Search - Mother's Finest :: Looks Could Kill

Mother's Reunite , R&B/Dance Style

gassy goon | 09/25/2008

(3 out of 5 stars)

"After several years of band inactivity, and Joyce Kennedy's solo career with 2 albums , Mother's Finest reunited. It's hard to say if Capitol Records wanted an R&B/Dance album, or if the band did. There is a lot of keyboard programming & drum machines on this album. There are some guitar solos by Moses Mo, and some funk throughout many of these cuts. But mostly, it sounds like a shaky start after not being a band for 5 years. Joyce's voice is sheer power on these tracks. It mostly sounds like a continuation of her solo albums, with the influences of The Pointer Sisters hit making streak. It's not really a band album. I can't even detect real drums on here. But the album is salvaged by Joyce's amazing voice, and some uptempo cuts. Best track is by far BRAVE AND STRONG [ not the Sly & The Family Stone song ] with it's bass line, hooks & multi-layered vocals. I'M 'N DANGER made the R&B charts and got them both video & airplay. FOR YOUR LOVE , the opener is not The Yardbirds song [ too bad ], but it does borrow the melody from it. Other songs like LEGS AND LIPSTICK [ with very dated 80's production ] and STILLOVEACH OTHER are pure dance floor tracks. Producer Attila Zane Giles is probably the culprit here by surrounding the group with all the drum machines. Glenn Murdock also produced a few songs, and only sings lead on one song. This album signaled a return to Mother's Finest performing again , and it's been 20 years since they reformed. Their next album BLACK RADIO WON'T PLAY THIS RECORD was a loud return to the rock sound that they sound most natural with. Capitol should have used the band photo on the 12 inch of I'M 'N DANGER as the cover, not the generic " art " that they used. Really an experimental , one-off album for the group that did not stick to their strengths of combining rock & soul ."

Good heartfelt soul music :)

Sinitta | Germany | 12/11/2003

(5 out of 5 stars)

"This is their 1989 album on Capitol Records. Many MF fans dislike
it, because it is not rock. It's more soul. And Joyce is singing all tracks
(no Glenn as the lead voice). It's produced by Attala Zane Gile which might
explain the "new" sound. I like this album. It brings out Joyce's strong
voice and it matches more with her solo stuff than with the MF stuff.
"DReams come true" is a great ballad. The messages of "Brave & strong" or
"Legs and lipstick" are positive and "Stilloveeach other" is very catchy.
The singles were "Your wish is my command", "Leg's'n'lipstick","I'm in
danger". The CD has bonus tracks that the vinyl doesn't have."