Mysteries of the World

By 1980, the boom that had supported the rise of was on its way out the door. Their stylish sound was in need of a makeover to keep up with the times, and this was accomplished by allowing , the producer/writer behind a string of jazzy solo albums like , to take the reins. The result was the stylish and jazzy . While this album is as mellow as the rest of the latter-period recordings, it never forgets the group's music underpinnings. For example, fortifies its easygoing melody with a percolating, hard thumping bassline and some well timed blasts of horns. also keeps the new, softer style of from drifting into blandness by playing up the underpinnings of the group's sound. For proof, look no further than the title track, which wraps an array of exploratory keyboard riffs around a busy bassline. Elsewhere, the album adds surprising little twists to keep things fresh: builds its mellow groove around an atypical guitar hook, and works an otherworldly synthesizer line into its groove. The end result is an album that manages to bring a new freshness to their sound without completely severing ties with its old style. may be a little too soft and for fans accustomed to the likes of and but it remains a fine album of -inflected that is likely to please anyone who likes music at its most elegant. ~ Donald A. Guarisco