shorttrini said:

I didn't like 'The Day' at all.It was his first disappointing album,imo.On that album,it was clear that he was running out of ideas and decided to settle for a boring,MOR-adult contemporary sound.

vainandy said:

I think The Deele's ballads are exceptional.Seriously,how can anyone argue against a song like "Two Occasions"? Or the 70s-styled "Shoot Em Up Movies"? The second Deele album contained two great slow jams in a row: "I'll Send You Roses" and "Sweet November".

SoulAlive said:

Agreed. The (almost) title track was a let down, the rehash of "This Is For the Lover in You" was unnecessary, and there wasn't any sign of a great song that could rise above the mediocrity. IMO, The Day is his most disappointing album, because there was a severe drop in quality from what came earlier.

daPrettyman said:

To his credit,it seems that Babyface is now saying "screw it" to the record company and is finally making the music that he really wants to make.His last CD is a collection of soft rock cover songs,with Face playing acoustic guitar.It's very stripped down.I heard that he's planning to record another album like that.It probably won't be a big seller,but I think it's rewarding for him as an artist,to get away from his standard R&B sound and get back to basics.In 1993,when he released the excellent acoustic ballad "When Can I See You Again",I was thinking that he should do an entire album like that.You can tell that he was heavily influenced by artists like Carole King and James Taylor.

AlexdeParis said:

I also disliked that sappy song "Everytime I Close My Eyes" with Kenny G. and background vocals by Mariah Carey Several years earlier,he was writing brilliant stuff like "Whip Appeal" and "Soon As I Get Home".It was disappointing to see him lose his touch and settle for boring MOR stuff.

SoulAlive said:

Hey hey heeeey

I love that song 96/95 was Mariah's prime period, vocally. He gave her a Barry White-ish song called Melt Away, that song was my heart and joy back when I was in Jr.High I would have it on repeat along with Underneath The Stars.
[Edited 9/4/08 5:51am]

SoulAlive said:

You have to keep all of those songs in context. "The Day", was basically about the birth of his son, and how he was feeling about Tracy. It was a very personal album. It is an album that every artist wants to make and some do, at the risk of it not being well received,Maxwell's "Embyra", is a perfect example. It was an album that he HAD to make, knowing that it might not be received well. "The Day", is that same kind of album. Judging from the posts on this board, it looks as though a singer is not supposed to take risks and grow, by writing about what really matters to him but instead continue to write songs like "Whip Appeal" just to please his fans. I think he did that with his follow up to "The Day", The album was called "Face 2 Face".

shorttrini said:

Oh,I'm all for an artist doing a "personal" album if he/she feels like it.I just think 'The Day' is a boring album.You mentioned Maxwell's 'Embrya'....I may not totally "get" that album,but I don't find it boring at all.It's edgy and experimental,which is a good thing.'The Day',on the other hand,is a snoozefest."Growing and evolving" is fine but I honestly don't hear alot of growth on 'The Day'.The remake of the Shalamar song (with LL Cool J) is a mess...."Everytime I Close My Eyes" is the most tedious single that Face ever released....and there's not much else on the record that holds my attention.I think Babyface's last great album is 'For The Cool In You' which is brilliant all the way through.

SoulAlive said:

Yes, "For the cool in you", was a great CD. Part of the reason that it was a good CD was because of it's appeal to his fans. It was growth, but growth in another way. When one becomes a parent, as I have, you grow more than you would at any other time in your life. It is the first time that you realize that it is NOT about you anymore, but about another human being. It is a feeling that you really cannot describe. With "The Day", I think he did that brilliantly. You mentioned mentioned that Shalamar song. That was done, mostly as a chance for the group to work together again. Nothing wrong with that.

Thank you! I couldn't have said it better myself.

I wouldn't care if The Deele was only known for one song, kinda like The Invisible Man's Band was known mainly for "All Night Thing". But if you come out strong, like The Deele did with "Body Talk", keep it strong....forever. If you can't keep it strong, retire. In other words, if you can't get down...sit down.

I love "Shoot Em Up Movies" because it just has that "something" in a slow jam that I like. Maybe it's because, like you said, it sounds like the 1970s which had the best slow jams, as well as the funk ballads of the early 1980s. They just have that "after midnight, sleep with a stranger" feel to them.

However, I couldn't stand "Two Occasions". It has that same dull adult contemporary feel that the rest of the slow songs had beginning in 1985. They just don't have that "something" in them that earlier slow songs had. Instead of an "after midnight, sexy feel" to them, they have a damn "dull ass Sunday afternoon, sitting around with family" feel to them. Yeah, maybe that's it, they are kind of "family friendly". Well, I'm a whore so I can't relate to that shit. Send the family home, wait for the sun to go away, and bring on the sex.

Oh, I hate those two songs. I see them as kinda two of those "female anthem" songs or "pussy whipped" songs which I totally can't relate to at all. A woman sure couldn't whip me, and as for a man, he couldn't whip me either. I'd tell that motherfucker to leave the next morning and send over his friend the next night.

vainandy said:

AlexdeParis said:

I totally agree with you Alex. I was so disappointed in The Day. That album was very inconsistent and weak. I (kind of) liked the remake of This Is For The Lover In You, but in hindsite, I see it as a lead single to draw you in.

The ballads were so syrupy and the music lyrics were weak. The title track had Oprah crying, but it made me want to slap his ass up-side the head for having a child with gold-digger Tracy.

SoulAlive said:

If he wanted to pay homage to his influences, he would write music that was inspired by his idols...not remake all of their songs. Besides, Face released the cover project solely to go after the A/C audience...not the R&B audience.

If Arista would release A Love Story, Face would have a hit album on his hands.

Probably the last writer/producer in R&B who wrote songs that could stand up on their own without the beats. Since him there haven't been any serious lyricists in R&B either, so I respect him for that, but genius? Nah.

And to those who say once a genius, always a genius, I have to say have you listened to Prince's music recently? No, genius is a mood as much as a fixed attribute. People with a gift can push their minds to reach that level, but just as they weren't born writing masterpieces there's no guarantee they'll go on doing it either. Genius is a habit of mind that it takes work to maintain. Very few achieve it, and even fewer keep it.

SoulAlive said:

I'm glad to know that I wasn't the only person that despises "Everytime I Close My Eyes". I think that is his worst single....EVER!!

MuthaFunka said:

Any band that was able to funk out with a Yamaha DX7 such as The Deele is a classic funk band AFAIC!

Body Talk & I Surrender is synth-funk to the core.

vainandy said:

You probably like it because it's a Kenny Nolan song. He wrote quite a few hits in the 70s.

TonyVanDam said:

Naw, dawg. That doesn't get them into the "Classic Funk Band" Hall of Fame.

vainandy said:

Well said.

MuthaFunka said:

Don't worry. I'll make sure Cameo, Roger/Zapp, Dazz Band, & Midnight Starr are in the The Funk HOF ahead of The Deele. Those bands have great synth-funk tracks as well.

TonyVanDam said:

Now you're talkin'!

MuthaFunka said:

The Deele missed the boat completely. "Body Talk" sounds like a "Whip It"/"Joystick" retread, lol.

I put him in the Lionel Ritchie category

In a great funk band, left to do ballad R&B/pop, and became huge for it....


and now, nobody really cares about them

bboy87 said:

Don't tell the folks in the Middle East that about Lionel Richie.

Timmy84 said:

lol.....

daPrettyman said:

It's certainly generic, but I don't hate it.

daPrettyman said:

"Shoot Em Up Movies" sounds like it's straight out of 1973.I can imagine a group like the Intruders,Blue Magic,The Delfonics or the Chi-Lites doing that song.Kenny Nolan wrote it and I think he intended it to be a tribute to early 70s soul music.