The Soul Express Album of the Month
April 2000
L J REYNOLDS Love Is
About To Start (US Volt)
I Didn't Mean To Hurt You -
Superlady - Silly - Don't Go There - Key To The
World - Love Is About To Start - Nobody But You -
Down On My Luck - Everything Is You
PHENOMENAL. After 12 years away from the solo
spotlight L J Reynolds enters
the 21st Century with a MONSTER album that is a
MUST for your collection. I was not expecting
such a phenomenal album, and when Gerry alerted
me to the first song, I still could not imagine
the immensity of SOUL, which I was very soon to
discover. The first 30 seconds of Didn't Mean
To Hurt You grabs the pit of your stomach
and has you eager for more, more, more. This is
what soul music is all about: a sexy, slinky
groove, sultry sax and gut-wrenching gritty
vocals. Mr. Reynolds has come up with a KILLER
song, and applause goes to the producer, Michael
J. Powell, for this immensity. The style
is not exactly like Chapter 8, which
I expected, but is more contemporary, but with a
CLASSIC edge.
He is also responsible for other MONSTERS such as
Don't Go There which is another KILLER.
Reynolds is joined by The Dramatics on
this knee-trembler; an exquisitely produced song,
The gentlemen sound fantastic and are so much
like an impassioned Dells than
anyone I have ever heard. LJ sounds so much like Marvin
Junior it is unbelievable. Equally, Love
Is About To Start is deserving of the
hard-to-earn Lowdown "sophistisoul"
tag.
The final song, Everything Is You, is a
dream of a song which LJ has produced himself,
his ultra-soulful voice rich, pleading and as
strong as ever. Superlady is a fine
dancer, Silly a good attempt at the Deniece
Williams song, and his 1999 version of Key
To The World is also superb. My least
favourites are Nobody But You and Down
On My Luck, but you cannot beat the SEVEN
killer tunes that we have. A pure listening
pleasure and a huge slap on the back to all
concerned in this top-drawer project. ESSENTIAL.
The review by Barry Towler exclusively
for RECORD CORNER, which is one of the
leading soul shops in the world. The review is
not featured in our printed issue.
Albums of the Month in
1999
Albums of the Month in
1998
Albums of the Month in
1997
Other CD reviews
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