Laura Nyro

This album comes at the nicest time within Laura Nyro's career, for like most of the other
performers that have cut a swath through pop music over the past couple of years, she's
lately had to deal with those problems which naturally come with artistic growing up. Her
last record showed very direct leanings toward a tired reliance on old faithfuls, and it must
have ultimately motivated her to try something different. This album of Laura's in... More >

In which the Bronx tearjerker reveals the source of her gloppy sensibility--good old girl-group rock and roll. Which is fine, except that glop tastes best prepared according to the traditional recipes, rather than disguised as untrammeled lyricism the way it is here. Might be different if Nyro were Aretha Franklin, as is painfully obvious every time she shows off the high part of her famous range. Still, backup singers Labelle don't screech once, Gamble & Huff control the rhythm section if not the artiste, and two of the ten remakes are ear-openers: "I Met Him on a Sunday," which begins acappella, and "Monkey Time/Dancing in the Street," which rocks. (Grade: B-)