Search - Doobie Brothers :: Best of Doobie Brothers 2

McSOUL MAN

Jukebox Dave | RECORD TOWN, USA | 03/19/2006

(3 out of 5 stars)

"THE DOOBIE BROTHERS-BEST OF THE DOOBIES, VOLUME 2: Like the Bee Gees in their disco drenched hey-day, there was a time in the late seventies when EVERYTHING on pop radio was awash in Michael McDonald's smooth n' smokey, yet unmistakably "white" RNB sound. Not only did the tasty rock & roll chops of the Doobie Brothers become seriosuly dilluted after the departure of head honcho Tom Johnston, pop hits from Christopher Cross, Robbie (STEAL AWAY) Dupree, McDonald's wife AMY HOLLAND, Patti Labelle and Kenny Loggins (who co-wrote Doobie mega-hit WHAT A FOOL BELIEVES) were all heavily McDonald-influenced. BEST OF THE DOOBIES, VOL. 2 is a time capsule of their middle of the road years, though surprisingly few bona fide "hits" are represented; only FOOL and REAL LOVE even hit the TOP 10. Marvin Gaye chestnut LITTLE DARLIN' I NEED YOU, slow groover MINUTE BY MINUTE, and YOU BELONG TO ME (which Carly Simon charted with) all bear McDonald's unmistakable neo-soul stamp. He's not offset often enough by Pat Simmons' quite capable croon, as on DEPENDIN' ON YOU, the one "rock" tune here, and ONE STEP CLOSER, co-written by country upstart Carlene Carter. Overall, this adds up to a pleasurable enough listening experience (some might call it "background music"), but scarcely a match for the knuckles-to-the-fretboards punch of the original BEST OF THE DOOBIES. RATING: THREE DOOBIE DOOBIE DOO'S"