There was a time when the only thing bigger than Lionel Richie's songs was his hair. 'Easy', 'Three Times A Lady', 'Hello', 'Endless Love', 'All Night Long', 'Say You, Say Me', 'We Are The World' — all his. But, oh what a feeling. the global smash hits dried up after 'Dancing On The Ceiling'.

Not that he was forgotten.

"I spent the past five or six years running into every imaginable new artist and they would say to me, in flattery: 'I love your music, I am trying to be a songwriter like you'," Richie revealed on his recent South African visit.

"So instead of trying to write the next Lionel Richie album," he explained, "I'll go to Akon, I'll go to Ne-Yo and all the rest of the wonderful artists and say: 'If you were Lionel Richie in 2009 what would he sound like?' and then get out of the way."

Get out of the way he certainly has — reduced to a guest on his own album. Akon walks all over dad-of-Nicole on his two contributions — the smooth Caribbean shuffle 'Just Go' and hands-in-the-air 'Nothing Left To Give' (a reflection on Richie's own song writing perhaps?) — even adding his trademark vocoder effects to the veteran superstar's vocals.

C Tricky Stewart and The-Dream may have toned down their beats but still take over on finger-snapping slow jam 'Forever And A Day', big and bouncy 'I'm Not OK', pretty but gloopy 'Good Morning', barely-there 'Into You Deep' and high energy electro thumper 'Somewhere In London' — all good, solid songs but none that stand out from the current R&B crowd to rival the success of their 'Umbrella'.

And hitmakers for hire StarGate — who connected Richie with the kids on 2006's 'Coming Home' — make a return visit, putting their Swedish sensibilities to the light and bright 'Forever', gently intimate 'Pastime', big ballad 'Think Of You', blandly generic 'I'm In Love' and unfulfilled 'Through My Eyes'.

At least they don't stand in the way of Richie's voice, although his distinctive croon only really soars on album closer 'Eternity'. Also the only song here composed by the once prolific writer, the piano and strings anthem produced by easy listening maestro David Foster is a throwback to the smooth, sophisticated Lionel of old.

But sounding dated, it emphasises that Richie's modern R&B approach really has potential — he just needs to get out of the way less.