Staying Power [Import]

Barry White | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (July 27, 1999)
• Original Release Date: July 27, 1999
• Number of Discs: 1
• Format: Import
• Label: Sony Bmg Europe
• ASIN: B00000JJN2
• Also Available in: Audio Cassette  |  MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (37 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #111,398 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Barry White is STILL "The Man", October 5, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Staying Power (Audio CD)

Barry with his smooth as silk voice embraces these lyrics with some smooth, erotically sensuous beats. His words flow like melted butter over your soul. I have been a fan for years and this is some of his best work to date. There is something for everyone on this CD. And if your are looking for some great "put you in the mood music" well, you had better pick this one up, You will be glad you did !!

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars The Man is back for the second act (no pun intended), February 18, 2002

By 

Eric Krupin (Salt Lake City, UT) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Staying Power (Audio CD)

Having survived his second career as a self-parody (crooning over Arby's sandwiches, saving the snakes of Springfield, etc.), Barry has earned the right to take a moment and reflect on what it all means. The result is this mildly entertaining, oddly Republican record.

The centerpiece is a bizarre little tune called "Get Up" which, contrary to one's expectations, is not an exhortation to phallic prowess but rather ye old-fashioned Protestant Work Ethic - i.e. "Get up off your ass and do something." A worthy sentiment, to be sure, but somewhat distracting when attempting to get close to the very special lady of one's choice.

There are the requisite number of make-out soundtracks (featuring lyrics like "You're so precious and cute / You're very very sensitive / You like flowers...") but they all lack the purple-satin plushness of his classic stuff. Mostly this is due to the brittle crispness of the contemporary production (i.e. the famous Barry White orchestration, always the most important part of his sound, is reduced to occasional, repetitive, thin, and probably synthesized strings). But one must also acknowledge the unstayable hands of Time. (There's some wisdom Barry didn't get around to.) His duet with the great Chaka Khan finds the lady in reasonably good voice but as they pant and moan about "turning out the lights", "making it right", and so on, I can never help thinking, "These people are old to be my parents."

So maybe what F. Scott Fitzgerald meant to say was that there *are* second acts in American lives; they're just never as good as the first.

6 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Insignificant and boring, January 5, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: Staying Power (Audio CD)

After five years of waiting for a new Barry White record this one has come as a rather large disappointment. While "The Icon Is Love" could at least provide the sensation of hearing Barry White surviving into the 90s, "Staying Power" just puts you to sleep - it is sooo boring. Don't dare to look for quality here, for energy, for melody, for - life. Barry seems to have transformed into some kind of zombie giving us only the most predictable and empty material. The second star is given only for that slightly more solid title track. Please Barry, don't stay that way.