Rapture

smoother than smooth soaring mellow soul. Not my thing but she sure has a nice voice.

Shortly before the birth of Tom Jones, the earth consisted of Primordial Soup. Nobody knows exactly what the soup tasted like, but I tend to think it was similar to Mulligatawny. Then, due to biology and other stuff which Darwin invented, we eventually evolved out of the bottoms of our Monkey Gods. And this lead inevitably and unfortunately to the 1980s. Although, Sweet Love is undoubtedly a worthwhile, catchy song, this album is so defunct of anything else worthwhile that it becons the question why we bothered to leave the soup? And if, within the next 3 weeks, I was faced with the question whether I would chose to be boiled alive in an industrial vat of Mulligatawny Soup or be subjected to the uninspired anodyne warblellings of Ms Baker, then I would face a difficult decision. A clearer question would be why on earth this made the list of 1001 albums to listen to before you die. It should be a clear candidate for 100 Albums to Avoid Listening to Whilst Alive. It may also make the list of Top 53 Albums to demonstrate the typical Lack of Key Changes, use of drum machines and synthesisers, and cultural acceptance of musically worthless Album (Filler) Tracks. With infinite lives and infinite time, I can forsee no enentuality where I would willingly listen to this tripe again. Not even if I'd feel nished all the soup.

This was a smart play in 1986 if you weren't able to make your move by the end of the Sade album.

This was okay, just short and not really my style

A nice voice, a couple of OK songs but the rest is nil...

Powerful voice and an enjoyable consistent listen. Likes: Sweet Love; Been So Long; No One in the World

Soulful and saxful. R&B isn't my normal listen--especially in the cheesy 1980s--but Anita Baker has a great voice. It's an all right listen. Top tracks: "Sweet Love," "Caught Up In The Rapture"

fine. music to fuck to in the 80s.

--Sweet Love...not really my thing but her voice is impressive --You Bring Me Joy...lay-me-down-by-the-fire music --Caught Up in the Rapture...really dig the keyboards here. I'm starting to lean into this --Been So Long...background music but good background music. oh, we got some scat! --Mystery...that bass is nice 'n' fat. I was skeptical coming in but she's winning me over --No One in the World...it's so damned generic but it's also so damned good. the key change in the back half hits real hard --Same Ole Love (365 Days a Year)...a funky bass and a great voice will usually get me on your side. still cheesy af --Watch Your Step...this hits. piano real nice. you got a new fan, Ms. Baker

Slow and and a lot of croon

This was a short album with only 4 songs. I ended up listening to it multiple times over the course of a long car drive. My passenger actually ended up falling asleep to this. Caught up in the Rapture and Sweet love are the best songs. If half the songs from the album are good, it must be a good album.

Instant 5 lol. I already own two copies of this album on vinyl Cult classic sample source for some DOOM tracks Notable tracks: Sweet love Caught up in the rapture of love

Got Anita baker booming out the ‘87 Buick —- such a good voice over some music that really doesn’t do anything for me. There’s a lot of good here, just leaving it feeling like I had enough. Hard to hit something this quality wise with a 2 though.

I guess I must not be much of a fan of (nor really the audience for) "quiet storm" music, as this album didn't do much at all for me. She seems to have a good voice, and a nice alternative to Whitney Houston's over-the-top style, but the lyrics are largely forgettable, and the 80s R&B/easy-listening soundtrack is equally blase and bland. The music actually made me think of a friend from college who played in his high school jazz band with a friend of his, and his friend went on to become a cruise line band member for several years. Eventually his friend left this apparently lucrative gig, tired of playing soulless background music. I'm guessing he probably didn't enjoy "Rapture" all that much either.

No Fab Five Freddy. No men from Mars eating cars and eating bars. There’s better Raptures out there.

nice enough

The production of this is overly busy and corny, and Anita’s voice breaks down into incomprehensible wailing too often. That said, this has some pretty immaculate night-time driving vibes, and the musicians are killing it.

Anita Baker is shorter than 5 feet

That smooth jazz sophisticated r&b meeting point was THE sound I grew up on. It’s so comforting to me. Anita Baker is absolutely on the Mt. Rushmore of that musical movement and Rapture is her definitive moment. Fuck these rockist haters!

This is a really chill album that was quite enjoyable leaving in the background. It had a little bit of an old vibe but I definitely wouldn't be able to tell that it is 40 years old at this point. There wasn't anything too exciting among the songs, but it was overall pretty nice.

I guess it’s alright if you’re into adult contempo / late 80’s early 90’s R&B, but this reminded me of striking out miserably at all the middle school dances 😕 2.5⭐️

What did the cult leader say when the party planner for the Rapture didn't order dessert? Anita Baker!

Had this on after cleaning the heck out of the house and making dinnner after a long Sunday. Smoky, smoldering, sexy and one of those ones II wouldn’t have listened to otherwise. Vigorous thumbs up.

Beautiful album

Silky, smooth & somewhat sexy. Baker can sing, that's for sure, I just don't care for what she's singing about. Sweet Love is the song & I was slightly liking the Rapture song. They all tend to blend together. Good bass on some other tracks.

My gawd, this is some terrible music...

Wish more of this was available on Spotify, its fun! Best Song: Sweet Love Rating: 6/10 Stars: 3

Mid 80s quiet storm/R&B/soul is very much not my shit but this is a bit better listen than I expected.

Getting to this album on a rainy day was a great fit. There might not be any grandiose subject to these songs, or any experimental beats; but the tone of her voice and the sweeping melodies end up captivating you every time. It’s an album very of its time. I might not have been alive back then but I bet this is what the late 80s sounded like for these kind of singers. There’s also a link between this and Mariah Carey’s first album four years later.

Very "unbreak my heart" by Toni Braxton vibes. Includes hit "Sweet Love." Mellow, lovely.

10/10

ptn je sais que c'est mid mais mon cœur m'empêche de mettre moins de 4 à ça. c'est un mix qui me fait fondre en fait ce souful RnB/jazz/gospel miam

C'était ok

Over produced, smooth jazz, or adult contemporary was never my jam. Baker obviously has a great voice, but the most interesting thing about this album is sweet love, which provided a superb DOOM sample.

Urgh I hate this type of music, honestly if this is in anyone's top 1001 albums then they are clinically insane

Sweet Love sets a high bar at the outset. Unfortunately the rest of the album falls a little short of that mark. Still, an enjoyable soulful jaunt.

Love this LP!

Not available on Spotify.

I'm firmly middle aged and I don't feel like I'm old enough for this album. So smooth. So produced. So not my thing.

I can hear this is good, but even so, it’s boring. Not for me.

Listened before? No Familiar with the artist? Not really Thoughts: - This was nice enough to listen to; great vocals of course, but didn't really do anything for me. - I'd put it in the category of pleasant background music. Fine, but don't really see why it's in the book. Favorite track(s): Been So Long

Smooooth as Sade

Painful.

It’s both smooth jazz AND baby making music. No wonder it was so popular.

Sure, she's got a good voice, but the music here is everything I don't like about 80s adult contemporary. It's vague, lacks momentum, and relies too much on the synth to create an "atmosphere."

Golden voice but it didn't make me feel much, over-the-top production, ok arrangements. The bass line brang me joy occasionally, but generally just not my jam.

Chilled soul vibes

Nothing to dislike but nothing to get me excited either. A standard straight down the middle three for this.

Between YouTube ads, this was okay but pretty boring despite her legendary status.

She has a nice voice, but the music is severely lacking to the point of being unlistenable.

incredibly boring. one extra star for her voice

i just don’t care for this kind of music even though her voice is lovely

Anita Baker has the voice of the 80s adult contemporary, but she's outshined by the Whitney Houston, Toni Braxton, and Celine Dions of the era. It's not bad music and her voice is nice, it's just that she had absolute powerhouse women to compete that were doing the same thing, but ten times better.

What a voice

Sometimes I feel the need to explain a rating ... This is not usually my sort of music. But this is so well made. The production is absolutely spot on and every note by every instrument is exactly where and what it should be. But the star is Baker's voice, which is a thing of real beauty. This is from when R&B singers didn't feel the need to scream and shout. Beyoncé, take note! I think it drops off a bit for two tracks (Mystery and No One In The World - are a bit bland for me, the latter a bit frustrating when at the end it shows what it could have been ...) but I didn't even skip those two. Would I buy it? I don't think so. But if I came across a cheap second hand copy, I might give it a thought.

A traditional soul/R&B album, nothing to really knock you off your feet - but that doesn't always have to be the rule. Good execution is good execution. Love Anita's vocals. 3.5 rounding up

Not for me. Nothing offensive but not something I want to listen to. Yawn.

Anita Baker's Sweet Love is some 80s romantic r&b sung in a sexy soul style that's sonic syrup slathered all over the wax slabs of that stacked track. When things become more pedestrian (or simple to focus on her voice — depends on your perspective) I tend to drift away from the record even though her singing is still strong. Occasionally the music does something that you could qualify as a treat, but overall the album has all the clichés you'd expect: backup choirs, sax solos, synth pads and keyboards with splashes of "real" piano, layered percussion, tasteful guitar as accent, a bassist in the groove but ready to throw a funky fill in the mix, and a drummer so restrained you know he came straight from gospel band practice.

An incredibly smooth R&B album and a singer with a great voice. Not a genre that I listen to a lot or really feel I will ever listen to often but one where a few songs on the right playlist really sets a mood. I will take a few of these songs with me in that way and the knowledge of a new artist I can come back to if the mood ever calls for an evening of really smooth music.

Banger Start und banger Bass

Anita has a strong voice, and the album is well produced, but it's just not a style I care about at all. For those into 90s smooth soul, it would probably be quite good. 2 1/2 stars

These are those late nights you are watching Tubi, and you fall asleep and wake hours later, where Tubi has auto selected another movie for you. Its an 80s steamy romance, filmed with a grainy video camera, and you think, "what the hell is this!?" Also Anita Baker is all over the soundtrack. Then you turn off the TV and go to bed.

Good album enjoyed good vocal range

Finally an album from this I LOVE

Naw

What an opener! Decent listen

3 out of 5. 80's soul that was nice enough to listen to.

Really nice voice. Very smooth and warm sounding.

I was on board when this made a splash back in the day. It definitely has that 80's stamp on it. It's not especially my thing now but it was a nice re-visit.

I knew Sweet Love before which is a gorgeous song, and the album as a whole is lovely, of tracks new to me I liked Mystery most

Yet another generational vocalist wasted on this awful style of production. What a voice this woman has, but I just can't look past the shitty 80s production that makes it no better than all the other crap that was popular around the time. And on top of that the music itself is just so boring, I barely even registered that I was actually listening to anything. Anita's voice alone was just about enough for me to actually find this tolerable, but everything else about it completely ruined what could have been a great album if it weren't so damn commercialised.

Daily Discovery column: it turns out the sound many call "sex music" actually has a name: quiet storm. Luxurious, unhurried songs, without the slightest sharp edges, perfect for driving in a business-class car. This album by Anita Baker, whom I'd never heard of before (despite selling eight million copies), is practically the epitome of quiet storm. Classic jazz vocals meet soul sounds and funky bass guitar, resulting in nearly forty minutes of romantic ballads. The album was surprisingly both late (Motown's heyday was long gone) and ahead of its time (Boyz II Men and Toni Braxton wouldn't reach their peak until ten years later). Nothing special, just a pleasant record to clean the house to, cook dinner, have a date at home, and, of course, finish it off in the bedroom.

Porn music with nice singing

My first album in the challenge and I hoped for something alse entirely ;) "Don't you ever go away; it will always be this way. There is no stronger love in this world." HELLO? The lyrics are so good for the first song, "Sweet Love"; not my type of music, but absolutely amazing. THE WAY SHE SINGS "SWEET LOVEEEEE" The second song, "You Bring Me Joy," I just wanna ask if we are okay?? SHE'S A YEARNER. Not my type of music at all again but I feel I would listen to this if I yearn while screaming "You Bring Me Joy" "Caught Up in The Rapture of Love" is definitely one of my favourite songs on the album. Again, not an everyday type of music to listen to, but this song will definitely be on repeat when I love. I can imagine me and my bf swaying and dancing on it, while screaming the lyrics. "Been So Long" again; the lyrics are SO GOOD, but idk about this. I don't think I was able to imagine myself listening to it in any scenario. "Mystery" okay, this one is actually cool. The lyrics are about her missing the tender love he used to give her. But the instruments are actually cool. I loved it, and it probably could be in my top 3. It also feels a lil whimsical. "No One in the World" without another single word is my top 1 on the album (I haven't read the rest of it yet, but I know). The song is competing with Jeff Buckley in my head now, and yes... I got flashbacks (except that he didn't love me back ;D). "Same Ole Love" Again, another banger, and again I want your same ol' love, baby. "Watch Your Step" Okay, thanks, Anita Baker, for actually writing what I've definitely thought about before, 'cause now you just reminded me after I've been trying so hard to move on, so you owe me something. Now, after listening to the whole album, my rating is 5.5/10. The songs are absolutely good; they are so yearning in style, which is... so me. It also gave me flashbacks, and I guess I can deal with it, but the genre is just not my style, and that's why it got that rating. But yeah, definitely gonna listen to some songs again.

3/10

Súper vintage el sonido. Los teclados sobre todo. Buenas rolas, pero nada memorable.

4/8

[Anita Baker's Sweet Love is playing] Imagine owning the worlds greatest R&B songs, by the world's greatest voice. In a once in a lifetime collection. [You Bring Me Joy is playing] Timelife Music Presents: Anita Baker's Rapture. 8 beautiful songs, by our favorite artist. [Caught Up in the Rapture is playing] Get Anita Baker's Rapture on one CD for just $26.99. But wait, use your credit card, and we'll take ten dollars off. [Been So Long plays] That's right. You get one CD for just $16.99! Then review other Anita Baker albums, satisfaction guaranteed. [Same Ole Love (365 Days A Year) plays] Anita Baker's Rapture is not sold in stores. So remember, use your credit card, and get one beautiful CD for just $16.99 [Mystery plays] CALL 1-800-555-6806 TO ORDER ANITA BAKER'S RAPTURE ON ONE CD FOR $16.99 PLUS SHIPPING AND HANDLING WHEN YOU USE YOUR CREDIT CARD. [No One in the World plays] CALL NOW OR ORDER ONLINE AT TIMELIFE.COM [Watch Your Step plays]

I've heard this one before, but I was very surprised by how much better it is than I remember. So many bangers on this thing. Sure it has that buttery smooth 80s R&B production that I'm not always a big fan of, but somehow it works for me here. Please bring this back to Spotify so I can integrate it into my rotation. Favorite track: Sweet Love

I listen to this yesterday and already can’t remember much about it, feel like that says a lot. Pleasant but in the way where you aren’t really in the mood to actually listen to music just have something cushioning the air

what a whiney load of kak

Rapture This is bookended by two great songs, the excellent as balls Sweet Love and the 80s soul-pop excellence of Watch Your Step, a song that recalls I Knew You Were Waiting and Put a Little Love in Your Heart in its 80s soundtrackness. In between it really is a mixed bag, there are some excellently smooth songs and vocals, enhanced by the big, wide 80s production sheen. Alongside the two songs above Caught Up in the Rapture and Mystery work really well, Mystery is good and the smoothed out non threatening funk of Same Ole Love is a nice listen. But then that smoothness does slide into narcolepsy, with a kind of paper thin nothingness to it as on Been So Long, or the jazz singing ends up sounding like Rachelle Ferrell in that meme on something like You Bring Me Joy. Not sure where that places it, it is an easy listen with some definite highlights, but it’s not really a patch on Diamond Life’s vaguely edgy fluidity as a comparison. Will I listen again, on balance probably, so I’ll just slip it to a 3. 🥐🥐🥐 Playlist submission: Watch Your Step

It's the sort of music your Mum and Dad would've made love to once upon a time (your Mum and Dad, not mine), which is a difficult starting point. Baker's a smart cookie, and has a hand in the writing of a few of these including the great album bookends, 'Sweet Love' and 'Watch Your Step'. I've seen this described as 'adult-oriented' which I suppose is a euphemism for appealing to middle-aged people who want a quiet life. As for this Baker - she isn't the best thing since sliced-bread; but it's far from crumby.

Eh

Music for mums

Got a good voice. Couldnt be arsed with rhe yoping though Its someone's cuppa tea. I prefer fucking Bovril. 2.5

muito bom ouvir uma diva do r&b

Good singer. Minimum 3 stars. Not that fussed about it. Maximum 3 stars. Outcome. 3 stars.

My mum used to listen to this. She also voted for the Tories and thought Vienetta was 'exotic' so make of that what you will.

Not as good as the first time

Not sure I'd ever put this on as a full album. She had a Beautiful voice and there are some great songs, but it's a lot to listen to back to back. 2 leaning 3

A haiku: Happy for people That love Anita's music. Twas a chore for me.

Так послушать можно типичный соул вокал приятный и эти аранжировки прОклятые из 90х, но пойдет

What a great voice. Super cheesy 80s production. This sort of adult contemporary genre doesn't really even exist anymore does it? Yes she has an amazing voice, but the whole album sounds like a soundtrack for the romantic side plot of an 80s buddy cop movie. It's a shame that this is so stereotypically 80s cheese. 3/5

Compared to almost everyone I know, my musical taste is much narrower in what I like and what I will listen to. One of the reasons I am doing this is to see if there is anything else out there I might like. One of the great disappointments of this list, is so far, not really. I thought jazz or jazz types would be a possibility. I like jazz components in rock. But another jazz type performer is a hard pass for me. Sorry Anita, but 1.0 is all I can give this.

Got some bangers not on Spotify

This album embodies everything I dislike about Quiet Storm music (or as I call it, Delilah music). The histrionics, the brittle digital piano sounds, the overly precise rhythm sections, the tepid, pseudo gospel choir backing vocals, the sequenced string patches. It's all there, just waiting for me to hate it. This is the epitome of function over form, perfect in that 80s way that I find so repugnant in it's cynical calculation. It was AI art before there was AI. There's just one problem. Her name is Anita. Michael Powell gave Ms. Baker a pile of karaoke tracks and she destroyed them by putting that voice all over them. She takes this mundane album and elevates it to a rapturous experience (pun intended) with her amazing voice being used with such great skill. She sings the way Coleman Hawkins plays tenor. Her covered tone definitely evokes the feel of a saxophone. She even stays covered as she does vocal scrapes. It seems like it should be impossible. Her tone is impossibly warm and brassy. There aren't many sax lines on this one (at least in the context of this genre), but where they do pop up they seem to slunk away in defeat. But tone is only the start of it. It's hard to understand how a 28 year old could have such complete mastery of her instrument and how to use it. Phrasing, dynamics, attack, all brilliant. The way one moment she is presenting the melody but at just the right stanza she starts to sing around the melody, sliding in and out of time, bobbing and weaving like Ali in the middle rounds. Even songs as tepid as No One in the World or Same Ole Love become euphoric experiences simply from her delivery. This is perhaps one of the finest vocal performances ever committed to tape. On a five star scale the album is a 2, but the vocals are an 8, and since it's her name on the cover... 5 stars.

It was an album

These songs are quite lovely; Anita’s riffs and vocal chops are so so good. I’ve never had this gripe before with an album, but I wish the songs were a little catchier, I didn’t really find any of them to be instant earworms which I think would really help me return to the album. Pretty lush nonetheless.

The type of shit they’d be playing at the hotel bar in Young & The Restless soap opera show (IYKYK) LOL. Jesus. Why did I think Anita Baker was goated before going into this? Is this past her prime? This is lifeless mall music. Talk about no substance behind the music. R&B without the soul. Is this shit even R&B? It’s a shame, she’s clearly a very talented vocalist. Also- you’re telling me this won Grammys and sold 8 million copies? The late 80’s and 90’s were so shit for this kind of music man. It all sounds the same. I don’t even need to bump more to know that either, I’ve grown up in Yonkers and JC Penny enough to know LOL.