I am listening to it now and it is FANTASTIC.

Tracklist (original artists in brackets)

1. Fight The Power (The Isley Bros)

2. Baby Love (Mothers Finest)

3. Hush (Billie Joe Royal / Deep Purple)

4. We Float (PJ Harvey)

5. Come Together (The Beatles)

6. Maybe Your Baby (Stevie Wonder)

7. All By Myself (Eric Carmen)

8. If I'm In Luck I Might Get Picked Up (Betty Davis)

9. Who Is He? (Bill Withers)

10. Broken Arrow (Robbie Robertson)

yeah- this is incredible. I'm on listen number two. Susannah is singing like I've never heard her- so is Paul for that matter. They made these tracks TOTALLY their own. Never thought I could take "All By My Self" seriously but that is so good. SO good. I can't believe they made this records in such a short period of time (was it something like two months?)

they also have a killer lead guitar player on a few tracks that doesn't sound like Bean or Oliver to me. Though i could be wrong.

Zannaloaf said:

yeah- this is incredible. I'm on listen number two. Susannah is singing like I've never heard her- so is Paul for that matter. They made these tracks TOTALLY their own. Never thought I could take "All By My Self" seriously but that is so good. SO good. I can't believe they made this records in such a short period of time (was it something like two months?)

they also have a killer lead guitar player on a few tracks that doesn't sound like Bean or Oliver to me. Though i could be wrong.

I believe Wendy played on a few tracks.

Militant said:

Zannaloaf said:

yeah- this is incredible. I'm on listen number two. Susannah is singing like I've never heard her- so is Paul for that matter. They made these tracks TOTALLY their own. Never thought I could take "All By My Self" seriously but that is so good. SO good. I can't believe they made this records in such a short period of time (was it something like two months?)

they also have a killer lead guitar player on a few tracks that doesn't sound like Bean or Oliver to me. Though i could be wrong.

I believe Wendy played on a few tracks.

cool!

sounding good so far

Now THIS is great news! By the way, lately I find myself visiting the "Associated Artists" forum more frequently than the "Prince" one. So many interesting news, whereas so much boredom with the purple one!

So now that I've listened multiple times - gonna do a quick review.

First and foremost, even though it's a cover album, it sounds like fDeluxe through and through. In other words they make these songs their own. Some overall thoughts are that it is raw and Susannah and St. Paul bring vocal prowess to everything on this. It's like they both amped up their game.

Fight the Power - Frankly I was worried about this as I am a huge Isley Brothers fan. But they brought the funk, the rock and a very Sly Stone sort of feel to the vocal arrangements. Dense and funky. I believe that Jellybean provides the "Bullsh!t" vocal..which is pretty great. Guitar solo is cool at end but as an Isleys fan I could use a bit more.

Baby Love - Mothers Finest was one of my favorite bands in the 70s. This actually crushes the opriginal- in part becasue the mix and sound is so crisp and hard. On top of that I wonder where Susannah's voice came from on this. Maybe I was not paying attentiion before, but she seems to have brought it to a new level. Love to find out who plays what, they middle synth and guitar break is killer. Alternative radio REALLY should pick this up, stright up funk rocker.

Hush - I had to look this one up, and found that the arrangement here is superior to the original. Much more melodic with signature Leeds all over it. the hook is great but not exploited the same way by Deep Purple. St. Pauls vocals are alternating between slightly scratchy and smooth ion his call and response with himslef. He also allows for some runs in the song that shows how strong a singer he is. Head bobbing commences from beat one.

We Float - first actual urprise to me sonically on this collection. Haunting track with sparse piano and Leeds horn. Layers of sound support Susannahs emotive vocals and deep story. Very dissonant sound that resolves into lush melody in the chorus. Great choice and like everything here - well done.

Come Together - sneaky funk. That's what it is. Leeds flute accents this greasy take on a Beatles classic. St. Paul and Susannah show why their voices work SO well together on this one. When the chorus kicks in it's head banging music for a ferw seconds and them back to the slinky groove they establish from the beginning. Nice flute solo from Mr. Leeds...and it works SO well! Flute trading licks with guitar while Paul sails some quirky falsetto at the outro shows the original sonic thought of this crew.


Maybe your Baby - Steveie Wonder classic in my book. A little Mutiny vibe underneath, with St. Paul delivering the goods on some edgy vocals (slight mic distortion that sounds good) with smooth chorus and wildy creative harmonies under the support vocals. Drums feel good under this track too. Singing guitar solo at the end of the track. Overall a real showcase for the vocal diversity of St. Paul .


All By Myself - tricky. I really tired of this song back when radio played it (mostly oldies station) and it wore thin fast. the sonic landscape ofthis track hooked me right away. The question is could I stand the chorus? the answer is yes. Simply put the arrangement, with Brent Fisher doing the string arrangements (I am guessing becasue I hear no other strings on the album) is quiry enough to suport a melody that became a serving of cheese to me many years ago. Of course the end features a tasty bite of Leeds sax work and that is like an extra helping of whatever you already liked but no calories! Love the ending - reminds me a littel of Godley and Creme/10CC

If I'm in Luck I Might Get Picked Up - out of the ethereal into the grounded hard rock/funk! This track just blows the doors off. Again, Susannah crushes the vocals. But the whole thing just drives hard as concrete nails. This track demonstrates the ability of this group to conquer any genre of music.

Who is He and what is He to You? - Return to the laid back groove. St. Paul brings and low "stalking prey" type vocal quality to this song. it's a really nice cover, but Bill Withers really owns this one, even above Meshell Ndegeocello . That's not a bad thing considering the majority of songs Fdeluxe has taken as their own on this album. I think part of it is that it came out of a such a crushing song previous to this. Might have been better placed elsewhere. For many bandI ould consider this an outstanding track, in this collection its just the stretch part of a hard workout.


Broken Arrow - Now back on track. With a slightly reggaeish bopping beat and a chunky guitar and keyboard riff a hammond organ sails above the rhythm and St. Paul delivers pure pop vocals. Very positive and feel good. Nice song to wrap up with.

The Pledge Music version has great live stuff on it as well, but really just wanted to hit the studio material.

solid a record as I've heard. Hope you all enjoy it.

[Edited 12/11/13 9:51am]

[Edited 12/11/13 9:51am]

[Edited 12/11/13 9:51am]

[Edited 12/11/13 9:52am]

Loving the Susannah tracks, We Float and If I'm In Luck...Wendy has to be playing guitar on If I'm In Luck. Hoping they'll do some live shows.

I got an email from them dated TODAY that says "Pre-order this disc now for delivery around Feb 1st.

EDIT: Just saw in another thread, those that pledged got it today, the rest of us will be waitin'...

[Edited 12/15/13 16:53pm]

djThunderfunk said:

I got an email from them dated TODAY that says "Pre-order this disc now for delivery around Feb 1st.

EDIT: Just saw in another thread, those that pledged got it today, the rest of us will be waitin'...

[Edited 12/15/13 16:53pm]

yep. that's why preorder is a good idea!

Finally got a chance to download this. Wow. Great stuff. Not a bad one in the bunch. Really enjoying this.

the Revolution should join FDeluxe to finish it out

Susannah on Lead vocals

St Paul on Lead vocals/guitar

Brown Mark on bass

Wendy Melvoin on guitar

Eric Leeds sax/flute

Lisa Coleman on piano/keys

Dr Fink on keys/synth

Jellybean on drums/bass

Bobby Z drums percussion

OldFriends4Sale said:

more fDeluxe !!!!

me want

[Edited 12/24/13 6:17am]

XxAxX said:

bigd74 said:

XxAxX said:

more fDeluxe !!!!

me want

[Edited 12/24/13 6:17am]

You could've already had it had you pledged when it was open

i'm not in any big hurry!

Where do I get it? Do I have to wait now???? HELP?!

Susannah's songs are HOT. Baby Love has been on constant rotation since I downloaded the album. Great stuff.

Wowugotit said:

Zannaloaf said:

OldFriends4Sale said:

the Revolution should join FDeluxe to finish it out

Susannah on Lead vocals

St Paul on Lead vocals/guitar

Brown Mark on bass

Wendy Melvoin on guitar

Eric Leeds sax/flute

Lisa Coleman on piano/keys

Dr Fink on keys/synth

Jellybean on drums/bass

Bobby Z drums percussion

St. Paul is a bass player. Jellybean plays guitar on it I think, he doesn't seem to play drums much except on tht Time tours. The lineup on this record sounds awesome and it's finished. So why would they need anyone else to finish it? Just curious if you thought something else.

I mean as in a fuller band

OldFriends4Sale said:

Zannaloaf said:

OldFriends4Sale said: St. Paul is a bass player. Jellybean plays guitar on it I think, he doesn't seem to play drums much except on tht Time tours. The lineup on this record sounds awesome and it's finished. So why would they need anyone else to finish it? Just curious if you thought something else.

I mean as in a fuller band

ah