BROWNMARK - GOOD FEELING

Brownmark, or Mark Brown, is a former Revolution member and Prince associate. After the Revolution disbanded, all of the various members recorded solo material. Wendy & Lisa worked together and still pursue a writing partnership to this day. Mark signed with Motown and took up writing/producing his own material. After writing and producing the Paisley Park outfit Mazarati, Mark wanted to establish himself as a writer and solo artist. His first song efforts with Mazarati were interesting enough to make you wonder where he'd go from there. I admit, I bought this disc not knowing there was a Prince track on it. I was more curious about Mark's sound and what he'd come up with now that he was free of the Prince influence.

The first track, 'Bang Bang' features a background vocal performance by Prince. It was written and produced by Levi Seacer Jr. who was Prince's closest writing buddy at the time. He quite accurately mastered the Prince sound and was often successful in mimicking it in music he produces sans Prince input. The first time I heard the track I was annoyed. I didn't believe it was an authentic Prince composition, but the writing credits in the albums liner notes weren't specific or clear about who wrote what. The fact he was singing and certain sound indicators pointed to a Prince composition, but to me it just didn't have the ring of something he would do. I was relieved later to find out I was right. However, when the second track kicked in, I knew without a doubt it was a Prince song. 'Shall We Dance' is classic! It's an awesome tune and probably was my favorite for some time after I discovered it. All of the other tracks are Mark's own production and writing; which essentially dismisses any further Prince involvement in the project. I still listened with anticipation. Now... All these years later, I'm convinced my initial reaction was accurate.

'Good Feeling' came out around the same time Bobby Brown was having success with 'My Prerogative', 'Every Little Step' and 'Tender Roni'. Sadly, the rest of the album sounds like Mark trying to emulate the sound of the former New Edition superstar. The blatant mimicry of Brown's sound undercuts any possibility of Mark establishing himself as a unique and cutting edge voice in popular music. After hearing this I realized even Mazarati sounds like a copy of the Minneapolis sound rather than something unique and different. The remainder of 'Good Feeling's' tracks lack a distinctive hook or feel to make them really stand out and shine. The sound is technically flawless. It's efficient and bang on. But boring subject matter and generic lyrics make a potentially fun record into a time consuming drudge.

I really wanted to like this disc and couldn't help feeling let down when I didn't. Other efforts by ex-Revolution members have proven to be amazing and well done. Take anything by Wendy & Lisa for example. I'm not sure if Mark's done anything since, but I am sure I'd be cautious about giving him another try. My final words: LET DOWN.

BROWNMARK - GOOD FEELING
01. Bang Bang
02. Shall We Dance
03. Through A Friend Of Mine
04. Good Feeling
05. My Heart Misses
06. It's Not The Way (It Used To Be)
07. Luv Touch
08. Cruisin'
09. Between You And Me
10. Let's Go All The Way
11. Distress Signal