 Lisa Stansfield I'm not entirely sure why I bought this CD, seeing as I was never even remotely a Lisa Stansfield fan and had maybe heard only part of her biggest hit ("All Around the World") before. Maybe I'm GAY! Or perhaps this was the height of my "explore artists I'm not familiar with" phase, perhaps in conjunction with my "Buy all new releases!" phase. In either case, it's a fine CD, albeit not one I'll ever put on with any frequency. Lisa is pretty much an extension of what Barry White was doing in the late 70s, and she even gives it up for Barry on a cover of "Never, Never Gonna Give You Up." Her style is uncannily like Barry White's, minus the sometimes embarrassing spoken interludes, but full of similar infectious melodies and (love) unlimited harmonies. The first five tracks are smashin' love grooves, torchy, and sexy, highlighted by "The Real Thing," "I'm Leavin'" and the aforementioned "Never, Never Gonna Give You Up." After that, things get a tad spottier, with a lukewarm ballad ("Don't Cry For Me") and a couple throwaways ("The Line" … utterly forgettable batshit), but for the most part the CD is quite a bit more permanent than it has any right to be. Lisa Stansfield, I would say, is not precisely a "great artist," but this is about as good as pop records in the 90s tend to get, short of them Spice Girls. The songs tend to work best when they're mid-tempo smoky grooves, over which Lisa coos and seduces, but the ballads are pretty good as well (the acoustic "Footsteps" is a standout). The disc is rounded out by two bonus tracks, club mixes of "The Real Thing" and "People Hold On" (the latter not on this disc) … and while the CD is definitely too long, I'd say that these are two of the most exciting tracks on the album. Personally, I'd have cut a few tracks out of the middle, but as I said, this is an album that you have no expectations for but which manages to shine in spite of its conventions. I can't say this will last in my collection forever, but for a CD that I assumed had a three-month shelf life, Lisa Stansfield has held out remarkably long. The gay clubgoer in me wants to declare it one of the best albums of the 90s, while the warring straight rock critic in me hedges a bit. Thankfully, the sly bisexual artist in me wants to fuck both of them, so compromises are almost always possible.
Review by Dandy Newman |