So how do I feel after my second foray into the world of soul? Well I always had a sneaking admiration for Earth, Wind and Fire, even as I denounced them as a “poxy disco band” in my youth. Tracks like “September”, “Fantasy” and “After the love has gone” certainly stuck in my head, and although their debut album failed to impress me, I knew enough about them to be able to make an educated guess at how I would receive Philip Bailey's solo material. Tavares the same: I knew them from their hit singles, but as I said in the review of their album, up to now I was unaware they were even related, never mind brothers. Of the two, I would definitely prefer Bailey and if his album had started on track five I would have liked it a lot better, but what does that say when, of those six closing tracks, four of them are cover versions, one of which is of his own band? How does that speak to his competence or success as a solo artist, if he has to rely on other people's music?
Of course, this is just one album, and it could be that Bailey writes all his own material for his other recordings, I don't know. This is just a quick glance at his music and I have no right to be labelling him as someone who survives on the talent of others, which I'm sure is not the case. But “Dreams” did not, sadly, afford me the opportunity I had hoped for, to judge Philip Bailey in his own right, and while perhaps a bad choice, it's done now and all I can say is that I can see definite flashes of brilliance, but they're too sporadic for me to say that yes, this is a soul artiste I could really get into. As for Tavares? Well having heard that album --- which again, I concede, is held to be one of their weaker efforts --- I have no real desire to listen to them again.
For now, the search goes on.
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Trollheart: Signature-free since April 2018
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