By Luther Vandross, 1989

The classiest of R&B's lover men, Luther Vandross eschews the sweaty soul intensity of his predecessors for a silky-smooth sound that achieves its romantic aims nonetheless. In the hands of a lesser artist, Vandross's narrow focus on love songs would seem restrictive, but he somehow finds endlessly entertaining ways of conveying simple messages like "I love you," "I miss you," and "Why did you leave me?" The Best of Love is just that--a 20-song retrospective that clocks Vandross's brilliant career through its first decade, including such gems as his gorgeous reworking of the Bacharach-David chestnut "A House Is Not a Home," Smokey Robinson's "Since I Lost My Baby," and his own early hit "Never Too Much." Vandross was a staple on the R&B charts throughout the '80s, but the set culminates with "Here and Now," his 1989 crossover smash. Since then, Luther has belonged to everyone; this set shows it should have been that way all along.

--Daniel Durchholz

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