COLOR ME BADD - TIME AND CHANCE

Every five years or so popular music circulates it's celebrities and a new crop of potential superstars show up to duke it out for the top spots. I wanna start the blog like this because I think this record is the perfect example of a theory I have. Cliches are used repeatedly in music. In basically every genre. Those of us who've been around a long time will listen to something and realize we've heard it a thousand times before. Why do these songs end up being so popular? Because for the next up and coming generation, these concepts and ideas are brand new. And when they hear their pop sensations singing something like, "Girl, my love is true, I'll never leave you"... To these kids, it's a fresh and exciting idea. So each consecutive group of superstar wannabes embrace the cliche over and over again, cycling through the worn out remnants of songs written and performed a thousand times.

So now you're asking me why I brought that up? And the truth is, this record is so full of teeny bopper cliches I can barely stand to listen to it. Color Me Badd is a boy band. Unlike other boy bands who fill their albums with radio friendly pop songs and the occasional ballad, Color Me Badd decided to skip the dance tracks and bust this one out on yo ass! This soppy, ballad filled dribble spends as much time pledging undying allegiance to 13 year old love as it does praising god and attempting to be a socially conscious record. Despite best efforts, for me they only accomplished creating a piece of music I can hardly stand to listen to. The song lyrics are so tired and worn out they wouldn't even pass muster with a high school English teacher. And the music arrangements are about as interesting as a bus full of teens whining. During the time this record was made, that slow Soul II Soul half reggae beat was all the rage. Pity because you couldn't dance to it hardly and it was beyond boring once you heard it a thousand times. Still, the producers of this train wreck decided to capitalize on the success of the sound and dropped the bottom out of any momentum this album might have had.

To make a long story short, I find this CD difficult at best to listen to. So now I bet your asking why I bought it... Well, that's another story. Back in the days when you could use Telnet to hack the Library of Congress and crack copyrights, I was scanning Prince compositions and found this CD listed. Prince is credited as one of the authors of the song 'How Deep'. I figured I'd found another Prince song I didn't already know about so I rushed out and bought the dang thing. Of course I found it used (and don't think I'm not counting my good fortune on that one every single day). Imagine my disappointment when I discovered Prince had nothing to do with the song. In reality, they use a sample of the guitar part of 'Crazy You' off of "For You" as the main melody for the song. So it's the worst kind of ripoff that exists. It's a sample rip off. It's ok, but hardly what you'd expect of anything with Prince's name attached to it. The track is listenable purely because of the guitar sample. Otherwise, it drags and drags.

There is one high point of the entire album and if I'm not mistaken, it's a track they released as a single. 'Choose' is a great song even if it does rely on that boring drum pattern the rest of the disc is littered with. It got enough radio play to insure this record had a mediocre hit. Unless you caught this group growing up and they were part of your exposure to deep and meaningful concepts, they're a waste of time and energy. They didn't compete with other boy bands of the time period and ultimately faded into total obscurity. Don't buy this record. If you must hear it, try to find it for download for free. My final words: MID TEMPO TEENAGE DRIBBLE. 

COLOR ME BADD - TIME AND CHANCE
01. Intro (Ecclesiastes 9:11)
02. Time And Chance
03. Groovy Now
04. Let Me Have It All
05. Rosanna's Little Sister
06. How Deep
07. La Tremenda (Intro)
08. In The Sunshine
09. Choose
10. The Bells
11. Wildflower
12. Living Without Her
13. Close To Heaven
14. Trust Me
15. Let's Start With Forever
16. God Is Love
17. Let Love Rule (God Is Love Outro)

MICA PARIS - CONTRIBUTION

I was living in Switzerland when this disc came out. I wasn't sure I'd even find it there as it was in an American magazine I learned of it. I originally bought it because it had a Prince track on it, but I quickly moved past my motivation and embraced the disc. Though not a strong vocalist, Mica has an interesting voice and knows how to showcase it in the best possible way. The record features some interesting and exciting songwriting. I've not heard most of the contributors before or since, but I quite like what they did here. 'Contribution' is an anthem of sorts and should have been a single. Most of the tracks on here have a Soul II Soul sound. Those urban drum beats highly typical of the late 80s early 90s are strongly present. The Prince song is quite interesting though somewhat subdued compared to the rest of the music. And yet, 'If I Love U 2 Nite' fits in nicely with the flow of the record while simultaneously maintaining its identity as a Prince composition. The track was later recorded by Prince's first wife, Mayte on her solo disc for NPG Records.

The Smokey Robinson cover is also an outstanding cut. It's very exciting arrangement helps move the album forward with a number of stand-out tracks. 'You Can Make A Wish' and 'Just Make Me The One' are among the many amazing songs. The only downside is the socially conscious track 'Who Can We Blame'. Even though it's a reflective tune based on highlighting awareness on social indifference, it ends up sounding more like a whine than proclamation. The closing track, 'One World' is essentially a reprise of 'Contribution' this time being performed by a gospel choir complete with whoops and shouts of praise. A fulfilling conclusion. Rakim donates the rap in the opening track but doesn't appear on the rest of the disc.

The final word is great disc by an exciting artist who has lots of potential and recorded a lovely disc. Not sure what's happened to her. I'll have to pull her up on Wikipedia and read up. One thing I'd like to mention... This disc has a strong European sound to it. It's almost typical British pop, but satisfying in the round. Well Worth the effort to track down. My final word: GROOVY.

MICA PARIS - CONTRIBUTION
01. Contribution
02. South Of The River
03. If I Love U 2 Nite
04. Just To Be With You
05. Take Me Away
06. Truth & Honesty
07. Deep Afrika
08. More Love
09. You Can Make A Wish
10. Just Make Me The One
11. I Can't Stop Loving You
12. I've Been Watching You
13. Who Can We Blame
14. One World