Can't Slow Down

Can't Slow Down is the second solo studio album by American recording artist Lionel Richie. It was released on October 14, 1983, by Motown Records. Can't Slow Down has been certified Diamond by the RIAA, selling over 10 million copies in the United States and over 20 million copies worldwide, making it Richie's best-selling album, and one of the best-selling albums of the 1980's. Five singles were released from the album, all of which hit the top ten of the Billboard Hot 100 chart, including two that reached No. 1: "All Night Long (All Night)" and "Hello". The album subsequently won the Grammy Award for Album of the Year at the 27th Annual Grammy Awards in 1985. Critical reception In a contemporary review for The Village Voice, music critic Robert Christgau gave the album a "B+" and called it a "surprisingly solid" improvement, particularly with respect to Richie's ballad singing. He felt that its "jumpy international dance-pop" suited Richie more than the Commodores' funk had and predicted that, considering his "well-established appeal to white people," Can't Slow Down had the potential to become a "mini-Thriller". Don Shewey of Rolling Stone magazine gave the album four out of five stars and said that, although the ballads were monotonous, Richie successfully broadened his music for different listeners and drew on contemporary artists such as Stevie Wonder and Michael Jackson: "if you can't innovate, imitate. And the more honest they are about their sources, the better."