|
I could go on but Back-In-The-Day we very seldom turned the GOOD albums over because we were either 'Gettin' busy' or too high to bother.With The Modern Age you here the EVERYTHING. A Favorite Uptempo Soul Track. Since that time a lot of Radio Shows and Compilations have been named after this song. Of the remaining 3 (Three) Track only the Ballad "Happy" stands out. (#7) This was (And STILL IS) an All-Time Favorite Slow Jam. To most of us Connoisseurs of Soul Music from the 70's this album is like what Marvin Gaye's "What's Going On" album is to the Soul Music Purists.
(#25) has been (And STILL IS) a Cha-Cha favoite among The Kings & Queens of Cha-Cha Dancers. Smokey slows it down again with the Album Cut "Wedding Song", Yet another Slow Jam Favorite. It's just good all the way through. Then you have "Back That's Backatcha" A #1 Billboard Charted Hit Single. If there ever was a Smokey Robinson album to have in your collection.THIS IS IT. The opening Track "Quiet Storm" A Billboard Charted Hit Single.
Next up is "The Agony And The Ecstasy" Another Billboard Charted Hit Single.
It became hugely popular. It is a song cycle, a concept album, that should be listened to from start-to-finish. This album's influence is heard today in the world of smooth jazz and adult-oriented RnB. This should be in every black music collection. When released black radio stations like WHUR (Howard U) in D.C. began setting aside airtime for long slow jams, calling the format, "Quiet Storm" and using the title cut as the intro.
Now, if "Happy" wasn't so goddamned long and boring, and if "Wedding Song" wasn't so randomly blah, we'd have 4.5 to five stars our hands, now wouldn't we. You've got your melodic, faultless hit "Baby That's Backatcha" (with a flute part that just gets me every time), the title track, which for whatever reason reminds me of "The Rain Song" - couldn't tell you why, but that's the first tune that pops into my head when I hear it (not that the Smokester's ripping off Zep, that would just be weird.).; and the infidelity-themed "The Agony and the Ecstasy".
And if those three float your metaphorical boat, you'd be glad to know that "Coincidentally" is in the same style. All three were major hits, with the title song inspiring the love-it-or-hate-it radio format of the same name.
Well I like classic soul as much as the next guy, and this is a hell of an album. My top picks.
Very mellow - good chillout album. I mean, mostly.
But hey, don't overlook the rest of the album, because it's good.
It arrived quickly and it sounded great. I was so happy I was able to purchase it on CD because I orginally have on LP.
And the title track itself started a whole new sub-genre of R&B music.can you think of another song that has done that. That's why Smokey is the genius he is; he didn't try to do anyone else's style but his own.The album is quintessential Smokey.his same songwriting formula he has used for decades. "The Agony and the Ecstasy" is old-school Smokey and those from all the 'hoods and barrios include this in their Oldies mixes (how 'bout that opening line. The melodies and rhythms simply reflect what the 70s were about, using "non-native" instruments (latin percussions/rhythms), funkier beats and bass lines, and non-standard rhythms and times.
.just like he did at the beginning of Motown. Nothing more need be said.He will be considered in the future one of the 20th century's greatest American songwriters, up there with Cole Porter, Bob Dylan, Stevie Wonder, and Bruce Springsteen. Vintage Smokey hooking you into the song). Now here he his, just like Marvin Gaye and Stevie Wonder, going beyond the pop success for a new sound, new direction, new motivations.
Smokey is a master songwriter, always keeping his ear to what's hip, and that what "Baby That's Back Atcha" is; hip, funky, and totally Smokey. This album simply reaffirms what many already know. Marvin & Stevie went their way; and "Quiet Storm" was Smokey's way.His way was smoother, more gentler, never one to ruffle feathers like Marvin or Stevie did with their songs. You can imagine that if this were the mid 60s, these tracks would sound something like "Track of My Tears" or "Ooh Baby Baby".
|
