Grace Jones – Muse

There has been enough written about Grace and Tom Moulton on other sites for me to go into too much detail here but I will say that of her three disco albums she did in the late 1970's, this is my favourite. Although "Fame" comes pretty close...Opening with "Sinning", with a solid disco beat, Grace's unique vocals are given the Philly treatment and it was the combination of the amazing John "Monster" Davis and the Philly musicians who made this album great: Grace is a presence, but you wouldn't want an acapella album from her..."Sinning" is part of a medley that comes into "Suffer" with vocals by Thor Baldurrson which, as the liner notes will tell you, weren't originally intended to be part of the finished project. However they work and there are some great flourishes of strings on this track. "Repentance" is the third and has a fantastic intro and is probably my favourite out of this four song suite. Grace's vocals strain to the max, yet against the drama of the music it works. And finally, "Saved", a gospelly kind of number rounds it out and I must confess is a bit of a let down. On the "b side", the slower more cooled funk of "Atlantic City Gambler" opens it up and as on the whole album, the Sweethearts of Sigma provide much needed back up vocals. "I'll Find My Way To You" is either a re-recording or new version of an earlier song by Grace and continues in the laid back approach of the first song, and it is a beauty: glorious strings, and an ethereal feel, combine to make this dreamy. "Don't Mess With The Messer" is also great, the keyboards are a little odd though it has lots of glorious instrumentation to it. And finally, the killer DC La Rue written "On Your Knees", the most commercial and competitive song on the album, full of frantic vocals, energy and a perfect way to end the album. The liner notes are interesting and the packaging is nice. There are no bonus tracks. Gold Legion have a very bad reputation but their finished product is great; so buy it from somewhere reputable like here.

Collectors looking to buy directly from this label be very very cautious. I ordered 2 discs and for 4 months saw absolutely nothing. I am not the only customer experiencing this. At the end I made a complaint to my credit card and obtained a refund. At first they answered my email and kept saying they will check on the dispatch but after several times they stopped answering altogether. It wasn't as if they sent the cds and I did not get them. I think the truth is they do not have the cds there they claim they have in stock. There is a facebook page suggesting the label is a scam, and I absolutely do not think otherwise. This is not a malicious review and anyone has questions can look up.