Released: November 1994
After a seven-year hiatus, Patrice Rushen returns! It’s not a triumphant one, sadly. On Anything But Ordinary, Patrice is still trying to sound contemporary and for the most part it is painful since the production quality is bargain-bin. Even if the music had a chance at being good that production would still handicap it significantly.
“I Do” is kind of a clunky mess and somehow the best song on the album. Can’t decide if it wants to be funky. Or a rock song. Or a pop song. The three pieces can be (and have been) fused before, but here the pieces just don’t fit even if the hook has its charm and there is a pretty slick wah wah guitar.
In the end, it manages to just eke by its clunkiness thanks to its charisma.
Anyhoo, I’d take the messy creativity of “I Do” over the by-the-numbers urban contemporary of “Tell Me”. Ditto for “My Heart, Your Heart”.
On “What'cha Gonna Do?”, Rushen attempts to take all the jazz rappers to school. The lesson is only semi-effective, which might describe this whole album. Rushen uses standard hip-hop/new jack swing sample drum loop as the basis for her keyboard work, which is of course good. The trouble is, everything else surrounding it ain’t up to snuff.
“Top of the Line” is saved by a pretty good electric guitar solo. You can tell this song would been so much better if recorded with 1980 sensibilities instead of 1994 sensibilities, though.
Same can be said for sensibilities as it concerns “Caravan”. Also doesn’t help that Rushen’s voice sounds like it was recorded in a tin can. There’s that production quality striking again.
Yuck
“I Only Think Of You” is embarrassing new jack swing that drowns out Rushen’s whispery voice amidst clicks and clacks.
Further driving home the point that Rushen’s vocals just don’t work within the confines of 90s R&B are “Anything but Ordinary” and “State of Mind”. Her voice is totally swamped out by the sounds of the 90s. Back in the late 70s and early 80s the musical environment was such that the instrumentation supported her voice.
Anyhoo, “Be With You” concludes this really poor album with more of the forced upbeat new jack swing vibe.
ALBUM GRADE: D-
Hard to believe things could get worse after Watch Out! and Now, but contemporary music had clearly passed Rushen by. This album rightfully produced no hits and didn’t sell much, if any, units.
Song Scores
I Do: 6.5/10
Tell Me: 4/10
What'cha Gonna Do?: 5/10
I Only Think Of You: 3/10
My Heart, Your Heart: 4/10
Anything but Ordinary: 4/10
Top of the Line: 6/10
State of Mind: 3/10
Caravan: 4/10
Be With You: 4/10