Face to Face

I love her first album and this album I constantly play it everyday and every night while I was in the army.

this one of her best cds.

Not to worry. Crazy in the context I use it is a very very good thing. So far Evelyn King had this reputation of seeming to always get the best quality of material into her orbit. Also was prone to come up with the musically unexpected. But that's how it goes when your music is directed at the clubs. People are almost always looking for new music to dance to. And new ways to dance to music. And Kings career was at it's peak when there was a whole lot of that going on. Her previous two albums with Kashif in the blockbuster Im in Love and Get Loose both found her on the cutting edge of boogie,a type of dance-funk music using layers of bass synthesizers as an orchestral element. Now she'd turned to Leon Sylvers and Minneapolis's own Andre Cymone,childhood pal and musical partner of Prince for...yet another part of her continuing journey into the dance. For recognition perhaps the Champagne moniker had been re-added to her name for this album title. At the same time,it's musically a whole different animal for her. From the beginning,it's clear NO ONE would mistaken this for anything she did with Kashif. Especially being 1983 this album is very loud,brash and far harder edged funk than the club oriented dance music she'd tended to specialize in before. Two perfect examples of this are "Action" and the ultra exciting "Shake Down". These songs are a mix of complex electronic chord progressions,a mixture of live and digital percussion and a very tough vocal attitude from King. The title track and "Teenager" are probably as close to new-wave pop as she was going to get with catchy hooks and rhythms that rock more than groove. "Tell me Something Good","Don't It Feel Good" and "Makin' Me Proud" on the other hand are more high octane Minneapolis type funk whereas the closer "Let's Get Crazy" (was Prince influenced a little by this title maybe?) gets right down deep into the groove. In addition to the one ballad "Givin You My Love",the only tune at all similar to her Kashif era sound there are four bonus tracks. The most notable is the 12" version of "Shake Down" with the songs mean electric guitar solo getting strong emphasis. This was very very different than any album she'd ever made before. It didn't possess any of the dance and/or disco elements that signified her "classic" sound as it were. It actually went for showing her versitility at handling a vast array or harder edged funk and new wave type songs. And also put her in the forefront of new developments on the scene such as the Minneapolis sound and early hip-hop as well. Her more personally assertive lyrical stance and often half sung/rapped lyrics here went along with that tougher street edge the album has about it. Personally I think it's a great album. One of her best and most daring. And has stood up quite well too.

Listening with headphones to the 2012 Big Break Records edition there are very audible "click" or "pop" sounds at 2:47 on the opening track "Action" and at 1:41 on the cut "Makin' Me So Proud" anomalies that are not present on the Funky Town Grooves edition from 2011 or the original vinyl.

After two consecutive trips to the #1 R&B position on the Hot R&B Album chart with the phenominal "I'm in Love" and "Get Loose" albums, the Sparkling One came out a year later (in 1983) with "Face to Face," a perplexing platter which bordered on the experimental and which retained her trademark funky side, but which also made an attempt at more Minneapolis-styled music via producer, Andre Cymone (Jody Watley, The Girls.) On the Leon Sylvers-produced first two singles "Action" and "Shake Down," she excels, remaining true to her R&B/Funk roots and landing two Top 20 R&B hits. However, on the Cymone-produced tracks, a newness of sound is apparent and a little jarring (at first). I reference the third single, "Teenager," specifically, which Cymone himself called "Nu Wave," a self-created term which he used to describe his OWN style of music/production, which really wasn't very successful other than with Jody Watley. Additionally, there's magic abound in the album's sole ballad, "Makin' Me So Proud." At this point in her career, Evelyn was 22 or 23 years old, so singing about being a "teenager" seemed a little odd. However, on the song, "Let's Go Crazy," she sings with such a deliciously lazy delivery, synths swirling all around her a la Minnie-apple, that one wondered why or how she never worked with Jimmy Jam & Terry Lewis or Jesse Johnson for that matter, who so easily (at that time) could have done wonders AND an ENTIRE album with her which would have capitalized upon her previous two successes. Jimmy and Terry would often only work with acts that "needed career boosts" back then and during that time, Evelyn was riding relatively high. The worst song by far here would have to be the title cut, which is noisy, busy Techno-ish "Nu Wave" at best and which is completely out of place as it appears to reject rather than embrace her alto vocals. It's funny, the "techno" I speak of would present some 20 years later via an R&B producer/remixer by the name of Hex Hector. It just goes to show how truly ahead of her time she really was! If you're a new fan to her music, this is not the place to start. If you're a longtime fan, then you already know this and will agree that it's a very minor moment in her mostly hit-laden career. Try any one of her other seven RCA albums instead, especially her debut, "Smooth Talk" or I'm In Love" so you can hear her with a live studio band on the former and with more modern (at that time) production on the latter.

Crap