Search - Gino Vannelli :: Brother to Brother (Mlps)

Gino Finds Solid Ground

Andre S. Grindle | Brewer Maine | 04/02/2008

(5 out of 5 stars)

"This is the album that made Gino Vannelli a commercial superstar.However that meant some musical consessions had to be made. On this recording Gino pulled back heavy on the ARP synthesizer orchestraion that had characterized his previous albums The Gist of the Gemini and A Pauper in Paradise and concentrated on live instrumentation. The jazzy R&B strains in his work are played up more then even before;the funky "Appaloosa","The River Must Flow" and "Love And Emotion" certainly accomplish this well. This album also contains "I Just Want To Stop",the pop ballad that became Gino's signature song and is the song most people currently associate with him. But the fusion leanings of the poignant declarations of familial love on the title track and "People I Belong To" show not only that Gino hadn't lost his golden artistic touch but that he cared a great deal about his family and the people who helped him become successful-as always he seems to have a huge heart when it comes to lyrics,but never looses his cool doing it. True on "Feel Like Flying" and the cryptic "The Evil Eye" there are definate hints of the "old" Gino where he tended to value artistic vision over commercial success. All that being true the fact that this album says a lot more about Gino the songcrafter and tunesmith then it does Gino the virtuoso it did have the effect of getting more people interested in his music.If you don't have any Gino in your collection and already own recordings by people like Steely Dan,Jan Hammer or even Edgar Winter (all often unsung artistic innovators in a similar genre as well) this is something you cannot do wrong with!"