Morris Day
It’s About Time
Hollywood
Probably my most frightening listening moment ever came when I slipped this disc into my car stereo and found that I couldn’t switch tracks or eject the CD. On top of that, the album continued to “play” even when I turned the stereo off. Now, it wasn’t an eternity of driving with Morris Day that was horrifying, this particular release would’ve forced me back to the auto dealer very quickly, if i hadn’t miraculously managed to extract it.
I honestly have no idea why this album exists. Its live-to-studio track ratio is 8 to 4, which is good considering the concert material is the best stuff on here. Day and his backing band – which contains integral members of his original band The Time – ease through Day’s classic back catalogue of ’80s funk: “The Bird,” “Jungle Love,” “Gigolos Get Lonely Too,” “Cool,” etc. Day’s voice still captures the impossibly suave, Minnesota-sized ego and self-aggrandizement inherent in his lyrics and superstar persona. Likewise, the band lays out all the right beats to get asses out of the seats. The only problem is some fool in post-production decided to take all the PG profanity out of the set. What the fuck? With as rife as any Time song is with sexual innuendo, censoring a handful of “asses” is asinine.
Of the four new songs included, “In My Ride,” featuring rapper E-40, gets points for some fancy fingerwork from the band and a nice vocal competition between E-40 and Day. The rest of the songs deliver in spirit but lack the distinct vintage of Day’s best work. In the album’s press kit, Day says he’s recorded over 100 songs. I’m hoping these slim pickings are just a teaser and that his better material’s waiting in his limo, with his women and his bottles of Cristal. Next time.
Hollywood: http://www.hollywoodrecords.com
