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Anita
Baker
Rhythm of Love
By Carla Robinson
Fans had a long wait between Compositions (1990) and this 1994 follow-up, Rhythm
of Love. During that period, our diva, who’d married in 1988, had two babies and
presumably, found domestic bliss. Well, some say contentment is the enemy of creativity.
Especially for those who traffic in love and romance. Aretha’s tumultuous years
yielded some of the greatest songs ever recorded and since then, well…. Happy home
life aside, Rhythm of Love is a worthwhile effort. It’s not a mountain mover, but the
music is high quality, the vocals up to par and the arrangements solid. As confirmation of
Anita’s staying power, the record made it to #1 on the R&B charts and #3 on the
pop charts.
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But it’s not very consistent for an Anita Baker
recording. In fact, the unexceptional Giving You the Best That I Got was more cohesive.
This may be due to the absence of longtime producer Michael J. Powell. An army of
producers, from George Duke to Arif Mardin, show up in his place. Of course, they make
fine contributions, but the songs don’t necessarily sound like they should share the
same disc. To take the matter further, Anita must have decided to explore her musical
influences, incorporating African drumming and even moving wholly into pop (“Plenty
of Room”). Gems can be found and they include her cover of “You Belong To
Me” (which makes sense, because Anita and Michael McDonald share an incredibly
similar vocal quality), “Baby,” “Body and Soul” and the uplifting
“Only for A While.”
M
February 2001
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