Rating:
Genre:
R&B
Release Date: 02/01/2008
Run Time: 38:32
If you could use only one adjective to describe
Heatwave's sound, it would be "smooth." The band's romantic ballads and slow jams were the epitome of smooth, and that adjective also describes many of their up-tempo funk grooves. This isn't to say that
Heatwave's funk lacked grit -- it had plenty of grit, but even so, it was an undeniably smoother style of funk than
Parliament/
Funkadelic,
James Brown,
Tower of Power,
Rick James, or
the Bar-Kays. In fact, when
Kool & the Gang switched to a smoother, sleeker approach in 1979 and hired
J.T. Taylor as its new lead vocalist,
Heatwave was a big influence. The
Kool & the Gang that emerged on 1979's
Ladies' Night is certainly a lot more
Heatwave-like than the gutbucket, down-and-dirty
Kool & the Gang of
"Jungle Boogie" and
"Hollywood Swinging." And it isn't hard to hear the parallels between
Taylor and
Heatwave's
Johnnie Wilder. It's safe to assume that when
Kool & the Gang was reinventing itself, its members had
Too Hot to Handle and
Central Heating in their collections. With this excellent sophomore effort,
Heatwave lived up to the promise it showed on
Too Hot to Handle. The invigorating funk smash
"The Groove Line" became a disco-era anthem, and the album's other big hit,
"Mind Blowing Decisions," is a quiet-storm classic. From up-tempo funk grooves like
"Party Poops" and
"Put the Word Out" to the romantic Northern soul of
"Happiness Togetherness" and
"Leaving for a Dream," Central Heating is among
Heatwave's strongest releases.
~Alex Henderson, All Music Guide
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