Luther Vandross - Never Too Much
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Music CD Cover
Artist: Luther VandrossEdition: Music CD
Format: Original recording reissued, Original recording remastered
CD Release Date: 2001-07-24
Music Label: Sony
Soundtracks:
- Never Too Much
- Sugar and Spice (I Found Me a Girl)
- Don't You Know That?
- I've Been Working
- She's a Super Lady
- You Stopped Loving Me
- A House Is Not a Home
Free Music Notes for Never Too Much
Free Music Review: A Real Superstar
Hit: 5 Stars
I had been away for a month on vacation during the summer of 2005 and when I came home to the everyday life again and read that Luther Vandross had passed away, I was truly shocked. Luther Vandross for me was one of the greatest singers of all time and he saw simply too young to die at this point. In order to pay tribute to his legacy I reviewed his greatest hits album which was fullpacked with hits from a career that lasted for 25 years. Luther released plenty of good albums through that time, his final album Dance With My Father a smooth jazzy dedication to his father (who died when he was just a child) got plenty of praise and was the only Vandross album to ever top the album charts and the title track was nominated for song of the year. As good as that album was I think his best album was his debut album from 1981 "Never Too Much". While many latter albums were mostly about ballads and midtempo's, this album is mostly in a faster pace with plenty of disco influences. Strange you might think? But it's actually the closest Luther got to pure hit potential and it really proves how versatile he was as a musician.
It's said that Luther got interested in music when he heard Dionne Warwick as a child. While music was always a fundamental part of the family, He realized at an early age that singing was what he was meant for and it became an even more crucial part of his life after his father died. And as great as he was, it wasn't hard to understand why. But it took quite a while before he was able to release his debut album. Luther Vandross was already 31 when "Never To Much" was released. Before that he had been singing countless of backround vocals for the likes of David Bowie, Diana Ross, Roberta Flack and Barbara Streisand. Encouraged to go solo he founded a band called "Luther" and released 2 albums that flopped in the late 70's so he went back to singing, writing and arranging music for other artists, in only a few years he had appeared on dozens of albums by both modest and super artists. However, Luther was too talented to be hidden in the backround and eventually his big break came in 1980 when the Italian disco-funk group Change hired him to sing 2 songs for their debut album The Glow of Love, "Searching" and the title track that became a huge international hit and helped him launch his own album. But this time he wasn't gonna flop. "Never Too Much" had plenty of hits and was perhaps one of the best R&B debuts of the 80's getting both grammy nominations and eventually going double platinum as late as 1997 when alot of people had re-disovered Luther's hidden tresaure.
The majority of the album is uptempo disco-funk like the songs he did with Change but there's also some slower songs, especially the revival of the classic Burt Bacharach ballad "A House Is Not a Home" that he made his own. As usual Luther got plenty impact on his abums. He produced and wrote all of other songs and song after song here are amazing. It starts with the biggest hit of them all and early 80's classic "Never Too Much". A funky uptempo simular to "Glow of Love". It topped the R&B charts but only reached #33 on the pop charts. His only pop hit from this album. Imagine if the song had been released in the late 80's instead?. "Sugar and Spice (I Found Me a Girl) continues the trend of great music. An catchy midtempo with horns and really nice hook. It will get you in a good mood for sure. "Don't You Know That" is slower very romantic with disco infleunced sound. I first heard it after a Hip Hop artist sampled the beats and it isn't hard to see why. Another standout. A midtempo called "I've Been Working" is a grower. Here he sings that he prefers a one night stand instead of a fallen love affair. I don't know what to interpret of the lyrics but Vandross remained a bachelor for all his life. "She's a Super Lady" is a fantastic uptempo with really funky sound, typical for Luther's early sound. The remaing songs are ballads, first out his own "You Stopped Loving Me" and then the cover of "A House is Not a Home" that his idol Dionne Warwick had once performed. Luther made it his own and to this day it's nothing short of exellent. This version is 7 minute long, but very emotional. A couple of years ago the song "Slow Jamz" was based on one part towards the end of it, listen to it and you will see what I mean.
Overall, With only 7 songs it may be strange for people today to be interested when they can get any normal album with atleast 14. But those 7 songs are almost flawless and we're talking about one of the greatest singer of our time. "Never Too Much" is the best Vandross album if you ask me, it got both catchy uptempo's and emotional ballads and enough memorable hits to satisfy anyone. This is classic early 80's R&B at it's best. Recommended.
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