Released: July 1973
Well, this album (eventually) was a massive hit going gold after reaching #3 on the R&B and pop charts.
The public gobbled this LP up because it contained “Love’s Theme”, a sweeping laid-back instrumental that stands as one of the final pillars establishing full-fledged disco music. Released late in 1973, it reached #1 on the American, Canadian, and South African pop charts. It climbed to the top 10 in Australia, Belgium, and Netherlands.
The late ‘73 release meant that the impact of “Love’s Theme” wasn’t truly felt until 1974, which was when this album took off in sales.
“Love’s Theme” by the way was the third biggest song in the United States in 1974 according to Billboard.
The success of the single birthed the Love Unlimited Orchestra that would soon record an album’s worth of instrumentals to cash in on the success of “Love’s Theme”.
Fortunately for Love Unlimited, the rest of this album was actually pretty good; a significant step up from their debut. Unfortunately, their vocal prowess was far less appreciated than the album’s lone instrumental as all the subsequent singles flopped mightily in America.
“Under the Influence of Love” is a funky proto-disco song while “Lovin' You, That's All I'm After” is a moving, gentle ballad that is effective in its simplicity. The Maestro Barry White even shows up for a very brief vocal cameo.
Side One of this LP concludes with the strutting “Oh Love, Well We Finally Made It”.
Side Two commences with “Say It Again” a song that straddles the line between dance music and balladry. Once again, White makes a vocal cameo.
The album’s weakest song finally pops up in “Someone Really Cares For You”. It’s a standard ballad that is salvaged by a splendid instrumental coda that sets the path forward for the soon-to-be Love Unlimited Orchestra.
“It May Be Winter Outside (But in My Heart It's Spring)” finds Barry White channeling his inner Motown Sound at his most derivative. As I’ve noted before, this song specifically apes the Supremes. The derivations go deeper. This song was actually first recorded by Felice Taylor in 1967.
Barry White wrote that track for Taylor and then revived it for Love Unlimited. (Same situation for “Under the Influence of Love”). Given that some six years had passed, White draped the song in some early 70s gimmickry.
Instead of going straight into the peppy pop, there is about a minute of slow build-up featuring a thumping drum, sleigh bells, and angelic rising harmonies from Love Unlimited.
The song may be derivative in almost every way, but it’s still good.
The album concludes with a mostly instrumental reprise of “Oh Love, Well We Finally Made It”.
ALBUM GRADE: B+
Unlike White’s first two solo albums, Love Unlimited manages to keep things snappy and not let the music meander against itself. (Behold! The wonders of editing.) This means that in the aggregate, this album is more than the sum of its parts, IMO.
A great listen for 70s soul fans and enthusiasts of girl groups and (proto-)disco.
Song Scores
Love’s Theme: 9/10
Under the Influence of Love: 7.5/10
Lovin' You, That's All I'm After: 8/10
Oh Love, Well We Finally Made It: 7.5/10
Say It Again: 7/10
Someone Really Cares for You: 7/10
It May Be Winter Outside (But in My Heart It's Spring): 8/10
Yes, We Finally Made It: 7.5/10