By 1980, it was obvious that
Dick Griffey
's
Solar Records
had as distinctive and recognizable a sound as
Motown
and
Stax
in the 1960s or
Philadelphia International
in the 1970s. Put on just about any late-'70s or early- to mid-'80s recording by
the Whispers
,
Shalamar
Midnight Star
, or
Dynasty
, and it only takes a few notes to realize that you're listening to a
Solar
recording.
wasn't as big as
or
, but the Los Angeles-based
vocal
group did enjoy a few hits and made some valuable contributions to the
catalog.
Adventures in the Land of Music
, which came out on vinyl in 1980 and was reissued on CD by the Canadian
Unidisc
label in 2001, is
's second album -- and it is arguably the group's most essential.
Adventures
contains the Angelinos' biggest hit,
"I've Just Begun to Love You,"
as well as the equally danceable single
"Do Me Right,"
but the singles aren't the only things that make this album produced by
Leon Sylvers III
worth owning --
also contains a lot of memorable album tracks, which range from dance-oriented numbers like
"Ice Breaker,"
"Day and Night,"
"Groove Patrol"
to the
soul
ballad
"Take Another Look at Love."
is best remembered for up-tempo dance and
disco
-
funk
material, but
"Take Another Look at Love"
demonstrates that the group was quite capable of handling romantic
ballads
. Because
favored a lot of male/female
interaction and was so
-sounding, the group was often compared to another part-male, part-female group,
. But
had an appealing identity of its own, and that identity serves the quartet well on this excellent sophomore effort. ~ Alex Henderson