STYLE: R&B RATING OUR PRODUCT CODE: 5270-2383 LABEL: StarSong SSD0114 FORMAT: CD Album ITEMS: 1 RRP: £15.31
Reviewed by David Pile
This 10 track album weighs in with a somewhat light weight time of 41 minutes, but don't let that put you off. The group is a new one to me and is made up of seven male vocalists, very much in the mould of Commissioned and Take 6. This album comes from the softer side of the R&B field, with a strong soul feel to it, in contrast to a lot of the street beat/hip-hop influenced material currently available. The standout track on the album has got to be the title track "Cloud Eight", which is a ballad of some note and has received some ILR airplay as a result. It is very reminiscent of Omar's "There Is Nothing Like This" and D'Angelo's "Brown Sugar", in terms of being open and general dreamy qualities. Unfortunately because "Cloud Eight" is so outstanding it makes the tracks sound a little dull at first. This album takes a few listens before you fully appreciate it. The other songs on the album are well crafted with polished vocal performances and good lyrics. The lyrics cover a wide range of topics such as unity in Jesus, compassion, the one true way, to name but a few. Overall well worth investigating.
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