Concept

Album review

A 1970s favorite, the family group the Sylvers had long burned through their star power by the release of 1981's Concept LP. With numbers that had at one time expanded to include nearly all ten children, the band now found themselves pared down to a, relatively speaking, small quintet. Solidly crafted, if eminently tired, R&B drives the slick set, swinging and balancing itself between sharp pop and smooth ballads. Both "I'm Getting' Over" and "Heart Repair Man" are fairly respectable urban grooves and are surpassed only by the surprisingly funky "Reach Out." "Taking Over," on the other hand, with its breaks of light rap, struggles for credibility. The miasmic ballads "Just When I Thought It Was Over (Here I Go Again)" and "The Unfinished Letter" round out the experience. There's a good reason that this album appeared and faded without a trace. By the time Concept reached the shelf, three years after the Sylvers' last hit single, they were so out of fashion that not even the moments of excellence found on this album could have saved the band from the backlash that relegated them to oblivion. Keep this remarkable band alive instead through their brighter and much earlier sonic masterpieces.
© Amy Hanson /TiVo