- The Fuego label has been responsible for such innovative collections as Scando Nova and Moshi Moshi, so it almost comes as a backward step to find them tackling soulful American house when so many other labels do the same.
That said, a couple of the tracks here are pretty special, although the overall effect is patchy. Top marks to the mixers Dr Bob Jones and Lofty for including Masters At Work’s superb mix of Luther Vandross’s ‘Are You Using Me’, and high points too for the excellent Joey Negro mix of Thelma Houston. It takes a while to reach such heady heights though, as the mix starts off slow to middling on the house beats. Which is all very well if you like your house Gospel flavoured, with the opening call from DJ Oji to ‘lift our hands in the sanctuary’. Things only really kick in around the sixth track, E-Smoove’s take on the Sounds of Blackness anthem ‘The Harder They Are The Bigger They Fall’. No quibbles with the quality of vocal on this disc, just that a bit more variety and impetus would have helped it in the long run. If you don’t have the Luther though, it’s worth getting just for that.