I'm sure after 40 years of creating soulful love songs and pop masterpieces, it's gets a bit hard for "Smokey Robinson" to keep coming up with new ways to express his feelings. I'm still not sure that's any excuse for one of the funniest musical analogies I've ever heard, "Sleeping In/ I can feel the love thing/ Creeping in/ Like butter from a biscuit."

"Intimate" is Robinson's first studio effort in seven years, and it's good to hear that time away hasn't changed the man, or muffled that golden throat. Also, his first album for Motown Records in years, the disc shows Smokey treading largely familiar ground. To be sure, there are a few surprises on the disc, the first coming with the opening and title track. A far cry from what I was "expecting" from "Smokey Robinson," the album opens with a man whispering "Let's be intimate," complete with cheesy echo effects. The track itself turns out to be a sexy, jazzy number carried along by a fat bass groove, with saxophonic highlights accompanying Smokey's still silky vocals. Maybe it's just the fact that the groove sets the song apart from all the other songs on the disc (except for the instrumental "Intimate Reprise" that closes the disc), but "Intimate" is the best track on this album.

For the most part, however, Robinson's first album in seven years, and his return to Motown Records after nine years away, is built on the mellow R&B ballads that have marked Robinson's career as one of the industry's leading romanticists. Songs like the David Foster-penned (along with Bruce Roberts and Junior Miles) "Love Love Again," and the smooth "Ready to Roll," stand out from the crowd. The legendary Motown Records founder, Berry Gordy, helped write two songs on "Intimate," including "Just Let Me Love You." With a production/arrangement assist from Brian McKnight, and layered chorus vocals, the track just screams for a Miracles reunion.

Smokey even steps beyond the English language on one track, singing "Tu Me Besas Muy Rico," (translates to something like "You kiss me so good") entirely in Spanish.

Of course, even the master has his missteps. "Easy To Love" is particularly annoying. In it, Smokey sings about an old flame, and expresses regret over the loss of that relationship, "You were easy to love/ So hard to forget." Unfortunately, his vocals are delivered without much expression, leaving an impression that the protagonist, however hard he found it to forget the girl, has gotten over her completely. Generally speaking, however, Robinson has delivered a solid album, hitting all those notes that fans have come to expect from him over the years. As I said before, he's still got that voice, and like the band "ABC" said about a decade ago, "When Smokey sings/ I hear violins." It's still true.