Customer Reviews

L Is for Lover

5 star:		(11)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

How this succeeds as being pure adult pop and not a dance album I'm not sure. However, succeed it does, and under the production of dance supremo Nile Rogers.

Mr Jareau has a superb voice. Highlights include "L is for Lover" "Ordinary Romance" and "Tell me what I gotta do" silky smooth soulful R&B with just enough dance influence but not enough to have you dancing:-)

I'm surprised there wasn't a memorable hit from this album!

Just listening to this reminds me of the classic quality 80's recordings done in good studios.
It's a Nile Rodgers production which is another plus. The music is very good - jazz purists may not like it but fans of AJ's early eighties will be pleased.
And even better it was mastered before the loudness wars set in.
I wish more CD's sounded like this one.

Note this refers to the Audio CD released in 1990 NOT the remastered version.

This is wonderful music for your listening pleasure. Great driving music or just relaxing at home. I highly recommend this album.

This is an excellant recording. L is for lover is great. This disc will bring you PLEASURE.All songs are well done. I think this is the best Al Jarreue yetttt. BUY IT.

Considering the success that people such as Anita Baker and Will Downing were having on the pop,R&B and jazz charts during this era it seems that by the mid 80's people just might have been starting to forget about Al Jarreau. True singing the theme for the TV series Moonlighting was certainly a plus during this time and kept him around. But in all likelihood...most people who purchased his originally were diehard fans or those who knew his name for singing that theme song. Not to sound cynical at all but Jarreau was in that place where he was not a has been by any means but hadn't quite grown into a mature "legacy" artist. As he was in physical age during this time,his career was entering into it's middle years so there was only a small number of options to go with. Jarreau made a very good decision as it turned out. He went to producer/Chic mastermind Nile Rodgers (Madonna,Power Station/Robert Palmer) and produced a record that was contemporary,diverse and ultimately satisfying musically.

Favoring an overall well oiled production style where the rhythms,beats,vocals,
electronic keyboards and whatever other instruments were involved all kind of merged into only smooth flowing layer of sound the album doesn't pack too heavy a punch soundwise but does have some truly excellent songs. The jumpy "Tell What I Gotta Do" and the title song open up the album on an excellent note. "Pleasure" follows suit with another song in a similar style-bass/guitar heavy mid 80's funk-pop with some excellent jazzy lead and harmony vocals from Jarreau but with just a slightly heavier rhythmic punch. The bassline on the slower grinding groove of "Golden Girl" is actually extremely funky and sexy-very similar in flavor to Chic's "Flashback" from several years earlier and goes well with the songs sensual lyrics. "Says" and "Across The Midnight Sky" have a stuttering/percussive mid 80's varient of the Brazillian style pop/funk jazz style that again lends itself well to Jarreau's free spirited type of vocalese and singing.

"No Ordinary Romance" finds a brooding,new wave style flavor to the production with that cloudy,reverbed echoey electric guitar so common in this era while "(We Got) Telepathy" and "Real Tight"-both strong grooves for sure are the most uptempo dance oriented numbers here,complete with a lot of Nile's trademark guitar riffing and a heavy drum/synth crunch. It never actually happened of course but if Jarreau had gone from this to producing his follow up album with Jimmy Jam/Terry Lewis is place in the mid part of the 80's would've been a lot more assured and this would've been the beginning of a big comeback rather than something of a last gasp. I mean last gap only in the sense his releases after this would mainly exist to win him yet more grammys and maintain his devoted fan base. He probably didn't hook too many more new music fans onto his sound after this. But those he did with this album probably went back to see where he started and stayed with him. Either way it's an excellnt release and something one needs to not let the year of release be something that makes you want to back away from it. It's held up very well production and music wise and qualifies as one of his stronger releases for the decade.

I HAVE PURCHASE THIS CD SEVERAL TIMES AND NEVER GET TIRED OF IT HOWEVER THIS CD NEEDS THE DIGITAL REMASTERING TREATMENT LIKE "HIGH CRIME" AND "JERREAU" ALBUMS..THE WAIT IS TOO LONG COME ON LETS BRING THIS CD INTO THE 21ST CENTURY.

I was looking only for one song on that Cd but like all of them now.

I have had this CD for a while but its like I am just rediscovering it all over again. This is the perfect collection for a jazz enthusiast and even those who are not. Ilove every tract but the ones that I play to 'death' are "Tell Me What I gotta do" "L is for Lover", "Pleasure" "Golden Girl" and "We got Telepathy". The rest I play over and over. (lol)

I have to wonder what the other reviewer was listening to when they said you can't dance to this album! The songs are so silky, and the production by Nile Rodgers so perfect, that I dare anyone to sit still for a second after the music starts.

This is one of those rare CD's where everything falls together nicely. Is it a dance record? A jazz record? A pop record?
Who cares?! It's good. Buy it!

I really enjoyed the cd. I heard it for the first time when I was in France many years ago.The music is soothing and catchy at the same time.It draws you in with its tales of love and romance.A beautiful selection of music.I would recommend it to anyone.This cd is hard to find in the stores ,it is always sold out even after all these years.