Luther Vandross › Stop to Love

Personnel: Luther Vandross (vocals); Spin (vocals); Marcus Miller (bass guitar); Terry Silverlight (drums).

Compilation producer Jeff James' assignment in assembling the budget-priced Luther Vandross compilation Stop to Love for the Sony Music Custom Marketing Group appears to have been to create something other than the standard-issue best-of, and the approach he has taken is to emphasize Vandross' dance recordings. The initial coup is the inclusion of "The Glow of Love" as the leadoff track; dating from before Vandross' solo career, it was a 1980 disco hit by the Italian studio group Change on which he sang lead. From there, James picks carefully among Vandross' R&B hits (the Top Tens "Give Me the Reason," "Never Too Much," "The Rush," and "Stop to Love" are included) and some key album tracks, among them a cover of McFadden & Whitehead's "Ain't No Stoppin' Us Now" and "I Can't Wait No Longer (Let's Do This)," a 1996 song featuring rapper Deidre "Spinderella" Roper. Vandross may have been more of a love balladeer than a dancefloor king, but this compilation demonstrates that he could more than hold his own when the tempo was up. ~ William Ruhlmann

Genre:

• R&B / Soul

Music Categories:

• R&B: Contemporary

Product Series:

• Rare & Hard-To-Find Audio CDs