Anybody very familiar with Luther Vandross's work, beyond the hits? The reviews I've seen online are useless, and I'd like to know what the best albums out of his fairly large catalog are.

Vandross seems to be one of those cases where everybody has something good to say about him, but nobody's really a big fan. So hit me up with your recommendations, or any other related discussion you'd like to add.

I'm proud to say I own every Luther Vandross album released, and even got a hold of the two long deleted LP's on the Cotillion label recorded under the "Luther" name.
Luther's career falls in three categories:

Luther - the session singer:
This includes his background vocal work for Change, Mascara, Bionic Boogie as well as the aforementioned Luther (the group) albums

The 80s albums:
This is where the collaboration with Marcus Miller took off and also the time where his best ever songs were made.

The 90s and beyond
The decade where Luther finally crossed over to the mainstream audience. The music became more polished and the ballads often went into MOR territory. In the period, Luther tried out a long line of producers, some trying to give him an "urban" edge which didn't serve him good at all. Good stuff was still made but altogether his output in the nineties has been a bit uneven and simply cannot touch earlier outings.

Also keep in mind that Luther did a lot of production work in the 80s as well for the likes of Dionne Warwick (her 1983 album, Aretha Franklin (The "Jump To It" and "Get It Right" albums) and Marcus Miller (selected cuts on his 1983 "Suddenly" set)

My album recommendations:
Never Too Much (1981:
His major label solo debut and still one of the best soul albums of the decade. "Sugar & Spice", the title track as well as the immortal rendition of "A House Is Not A Home" are my picks.

Busybody (1983)
This one has my all time favorite uptempo Luther dancer in "For The Sweetness Of Your Love" as well as the 9+ minute version of the soul classic "Superstar/Until You Come Back To Me"

The Night I Fell In Love (1985)
In many ways, this set is his finest effort. The title track has been overlooked by many fans but is probably the finest Vandross/Miller product ever. stunning midtempo with a bassline to die for. This album also contains the very emotional ballad "If Only For One Night", really displaying the sheer magnificence of Luther's vocal abilities.

Live At Radio City Music Hall (2002)
This is a live set containing many of his hits and was recorded just before him suffering the stroke. Great stuff indeed.

Obviously, these choices are highly subjective but still, I believe they are good starting points for people wanting to dig into the works of who is arguably the best singer of the last 30 years.
Good luck.

quote:

Originally posted by K-Bee:
Obviously, these choices are highly subjective but still, I believe they are good starting points for people wanting to dig into the works of who is arguably the best singer of the last 30 years.
Good luck.

Excellent list! Way beyond my expectations, considering how lightly populated this forum is. Many thanks to you, K-Bee, I'll be checking these out as soon as I can.

You're more than welcome! I think I'm pretty much the only one into this kinda of music on the forum and that's why I usually take music related discussions elsewhere on the net. Well at least we're two people now