Search - Rick James :: Garden of Love (Reis)

Garden Of Love, the often overlooked fourth album from Rick James, is now, 30 years after it was first released, on CD for the first time ever.An additional bonus for fans is a newly discovered extra minute of the album's brief, original closing track. Garden Of Love was one of those different Rick James albums. Despite its up-tempo opening track, it was a mellow affair, released in the summer of 1980, after a successful tour with Prince as his opening act, on the heels of Fire It Up (also on CD for the first time here) and two albums with his backing band, the Stone City band. "James had made his name with rowdy disco-funk tracks like `You And I,' but he was actually a much more versatile songwriter than most people realized," writes Michael Veal in the reissue's brand new liner notes. "On Garden Of Love, he attempted to move away from his `King of Punk-Funk' image and create an album of relaxed, laid-back songs inspired by the Caribbean islands on which the songs were written." Both the album and its single "Big Time" hit the R&B Top 20 but their chart performances were considered a disappointment to Rick and to Motown, resulting in Rick regrouping in Buffalo for the Street Songs album. Since then, disappointment has given way to a deeper appreciation of Garden Of Love. "It is one of the great Motown concept albums," writes Veal, "a quintessential summertime jam, James's hidden masterpiece, and a solid testament to his vision and versatility."