Re-visit the old 1980s favourite and surprised how good it sounds - most of the 1980s music bore me to tears because I was there and had enough of it, but this album actually still sparks with energy, inspiration and talent galore. Terence Trent D'Arby was apparently a big-mouthed, self-promoting new Messiah of soul in tradition of James Brown and Solomon Burke (and many others) who loved to boast but guy was genuinely fascinating and this debut must be ranked amongst some of the greatest debut albums ever - where most of the artists take some time before they find the right music identity, D'Arby bursted on the scene fully formed like brilliant update on classic soul genre. Everything about his passion, music, rhythm and voice evoke best of of the 1960s soul re-imagined for than-current production and if I remember correctly, album was stuffed with hits that defined summer of '87.
Strange enough, D'Arby dwindled away very fast after this - like meteor, he came, he conquered and disappeared from public eye, though it must be mentioned that there are handful of subsequent albums released afterwards that perhaps deserve some research, since its inconceivable that someone with such impressive talent suddenly lost all the inspiration. (It could very possibly be that he fell victim to music industry) What is the most interesting about this album is how much he reflects best of the classic soul genre ("Dance Little Sister" for example, is pure James Brown in his prime) and still D'Arby don't sound derivative at all - by combining aspects of Sam Cooke, Marvin Gaye, Smokey Robinson and every great soul artist you can think of, this young punk manages to fit perfectly next to them, shoulder to shoulder. Hits are just fine and they all sound great but my favourite now - in retrospect - must be haunting a cappella number "As Yet Untitled" that shines like diamond because it avoids any typical 1980s production and depends only on his multi-tracked vocals. Brilliant.
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