LP Review: Mistaken Identity
Released: 1991
LP Charts: #97 R&B
If anything, no one can accuse late career Donna Summer with being musically stagnant. On 1987’s All Systems Go (C+) she was largely in a pop-rock balladeering mood. On 1989’s Another Place and Time (B) she went all in on British dance-pop. Now on Mistaken Identity our chameleon embraces a softer form of New Jack Swing and house thanks to producer Keith Diamond. (He’s most famous for working with Billy Ocean on his 1980s hits).
We’re getting whiplash here from all these musical changes!
I will say that this shift to a more “pure” R&B does allow Summer to sing more full-throatedly than normal. Being the talented vocalist that she was, Summer didn’t have just one type of vocal to lean on, but this was an underutilized facet in her repertoire.
The opening “Get Ethnic” is a great example of Summer just being a big-voiced diva over a mid-tempo dance beat that’s augmented by some aggressive electric guitar riffs. “Body Talk” is a bit more run-of-the-mill new jack that’s elevated by a swinging saxophone.
It’s not the best song around, but I got a smile when “Work That Magic” started playing. It’s an early ‘90s house song to the max with a stereotypically bouncy piano. Thank God for it all, though cuz Donna Summer was able to record what was essentially neo-disco.
“Fred Astaire”, “Say A Little Prayer”, and “What Is It You Want” fill out the outright dance songs. FYI, the midtempo new jack of “Mistaken Identity” sounds like it belongs as the theme song for an early ‘90s Disney animated series.
On the slower side of town, we have “When Love Cries” (#18 R&B, #77 pop), which maintains a lightly danceable beat. Totally slowing things down are the adult contemporary ballads “Heaven’s Just A Whisper Away” and “Friends Unknown”. My favorite song on the album, “Cry Of A Waking Heart”, has Summer employing her gorgeous, fluttery upper register. Think of her singing on “I Feel Love” or “Whispering Waves”. Like I said at the top, she had vocal range.
ALBUM GRADE: C+
Nothing here is as offensively bad as on Cats Without Claws or even the weaker material found on Donna Summer, but there also aren’t any sustained high points on this album either. A complete and total commercial disaster, Mistaken Identity would be the last Summer album of new material for 17 years.
Song Scores
Get Ethnic: 7/10
Body Talk: 6.5/10
Work That Magic: 6.5/10
When Love Cries: 6.5/10
Heaven’s Just A Whisper Away: 5/10
Cry of a Waking Heart: 7/10
Friends Unknown: 5/10
Fred Astaire: 6.5/10
Say A Little Prayer: 5/10
Mistaken Identity: 5/10
What Is It You Want: 4/10
Let There Be Peace: 5/10