LP Review: Start Over and Whatever It Takes
Start Over
Released: 1987
LP Charts: #55 R&B
Start Over is Cheryl Lynn’s first album following the conclusion of her record deal with Columbia, the only label she’d ever known. Starting over with Manhattan Records didn’t do her any good. This is a really bad album.
Want a song that’s all beat and no groove? Say hello to “New Dress”! A great example of what ailed late ‘80s R&B. The rest of the LP’s uptempo songs generally follow in this sorry path. The ballad “Start Over” lacks any and all spark.
The one song that captured my musical heart was “If You Were Mine”. It has some of that late ‘80s percussive clutter, but manages to have some bounce in the synth bass. Plus there’s a chiming keyboard that keeps things from being too mechanical. Unsurprisingly, this was a successful single on the R&B charts reaching #11.
ALBUM GRADE: D
I haven’t heard all the album’s songs, but I’ve heard 6 out of 9, and “If You Were Mine” (7/10) was the only one above average.
Whatever It Takes
Released: 1989
LP Charts: #42 R&B
After that one LP with Manhattan, Lynn moved on to Virgin Records. Whatever It Takes would be her only release on the label, but it is a delightful recovery. The album isn’t good, but stepping up from bad to merely okay is a recovery.
“Everytime I Try to Say Goodbye” is a really catchy and fun pop-R&B track that deserved its #7 placing on the R&B charts. And you wouldn’t the same guys who wrote and produced “If You Were Mine” from the previous album (Evan Rogers and Carl Sturken) did this track. I’ma need to look into them more.
What’s shameful about this song, though, is that it didn’t even make a dent on the pop charts. This is a pretty gosh darn good pop song! Maybe if Cheryl were 10 years younger it woulda been a bigger hit.
Anyways, “Upset” is satisfactory new jack swing mixed with faux go-go. And produced by Jesse Johnson, who had a hand in a number of this album’s songs.
The title track is moody and broody. As is “Good for Me”. Good back-to-back combo there and both produced by Johnson. “Overworked N' Underloved” is the first dud placing at perfectly average. I’ll pretend Johnson didn’t contribute this blandness.
Sturken and Rogers return with their rumble synth on “I Surrender”. Good as usual from them.
The album ends with “Most of All” ( a sleepy and boring ballad) and “The Bottom Line”, which has awful stutter vocals. That’ll be an instant skip from me.
ALBUM GRADE: C
The first half of this album is pretty decent. That back end, though. Yeesh.
Song Scores
Upset: 6/10
Everytime I Say Goodbye: 7.5/10
Whatever It Takes: 7/10
Good for Me: 6.5/10
Overworked N' Underloved: 5/10
I Surrender: 6.5/10
Most of All: 4/10
The Bottom Line: 4/10