One of the side effects of
reviewing albums is that they get into your head that much deeper. Before I
write one of these I will have typically have listened to the album two to
three times in a row with a very active ear.
This next record is a good one,
but I want something else kicking around in my head when I head downtown to do
some chores, so I’m getting this review written before I leave.
Disc 859 is….Menagerie
Artist: Bill
Withers
Year of Release: 1977
What’s up with the Cover? Bill can’t decide what he wants
this record to be – sixties soul or seventies disco, and this cover sums that
dilemma up. A classy looking Bill Withers head & shoulders shot surrounded
by a bunch of goofy animals with dilated pupils that look high on coke.
How I Came To Know It: I really liked my double album of
“Just as I Am” and “Still Bill” (reviewed back at Discs 627 and 628) and
so I decided to get something else by him.
How It Stacks Up: I must regrettably place “Menagerie” third out
of my three albums. Here’s the full list:
- Just as I
Am: 4 stars (reviewed back at
Disc 627)
- Still Bill: 4 stars (reviewed back at Disc 628)
- Menagerie: 3 stars (reviewed right here)
Ratings: 3 stars
“Menagerie” is a record that can’t decide what it
wants to be: early seventies soul music or late seventies disco music. As a
result it does a good job of both but a great job at neither.
One thing is certain though, while some tracks are
more soul and others more disco, all of them sound like baby making music. “Menagerie”
is a sexy album with a smooth groove that will make you want to curl up with
your girl in front of a brick fireplace. Maybe lay down on the orange shag
carpet and…well, you know.
Bill Withers has an exceptional voice, and although
the songs on “Menagerie” aren’t as strong as the two albums I reviewed earlier,
Withers’ vocals carry a lot of punch. On “Lovely
Day” he carries a single note through most of each chorus with clarity and
beauty. It is a reminder to modern R&B singers that not every sustained
note needs a bunch of runs in it to be great. Just sing it strong and pure and
let the song take care of the rest.
Regrettably, Withers’ vocal prowess can’t overcome
the shortcomings of every song. “I Want
To Spend the Night Together” is an exceptional vocal, but the song feels
like a cross between seventies a.m. radio schmaltz and something you’d hear a
second-rate crooner sing at a tiki lounge. Withers is first-rate all the way,
but he can only pull this song up to “average” at best.
Better is “Lovely
Night for Dancing” which is bolstered by a groovy beat and a horn section.
It is still a bit a.m. radio, but the groove is too infectious to be denied,
and Withers’ is on the top of his vocal game, particularly with his phrasing
choices.
“She Wants To
(Get On Down)” is full-on disco, and Withers’ smooth soul voice is slightly
out of place, but rather than hurting the track, it gives it a bit of groove
that a bunch of back-up singers going “Get
Down! Get Down!” couldn’t have managed alone. It may be a guilty pleasure,
but I like this song.
Production-wise this album makes some questionable
choices, as it can’t decide if it wants to side with disco organ and synthesizer
or soul trumpet and piano. As a result the songs lack direction.
My CD version of “Menagerie” is a 2003 re-issue and
the Soulless Record Execs couldn’t resist putting three bonus tracks on it. I’m
usually disinclined to like bonus tracks, and these three did nothing to
disavow me of such prejudice. We are provided the radio single version of “Lovely Night for Dancing” and an
instrumental version of “Let Me Be the
One You Need.” The former is basically a shorter version of the original
and the latter is like the original, minus the best thing about the record;
Withers’ voice.
As for the third bonus track, “Rosie” the less said the better. The song is half droning piano
romance and half strange synthesizer sounds that would better fit on an ELO or
Alan Parsons Project record. The song is an embodiment of the stylistic
disconnect of the main record, and just made me notice it anew.
Overall, “Menagerie” is a good record. Buoyed by
Bill Withers’ voice and some very sexy grooves, it has its moments. If it had
tried to do less, I would have liked it even more.
Best
tracks: Lovely Day, Lovely Night for Dancing, She
Wants To (Get On Down)
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