For
Life
,
Simply Red
retain the basic influences that fueled their earlier albums, especially American
R&B
of the early '70s, specifically the
Marvin Gaye
of
What's Going On?
and
Harold Melvin & the Blue Notes
-era
Teddy Pendergrass
.
Mick Hucknall
's singing has calmed down and smoothed out on such songs as
"You Make Me Believe"
"So Many People,"
but that only makes them sound more like the product of
Philadelphia International Records
. On
"Fairground,"
he opts for a Latin-tinged sound that ends up evoking
Herb Alpert
more than
Milton Nascimento
;
reggae
turns up on
"Out on the Range,"
and the big-time closer,
"We're in This Together,"
is a South African-style anthem, complete with
Hugh Masekela
's flugelhorn. Stripped of the international superstar trappings,
is, of course, pretentious, but it does have a couple of promising songs, notably
"So Beautiful"
"Remembering the First Time."
~ William Ruhlmann