Japanese Import
A weak follow up to 1995's Earth and Heaven, this album loses a big name producer (Gary Katz) and label (Reprise), but it's still got a few tracks of funky, danceable acid jazz and nu soul. With no label backing, there aren't many of the big name guest artists that played on the earlier disc, so this joint is missing the horns and solos of the previous album. It doesn't quite measure up to the earlier release; I'd classify it as a sophomore slump. This is the mixed bag you'd expect from an album with a hodge-podge of lead vocalists and producers. On the first album, the group sounded like its main influence was Incognito; this album sounds more like Soul II Soul for the first half while much of the last half has a drum & bass beat.
Peak on the US Billboard Top 200 chart: Did not chart (evidence suggests this album was released only in Japan).
Tracks: My picks today are Remember, Moving On, and the lead track Love Again which, according to the obi strip (below), is a "super hit tune" and the "ZIP-FM 4th Anniversary Song." Tracks 5 & 8, Let The Games Begin and Love Me Now are a little too hip-hoppy for my tastes so I usually skip those along with From The Control Tower and the drum & bass stuff of the latter half, with the exception of Natural High (the penultimate track), which has a sweet slow groove workin'. The album closes with a below average acoustic number, wha?
Personal Memory Associated with this CD: None.
Previously revisited for the blog:
Earth And Heaven (1995)
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