It's tempting to call Lay It Down a return to Al Green's
classic form, but it's really a painstaking re-creation of his classic form.
Working with ?uestlove from The Roots and a roll call of neo-soul stars
(including Anthony Hamilton, John Legend, and The Dap-Kings) Lay It Down is Green's perfectly
realized tribute to his own past, with all the trademarks—the slinking
guitar, the soft organ, the pulsing drumbeat, the snappy horns—placed
impeccably in all the right, old places. It's no small compliment to say that
anything off Lay It Down could be played next to album tracks from I'm
Still In Love With You or Call Me, and only hardcore Green fans would be able to
place the vintage. (It helps that Green's impossibly silky vocals are as
well-preserved as the music.) Because Lay It Down recalls the sound of
Green's best so well, it also demands comparison with his best songs, a
benchmark the album never really approaches. ("Just For Me" comes closest.) But
by any other standard, Lay It Down is a worthy addition to one of soul's most
distinguished discographies.