Luther (Vandross) — This Close to You
Qobuz archival release review, April 2024
Much like the self-titled debut from Luther Vandross’s first group Luther, This Close to You is a respectable if somewhat anodyne slab of pre-disco soul. To be sure, This Close to You is a fine album, but it lacks many of the standout numbers of Luther and leans far too heavily on ballads and midtempo grooves that aren’t funky enough to dance to or slow enough to romance to. While this may seem ironic given Vandross’s future reputation as a chart-demolishing balladeer, it gives This Close to You a bit of an overpolished feel. Kicking off strong with a bombastic strings-and-all showcase for Vandross’s voice (“This Is For Real”), the record soon begins to feel a bit same-y, without any of the chunky funk of Luther numbers like “Funky Music (Is A Part of Me)” or “Emotion Eyes” providing contrast and dynamics. Of course, the performances here are top-notch, whether the background vocals of the other singers in Luther (who get a bit more mic time here than they did on Luther) or the studio pros like Nile Rodgers, Cornell Dupree, Dennis Davis, and Nathaniel Adderley Jr. (who would go on to be Vandross’s music director throughout the rest of his career), every musician here is operating a standard befitting a singer as strong as Vandross. Unfortunately, the material itself isn’t quite as robust, and while it’s not nearly as bad as its reputation would make it seem (after all, Vandross bought the rights to the Luther albums and kept them from being reissued while he was alive), it’s definitely the more unremarkable of the two albums the group released.
