Soul Express CD Review

Now, this CD set I definitely recommend. This is a limited edition 6 CD set that covers the label's 1980 - 1985 period, and contains 5 complete albums and a disc of the label's singles releases. Garry Glenn's album is included in this remarkable set, as is the sought after Stayce Branch album from 1983. There are two albums from The Band A.K.A. and a set from a gentleman that I had hitherto been unaware of - Michael Cruz.

Michael Cruz looks like a mixture of UK 80s pop artist B.A. Robertson and Jeff Lorber and has a very serine musical style that borders on MOR pop / soul, which in my book is not such a bad thing. It is certainly more worthwhile than a lot of material trumpeted today as R&B, and I would say that is blue-eyed soul was your bag then you will like this album. Also, if the sort of song akin to Christopher Cross is to your taste then you should like this too. The dancers are OK, but the ballads are far superior. The opening racer, "Long Time, No Love", is a good example of early 80s pop soul and fans of Lee Ritenour's vocal cuts will appreciate this material, think "Banded Together" or "Rit 2" and you're on the right path.

The swirling strings are excellent on the Peabo Bryson-ish "This Time". It has a slight Philadelphia feel and works very well as does the gorgeous "You've Got Me Lovin' Overtime" which is more uptempo. There are 5 previously unreleased tracks, the best being the Chic-ish "Only Game In Town" which Michael sounds vocally like Finis Henderson. Disc three is a compilation of singles from a variety of artists such as Eddie, Jay and Ray, Arthur King's Row, L.S. Movement, Clement Forrest and Rodney Davis, Jr. The Eddie, Jay and Ray is an uptempo disco / funk number from 1980 that sounds very good. My personal favourite is the George Clinton / Zapp / Mtume inspired funker, "Move Everything You've Got" by L.S. Movement which sounds very funky and is very fun.

The Band AKA have 2 albums here - "The Band AKA" and "Men Of The Music" and these sets deliver some great moments. From the first set I highly recommend "Homeward Bound" which is a warm ballad and very much in the quality vein of 1982 than the more computerised side. The remainder of the set is more uptempo but will be definitely worth it for the instrumental version of "Grace" which features some driving beats and lots of Sax licks. "Men Of The Music" was released here in the UK on Epic in 1983 and for me is the better of the two albums in this box set.

The uptempo material is more to my liking. It kicks off with the right sort of groove with "If You Want To Know" and "Joy" which was a single. The ballad "It Must Be Love" is also worth a spin and reminds me slightly of the type of material that Switch were recording for Motown at the start of the 80s. Talking of 80s grooves, the inclusion of Stacye Branche and her "Flash" album will please any 80s soul lovers. "Precious And Special" just oozes dancefloor superiority and has a similar feel to the quality material that Shalamar were putting out in 1983. "Love Is The Word" is another floor filler in a similar vein to René & Angela's "I'll Be Good" and still sounds good to these ears.

My favourite ballad is "We" which opens with some beautiful string work and allows Stacye's vocals to step to the foreground over the scaling piano, highlighting her skills better than on any other song. All these albums are available singularly, but if you visit the PPL website, www.pplzmi.com, then you will see that there is another box set available that covers the post 1985 era, and all other excellent releases. This is very worthwhile and comes highly recommended.
- Barry Towler