The Bottom Line: The best dance Album of the 80's - mastery in all dimensions. A great record for mind, heart, body and soul! And lots of great trends anticipating the 90s.
silktempest's Full Review: Club Classics Vol. One, 10th Anniversary Edition b...
Club Classics Vol.1 (in America, available as Keep On Moving) is the 1989's debut from SOUL II SOUL - a musical community rather than an orthodox pop ensemble. It summarizes, better than any other single record, everything good about Dance Music during the late 80's and early 90's, driven by astounding eccleticism and comprising a respectable bunch of great performers.
SOUL II SOUL is the brainchild of rapper Beresfond Hammond (aka Jazzie B) and producer Nellee Hooper, Bristol natives. Alongside WILD BUNCH (the embryo of MASSIVE ATTACK) they established the feverish Bristol dance scene, which gave birth to the so-called Trip-Hop genre. Club Classics contains no Trip Hop in fact, but you can trace spots here and there that suggested what would come in the near future.
SOUL II SOUL more than surpasses expectations for a debut in this musical showcase, full of energy and versatility: CHIC-like bass lines, sophisticated beats, smart rapping from Jazzy B's gravely voice, some acid jazz flourishes, smooth textures, top-notch production and superb R&B and Soul songs, featuring the mastery of guest singers ROSE WINDROSS, DO'REEN and (most impressive) CARON WHEELER.
Whereas MADONNA and others sounded forceful craftmanships plenty of studio trickery, SOUL II SOUL sounded genuine, expontaneous, organic (this said, they still have impressive arrangements and great beats). Even an African singer is featured on the spot, to impressive effects!
A record which presented several future popular trends, it's what you have here. A gentle invitation for sophisticated dancing, good romancing, mind relaxing with light-hearted philosophy. "Enjoy life and rhythm, future will be rewarding" arguably is the motto.
The record starts with Keep On Moving, SOUL II SOUL calling card and greatest track overall. An impossibly captiving smooth rhythm (strings, violins, pianos end everything you think of) accompanies magic CARON WHEELER's sultry (and quasi-ethereal) vocals -bittersweet and hopeful. Just get into the mood and let it flow, endlessly!
Then, Fairplay, which differs a lot. ROSE WINDROSS vocal acrobatics are an evident standout, matching the tight post-Disco textures reinforced by some great House rhythm and background vocals resembling the golden days of Doo-Woop. Thus, great contemporary R&B.
Following we have the surprising African Pop of Holdin' On (Bambelela). A Zulu (!) chorus fights Jazzie B's optimistic rapping for the highlight here and rhythm is even tighter than Fairplay. The beats are flawless! ANGELIQUE KIDJO would be proud of this one.
Then, leaving the studio, we have Feeling Free, a live rap by Jazzie B, the Funky Dreads (SOUL II SOULrhythmic session) and the forefathers of Trip Hop, MASSIVE ATTACK (so much in the background that you will hardly notice). Good but not great. Interesting to notice that Jazzie B's distinctive voice loses none of its power live!
The sequence leads to the twin tracks African Dance and Dance. Both follow the same pattern, flute-driven World Music (Africa is back again). I must say the flute is great and the rhythm, no matter how exoticit may sound, is also great Pop, excellent to dance and to relax your mind. African Dance is an instrumental track and Dance presents rapping from Jazzie B.
Then, another standout of the record - the Urban sound of Feel Free (these guys really don't mind track names) featuring DO'REEN. This one should have been a hit! Much better than anything by MARY J BLIGE, TONI BRAXTON and generics. The killer rhythm of this track alone is a classic of its genre. Additionally, I've never seen such an arrangement - maybe only No Ordinary Love by Nigerian diva SADE is on par. DO'REEN is more than up to the task of facing the arrangements. Near-perfect job!
DO'REEN returns in the following track, Happiness (Dub). Basically, excellent House music (we were in 1989, remember!) mixed with Jamaican Dub studio trickery. DO'REEN whips through the track and the the tight rhythm never lets it get too loose, which confers an atmosphere of "expectation" and intensity to the vocals. You can see by my remarks how great a producer NELLEE HOOPER is!
The last two on this record are among the best tracks on the pack. First, we have another superb showcase of CARON WHEELER's virtuosity in the acapella version of Back To Life (a full-body version, with additional musicians and arrangement, had deservedly became a hit single months before). Drums subtly enter the room, than bongos, than Jazzie B threatens to start rapping and...
Then comes Jazzie's Groove, which gives birth to Acid Jazz well before US3 and DIGABLE PLANETS gathered the praise from world press. A killer (another one) rhythm, a definite triumph of sound. The lyrics present SOUL II SOUL rising into one of the best dance outfits in the world, from its humble beginnings in Bristol as a sound system.
SOUL II SOUL would continue to sail the seas of eccleticism and musical quality in future releases (and volumes), although they would never regain the popularity of this debut release. Club Classics, vol.1, this said, stand not only as their best album, but as their most influential one. A record I recommend for several audiences, filled with uncountable music styles in great fashion, good for romancing as well as for melting in the dance floor (and for fitness as well)! So, go on and get this one!
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