As well as being a huge trans-Atlantic hit, Sweet Love is a sensual masterpiece, and Caught Up in the Rapture is another thing of beauty. With almost any other singer they would sound trite, but Baker’s flawless vocal style ensures this doesn’t quite come to pass. The songs may be beautifully crafted, but the lyrics are not such a strong point. ![]() It seemed achingly modern, combining the glassy, chiming sound of the recently-released Yamaha DX7 digital synthesiser with Baker’s breathtaking vocals – with their bell-like clarity, gospel-bred emotion and explosive power. Indeed it’s a testament to Rapture’s quality that critics still can’t decide whether it’s a soulful jazz album or jazzy soul album, but what is undisputed is that its technical standards were sky-high for the time. Polished to perfection, it oozed sophistication and class. Featuring excellent songs played by top-notch session musicians, it was a total musical tour de force. Her first solo outing, The Songstress, lacked mainstream appeal, but Rapture hit the spot perfectly. Yet behind the scenes, 29-year-old Anita Baker had been busy honing a sound and a style that was arguably more special. She blended soul stylings with sugary pop music to deliver a string of smash hit singles which put the genre back on the mainstream map. ![]() Just as Aretha Franklin’s bright star was fading, Whitney Houston surfaced to inject new life into the musical tradition. ![]() Slick yet soulful, Anita Baker’s soaring vocals blended seamlessly with mostly electronic backing instrumentation and peerless recording quality to create a modern soul masterpiece.Īt the time of Rapture’s release, R&B was at a crossroads. One of the finest R&B albums of the 1980s, Rapture made such an impact at the time of its release on March 20, 1986, that it came to define what many call the ‘quiet storm’ sub-genre.
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