Barrys final GREAT record

By 1978 Barry White had enjoyed some musical journey. He had consistently crafted hit singles and classic albums (7 in a row) whilst also enjoying success producing albums for other artists. With 'The Man', his 8th album, The Maestro STILL has a zest for creativity. Whilst its hard to pick out favorites from such a strong body of work, this album has to be up there.

On his previous album 'Barry White Sings For Someone You Love' The Maestro had added new musical elements to his already strong artillery. The trend continues here as he crafts inventive melodies built around juicy, full blooded orchestration, memorable riffs and themes of romance and grooving. 'Your Sweetness Is My Weakness' is a sizeable chunk of bombastic FONK, and precedes the ridiculously fun and catchy 'Sha La La Means I Love You'. 'Its Only Love Doing Its Thang' rides a gangster riff sampled by 50 Cent, whilst slower numbers such as 'Just The Way You Are' and 'Early Years' are warm and sweet, overflowing with soul.

This albums caps off an incredible body of work The Maestro built in the 70s. After this album he finally escaped his record deal and formed his own label. 'The Message Is Love' and 'Sheet Music' had their moments however the spark of innovation and genius seemed to have been doused. People moved to other artists and Barry faded out of view. Still, ALL of his previous work is Essential Listening and i doubt we'll ever see another Barry White. R.I.P.

This album proves Barry is the Man

Your Sweetness and Just the way you are the two hits on this album. However, the others are all near hits.

This Is GREAT!

These are some of the very best songs in Barry White's career. The overwhelmingly strings, mixed with disco beats, makes this CD all the more beautiful. My favorites are "September When I First Met You," a gorgeous song, with awesome horns and strings throughout, "Look At Her," a cool disco-flavored love song, and "Just the Way You Are" (his version throws Billy Joel's in the shade!) I never cared for that song very much, until I heard his version. Now, I love it... An excellent CD!