The album is composed of some of Cole's lesser known, but beloved works, re-imagined and re-invented by a sprawling cornucopia of today's brightest producers. It bobs and weaves through a myriad of genres including: Jazz, Hip Hop, Samba, Soul, and Reggae. Production credits include; Cee-Lo Green, Cut Chemist, The Roots, Will.i.am, Brazilian Girls and more. With a cast of characters this diverse, some discontinuity was to be expected. The album's sequencing however kept those instances to a minimum.
Production: 4.5
The clear highlight of this album is the production, I wish I could give it a 4.8 in this category, because it's that close to being perfect. Piano's meet autotune, maracas high five 808's, high hats slow dance with synthesizers, a complete sonic treat. Standout tracks in his category include: Cut Chemist's multi-drum driven "Day In - Day Out" and Ceelo-Green's "Lush Life" which provides a trippy, string filled ride backed by eery vocals.
Vocals: 3
My least favorite part of the album. It feels like the production was the focus of this project and vocals were a complete after thought. That's not the best approach, when tinkering with the work of man known for his smooth baritone voice. The relegation of Cole's vocals to merely providing background filler was bad enough, but the lack of vocal support from the various guests appearances was downright confusing. Bright spots here include Bebel Gilberto on "Brazilian Love Song" and newcomer Izza Kizza's on "Hit That Jive Jack".
Creativity: 4
I gave high marks here, not because it was a remake of music from another era, but because there wasn't a genre that they were afraid to touch. Most remakes of this sort, usually funnel the remixes through two or three genres, I counted at least seven on Re:Generation. All the experiments didn't work, but experimentation is a huge part of creativity.
Overall a very solid album. It's genre spanning composition will provide the casual listener with about 5 solid tracks for ipod use, a World Music listener will find a little more than twice that amount, and DJ's will have this on repeat.
