Kenny Loggins
Loggins' finest solo LP since splitting from partner Jimmy Messina is a broad-ranging collection spanning L.A. rock, pop ballads and Caribbean-flavored, shuffling Junkanoo percussion. Loggins has always had one of rock's most distinct and penetrating vocal styles, but on this LP it is enhanced by his sophisticated material. Love Has Come of Age bears down with fierce orchestral power, then Mr. Night comes on with the shuffling pop-rock beat faintly reminiscent of the Loggins & Messina hit Your Mama Don't Dance. This Is It bears the unmistakeable jazz-pop imprint of its co-writer, Doobie Brother Michael McDonald (whose piano is heard on backup). Two tracks approach the L.A. rock sound L&M helped define in the early '70s: the lushly harmonized title cut co-written by Log-gins' wife, Eva Ein, and the powerfully building Will It Last. But Loggins also sings prettier than ever on love ballads Give It Haifa Chance and Now and Then. That may be where his solo future lies.
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