Search - Smokey Robinson :: Smoke Signals

~QUIET STORM CLASSIC~BRAVO SMOKEY!!!

Bradly Briggs | TOLUCA LAKE, CALIFORNIA | 10/08/2008

(5 out of 5 stars)

""Smoke Signals" is a Smokey Robinson masterpiece opening with the smooth & rhythmic "Some People (Will Do Anything For Love)" and it is clear this is a soulful Smokey Robinson in his finest hour! At his seductive best in "Sleepless Nights", this gorgeous smooth & exotic song with a flowing vocal from the master is incomparable. Smokey started "Quiet Storm" music which is a sleek & sophisicated mixture of jazz and soul and this stellar work from the mid-eighties is the beginning of "Quiet Storm" music and a fine example "Because Of You (It's The Best It's Ever Been)" is soulful & flowing with gorgeous background vocals complete with sensuous sax* interludes (*Lyricon) that beg to pop the cork and lite the fire as this is romantic and a Smokey classic original.

Smokey always has a poetic brilliance in songs and never finer than "Be Kind To The Growing Mind" which advises the importance of setting an example for the young in a deeply moving way making this a song all parents should really listen to and experience...backed beautifully by no less than legendary group "The Temptations" making this a tremendous classic and this song alone makes it worth whatever price one is paying for the complete set!!!

Festive and flowing original "Te Quiero Como Si No Hubiera Un Manana (I'm Gonna Love You Like There's No Tomorrow" is an exhuberant mix of Spanish and English with Smokey sounding great going back and forth and the signature Trumpet solo by Herb Alpert is a grand addition to a stunning song that should have been a big hit but radio gave zero support to this classic...gee, what a surprise & guess they sounded too great!!! Another lost chart opportunity is an engrossing Stevie Wonder/Smokey Robinson winner "Hold On To Your Love" which is hook filled and it is easy to imagine this as a #1 hit as it should have been. Each song in this wondrous collection has a sound & feel all its own with first-rate arrangements and Smokey's voice rich and expressive with impressive power, range and technique all on display in an engrossing way in the masterful "Photograph In My Mind" and the moving "No Time To Stop Believing".

Focus is different here as many songs are by other composers making the emphasis on Smokey's vocals and the result is a real tour-de-force for the great singer whose quality has remained high through all of the decades from to late fifties to present! "Wishful Thinking" is another cooker featuring a great Smokey vocal backed by Tower Of Power Horns & background vocals by no less than Ivory Stone, Maxine Waters and Julia Waters...a classy production all the way!

A glorious finale contains a passionate vocal from Smokey is the self-composed "Hanging On By A Tread" which is a masterful song of exquisite beauty & great emotional depth and a perfect way to close this timeless masterpiece. Bravo Smokey...thank you for this incredible collection and keep on doing it!!!"