Leave the daddy-daughter dynamics for People magazine to dissect, but one thing's for sure: with Coming Home, Lionel Richie may divebomb the spotlight so completely that daughter Nicole ends up a shadowy speck in the celebrity haze. Unlike virtually every other high-profile R&B record to arrive in recent years, Coming Home resists the temptation to lean back, even a little, on its dazzled-up list of collaborators, Jermaine Dupri, Raphael Saadiq, and Dallas Austin among them. Hot beats abound, especially on the dancefloor-ready "Up All Night," first single "I Call it Love," and "Why," but the overall vibe is pure Lionel, from the Commodores-esque "What You Are" to the "Penny Lover"-like prettiness of "Coming Home," to the wavy steel-guitar-laced lament that is "Outta My Head." Here are hooks that sink in instantly and vocals that float as if grafted to a bar of Ivory soap. Here, too, is a record unafraid of reaching artistically; if 2004's Just For You was dominated by classy but predictable ballads, Coming Home represents Mr. Richie as the trailblazing musical titan generations of fans fell in love by. Turn the volume up to 11 and make room on the couch--a hotter homecoming won't happen this year. --Tammy La Gorce
