Manhattan Transfer - Coming Out • CDs • Vinyl Records • LPs • Music Albums

Janis Siegel is a particularly strong vocalist who combines expressive understanding with meticulous phrasing and considerable punch.

Richard Perry was an excellent choice for producer. While Perry's later albums have tended to be overproduced, Coming Out's 11 cuts are models of concision and aural clarity, and each sounds totally different from the others. Where reproduction of an original sound is called for, as on the old New York underground hit "The Speak Up Mambo," Perry changes it only enough to accommodate the state of the art. The relatively spare dynamism of "Don't Let Go," "Helpless," and David White's "The Thought of Loving You" makes these cuts not just clever stylistic imitations but fresh, engaging R&B pop. Coming Out is an album whose enthusiasm for the gamut of pop seems deep and genuine. (RS 224)

STEPHEN HOLDEN