LP Review: He's All I've Got
Released: February 1977
Oh hey! It’s Love Unlimited. Haven’t seen these ladies with an album of their own in a bit. Not since 1974’s In Heat. In the interim Barry White had released three albums each for himself and the Love Unlimited Orchestra.
Given the recent results from Barry White, unsurprisingly this Love Unlimited album was not up to the standards of previous releases. As White neared the end of his 1.0 period that focused upon grandiose symphonic soul, he was running out of ways to make that symphony sound fresh.
White 2.0 would be more groove oriented much to the detriment of Love Unlimited. But after hearing the totality of this album, a change was in order.
“I Did It for Love” sounds like the Doobie Brothers’ “Listen to the Music” mixed with the Supremes’ “You Keep Me Hangin’ On”. How’s that for a musical combination?
The song kicks off with a frantic guitar reminiscent of “Hangin’ On’” while the chorus sounds at least inspired by “Listen to the Music”. In between is a whole lot of hard hitting disco drummin’.
After that excitement the album heads into quicksand.
“Never, Never Say Goodbye” is standard fare soul balladry. “Whisper You Love Me” is even a step below standard. It’s boring.
Thank goodness for “He's Mine (No, You Can't Have Him)”. That song is not great by any means, but it’s got energy and returns Love Unlimited to their best territory: harmonizing like a 60s girl group.
And now proceedings are fully back on track with “I Can't Let Him Down”. You get that girl group harmony with the disco drumming. There’s also a chicka bow guitar whipping around in the background.
After two dance songs, the album concludes with two ballads. They are much better than the previous two sluggish ballads.
“I Guess I'm Just Another Girl in Love” and “He’s All I’ve Got” just milk all the emotion possible out of the combined harmonies of the group and the lead vocals of Glodean White. Both songs go beyond their expiration date, though. Could use one or two minutes cut from them.
The bigger problem was the musical well being dry. White should have let someone else do something here. Co-wrote. Co-produce. Executive produce. Whatever. He seemed a little burned out and Love Unlimited bore the brunt of that… although not as badly as on White’s own recent record.
ALBUM GRADE: C+
Song Scores
I Did It for Love: 7.5/10
Never, Never Say Goodbye: 6/10
Whisper You Love Me: 3/10
He's Mine (No, You Can't Have Him): 7/10
I Can’t Let Him Down: 8/10
I Guess I'm Just Another Girl in Love: 7.5/10
He’s All I’ve Got: 7/10