As those names might suggest, Celebrate Me Home, at its best, is slickly professional in a very Hollywood way. Loggins emulates Stevie Wonder vocally (he lacks Wonder's heart), and James' pop/soul arrangements send the upbeat tracks on a merry, toe-tapping course. Unfortunately, Loggins too often tries to infuse with dramatic intensity songs whose lyrics simply collapse with the effort.

The overall effect is not unpleasant, and not at all unlike a movie soundtrack (though I dread to think what the film would be like). It tries to include elements of contemporary rock and soul in a middle-of-the-road setting that could be unobtrusively absorbed by the action on a screen.

More than anything, it is time for Loggins to look in new places for material, for he still has the ability to please. The innocence of "House at Pooh Corner" wouldn't work anymore even if he could re-create it, but there's nothing here of substance for the heart or the intellect. (RS 241)

IRA MAYER