About Love [Import, Original recording remastered, Extra tracks]

Gladys Knight & the Pips (Artist) | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (April 27, 2010)
• Original Release Date: 2011
• Number of Discs: 1
• Format: Import, Original recording remastered, Extra tracks
• Label: BBR
• ASIN: B0035KGDVW
• Also Available in: Audio CD  |  Vinyl
• Average Customer Review: 4.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #84,958 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Track Listings

1. Landlord

2. Taste Of Bitter Love

3. Still Such A Thing

4. Get The Lover

5. Add It Up

6. Bourgie Bourgie

7. Friendly Persuasion

8. We Need Hearts

9. Landlord (Single Version)

10. Taste Of Bitter Love (Single Version)

11. Bourgie Bourgie (Single Version)

Editorial Reviews

Classic 1980 Columbia/CBS debut finally makes it to CD for the first time anywhere in the world. About Love reunited the group with legendary Motown team Ashford & Simpson who wrote and produced the entire album. The collaboration brought a huge international renaissance for the group, returning them to the Top 5 of The Soul albums chart. Singles included the massive R&B hit Landlord as well as the UK club classics Taste Of Bitter Love and the now legendary Bourgie Bourgie . This newly re-mastered edition features extensive liner notes and three bonus tracks.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

10 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great 1979 CD, May 20, 2010

By 

Andre D. Haynes - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: About Love (Audio CD)

This is perhaps the best Gladys Knight and the Pips EVER!!!!!.....Very glad it is finally available on CD!......Hey, I am 18 yrs old again.....:)

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Gladys Knight & the Pips + Ashford & Simpson = Perfection!, June 3, 2010

By 

A. Gift For You - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: About Love (Audio CD)

Gladys Knight and the Pips enjoyed many different phases of their music career. "About Love" marked another beginning in their successful career. It was their first album for Columbia Records and it paired them with powerhouse duo Ashford and Simpson. It was a perfect pairing. A&S were enjoying their own success as performers on Warner Bros., not to mention they were fresh off producing Diana Ross' excellent "The Boss" album from 1979. A&S proved again they were superb producers by providing Knight and the Pips with superb material, including the singles, "Landlord," the funky "Taste of Bitter Love," and the uplifting "Still Such A Thing." From Knight and the Pips' superb vocals, to the solid production, this is a perfect R&B album, long overdue on CD. The remastering is excellent.

Listening to this album, I am reminded of how current radio is lacking. Nobody sings like Gladys Knight anymore - her powerful voice has warmth, joy and soul. Today's singers sound processed and lifeless. It's great to have this on CD. However, it's becoming difficult to find. I was lucky to find it in my local CD store. It's definitely worth purchasing. Also recommended is Gladys Knight and the Pips follow-up CD, "Touch," which was also produced by Ashford and Simpson, also recently released on CD. It's not as good as "About Love," but still worthwhile.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A Good Way To Bounce Back, July 1, 2010

By 

John L. Hughes, Jr. "hughes_jr" (Nashville, TN) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: About Love (Audio CD)

The 1980s were a new beginning for Gladys Knight & the Pips due to the death of disco, and the ending of their contract with Buddah Records. ABOUT LOVE, the veteran act's debut album for Columbia Records, produced the excellent top 5 r&b hit "Landlord" (the group's first in five years).

Like Diana Ross' 1979 gold album THE BOSS, Ashford and Simpson succeeded in steering Gladys and the Pips from the sappy easy-listening material found on their mid to late 70s Buddah albums. The ballads "Still Such A Thing", "Add It Up" and "Friendly Persuasion" feature lyrics worthy of a fine singer like Gladys to sink her teeth into, while "Get the Love" and "We Need Hearts" are great message songs performed with sass and enthusiam. The precise string and horn arrangements compliment the smoking rhythm tracks instead of dragging them down to MOR land.

The real highlights of ABOUT LOVE are its other two top 40 r&b singles, "Taste of Bitter Love" and "Bourgie Bourgie". On "Taste..." Gladys is cool as a cucumber as she chastises a wayward lover who wants to come back. It's as if Knight is laughing at this guy. And on "Bourgie Bourgie", the group effectively display its comedic skills while satirizing high society people who forget where they come from. The Pips are hilarious as they sing such cutting lyrics as "Keep your body nice and fit/Like to see them chasing it/Never have to work too hard/your face is your credit card". Great moments like this prove that the Pips are more than just hooting owls behind a soulful lead singer.