Customer Reviews

One Step Closer

5 star:		(5)
4 star:		(9)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

1980's One Step Closer ended the Michael McDonald era of the band. Following the monster success of Minute By Minute, Mr. McDonald took creative control of the band on this release. The album is essentially a solo album for him. One Step Closer isn't a bad album, it just isn't anywhere as good as the previous effort. "Real Love" is a brilliant song and is as good as anything the band has ever done. The song was a top ten hit (peaking at number 5) and nothing else on the album compares to it. After a final tour, the band broke up and went their separate ways. They reunited in 1989 (sans Mr. McDonald) for the Cycles album.

This was another great smooth mellow cd from the Michael McDonald led era of the Doobie Brothers. This album was released in the fall of 1980. The hit single "Real Love" is one of there best songs ever in my opinion. The second hit single was "One Step Closer" with Cornelius Bumpus and McDonald sharing the lead vocals. The instrumental song "South Bay Strut" and McDonald's "Dedicate This Heart" and "Keep This Train Rollin" are also standout songs. The whole cd is pretty good lite rock. There is more saxophone on this cd with the addition of Cornelius Bumpus to the band. This was also the Doobies first album with John McFee on guitar replacing Jeff Skunk Baxter and Chet McCracken on drums,replacing John Hartman.

Over the years there's been a train of thought that once Michael McDonald joined the band they increasingly became a backup band for his writing and Pat Simmons took a back seat musically. The answer of course is....not really. Michael joining the band only allowed the band to put his jazzy funk stylings within the bands already finely honed Southern Rock boogie style.After three albums of getting all of this together the Doobie's,already having perfected their sound from this era,seem to have totally integrated that style here-what turned out to be their final album.The presense of sax player Cornelious Bumpus in the band really did them good in many places.The rhythms the band provided to the carnivalesque jazz/funk-pop of "Dedicate This Heart","No Stoppin' Us Now","Just In Time" and "One By One" really show how so much of what was called "soft rock" or "blue eyed soul" was often enough some form of funk or jazz-funk in disguise.There's still time to throw down another pop smash in "Real Love";it is one of the poppier tunes on this set but it's still plenty heated up. A bit of the old booging style shows itself on the title track and especially on the gutsy "Keep This Train A-Rollin".The instrumental "South Bay Strut" not only keeps the California funky jazz-pop thing rolling along but gives Bumpus as real time to shine too. This is not the hardest rocking of the Doobie albums by any means.But for lovers of funk or early 80's pop-jazz will find this is full of treasures and for those Doobie fans who can appreciate those attitudes and musical styles will find a lot here to soak up.

How anyone could find The Doobie Brothers' 1980 album "One Step Closer" a disappointment is really quite surprising to me (although nothing really surprises me anymore). Granted, the group did disband not too long after this release and supposedly they themselves aren't too crazy about this record, but it's one of those cases to which I say, "You could have fooled me."

It's true that, to a large extent, they're treading familiar territory here, both stylistically and sonically, with basically the entire album having a 'jazzy' soft rock sound that screams out "late 70s"/"early '80s". However, "Takin' It To The Streets" and "Livin' On The Fault Line" are each much less consistent as albums than "One Step Closer". This album shows that you can make music that is very relaxed without being dull--the lush sound, the sophisticated creativity and catchiness of the compositions, and the spirited performances make for an album that is compulsively listenable and for the most part immensely satisfying. Certainly it's very professional, and there are a bunch of different people who contributed to the songwriting (each track features a different songwriting battery), but it's unfair and inaccurate to say that the album is uninspired or that it is merely workmanlike. "Real Love" is a dramatic song about the toll empty relationships can take on people, and it features one of Michael McDonald's classic soulful vocal performances. The late Cornelius Bumpus, who had joined the band by this point, sounds great as well--he shares the lead vocals with McDonald on the title track, and gets in a solo composition with the superb "Thank You Love" which mixes wondrous, contemplative music with feel-good lyrics and is additionally punctuated by some great vibraphone and a heavenly background vocal arrangement. McDonald & Patrick Simmons both offer one solo composition apiece with "Keep This Train A-Rollin'" and "Just In Time" respectively (with Simmons doing a highly amusing Steven Tyler soundalike at 1:23 on the latter), and both are funky, hook-filled tunes that are impossible to resist. Also irresistible is the ingeniously crafted and infectious "Dedicate This Heart", which is sort of an upbeat, bouncier variation on "Real Love". The feel-good title track is admittedly a tad sugary, but it's so undeniably catchy it's impossible not to be forgiving.

All in all, not a lot to complain about. With the intricate detail that's packed into track after track, the album is simply brimming with catchiness and sophistication. This is the kind of music that really holds up to repeated listenings, to the point where the last two tracks, which even I used to think were a bit filler-ish, now reveal themselves to me as great tracks--the instrumental "South Bay Strut" is simply groovy, and "One By One" is typically catchy and a classy way to close the album with Simmons taking lead vocals on the verses and McDonald's vocals prominently featured on the choruses.

Chalk up another great production job for Ted Templeman who produced many records by Warner Bros. artists during this time, including Nicolette Larson who appears on this album as a background vocalist. If you're into 'jazzy' soft rock of this era such as Steely Dan, George Benson, and Grover Washington Jr., you can't go wrong with this great, timeless album by The Doobie Brothers.

The Doobies' One Step Closer has some good tracks on it - such as the hits "Real Love" and the title track, plus
"One By One" and "Keep This Train Rollin'". I also really dig "Thank You Love".

The album does however have a couple of fillers - mainly near the end of the album: the insrumental "South Bay Strut" and "Just In Time".

All in all a fair album. It really shows where Michael McDonald's head was at. It was sort of a blueprint of what McDonald's solo career would sound like. A sort of a wimpy sounding Steely Dan.

Few groups are able to drastically change their musical direction and maintain their popularity. Somehow, the Doobies were able to pull it off, with great success. I'm sure it was difficult for a lot of fans to swallow the sweet soulful sounds of Michael McDonald when they were expecting the chunky rhythms of Tom Johnston's guitar. No doubt the Doobies lost fans from the Johnston camp but gained listeners who appreciated the new sound.

One Step Closer continued a string of albums tailor made for top 40/smooth jazz type stations. Overall, the songs are catchy, and you get the feeling that all the members left their mark on the album. Real Love and One Step Closer are the clear standouts, but Keep This Train A-Rollin'and Just In Time are excellent tracks as well.

The same can be said about this CD and track #5 (which share the title "One Step Closer"): it's not bad, yet it's not great either. A lot of the songs on here are rather forgettable and bland, but there are a few gems, like "Real Love" done by Michael McDonald, my favorite singer in this band. A handful of other band members get their share at the mic, except in "South Bay Strut," which is the only "mute" track on here--a smooth, somewhat relaxing jazz/instrumental tune. Overall, "One Step Closer" is a pretty good CD. Doobie Brother fans should like this one fairly well.

Great album. I've heard the phrase, "Jazzing It Up" used with the Doobie lineup who put this album together. The instrumental tune "Southbay Strut" reflects this movement towards a true pop/jazz sound and the song "No Stoppin' Us Now" is my favorite cut off the album. Very smooth.

This is a great album with great songs(One Step Closer, Real Love,etc.)but it feels like something is missing. It is a very polished sounding album that I would recommend to any Doobie fans

A good album from the era most Doobie Brothers' fans don't always like, but I remember that if Michael McDonald hadn't come along then, the Doobies may not have stayed around so they would still be there for us now. They sure sold some vinal from this era, and I still like these with him as their most accomplished studio music. Just an opinion from a fan back to the Seventies (early) and I have all of them now. Say them reciently in Biloxi and they were fantastic. If they could ever have a family night where all the past members, Skunk also, could play, I'd surely pay for that. Sounds like some one is a Doobie fan here. Take it to the Streets!