The 1960s and early 1970s may, it could be argued, have been the golden era for Motown but let's face it, under the inspired stewardship of Jheryl Busby, Steve McKeever and the likes of the legendary Paris Eley and Clarance Avant the period 1988 - 1995 was something of a rennaisance. If not in the chart-topping scores, definitely in the quality music scores. many of Motown's 90s output will appear on here as they really do stand the test of time where a LOT of 90s material, franky, deoes not. The 1990s was a decade that in my opinion saw the decline of quality black music in favour of trashy, brashy and ephemeral MTV-aimed so-called Hip Hop R&B as pioneered by Andre Harrell, Teddy Riley and the new breed of Engineer / Programmer than swept aside the real producer and arranger. Motown had been siding up with Jimmy Varner for some years by 1992, and their work with the Tempations on their "Special" album, and Gerald Alston's "Open Invitation" album was nothing short of excellent. A natural step was to get the trio on board. Sadly, this resulted in one set - and to date their last set. Due to poor promotion and no media excitement the project sank quicker than the Titanic and must have been galling to all concerned. The magnificence of this CD did not pass me - and I am sure you - by. I rate this as their strongest and most consistent album both vocally and musically. Production wise the standard was as high as if Patrick Moten or Michal J. Powell had been in the studio, and the sheer soulfullness is tangible. From the powerful epic "Love Lies", the Marvin and Tammi inpired "The Feeling I Get" and the sheer jubilance of "In Your Arms" this album scores the highest points that it could hope to achieve. The Leon Ware-ish "Don't Change is a real must and the sexy "Tonight" a complete killer. The fact that many supposed soul lovers in the media shot it down in flames as it wasn't Uptown or Acid Jazz, should hang their heads in shame. This set has outlasted all these fads and will remain to outlast anything else they try and hoist upon us. Quality will always be quality.
Barry Towler
The Vibe Scribe
The Vibe Scribe
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