Tuesday, August 23, 2005
"Fake," Alexander O'Neal (7/25/87)
The fourth of a rather astounding five R&B #1s Jam and Lewis had as producers in 1987, this is an atom bomb of a single. O'Neal's Hearsay is in my opinion the greatest album the duo had a hand in - and, in fact, the best R&B album of the entire decade not by their former boss - a perfect cocktail of superb vocals (from longtime Minneapolis journeyman O'Neal, who was almost the lead singer of the Time - and what might that have sounded like?!), production even sharper than (and not as sonically dry as) what they did on Control, and a set of 9 nearly note-perfect songs which fit O'Neal's voice and personality like the proverbial glove. Hearsay featured no filler, and amazing singles (including "Criticize" and "Never Knew Love Like This," but amazingly "Fake" was the album's only #1), led by this storming-the-castle number in which O'Neal calls his girl out. I can listen to this one over and over ad nauseum, only without the nausea, and wouldn't change a thing about it. What does that make "Fake"? Perfect, that's what. A+
The fourth of a rather astounding five R&B #1s Jam and Lewis had as producers in 1987, this is an atom bomb of a single. O'Neal's Hearsay is in my opinion the greatest album the duo had a hand in - and, in fact, the best R&B album of the entire decade not by their former boss - a perfect cocktail of superb vocals (from longtime Minneapolis journeyman O'Neal, who was almost the lead singer of the Time - and what might that have sounded like?!), production even sharper than (and not as sonically dry as) what they did on Control, and a set of 9 nearly note-perfect songs which fit O'Neal's voice and personality like the proverbial glove. Hearsay featured no filler, and amazing singles (including "Criticize" and "Never Knew Love Like This," but amazingly "Fake" was the album's only #1), led by this storming-the-castle number in which O'Neal calls his girl out. I can listen to this one over and over ad nauseum, only without the nausea, and wouldn't change a thing about it. What does that make "Fake"? Perfect, that's what. A+
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