Babyface › Love Songs

Personnel includes: Babyface, LL Cool J.

Producers: Babyface, L.A. Reid, Daryl Simmons, Gerald Baillergeau, L.L. Cool J.

Compilation producer: Leo Sacks.

Digitally remastered by Joseph M. Palmaccio (Sony Music Studios, New York, New York).

Personnel: Michael Hart Thompson (guitar); Kenny G (saxophone); Gerald Albright (tenor saxophone); Ray Brown (trumpet); Reggie C. Young (trombone); Greg Phillinganes, Kenneth Crouch (piano); Gerald Baillergeau (keyboards, drum programming); L.A. Reid (drums, percussion); Sheila E. (percussion); Bryce Wilson (drum programming); Kenny Terry, Jr., Howard Hewett, Jeffrey Daniels, Jody Watley, Mariah Carey, Shanice, Shawn Stockman, Wanya Morris (background vocals).

Unknown Contributor Role: Kayo.

Arranger: Mariah Carey.

This set, released in 2001, contains 75 minutes of Babyface's most romantic ballads with a couple midtempo singles (such as "For the Cool in You") thrown in for good measure. It picks from Face's Epic albums, from the 1986 solo debut Lovers through 1996's The Day, with the inclusion of several Top Ten R&B hits, like "Whip Appeal" and "Every Time I Close My Eyes," as well as the excellent album cut "Soon as I Get Home." Naturally, this cannot act as a substitute for a proper Babyface anthology like The Essential Babyface (where you can get some uptempo high points like "My Kinda Girl"), but it does dig a little deeper into the type of material Face has done best. The disc was repackaged and retitled in 2009, just in time for Valentine's Day, made part of Legacy's From the Heart series. ~ Andy Kellman

Genre:

• R&B / Soul

Music Categories:

• R&B: Contemporary