Make It Last Forever

by Keith Sweat

Product Description:

Personnel includes: Keith Sweat (vocals); Teddy Riley (keyboards, programming).

Engineers include: Jeff Neiblum, Frank D'Amoto, Patrick Adams.

Recorded at INS, New York, New York; Power Play Studios, Long Island City, New York.

Although only "I Want Her" crossed over to the pop charts, hitting the Top Five, the five singles from Keith Sweat's debut album were prominently featured on R&B radio and dance floors from the winter of 1987 through the fall of 1988. Produced by nascent superstar producer and eventual label head Babyface, MAKE IT LAST FOREVER was arguably the very first "new jack swing" album; that style's characteristic mix of old-school soul-man vocals and hip-hop-influenced arrangements is all over this album.

The most obvious nod to soul tradition is in Sweat's unapologetically bombastic cover of the Dramatics' early-'70s lost-love ballad "In the Rain," but Sweat's no-nonsense vocals on the opening "Something Just Ain't Right" and the moving love jam of the title track are equally impressive. Though Babyface's characteristic production style would soon become so ubiquitous that by the early '90s it would be the dominant sound of R&B, his work on this album still sounds fresh.