Level 42
Guaranteed (RCA) (STAR) 1/2
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Absolutely huge in its native Britain, Level 42 has never quite equaled its appeal on this side of the Big Pond, and ”Guaranteed” doesn`t seem likely to change the group`s luck. Led by bassist-vocalist Mark King, the band`s musicianship is first-rate, but its slick melange of pop, funk and jazz fusion comes across as neither fish nor fowl. On the title cut and
”Overtime,” the band aims straight for the Michael Bolton/Phil Collins white soul niche, but the songs` bloated arrangements and pretentious lyrics weigh them down.
How pretentious? Try this couplet from ”A Kinder Eye”: ”Across the page the moving hand of history bleeds/For a kinder eye to see us not as we are, but as we dream.” As this album was first rejected by Level 42`s longtime record company, Polydor, maybe for once the cigar-chompers in the front office knew what they were doing.
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