Review: “Never Too Much” by Luther Vandross (Vinyl, 1981)

Today’s Pop Rescue from an uncertain fate, is the 1981 debut solo album Never Too Much by the late velvet-toned American soul singer, Luther Vandross. Will this album be an aural feast, or is it just full of a load of stuffing? Read on…

Luther Vandross - Never Too Much (1981) album — Luther Vandross – Never Too Much (1981) album.

This 7 track LP opens with…

Then it’s the titular and lead single Never Too Much which is instantly recognisable from the very first note sliding down the guitar. The funkiness and swaggering tempo makes this song an absolute delight, and this is perfectly added to with Luther’s unmistakable rich and soulfull voice. He’s joined by backing vocals including Cissy Houston – mother to Whitney. Despite this, the track first hit the UK charts in 1983, where it somehow only managed to reach #44. A version released in 1989 reached #13.

Piano ushers us into next track Sugar And Spice (I Found Me A Girl) with some odd ‘heyow’ vocals drifting in from Luther. This soon gives way to Luther’s legible vocals alongside some funky bass and brass stabs. After about a minute, we drop into a smooth verse where once again Luther strolls through the lyrics with great ease. He’s then flanked nicely by backing vocalists, again including Cissy. This track isn’t quite as catchy as the previous track, but it’s still a disco-tinged foot-tapper. The track was released as a single in the UK, but it failed to chart.

Next is another single Don’t You Know That? which takes a much softer and slower tempo. Here, Luther is pitched alongside strings and his backing singers. This allows Luther to show off his vocals perfectly, and this perfectly offsets the toned back funkiness (even if that bass guitar just can’t resist it). The track wasn’t released in the UK.

I’ve Been Working which opens with a prolonged nice simple guitar and bass intro that slowly builds us towards this mid-tempo track. Again, we’ve got the wonderfully soulful vocals of Luther, and he’s joined by warm backing vocals, gentle percussion, and nicely contrasting synths. However, whilst the track sounds really nice, it is lacking in memorable moments.

That’s followed by a ton of funky bass in the intro of She’s A Super Lady. This intro makes me feel like we’re about to have Diana Ross turn up, but some how it doesn’t somehow summon her with a slew of disco nods. The backing vocals and harmonies here are perfect and indeed “She’s so fine“. This really should have been a UK single – even if it did get a AA-side release in some countries. Excellent!

Then it’s You Stopped Loving Me, which gives Luther a mid-tempo heartbreak song. He’s once again backed by a warm layer of backing vocals and harmonies that really compliment his voice and the strings that swirl behind him. The track gently builds, always returning to the vocal harmonies and this really works well, allowing Luther to break away towards the end to unleash a ton of heartfelt harmonies. It’s a really nice track.

The album closes with the gentle piano tinkling that brings us a cover of Dionne Warwick’s 1964 track A House Is Not A Home. This is track has a wonderfully plodding tempo, and Luther gets to show off some of his slowest ballad vocals to date – and in turn, this gives us some big vocals that we’ve likely been waiting for – and he really shines brightly here – but then would you have thought any different. A perfect closing song and a great choice of cover to showcase his abilities.

Luther Vandross’ lead single ‘Never Too Much’ (1981).

Verdict

Over all, this album is a wonderful balance between funky disco tinged songs and achingly heartfelt ballads and that really is pretty much what you’d call Luther Vandross in for.

The album perhaps benefits here from it being just seven tracks long, as this allows for the two styles to sit alongside well without an over-use of one genre, but even within that the tracks are different enough to stand up to this well. Highlights on this album are undoubtedly the titular Never Too Much despite it not being the hit in the UK that it should have been. Alongside that, She’s A Super Lady gives us a fantastic burst of disco anticipation, which in 1981 would have been amongst the final glimmers of the genre. Luther’s performance on Dionne’s A House Is Not A Home is fantastic, and whilst it’s a big slow number, he sounds wonderful.

The album’s lowest point is in Don’t You Know That? and I’ve Been Working, but even those two aren’t going to give you a stink-face.

This is definitely a brilliant debut album from an artist who thankfully gave us some of the most fantastic soulful performances we didn’t know we needed. Definitely give this a spin.