On the chorus, Vandross's full-chested tenor perfectly synchronizes his booming, percussive syllables to the bass line, but the lyrics devote themselves to persuading a reluctant lover to share the singer's enthusiasm. The music radiates optimism, as a catchy pop-rock hook is married to co-producer Marcus Miller's out-front R&B bass riff. The song finally trails off in an improvised scat coda that captures both the thrill and misery of intense desire.Įven on the happy, up-tempo "Heaven Knows," there's a hint of uncertainty. He has such an extraordinary vocal instrument that even his whispered confessions on the third verse sound powerful when his voice rises on the bridge to express surprise that love ever appears at all, his astonishment proves contagious. As the rhythm section and harmony singers join in on the chorus, Vandross cries out, "It might be today, anything can change," in an anguished voice full of competing hopes and doubts. In the opening verse of "Little Miracles (Happen Every Day)," for example, the lonely singer longs for someone to talk to, and the gospel-like voice-and-piano arrangement is heavily echoed to make it sound even lonelier. And no singer today creates more suspense in his songs than Luther Vandross, whose first album in two years, "Never Let Me Go" (Epic/LV), is one of his best. The great soul singers, from Sam Cooke and Smokey Robinson to Al Green and Prince, have always allowed for the possibility that their romantic pleadings might be rejected, an uncertainty that lends real-life drama to their scenarios - and keeps us listening.
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