Released: August 1979
After the bargain bin production and effort on I Love to Sing the Songs I Sing (D), this album is a breath of fresh air. White even took back control of his songs, co-writing all but one that appeared on this album. He hadn’t been that involved with the writing since 1976’s Is This Whatcha Wont? (C-).
Free from 20th Century Fox, White’s new deal on CBS records stipulated he received his own custom label, Unlimited Gold. The grandiose name showed White expected more success on the horizon as the 1970s came to a close.
Unfortunately, The Message Is Love would be the only album produced by White on Unlimited Gold records to actually go gold. Kind of surprising that The Message Is Love did go gold since the album had no hit singles and only climbed to #14 R&B and #67 pop.
The album opener is the salsa-tastic “It Ain't Love, Babe (Until You Give It)”, which is filled with so much percussion you’ll be hearing tings and bops for the rest of the day. The lyrics are fresh, the sound is crisp, and the vocals from White and Love Unlimited are energetic.
The particular lyric that always knocked me out was “I know it’s hip to just hang loose, I’ve had my share of all that too”. The way White sings it conveys a sense of matter-of-fact wisdom.
Easily the best song on the album and should have been a hit, in my opinion. Instead it had a miserable showing (#58 R&B).
After that highly danceable number comes “Hung Up In Your Love” and “You’re the One I Need”, both of which revive the heavy grooves of Barry White Sings For Someone You Love (B). The emphasis is definitely on the bass on these songs and not on the percussion or strings. Shout out to the way Love Unlimited sings in harmony with the horns on “You’re the One I Need”.
The difference between this album and the previous White effort can be seen on “Any Fool Could See (You Were Meant for Me)”. On I Love To Do Whatever It Is I Do, the production probably would have been lazy and White sounding like he just woke up from a nap. However, the actual recording here is 100% lively featuring a rollicking piano and bass topped by even more festive horn players.
And that concludes Side One, which amazingly had all four songs run about 4:30.
Side Two disappointingly gets weighed down by a couple ballads: “Love Ain't Easy” and “I’m On Fire”. The former is okay, while the latter verges on corny. There’s only so long you can sit through endless repeating of “I’m on fire.”
(For the record the final two minutes of the song are just that).
Mercifully, things are saved by the album closer, “I Found Love”. It too has a bit of a repitition problem, but at least it’s hook is far less corny and the groove stupendous. And White’s voice has rarely sounded so invigorated. When his big bass voice sings, “I do believe I found love” it’s kind of hard to dismiss it.
ALBUM GRADE: B-
Overall, a delightfully solid album from Barry White to close out the 1970s. Too bad the 1980s would be very unkind to him. It’s gonna be a rough and tough road ahead.
Song Scores
It Ain't Love, Babe (Until You Give It): 8.5/10
Hung Up In Your Love: 7/10
You're The One I Need: 7.5/10
Any Fool Could See (You Were Meant for Me): 7.5/10
Love Ain't Easy: 6/10
I'm On Fire: 5/10
I Found Love: 7.5/10