Customer Reviews

Life Love & Pain

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Life, Love & Pain are the three elements found within this eight song release from Club Nouveau. Produced & written by Jay King, Thomas McElroy & Denzil Foster (two of which contributed to En Vogue's fame) constructed timeless material for any generation to enjoy. "Jealousy" starts off by the rumors being spread and confronting bad talk and lies. Used in a hip-hop / rap sample, "Why You Treat Me So Bad" has the formula of a classic ballad. The remake of the Bill Withers' hit "Lean On Me", the Club made it faster and as stated by the vocals "...we be jammin', we be jammin'..." As another life situation approaches, it seems hard to deal with some and easier with others. "Situation #9" would fall on a scale of 1-10 an eight or nine. Thinking of someone constantly would hence the title, "Heavy On My Mind". The subtle piano and slow drum track created a dark atmosphere for the ballad "Let Me Go" as the woman in the group takes the lead. "Pump It Up (Reprise)" is the instrumental from "Lean On Me" with words and chants to pump the crowd.

At some point during the mid 1980's,it became apparent that any major future developments in R&B/soul music was going to involve some incorporation of hip-hop rhythms and rapping. From the development of new jack swing on,that's a standard that has stuck with R&B to this very day and shows no signs of letting go. Even retro movements such as neo soul almost seem to require some hip-hop reference. During about 1984-1986 this transition was on the cusp of occurring. All the same there concept of music being based about craft and melody over beats was still heavily ingrained in the culture. And that's what keeps people saying how much "better" music seemed to be even in the mid 80's-that the craft of music was equal in importance to the rhythm and tempo. What Jay King,Denzil Foster and everyone else involved in this album ended up with is probably the precise period of time when that transition began to take hold.

Now it needs to be understood this is NOT,I repeat NOT a formuliac type of new jack swing release in the order of their third album New Beginning. In fact only two songs here fit into that category at all. "Lean On Me" and the reprise "Pump It Up". What amazes me about this track is the beat is slower and the drums are very echoed as opposed to being overly gated. It actually winds up more as a gospel flavored attitude than a hip-hop one. Most of these tracks such as "Jealousy",'Situation#9","Heavy On My Mind" and "Why You Treat Me So Bad" are sleek late 80's dance-funk more of the Jam/Lewis order. But at the same time one of them are so over produced and are so well written and sung they get that same flavor you would get from an SOS Band during their Sands of Time era. "Promises,Promises" is actually an excellent unexplored direction-with it's P-Funk inspired cartoon voices,Minneapolis style funk references and general social/satirical quirkiness.

The underlying effect of all these songs is the fact that a person from the street culture could still be romantically and culturally elegant. Again coming from that same sort of place that's a direct line from the Motown era attitudes about music and style. This was the earliest sort of fusing of R&B/funk with hip-hop and disco-dance styles that would soon become something of the rage with the advent of house/DJ oriented music. But this was still highly produced,studio centric music we're dealing with at this stage. Later fusions would more over assume elegance within the street culture itself,rather than that coming from without. But groups such as Club Nouveau really took this decades musical ethics of style and surface value very much to it's own advantage,exploring it's existence rather than embracing it to survive. I compare it to Chic who utilized the disco sound as a matter of satire and became very much respected for it many years after that backlash. I think that's why Club Nouveau survived well into the 90's while a lot of their contemporaries didn't. Having the capability of self satirizing,even in the lightest sense isn't going to hurt you.

CD was bought for "Lean on Me." Everything was fine as far as the seller is concerned. I'm just not a big fan of Club Nouveau.

This is the type of music that makes you move,makes you sing,makes you laugh,and brings a tear of joy 2 your eyes,thanx 4 the memories

Club Nouveau's debut CD, "Life Love and Pain" was one of the hottest CDs out around 86/87. They released great songs like "Jealousy," "Situation #9," the funky Bill Withers cover, "Lean on Me," which hit #1 on the Billboard Hot 100 Singles chart and won a Grammy Award for the group. Their hit, "Why You Treat Me So Bad," has been sampled from everyone from the Luniz ("I Got 5 On It") to Diddy ("Satisfy You".) This is a great ol' school CD to dance and chill to!

I am soooooo happy with my purchase and play it loudly all the time. Now I don't have to pull out the turntable and 33. Thank you again for giving me the opportunity of re-claiming my youth at a time when I was happy.

I used to love this group this whole album is good. This was a great group and it contained some good singers and the lyrics were wonderful. I used to love this group I liked their voices, style, and their music I like this whole album ; This whole album is great. If you liked Club Nouveau in the 80's then you would definitely love this album. Also, I would definitely reccommend the Timex El-Social club as well.. This group has an exceptional male and female singer they both sing very good I would definitely recommend this album to any R&B fan. This album contains: Situation #9, Jealousy, Let Me Go, and the remake of Lean on Me I'd have to say that they did this remake very well. Above all this is a great cd.

i love this........why you treat me so bad must be one of the greatest songs out there... anyone who loves freestyle should have a copy of this especially the remix.... rap fans should recgognize the beat the luniz used it in i got five on it. grab it while your here good luck trying to find it elsewhere

This album is a must have for any die hard, true R & B fan. From the likeable dance licks to the smooth and drum moving ballads which keep your feet racing. A true collector's piece with every song a hit.

Lean On Me gets the credit for putting this band upon the map legitimately with previous hits like rumors and their followup being Jealousy. Personally, I prefer Situation #9 as my favorite of the album with Why You Treat Me So Bad a close second.

The only missing for not a perfect 5 star is that only 8 tracks available. No other album comes close to equally their sound at the time of its initial release. Now if only that had made a video....