Search - Debarge :: Ultimate Collection

Back in the early '80s, this Michigan family act was dismissed by some as a poor man's version of the more successful Jacksons. Yet in El DeBarge's quavering tones (a clear influence on Babyface), DeBarge had a singer who eschewed soul pyrotechnics and went straight for the pathos, which colored even DeBarge's uptempo songs such as "Rhythm of the Night" with a sadness and yearning that still resonates today. They may never have become megastars, but DeBarge had incredible songs, chief among them the haunting "Time Will Reveal," the soaring "All This Love," and one of the most beautiful and passionate songs in recent memory, "In a Special Way." With early solo work from El as well as li'l bro Chico (never part of the family act), this is a well-compiled set that gives some love to a group that never quite got its due. --Amy Linden