Muse LP

John Legend's "Muse" started because Pharrell Williams heard Legend's voice pop up on Clipse's "The Birds Don't Sing" and decided he had to produce the whole thing himself, singing on a few tracks too while Clipse show up to return the favor on "Bodies on the Floor." Legend has got the EGOT and the hits, "All of Me," "Ordinary People," but this one digs backward instead, built on gospel, doo-wop, and soul with Nina Simone, Nat King Cole, and Marvin Gaye as the north stars.