LP Review: The Woman I Am and Dare You To Love Me
The Woman I Am
Released: 1992
LP Charts: #9 R&B, #92 pop
After two late 1980s albums that flopped, Chaka Khan took a three-year break before releasing The Woman I Am. Honestly, I’m glad Khan skipped out on the transition period of the late ‘80s and early ‘90s. Lots of potential horrors there, if she tried to keep up with the height of the new jack swing era.
Anyhoo, The Woman I Am still engages with electronic pop of the period while not being overwhelmed by it. See “Everything Changes” for example. It also incorporates hip-hop styled drumming imported via that jackin’ new swing thing. See “Give Me All” for example.
The mid-tempo groove “Keep Givin' Me Lovin’” has an unexpected warmth provided by Khan’s layered vocals and a tasteful electric guitar. Speaking of guitar, there’s lots of it on the rockin’ “Facts of Love”.
“Love You All My Lifetime” (#2 R&B, #1 dance) was somehow a big hit, but it’s rather ordinary to my ears. Now, “I Want”…. that’s a dance song. And “The Woman I Am” is a light anthem. A perfectly splenda version of “I’m Every Woman”.
On the negative side, schlock merchant Dianne Warren gives us “Don’t Look at Me That Way”. Also, this album is just too long. After a while your mind gets to wandering.
ALBUM GRADE: C-
There’s a solid C+ album in here, if not for all the bloat unleashed by the CD age.
Song Scores
Everything Changes: 6.5
Give Me All: 5/10
Telephone: 4/10
Keep Givin' Me Lovin': 7/10
Facts of Love: 6.5/10
Love You All My Lifetime: 5.5/10
I Want: 7/10
You Can Make the Story Right: 5/10
Be My Eyes: 5/10
This Time: 5/10
The Woman I Am: 6.5/10
Love With No Strings: 5/10
Don’t Look at Me That Way: 3/10
Dare You To Love Me
Recorded: 1993-1995, never released
That Chaka Khan’s Dare You To Love Me was never released by Warner Brothers is one of the travesties of the 1990s. In total, Khan recorded 16 songs between 1993 and 1995 with the hopes of releasing some, most, or maybe all of them on a new album. Unfortunately, I haven’t heard every single one of these tracks, but I have heard 10 of them!
Despite shelving the Dare You To Love Me album, Warner Brothers did release six of the songs on a greatest hits compilation put out in 1996. So, a bastardized splitting of the baby. No new album, but we’ll do a greatest hits CD… and put six of your new songs on it. Motherfucker, just put out the new album. Especially when the songs I’ve heard from it are pretty gosh darn good.
In totality, the six songs on that compilation, Epiphany, were the best music Khan had recorded and released in over a decade. I think it’s no musical accident this happened as it became acceptable once more to infuse your work with organic funky grooves.
“Never Miss the Water” demonstrates that in spades as Khan collaborated with Me’shell Ndegéocello. Ndegéocello contributed vocals and bass on the disco jam that topped the dance charts in February 1997. The lyrics are also sassily great as they fit in the disco tradition of women having enough of a no-good man’s bullshit.
Khan does a slinky, reggae-ish cover of Fleetwood Mac’s “Everywhere”. “Every Little Thing” earns tons of mileage out of a laid back jazzy funk groove. “Somethin’ Deep” is the most classically funky of the songs. Sounds like it could have leaped up from a 1975 Rufus album.
There was bound to be one dud: “Your Love Is All I Know”. Just a standard mid-90s adult R&B ballad.
The best song, though, is “Love Me Still”. Written by Chaka and Bruce Hornsby (of “The Way It Is” fame), the song consists entirely of her voice, a piano, and some light, barely detectable touches of synth to add atmosphere. Ms. Khan absolutely knocks out this ballad.
The other songs I scrounged up via YouTube were the title track, “Dare You To Love Me”, which is some great sleaze funk. “Don't Take Back (Your Love)” has some fleeting strings, crisp piano work, and even a flute. It’s like Chaka decided to cop the Brand New Heavies’ style.
“Pain” might be the most conventionally mid-90s song of the bunch, but it’s still steeped in the funk. And Khan ditches the conventional around the two-minute mark for some jazzy scatting. She eventually gets back to a neo-soul groove that would make Maxwell proud.
“Whatever I Want” is a good blend of hip-hop vibes with some live funky bass.
ALBUM GRADE: B+
Granted this grade is incomplete and the other songs out there might be shitty, but based on the 10 songs I have glimpsed, this album would have been a banger. Easily the best collective batch of songs Khan had recorded since 1982.
Song Scores
Dare You To Love Me: 7.5/10
Never Miss the Water: 8/10
Don't Take Back (Your Love): 7/10
Love Me Still: 9/10
Pain: 7.5/10
Everywhere: 7/10
Whatever I Want: 7/10
Every Little Thing: 7.5/10
Somethin’ Deep: 6.5/10
Your Love Is All I Know: 5/10