Terius Nash: 1977

Background

Following issues with his contract with Def Jam Recordings, work on The-Dream's purported fourth studio album Love IV MMXII halted, having originally been due for release of September 20, 2011. 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. The album was released via The-Dream's website on August 31, 2011 for free, despite Def Jam's objections to the decision.

However, Love IV MMXII failed to see a release during 2012: as a result, it was announced on November 14, 2012 that 1977 would be released for commercial sale by Def Jam on December 18, 2012. 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. The new version of the album features the additional tracks "AK47" and "Tender Tendencies"., while some of the original song titles were changed and the track "Silly Introducing Casha" was omitted.

Critical reception

1977 received generally positive reviews from critics. At Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream publications, the album received an average score of 66, based on 10 reviews. Pitchfork Media critic Jordan Sargent found 1977's music "engrossing" and "vivid" as a one-sided depiction of a failing relationship. 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." 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." 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."

Robert Christgau gave 1977 a three-star honorable mention in his consumer guide for MSN Music, indicating "an enjoyable effort consumers attuned to its overriding aesthetic or individual vision may well treasure." He cited "Wedding Crasher" and "Used to Be" as highlights and quipped, "Living for sex gets less dreamy all the time". AllMusic's Andy Kellman was more critical, accusing The-Dream of "tedious wallowing ... switch[ing] between licking his wounds and puffing his chest", while Rolling Stone critic Matthew Trammell dismissed his "poorly articulated male scorn rooted in juvenile, you-made-me-cheat reasoning". Tom Ewing of The Guardian named 1977 "the worst thing Nash has made", panning his "unhappy, scab-picking".

Personnel

Credits for Terius Nash: 1977 adapted from Allmusic.