Dance With My Father - Vandross, Luther (CD 2003)

I was saddened as everyone was when I heard that Luther Vandross had a stroke and slipped into a coma. He's now out of intensive care, and hopefully feeling a lot better. I read that his mother said she thinks it was caused by stress and his own indulgence because of that stress. She said he was working so hard to finish this album and started eating like crazy after working so hard to keep his weight down. I know Luther had said at the time that this album was the best material of his career. I'm not the most knowledgeable Luther fan, but after listening to this album, I think he had good intentions of this being the album of his career, but I'm sure he's done better.

There is much to like about this album, but it's watered down with his foray into hip hop. This just about ruins the album for the R&B fan. You don't expect to hear Foxy Brown or Busta Rhymes on a Luther album. And even if they were there in small doses, it may be easier to digest. However, on If It Ain't One Thing you get Foxy in the usual P. Diddy role of making sounds, saying words, and then having her own verse on the song. Pretty irritating and I can usually take Foxy in small doses. But here, it just ruins the song.

As for Busta, you get to hear him twice. He's on two versions of Luther's cover of the Bill Wither's hit Lovely Day. The first version is extremely hard to listen to. Busta calls himself the weather man (get it, lovely day?). However, the second version, entitled Part II is a little funkier and spices up the boring first cover. The third rapper to appear on the album didn't really irritate me as much as the other two. Queen Latifah appears on a song entitled Hit It Again. Wouldn't you think that song would be about Luther's trip to the batting cages rather than about sex? Sorry, it's about sex. The song's production is awful to the point of humorous, but the hook is entertaining as is Latifah's rap. Thankfully, Luther never said that he had the magic stick, although he wanted to hit it twice.

Enough about the bad. The first track on the album is an absolute gem. What's even better than the music is the story that Luther tells. Luther tells his female friend that she gives him mixed signals. She has a boyfriend who takes care of her "under the covers", but she flirts with Luther and "rubs up" on him. The worst part of this for Luther is when he says, "Then you kiss and tell me that you love me like a brother." The song works in every facet. Another song that is damn near perfect is Buy Me A Rose. Luther just sings what he thinks is on the mind of some women when he says, "Buy me a rose, call me from work. Open a door for me, what would it hurt? Show me you love me by the look in your eyes." It's a nice ballad that is meaningful in lyrics, which is a lost art it seems nowadays.

My favorite track that people might think is a little sappy is Dance With My Father. Luther's father died when Luther was a young boy. Luther's memories of his father are when he picked him up and danced with his mother while Luther was in his arms. Luther says that if he had one wish in life, he would, "play a song that would never, ever end" so he could dance with him again. Really heartfelt and a song that Luther calls the greatest of his career.

There are other songs such as Apologize that work, but don't have the special appeal that my three favorites did. Once Were Lovers is nice musically and features Stevie Wonder on the harmonica. However, the one song I wanted to be great was just so so. Luther and Beyonce remake The Closer I Get To You, the classic Donny Hathaway and Roberta Flack song. The duet is ok vocally, but is snail slow and without the pep that the original had. I thought Beyonce would fail miserably in Flack's role, but she held her own decently.

The album is a mixed bag for me. I wanted to love it. I really did. And for parts of it, I do. But there's a lack of consistency throughout. Part of me wants to say that Luther is just a guy stuck in the 80's and can't conform to the newer sound. But in my book, that's not necessarily a bad thing. It just doesn't sound right meshed on the same album with something that tries to be hip and isn't.