This album came out back in 2001. Here’s what I said about it back then (with some minor editing):
Back in 2000, South Park went after Rod the Mod hard, portraying him as a prune-faced, senile coot who had to be wheeled onstage and couldn’t finish a tune without filling his pants. Savage parody to say the least. But even Rod might admit that he’s been on the edge of self-parody for quite some time.
Human, his two-dozenth album and first for Atlantic, aims for more grownup, contemporary fare. These soft-centred midtempo tracks find the rooster-coiffed crooner borrowing the neo-hip-hop drum machines, synthesizers and production of folks like En Vogue and Babyface, using them as the basis for a slate of pre-fab adult contemporary ballads. Now and again it works, especially on the Macy Gray-penned Smitten — if anybody can write tunes that suit Rod’s rusty rasp, it’s her. Most of the time, though, Human falls somewhere between unengaging and slightly embarrassing — kinda like your dad trying to look hip without realizing he just looks silly.
