "unhappy, scab-picking".[19]
