Customer Reviews

Midnight Star

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Despite the exiting of members and brothers Reggie and Vincent Calloway, the group's self titled effort still proved to be a triumphant smash including Top 10 R&B hits "Don't Rock the Boat," featuring Ecstacy of fame rap group Whodini, and the vibrantly raw "Snake in the Grass." Other mentionable tracks include the essential "Heartbeat," the energetic "90 Days (Same as Cash)" and the smooth "I Don't Wanna Be Lonely," once again attaining gold status one last time for one of music's greatest Funk/R&B bands.

This CD is loaded with heavy, and exciting soul rhythms that shake you to the core. There is no way you can listen to these big, dynamic sounds and not groove to it. You'll re-play "Don't Rock the Boat", "Heartbeat", and "Request Line" over and over again. "Request Line's" beat is as African as any African/American music can get. If you play this music in your car when you begin to feel sleepy, this music - containing all manner of new techno sounds, blended with soulful rhythms and excellent and frequently comical lyrics -will definitely keep you awake and smiling for the rest of your drive. If you play it too loud, at home, you'll start a spontaneous party with your neighbors.

Solar was still very much alive and kicking during the late 80's and Midnight Star were still in an excellent place in their career after the success of Headlines a year earlier and generally speaking the same sound is intact. However in the one year between that release and this one a newer hip-hop variety of R&B was starting to work it's way from the underground into the mainstream. That being the case songs such as "Don't Rock The Boat" and "90 Days (Same As Cash) have a strong hip-hop flavor complete with pounding beats and rapping. It's a bit edgier and far funkier than most generic New Jack swing. Not only that but both songs are hefty,and in the latter case very witty party jams. "Heartbeat" takes the basic sound from the last album and updates it with some beefier rhythms that showcases how,next to Jam & Lewis how the Calloways had their own place in the whole 80's synth dance-funk phemonenon. The use of the snake charmer song in "Snake In The Grass" is very effective on a song that mixes both that hard hip-hop/funk flavor and the dance beats together but what makes the groove extra strong is the mild slowness of the tempo. "Request Line" and "Pamper" me both return to those trademark hard 80's electro funk,the former wittily name dropping themselves as the singer croons about being his girlfriends "personal radio station". The two slower jams "I Don't Wanna Be Lonely" and "Love Song" really make it clear how 80's drum machines and rhythms really helped,if used to the best advantage, to get the slower songs on albums like this to really punch out at you. Somehow ending up one of the more ignored albums in Midnight Star's high quality body of work in the 80's. Since it would wind up being their final album of the decade,the first they were actively recording in it holds a special and historical place in terms of the band and the Solar label in general.