El Debarge Lyric of the Day

cant wait

After that, there's a sparse ballad -- strings, finger snaps, electric piano, and a lot of anguish. I'm pretty sure I was staring into space with my eyes bugged out during the whole thing.

Still wishing Motown would reissue that debut solo album of his (and the entire DeBarge catalogue for that matter). Sadly, Motown has no history of letting labels such as Demon, Cherry Red or Wounded Birds do their back catalogues, so it'll have to be something they choose to do themselves. And, from the very start, Motown never understood the importance of albums as opposed to singles.

'lay with you' is so dope

"Sad Songs" (co-written w/ Jam and Lewis) on the new album is DEVASTATING.

:O

After that, there's a sparse ballad -- strings, finger snaps, electric piano, and a lot of anguish. I'm pretty sure I was staring into space with my eyes bugged out during the whole thing.

This is "The Other Side" and contains the greatest vocal of his career. Staring into space? Check. Eyes bugged out? Check. All that and more. I can't have anyone in the room with me when I'm listening to it. 16 years later (!) and it's like dude never went away. I haven't gotten tired of a single song yet, not even the Xmas stuff on disc 2. And now he's canceled his tour and is back in rehab. :(

The least this man deserves is everything.

I'll never not love Who's Johnny. Any song that reminds me Number Five/Johnny Five and a bumbling Steve Guttenberg is fine by me.

So far my favorite track on the new album has been "Joyful"; "The Other Side" hasn't jumped out at me, but I'll listen to it again in isolation to see what I missed. (Like Second Chance in general way more than I'd expected to, but not nearly as much as All This Love or Time Will Reveal back in the '80s.)

Excerpts from my Rolling Stone review of his weird lost 1992 album The Storm here, fwiw:

DEBARGE: CLASSIC OR DUD POLL

Time Will Reveal back in the '80s.

In A Special Way

And reacquaint yourself with this gorgeous bit of dread from his last album:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cdFal06zKkk

Yeah, In A Special Way I meant, obviously. Though "Time Will Reveal" was always my favorite El song, period. (Never really got into Rhythm Of The Night as a whole album, beyond the title cut and "Who's Holding Donna Now," though I should probably pull it off the shelf and revisit it.)

Tried to focus on "The Other Side" the other day; thought it was kinda dull; don't really get why Kevin likes it so much. El's singing hit me as way too genteel, if anything.

Then played Rhythm Of The Night this morning -- kind of a hodgepodge (five different producers, including El on two tracks and his brother Bobby on one and Giorgio Moroder on one that goes in one ear out the other), but I'd still take it over any of El's solo albums I've heard. Not sure whether that means I just prefer young El over older El, or El as part of a group over El solo, or both. The calypsofied title track (produced by Richard Perry) is the greatest ripoff of Lionel Richie's "All Night Long" ever made (even despite its goofy redundant "dance to the beat of the rhythm of the night" chorus); new album has nothing anywhere near as great as far as I can tell. "Who's Holding Donna Now" still holds up, too. I would have picked "Prime Time" as the third single, but I also like the Latin lilt of "The Heart Is Not So Smart" (the actual fourth single - third one "You Wear It Well" got to #46 pop according to Wiki) and the funk-rock of the El-produced "The Walls (Came Tumbling Down)" and El's sister chiming in on "Share My World," "originally released in 1981" according to the liner notes.

even despite its goofy redundant "dance to the beat of the rhythm of the night" chorus

That's Diane Warren for you.

My favorite part of "Rhythm of the Night" is the bridge ("Well I know a place where we can dance all night away").

"You Wear It Well" is pretty good, despite the slap bass.

WOW re "The Other Side." Thanks, Kev!

Damn, that's for sure.

It's not often that I write that a song made my day.

http://i472.photobucket.com/albums/rr81/Chocolate_Thunder/poster97235624.jpg

I finally got this over the weekend. The rap cameos are inert, and two or three tracks in the middle sag, but this is an impressively vital comeback. When the horn section kicks in at the end of "Heaven," it really does feel like it.

Thanks for alerting us to "The Other Side," Kevin.

:)

The Centric channel aired an El documentary a few weeks back. It's definitely worth a watch.

First part is here:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=odkt7ppEUbQ

An Unsung thread is long overdue, but the DeBarge episode of that series is heartbreaking (even if you've read all about the family's history).

really diggin' "The Other Side" but I don't think I know anyone (outside of ILM of course) who would appreciate (or even tolerate) it :-/

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aKP4pDzt2JQ

Boy, do I love the new album. I hope he recovers.

http://www.hip-oselect.com/scr.public.product.asp?product_id=B80EFEA8-BBDA-4226-BEA6-80AFA7E795CF

Between this and the Stephanie Mills 20th Century comp, Hip-O Select is doing some good work this year.

YES

Time Will Reveal [long version]* previously unreleased

Whoa! Boner time!

I have a version of "A Dream" which is slightly longer than the one on my In a Special Way vinyl. Not sure where it came from and if it appeared on CD versions. But it makes me extra jazzed for this longer "Time Will Reveal."

http://singersroom.com/content/2012-05-14/El-Debarge-Says-50-Cent-and-Babyface-Saved-Him-from-Relapse/

That's a relief.

i really really like it