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Album of their career became their swan song

Jesse H. Melchor | Chicago, IL USA | 09/07/2000

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Unfortunately, what could have been the album of their career wound up being their swan song for a variety of reasons. Solid production, diverse musical offerings, integral songwriting and lush harmonies could not offset the botched marketing approach, minimal promotion and inconsistent momentum. Further, Gioia's unfortunate departure due to an inoperable throat cyst affected the group, who were recognizable and distinctive to their audience. Kelly Moneymaker assumed the vacancy.The first single "I Wish The Phone Would Ring" screams of bubble gum pop tart chart material, unbecoming of Exposé's established and successful track record (think of this song as Exposé-lite). Jeanette sings of waiting by the phone for her loved one to call. The break beat, mid tempo song faired poor in comparison to their earlier releases and stalled at number 20.The ballad, "I'll Never Get Over You (Getting Over Me)" redeemed the album's poor start. Jeanette's subtle lead vocals were rewarded with an 8 ranking on the pop chart. This resulted only after a concerted promotional injection, relentlessly serving to remind the audience that Exposé was back, and with the type of song that they are best appreciated for...a ballad. Things were looking much better.After a string a released singles, the time seemed right to release a song with Ann performing lead vocals. The lush ballad "As Long As I Can Dream" quietly came along and made a respectable showing on the adult contemporary chart; however, the pop chart wasn't having it. Ultimately, the song failed to chart as high as previous successful singles. This is most unfortunate since "As Long As I Can Dream" could have been Exposé's anthem and bring attention to Ann finally having her moment in the lead vocal spotlight on a released single. The song itself is audio heaven, complete with a lush orchestral arrangement becoming of Grammy consideration. The lyrics bring a sense of faith and hope for a better world. Most inspiring, encouraging and uplifting lyrics that marked a new distinction with this "girl group." In terms of musical patterns, it is a mature track lavished in sophisticated arrangements."In Walked Love" marked the fourth single from the album, focusing on Ann at lead once again. From a casual listen, this song is in the Wilson Phillips vein and could have further capitalized Exposé's evolving repertoire and alternating lead vocal trademark. From the open-minded perspective, "In Walked Love" has a contemporary country and western feel, to a degree. "In Walked Love" failed to realize into a successful single but fared better on the adult contemporary side of the charts.Take notice on several of the solid album tracks. "I Think I'm In Trouble" seizes the listener by the collar and doesn't let go. Ann plus House could have equaled success had this track been released first. Such an idea could have served a knockout approach: Exposé is back; Ann singing lead on a released single and Exposé does House (and very well, thank you).Bookending the album is another House ditty "Give Me All Your Love," with Jeanette taking the mike. A slammin' track that seemingly screamed for consideration to be released. Exposé is at their most provocative here and Jeanette holds her own. Listen out for the trademark harp instrument at the very end...an ode to "Exposed To Love," if you will."Touch And Go" is the album's only live arrangement track (much like "Now That I Found You" before it) and Jeanette fares well on it. The sing along chorus compliments Exposé's attempt at further diversifying their repertoire. Give a listen to "Face To Face," a Jeanette-lead break beat track in the freestyle flavor for contrast."I Specialize In Love" is the "I Know You Know" and "Walk Along With Me" of albums past in terms of alternate lead vocal. The remake is strictly House and Exposé seemed destined to reign supreme. "I Specialize In Love" was released as a fifth single but the damage had been done. Clubs embraced it but wasn't really appreciated beyond that in terms of pop chart support.Despite the album's lack of promotional support, "Exposé" is the crown jewel for the group and one that could have made them a household name. Well-produced and offering different flavors, the album is a must have for any Exposé aficionado. Highly recommended."

Good Album, but loss of Gioia and mixed direction hurt it.

John R. Troy | New England, USA | 07/05/1999

(4 out of 5 stars)

"This eponymous album was supposed to be the magnum opus of Expose'. Expose' was given more choice and input into their career direction, more producers were added to the mix, and the album should have been a huge hit. While the album went gold, it never matched the success of the prior two albums, nor did it achieve the success that the record company was aiming for.So what happened? Most affecting the group was Gioia's departure due to vocal problems. The album suffers since she was arguably the best vocalist in terms of raw power and rock energy, and was delayed a few years while waiting for Gioia to recover. Adding to this, Kelly Moneymaker does not do any lead vocals for any of the tracks. The album ends up being imbalanced, with Jeanette doing too many tracks, and leading to a lack of variety. Lewis slipped some of his creative energies here--his tracks feel a little bit weak and a little bit out of date. His best contribution was "Face to Face", a house-tinged song that sparked creative energy and featured Jeanette's vocals to best effect. "You Don't Know What You Got", "Touch and Go", and "Give Me All Your Love". His songs are semi-variations of Freestyle, tinged with some house leanings. (And three all have sound samples from "The Day The Earth Stood Still", if you can believe it) A good effort, but it didn't seem to match the studio magic that occurred on "What You Don't Know".The ballads on this album are a bit mixed. Diane Warren is a talented songwriter, and her songs usually have a good track record. And both Jeanette and Ann do a great job bringing the songs to life. However, the production and similar themes of these songs produce a rather homogenous feel to the mix. This is probably why "I'll Never Get Over You Getting Over Me" was a good hit and the attempts to follow up with the similar themed (but better produced and arraigned) "As Long As I Can Dream" and the similar "In Walked Love" failed. The record company was both pushing a lot of these ballads and was working to make Expose' the next Wilson Phillips. Sadly, I felt that they should have let Expose' work on their songwriting abilities rather that become too formula. The high point of these ballads is that Jeanette's vocal ability is really brought to bear on the Roche produced "The Same Love" and the aforementioned "I'll Never..." single.The combination of Ann Curless' vocals and great production and songwriting produces the best magic for the album. Songs like "I Think I'm In Trouble", "As Long As I Can Dream", and perhaps the best one, "Angel", form the heart of the album. It was a shame that the record company decided to ignore the more up-tempo tracks on this record. Angel had enough complexity, range, and uniqueness to have been a wonderful hit. It's too bad it was ignored by Arista."I Wish The Phone Would Ring", the first single, was a rather strange ditty. It was an up-tempo song that was too slow to really consider a dance song. I believe the effect was based on a survey of Expose' fans, whose favorite song at the time was Shanice's "I Love Your Smile". The song seems a little too syrupy, and while some pundits might think that about all of Expose''s work, their truly ends up feeling a bit tinny.The remake of "I Specialize in Love" was a wonderful treatment of an old classic. The vocal chemistry of Expose' works well here, with all three ladies taking turns doing vocals. Probably DNA's best work since "Tom's Diner".The biggest change in Expose''s harmonies are mixed. With Expose'' taking care of the arrangement themselves, rather than being mixed by Lewis (and mixed with other vocalists, such as the original line-up during Exposure or with extra background session singers during What You Don't Know), feels more organic and their harmonies are very tight. However, this also is a drawback, since the variety found with Gioia was lost--the blend was nice but it lost its variety in range.If all went as it should have, this could have been Expose''s best album. As it stands, this is their second best work, right behind What You Don't Know. Thus it can only be given 4 stars--still a quality work, but not the absolute best."

Expose's last album is best of three

Daniel J. Hamlow | Narita, Japan | 09/04/2003

(5 out of 5 stars)

"With what would become their last album, Expose went through a few changes. One was that producer Lewis Martinee produced only a third of their eponymous album. Other producers were brought in to bring a new sound, emphasizing bouncy-ball drum machines, high-pitched synths, harmony choruses, and songs by Diane Warren, meaning better ballad, which worked. Two, Gioia Bruno was replaced by Kelly Moneymaker. Three, Ann Curless began to share more vocal duties than she did in the previous two albums.From the thumping drum machines and string synths of "I Think I'm In Trouble" hints at the new sound, like a cross between The Cover Girls and Stacey Q. There's also a great use of harmony vocals in the chorus.The Martinee-produced "You Don't Know What You Got" tries to incorporate conga, What You Don't Know-like material, and even rips the funky guitar sound from the "Theme To Shaft"."I Wish The Phone Would Ring" goes into 80's R&B territory, material owing a nod to Paula Abdul's Forever Your Girl album. There's nothing more frustrating than having a fight and wishing the other would ring first, is there?Then, three lush ballads in a row-a real treat! The soulful and inspirational "As Long As I Can Dream" is the best of the three and my favourite Expose song ever, having that trademark Clive Davis sound, laden with sad strings and piano-like synths. The theme of a world "that's too hard to take and everything's in blue" is familiar enough, but as Ann sings, "when the rain's pouring down, and I can't find the sun doesn't mean the sun can't be found/it always comes through." And love that chorus: "As long as I can dream/there's a better world (2x)/there's a better world/I see it shining/in my dreams I see/there's a better world (2x)/as long as I can dream." Oh, and Diane Warren wrote this song, so no surprise why it's so good."In Walked Love" sounds at home on Wilson Phillips' first CD, especially with the cheery harmony vocals. "Just when I thought I'd give up/out walked loneliness/in walked you/in walked all my dreams a-coming true." Aww, how nice!The third is the single, "I'll Never Get Over You Getting Over Me." How I remember those lines, "As long as the stars shine down from the heavens/long as the rivers run to the sea" and then the title. I'd heard this over and over when I was at Las Cruces on the radio, but never the artist name. That changed only three years ago, when my store manager put me wise. I was bewildered! Expose did that too? Whoa!
"Angel" mimics a Shep Pettibone-like freeze-dried techno sound while "Face To Face" produced by Martinee is an okay throwback to their earlier sound. The DNA-produced "I Specialize In Love" comes next. This good-natured tune invites those with broken hearts, needing a happy ending, basically those with many quarts down on love to come on down. "I'll make you feel like new/let me work on you." The part where they trade vocals on what they can do is also a nice touch."Touch And Go" leans towards early Janet Jackson-type funk, think "What Have You Done For Me Lately?", backed by the Martinee horns, although with the trio's harmony vocals, Janet could do this, but I'd still be thinking of Ann, Jeanette, and Kelly."The Same Love" is another Diane Warren song. What a treat! This Air Supply-like ballad, complete with strings, explores the dual nature of love: "Sunny days have left me standing in the rain, somebody tell me/how can the same love that made me so happy/make me so sad, I don't understand/how could the same eyes that used to be laughing cry in the night, it doesn't seem right at all."With the rap-style scratching of the harmony vocal in "love", some early techno comes through in "Give Me All Your Love". The rest of the song is a more developed version of something from the Exposure album.More polished, varied in style, and featuring four wonderful Diane Warren songs, Expose's swansong is a worthy followup to What You Don't Know. Too bad it couldn't last."