Atlantic Starr - Yours Forever (1983) (LP) - €10,00

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Yours Forever is the fifth studio album by American band Atlantic Starr. This album features the hit single "Touch a Four Leaf Clover." Yours Forever was the last album to feature Sharon Bryant as a lead vocalist before she departed the group to pursue a solo career. 

This was also the last album to be produced by James Anthony Carmichael, who was responsible for the group's two previous albums. 

Atlantic Starr's fifth album, Yours Forever, was lead singer Sharon Bryant's last album with the East Coast soulsters; it was also the last of three albums that James Carmichael produced for them. While 1981's Radiant and 1982's Brilliance -- the two previous Atlantic Starr LPs that Carmichael had produced -- were superb, this 1983 release is uneven. 

That isn't to say that Yours Forever is a bad album; none of the material is terrible. But this time, there aren't as many five-star gems. The songs that deserve to be exalted as gems range from the haunting smash "Touch a Four Leaf Clover" and the rock-tinged "Tryin" (both of which feature Bryant) to the dreamy title song (which finds David Lewis providing a memorable lead vocal). 

Unfortunately, Yours Forever also has its share of songs that are merely competent. Take "I Want Your Love," for example. 

This Chic-like sophisti-funk/dance number (which shouldn't be confused with the 1978 Chic hit that is also titled "I Want Your Love") is pleasant enough, but it isn't in a class with "Circles," "When Love Calls," "Love Me Down," and other treasures that Carmichael had produced for Atlantic Starr in 1981 or 1982. 

For Atlantic Starr fans, hearing Yours Forever in 1983 was like receiving beer when you had grown accustomed to champagne -- if Radiant and Brilliance were R&B feasts, Yours Forever is merely a snack. 

It isn't a disaster, but it doesn't live up to the consistently high standards that had characterized Atlantic Starr's previous work with Carmichael. Of the three albums that Carmichael produced for Atlantic Starr in the early '80s, Yours Forever is the least essential and the most inconsistent. 

Side one

1.  Yours Forever - 5:04  

2.  Touch A Four Leaf Clover - 4:38  

3.  More, More, More - 4:42  

4.  I Want Your Love - 4:52  

Side two

1.  Second To None - 4:38  

2.  Island Dream - 4:49  

3.  Who Could Love You Better? - 4:30  

4.  More Time For Me - 3:42  

5.  Tryin’ - 3:28

Atlantic Starr

• Sharon Bryant – lead vocals, backing vocals
• Wayne Lewis – keyboards, lead vocals, backing vocals
• David Lewis – guitar, lead vocals, backing vocals
• Clifford Archer – bass
• Porter Carroll, Jr. – drums, backing vocals
• Joseph Phillips – percussion
• Koran Daniels – saxophones
• Jonathan Lewis – trombone
• William Suddeth III – trumpet

Additional musicians

• Michael Boddicker – synthesizers
• Greg Phillinganes – synthesizers
• Paulinho Da Costa – percussion

Arrangements

• James Anthony Carmichael 
• Wayne Lewis 
• David Lewis 
• Atlantic Starr 

       Production

• James Anthony Carmichael – producer
• Calvin Harris – engineer, mixing
• Fred Law – additional engineer
• Bruce Robbins – assistant engineer
• Ralph Sutton – assistant engineer
• Bernie Grundman – mastering at A&M Studios (Hollywood, CA).
• Leslie Jean Bart – back cover photography
• Diem Jones – inner sleeve photography
• Richard Fuggetta – front cover design
• Roderick Taylor – art direction, logo design

Notes

Release: 1983

Format:  LP

Genre:  Soul

Label:  A&M Records

Catalog#  AMLH 64948

Vinyl:  Excellent

Cover:  Excellent

Prijs: €10,00